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A review by ojtheviking
The Waste Lands by Stephen King
4.0
The quest for the Dark Tower continues, and I am still gladly on this journey without hesitation!
Tonally, I feel that Volume III: The Waste Lands is at times a mix of the first two. In Volume I: The Gunslinger, King merely began to establish the strange and fantasy-like world Roland comes from, while in Volume II: The Drawing of the Three, we spent a large portion of the story in our own reality, especially as Roland had to resolve Eddie's dilemma before he could join his quest. This time around, a lot more time was spent in the other realm, but with the flavors from our own reality blending into the scenery through the personalities of Eddie, Susannah, and, shall we say, another returning character.
I truly appreciated both those elements. We're going deeper into the lore of this other dimension – literally getting some more world-building, which is necessary for the fantasy genre – and are given more insight into local history, the current societal structure, and the mystery of why the landscape is as desolate and post-apocalyptic as it is. The ensemble of characters is ever-growing, with quite a large cast this time, each of them showcasing unique traits and quirks.
As a side note, it was more fitting than I realized when I in my previous reviews described Roland as a silent Clint Eastwood-type, as the Dollar trilogy is actually referenced in this book. Speaking of references, we are also starting to see more signs of how some of Stephen King's other novels tie into the Dark Tower multiverse here, which is also fascinating to behold.
In short, Stephen King is clearly having a lot of fun with this universe, as he continues to sprinkle all sorts of styles and genres on top of the fantasy foundation. We get war stories, science fiction, a haunted house, even a little bit of steampunk ...and ZZ Top?? All of this gives us a setting as vast and timeless as this world itself. In other words, even though Volume III: The Waste Lands is almost 600 pages long, he continues to keep it interesting, although some moments feel like borderline padding just to draw out the suspense a little bit, but he just barely manages to avoid crossing that border.
By now, it is made much clearer that the overall story is serialized, from the way this volume ends somewhat abruptly on a cliffhanger. Good thing the whole epic was already completed by the time I started reading these, because I can imagine the combined suspense and frustration in the readers who consumed this book back when it was originally published, and would have to wait for who knows how many years until the next volume!
My final thought? The story keeps getting more and more exciting, urging me to read on.
(...and I want my own Oy for a pet. )
Tonally, I feel that Volume III: The Waste Lands is at times a mix of the first two. In Volume I: The Gunslinger, King merely began to establish the strange and fantasy-like world Roland comes from, while in Volume II: The Drawing of the Three, we spent a large portion of the story in our own reality, especially as Roland had to resolve Eddie's dilemma before he could join his quest. This time around, a lot more time was spent in the other realm, but with the flavors from our own reality blending into the scenery through the personalities of Eddie, Susannah, and, shall we say, another returning character.
I truly appreciated both those elements. We're going deeper into the lore of this other dimension – literally getting some more world-building, which is necessary for the fantasy genre – and are given more insight into local history, the current societal structure, and the mystery of why the landscape is as desolate and post-apocalyptic as it is. The ensemble of characters is ever-growing, with quite a large cast this time, each of them showcasing unique traits and quirks.
As a side note, it was more fitting than I realized when I in my previous reviews described Roland as a silent Clint Eastwood-type, as the Dollar trilogy is actually referenced in this book. Speaking of references, we are also starting to see more signs of how some of Stephen King's other novels tie into the Dark Tower multiverse here, which is also fascinating to behold.
In short, Stephen King is clearly having a lot of fun with this universe, as he continues to sprinkle all sorts of styles and genres on top of the fantasy foundation. We get war stories, science fiction, a haunted house, even a little bit of steampunk ...and ZZ Top?? All of this gives us a setting as vast and timeless as this world itself. In other words, even though Volume III: The Waste Lands is almost 600 pages long, he continues to keep it interesting, although some moments feel like borderline padding just to draw out the suspense a little bit, but he just barely manages to avoid crossing that border.
By now, it is made much clearer that the overall story is serialized, from the way this volume ends somewhat abruptly on a cliffhanger. Good thing the whole epic was already completed by the time I started reading these, because I can imagine the combined suspense and frustration in the readers who consumed this book back when it was originally published, and would have to wait for who knows how many years until the next volume!
My final thought? The story keeps getting more and more exciting, urging me to read on.
(...and I want my own Oy for a pet. )