Whether the object is a ring or a Tower, every great quest needs a fellowship. In the second installment of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, "The Drawing of the Three," we re-join our Gunslinger as he recruits--read: "interdimensionally kidnaps"--the individuals who will accompany him on his journey.

With a story that will eventually span seven volumes and several thousand pages, it's sometimes difficult to judge a singe segment on its own merits. By definition, it's incomplete and is going to leave the reader with a lot of questions. That said, as long as the reader returns to seek answers to those questions, then that chapter has done it's job in the grand scheme of things.

"Drawing" does just that as we follow Roland on his journey to--and through--three doors as he looks to assemble his "ka-tet," a group linked by common fate or purpose. Lest that be too simple a task, within the first ten pages, Roland finds that he must do so with a gunbelt full of ruined shells, a right hand that's been left two fingers shy of a fist thanks to a man-eating crustacean that also happened to leave him with a nasty case of blood poisoning.

You know; *that* old tale.

It's getting better by the page, folks...