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milo_afc 's review for:
Wolves of the Calla
by Stephen King
More like a 4.5/5 but this was a very good read. Stephen King's Dark Tower continues to build steam and momentum as it heads closer and closer towards the end. There are plenty of references that were very much appreciated in this one, nods to Marvel Comics and Harry Potter - the novelty that to someone from the 1970s thought Harry Potter was a Marvel character was quite amusing, and the quote from one of my favourite movies, The Magnificent Seven, that opens the book was also much appreciated.
The worldbuilding continues to excel in this as King continues to expand the world and it's clear now that although the movie itself was enjoyable trying to cram the entire Dark Tower universe into 90 minutes was always going to mean that it would never fulfill its potential, but at least we're getting a TV series and Idris Elba aced it as Roland Deschain. There were a lot of similarities between this movie and this particular book so it looks like that they took at least a significant inspiration from Wolves of the Calla as well as the earlier books in the series. Whilst there are plenty more adventures to be told this book moves the plot forward successfully, at a quick pace that at the same time feels a bit too long. Thankfully it's an improvement on Wizard and Glass, book four.
The dialogue and dialect are something that many fantasy writers tend to struggle with but it comes natural to King's characters and doesn't feel forced at all. The characters themselves are incredibly memorable and well-developed, each having their own parts to play and it's not all just about Roland or Jake. Not having read the previous books in a while did affect some of my knowledge coming into this one but the refresher at the start was all that I needed and I was quickly caught up. Not quite my favourite entry in the series, good Stephen King is still good Stephen King, and I'm looking forward to see how he wraps up the series in the concluding two volumes.
The worldbuilding continues to excel in this as King continues to expand the world and it's clear now that although the movie itself was enjoyable trying to cram the entire Dark Tower universe into 90 minutes was always going to mean that it would never fulfill its potential, but at least we're getting a TV series and Idris Elba aced it as Roland Deschain. There were a lot of similarities between this movie and this particular book so it looks like that they took at least a significant inspiration from Wolves of the Calla as well as the earlier books in the series. Whilst there are plenty more adventures to be told this book moves the plot forward successfully, at a quick pace that at the same time feels a bit too long. Thankfully it's an improvement on Wizard and Glass, book four.
The dialogue and dialect are something that many fantasy writers tend to struggle with but it comes natural to King's characters and doesn't feel forced at all. The characters themselves are incredibly memorable and well-developed, each having their own parts to play and it's not all just about Roland or Jake. Not having read the previous books in a while did affect some of my knowledge coming into this one but the refresher at the start was all that I needed and I was quickly caught up. Not quite my favourite entry in the series, good Stephen King is still good Stephen King, and I'm looking forward to see how he wraps up the series in the concluding two volumes.