What a Wonderful World

Just finished reading: Wizard and Glass and The Wolves of the Calla by Steven King, Dark Tower books IV and V.

I don't have much time to write--taking advantage of fast online service at my grandparents house :)--but this series is absolutely wonderful and compelling. I haven't been this driven to finish a series since Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy. And I think I like the series for similar reasons. They both have well-developed characters wrestling with the role of fate or the gods in their need to complete a quest. And both main protagonists use any means to reach their desired end, accepting the consequences of such knowledge and hardness. But I think King's Roland is less approachable, since even after finding out so much of his background in Wizard, you still can't say exactly how he works, how he came to be the way he is.

(MILD SPOILER AHEAD! QUIT READING IF YOU INTEND TO READ THE SERIES!)

Ok, you've had fair warning. The really wild thing about this series is that at the point the book ended, Pere Callahan has joined the ka-tet of Roland, Jake, Eddie, and Susannah. Like the latter three, he's from New York, but originally he was from 'Salem's Lot. Yes, like in the Steven King novel. Well, Roland has just discovered the book 'Salem's Lot, revealing Callahan's role as a character in that book. So naturally Callahan is freaking out that some random person has written about him, knows all the secrets he kept, and has published them to the world. Meanwhile, they're standing in front of the doorway to the world of New York, and Roland has said that the book is the key to getting back. What seems to be happening is a confrontation with Steven King as himself as a character. Which is totally wild. I mean, it happens all the time in fanfiction, but there's always a transparent wish-fullfillment motivating it (ie. I want this character to love me, etc. etc.). So what the heck is King doing here?

More on this later when I get a chance.