The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) in Weird Westerns

Apr 28, 2014 Nick Craven rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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Well, well, well. Okay I was wrong. Stephen King you've outdone yourself a second time for me! First you shocked me with the epic tale of The Gunslinger and here I thought you had pulled one bright and stunningly brilliant gem out of the bag. A shot in the dark and you hit your mark all the same. I thought lightning could not strike the same place twice. Well, here's ol' Nick to tell you ....I was absolutely wrong. The Gunslinger was a rare treat, a refreshing piece of literature that I loved wi Well, well, well. Okay I was wrong. Stephen King you've outdone yourself a second time for me! First you shocked me with the epic tale of The Gunslinger and here I thought you had pulled one bright and stunningly brilliant gem out of the bag. A shot in the dark and you hit your mark all the same. I thought lightning could not strike the same place twice. Well, here's ol' Nick to tell you ....I was absolutely wrong. The Gunslinger was a rare treat, a refreshing piece of literature that I loved with absolute sincerity. The Drawing of the Three was a masterpiece.

The Drawing of the Three surpasses...(no that's not the right word, it's simply not good enough. It does more than surpasses...it transcends what an epic fantasy story should be. Well, regardless...) the Gunslinger in a vast multitude of ways but most of all it does this with it's characters. In Gunslinger Roland was really the only character in the book I really felt like I knew. He's skilled, obsessed, merciful and merciless. A exceedingly interesting character, in the Drawing of the Three he becomes something much more. The Drawing finds Roland heavily crippled, and poisoned. Dying slowly, and horribly of an infection caused by even more horrible creatures (Did-a-chick?, Dum-a-chum?) that hound Roland and company for the entire book. Always I felt Roland was entirely in control. He was as dangerous for his intelligence as he was for his deftly trained hands. Mutants fell before his blazing pistols, a desperate oracle yielded to his cunning, an entire town fell to his will to survive. This was all in the first novel, now he has to rely on others.

With Roland's health deteriorating at a staggering rate (not once but twice in the novel) he must now rely on his newly forming Ka-tet, the hilarious, and pitiful Eddie Dean, and the terrifyingly offensive yet remarkably lovable Detta Walker/Odetta Holmes. I refuse to spoil anything involving their plot lines because to do so would be a crime against any reader of the literary community. Understand how hard that is for me...I can't help myself. I spoil movies, books, shows, ect like it was my purpose on earth. Both characters are amazing. Where I really only found Roland to be the star of the Gunslinger, I find him still the most interesting member of a brilliant ensemble of vibrate and exhilarating characters. Where physical dominance was his claim to fame in Gunslinger it's his determination shining through his failing body that causes him to break free of the mold of a "very cool and interesting character" and emerge as a real man, with real limitations who is far more interesting. Don't get me wrong, Roland is no pushover now. Far from it, in fact he's still the most dangerous character of the Ka-tet but the man is ten years older now, and missing some fingers...and dying of infection...still he's one wicked cool gunslinger. Odetta and Eddie fill the holes that I never knew existed in the first novel and they fit perfectly. I haven't cared this much about what happens to characters in a book in a very long time.

Once again Mr. King you have outdone yourself! I hope the hits keep coming and Roland keeps bobbing and weaving. I can't wait to read the next installment! Oh and if this needs to be said...I highly recommend this book. If you're not a fan of this series then you probably wouldn't know a great story if it came up out of the rising tide and bit your fingers off and pinched your large toe off. Did-a-chick? Dum-a-chum???? ...more

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