I've always really enjoyed this volume of the series, even though, as seems to be the case with many next-to-last books in a series, it's more of a set up to the end than it's own book.

But Song of Susannah is brilliant in that set up. I love the revelations that come from this book, about Roland, about the world, about the Tower and Ka and everything. We learn so much that will be important in this book, that it's surprising that the book is so short. Well... Short for King. The mass market paperback is 542 pages. That's practically a novella in King's world.

I do enjoy the different perspectives of this book as well. Susannah and Mia on their own in New York; Roland and Eddie in Maine; Jake, Callahan and Oy in New York too, but separate. I love watching all of the gunslingers step into their places and show why they are the gunslingers that Ka chose. There are certain scenes in this book that give me chills to read because of this pride. The scene where Jake stands off against a NY cabbie (shows he's got cojones right there, no doubt); the scene where Eddie tells off Cal Tower and Roland sits back and lets him go to town, trusting his instinct and restraint and wit are the two I like most.

One of my favorite things about King's books are the insights that his characters have. I've read a lot of books, but I have never seen the like in other books. It's like... I don't know, a sort of window. To know not only yourself, but the world around you by instinct and intuition and to understand it is something that I could only hope to do. But King's characters (and not just in this book or series, but throughout all of his books) do this naturally. They know when something isn't right, or when the time is just right for something, or they know their own mind about decisions that others would think would make absolutely no sense. It's like King sees the world more clearly than I do, and I appreciate that he's able to write it so clearly that it's not annoying and know-it-all-ish, or worse, Deus ex Machina-ish, even when there is Deus ex Machina.

That probably makes no sense, but I'm not the writer here. LOL

Anyway, this book is great as a set-up to the finale, and I can't wait for the last book in the series, even though I have read it multiple times before. That's how good this series is. :)