“If," Roland said. "An old teacher of mine used to call it the only word a thousand letters long.”
― Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla

Come-come-commala back to the world of The Dark Tower, do I beg. On the path, our Ka-tet come across Calla Bryn Sturgis, one of a surprising, but limited number of thriving Western (as in Wild West) like communities in this area. An area under siege by Wolves; every 20 odd years the Wolves visit a Calla, did I say visit? I meant raid, a raid of their most precious bounty. Can the Gunslingers help them help themselves?.

How did this book make me feel
This is a third read of this book, a book that I had always considered as the start of the decline of the series; having just completed it on this third occasion, I can concur that it's not as good as the previous books in the series. I feel the build up to the final act, was way too long and could have been shorter, but the pay-off was pretty good. I did care about each and every character across realities; and enjoyed the realistic, but not that interesting, characterisations of some of the Ka-tet's allies. I also now fear/realise that the referencing and crossovers with King's and other creators' 20th century works will age this series, so what looks good now, won't so much in the future. The world building however continues to be superb, contextual and believable. Onwards! 8 out of 12

2020 read

Yet another excellent addition to the Dark Tower series. Before I address the book, I want to say that, as a man, I love Stephen King. In the afterward, when he says he will be donating the profits of the audiobook to Frank Muller's family and explains why...I know King is wealthy, and can certainly afford the gesture, but how many people in a position to help others actually DO it?
I am working my way through the series on audio this time and it seems like an almost different journey when listened to! The reader (who I love) puts emphasis on things I may not have in my mind's voice. That can change so much. What doesn't change is how very much I care for these characters. I love them and am hurt by their hurts, disappointed by their disappointments, and angered when they are.

Still five stars. Will that ever change? Never in life. Thank you big big Sai King.

2009-
This may be my favorite installment yet. It kept the Western Fairy tale feel of W&G which I loved so much. The folken are familiar, but not quite what our old Westerners were. I like that familiarity because it makes it so much easier to just lose myself in their world. I can believe they really exist somewhere.

Only King could write himself into his own book without seeming egotistical. It's all a big circle with intertwining spokes. It makes sense that everything that's come before has bearing on the quest. EVERYTHING is important. EVERYTHING is relevant. He's brilliant because as I read, I want to go back and read all that's come before. I want to be certain I haven't missed any references or resemblances that will have bearing on what's to come. I don't think a reader starting out with the DT series as their first King has a snowball's chance in hell of resisting the temptation of reading his other work. He knows how to grab a reader. Grab, and hold on tight!

This book took me the longest to get through of the dark tower series, but I blame that more on school than the book itself. I found this book to be fascinating, and so important to the connection of all the worlds and universes surrounding the dark tower. It's funny though, the conflict stated in the title of the book acted more as a clock than an actual tense moment. It was a side quest you knew they were going to win so there wasn't much stress or tension. The real important parts of the story came from the interactions with the calla folk, the hidden object I won't mention because spoiler, and the todash journeys.

Im incredibly excited to complete the 6th and 7th books!

It's been over twenty years now since I read Wolves of the Calla, the fifth Dark Tower novel, but I remember enjoying the read as well as I remember what I had for lunch today. It's something of a side-adventures-along-the-way book, but he builds the characters and their relationships masterfully, and introduces an amazing variety of events and situations that move the story along. He also incorporates a lot of nods to popular culture (Harry Potter, Isaac Asimov, Star Wars, and a lot of Stephen King), and trying to catch and place the references is a lot of fun. It also ends with a lot of unanswered questions, so be prepared to pick up Song of Susannah as soon as you finish this one. Long days and pleasant nights.

Wolves of the Calla is one of the more enjoyable Dark Tower books for me. The series looks like a bell curve, to me: starts out slow and not very likeable, peaks in the middle, and finishes on a low note with n  The Dark Towern. The middle books - n  Wizard and Glassn, Wolves, and n  Song of Susannahn - are the best ones of the series.

I like Wolves because it gives us more in-depth interactions with more secondary characters, aside from just Roland's ka-tet. I like all of the characters King created to inhabit the Calla, especially the Sisters of Oriza and Tian Jaffords. They seem like real people, and I was immediately drawn into their plight.

And, of course, the author brought back Father Donald Callahan, which I was so happy about. Father Callahan, here and in Song of Susannah, is a wonderful character. I do think it was an odd decision for  this series to become so very meta, beginning at the very end of Wolves, when Father Callahan discovers a copy of 'Salem's Lot. For an author to put himself, as himself, in his own work, was just plain weird. But I do enjoy Father Callahan's redemption in both this book and the next.

TL;DR: One of the best of the DT series. Definitely a must-read.

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Continuing my DT re-read. Review to come.

Brilliant. A masterpiece! “Dude, (me speaking to myself) how did you only give this one four stars your first go around?” Come come commala what the fuck were you thinking bro? Oh well, perhaps you have to get a few more of King’s other works of art under your belt to understand how amazing Wolves of the Calla really is. Oldie but goodies such as Salem’s Lot for instance

As my dawdling and ever dwindling ka-tet finally approaches the clearing at the end of the path—praise the Man Jesus—I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. You see, we read Wolves of the Calla nearly a year and a half ago, but I’ve left it unreviewed for a myriad of reasons. Actually . . . no, that’s not entirely true. For some idiotic reason, I began the silly practice of delaying reviews on buddy reads until all, or at least most my friends were finished reading. This delay tactic, commonly referred to as the Delee effect (heh), inevitably led to leaving things unreviewed, unrated, or posting half-assed teasers, which ultimately led to my own demise as a reviewer. Although, to be perfectly honest, unlike Jake Chambers, it wasn’t all that far of a fall . . . but I digress. The point that I’m trying to make is this: As our epic journey together draws to a conclusion, the time for delays is over. It’s time to put up or shut up: goo.gl/bL2kbp

Time to put that elephantine memory to the test.



Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!


Wrong hat O.O

When last we checked in on Roland’s ka-tet they had just escaped from Oz—yeah, the story gets stranger by the book. Or, if you bothered to read the controversial Wind Through the Keyhole novel in the proper order, then you last read of the group seeking shelter from a Starkblast, and spending a little more time reminiscing over Roland’s past—yeah, it’s never enough. Either way, the start of our story here sees our fearless ka-tet back along the Path of the Beam, drawing ever nearer to the Dark Tower, until they’re accosted by some townsfolk seeking help.

The locals tell of some strange goings-on in their home town of Calla Bryn Sturgis. They describe a place that has been blessed with an inordinate amount of twin births, but also cursed in that every twenty years or so the “Wolves” ride down from Thunderclap to claim a child, from each set of twins, for their own. The children are eventually returned to their families, once they’ve served their purpose. But whatever horrific things the Wolves do to the poor children transforms them into drooling idiots, or, as the locals would say, renders them “roont.”

The townsfolk are fortunate to have an early warning system, in the form of a friendly helper robot named Andy, who’s able to predict when the Wolves will arrive. His latest forecast calls for imminent doom, which sends the Calla spiraling into full panic. Most folks are simply too frightened to fight back, but there’s a small group attempting to shame the majority into growing a backbone. They’re fed up with the status quo, and are finally ready to take a stand, no matter the cost, as long as the gunslingers are willing to stand alongside them that is . . .

This story initially appeared to be yet another diversion to sidetrack our group from their ultimate goal of reaching the Dark Tower. But as Roland explained, even if that’s the case, it’s a gunslinger’s duty to stand up for those who cannot stand on their own. “Stand and be true.” And, as it just so happened, this leg of the journey later proved to be of vital importance.

This was our first true glimpse at just how bizarre and wide reaching this saga would become. What with Mia’s banquet hall feast *shudders*, Black Thirteen’s creepy monstrous eye, the Unfound Door, the Cave of Voices, going todash, and Pere Callahan’s backstory. The Wolves themselves, along with their outfits and weapons, were oddly curious, but the most shocking event of all occurred in the final act when King kicked a hole in that fourth wall and inexplicably inserted himself directly into the narrative.

There was just so much to this story—it was quite the kitten-squisher—that the good far exceeded the bad. King’s character development was once again on point, but the gun battles were brief and underwhelming. This was the first time we saw Roland really let loose—he sang and danced a furious commala at the town hall celebration, even “stage-dived like Joey Ramone.” However, all of the wear and tear of his long life’s journey was clearly starting to take it’s toll. Lucky for him, the rest of his ka-tet have developed into fully fledged gunslingers, so they were more than capable of taking up the slack. And with so much treachery afoot, he needed all the help he could get.

This installment was an absolute pleasure to read with a ka-tet of my very own, which included: Deadpool’s #1 fan, Mr. Unconventional Reviewer himself, Jeff; Delee, AKA Miss Thaaang was tragically lost at sea

Somewhere further down that Path, mayhaps long beyond the Crystal Palace of Wizard and Glass, our company of four, plus one billy bumbler, stride nearer to the Tower. How much further down that path? Well, even though they walk by foot, it seems impossibly further than the previous book. In Mid-World, time advances in stutters and steps now, but not nearly as fast as the leaps it is taking in “our” world, as Roland and the gang will find while going “Todash” (gee, I love that term). One thing is for certain. They are not in Kansas anymore, and now I see exactly what King meant after adding book 4.5, thus adeptly filling a small space between the two middle books.

Meanwhile, new faces arise (and an old, familiar one hearkening back to early King that further ties these worlds together - do ya kennit?) from a place called Calla Bryn Sturgis. Like so much of this world, including the books before this, the Calla reminds me of the our Old West (King gives credit where credit is due: Sergio Leone, among the names). This West is now further East? It has become another uncertainty as the beams continue to weaken. Yet one thing is for certain at this point in time in the Calla. Thirty days hence and the Wolves will come, so says Andy the Robot. Once a generation when the children are old enough to take, the wolves come riding out of the blackened east. Men-like things each riding a horse of a singular color. Perhaps this time could be different. Maybe this time the folk will take a stand against the riders, so their twinned-children won't go away, only to come back simple and roont. Call it Ka that is a wheel that four gunslingers venture by so close to the Calla in this time of need.

In Wolves of the Calla, I found the new and old blended together. It's not quite seamless, but it's a very good ride. A lot of time is spent with Callahan explaining his past, but it stands to reason. If he wasn't a major character in King’s world before the Wolves, he became one. And I’ll add that this book feels like a transition point. The path ahead is not yet clear, but the Tower looms somewhere much closer than before. I hadn't remembered the few very clear moments in this story where King provides the clues to the ending, and how it may all play out. It's almost as if Roland knows it too.

What a totally insane and wonderful book. The Dark Tower continues to impress and be truly one of the strangest things I've ever read in my life. Stephen King is super weird and I love it.

"Now I think that all of us are born with a hole in our hearts, and we go around looking for the person who can fill it. You...Eddie, you fill me up."

The fifth book in the Dark Tower series finds Roland and his ka-tet in Calla Bryn Sturgis, where they must help the residents overcome a formidable enemy.

Even though this book took me what felt like a million years to finish, I thoroughly enjoyed pretty much every page (well... I’m not the biggest fan of the New York plot in this one, I’d rather have just stayed in the Calla!)

King is well-known for his depiction of small towns and bringing all the residents to life, and this one is no different! Lots of new characters to meet, as well as the reintroduction of an old one. I LOVED catching up with this character, quite a lot of time is spent filling in the gaps of his story and I was not complaining in the slightest!

The Dark Tower is such an epic tale where our ka-tet are mostly travelling around and on the move, so I liked just staying still for a while (apart from going todash) and allowing for more character development. Also a huge fan of the story behind the wolves and the roont children - I find it creepily fascinating!

I fangirl so hard over all the little references to pop culture and connections to other King books etc so I was in my element here! I guess not everyone enjoys that kind of stuff, but this gal does! And if you haven’t read the series before, this one ends in a way where you just NEED to know what happens next. But luckily I have so I’m okay waiting to read Song of Susannah - however, not for too long, because the Tower is beckoning...

An underrated DT novel, in my opinion. 5 stars.

This is one strange fantasy but I keep reading and mostly enjoying it. Heck, I’m up to the fifth book in a series by a guy I don’t like Stephen King doesn’t like people like me, i.e., military servicemen/women and I don’t like him back. But I appreciate his imagination and will read the next book in the series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAFXoa...  Each book so far has gotten bigger, this one checks in at over 700 pages. While I felt it dragged on in the first third, the last part of the book was easy to read and enjoy. The ka-tet is not getting any closer to the Dark Tower in this episode but there is plenty of drama.
“What’s your plan, sugar?” Susannah asked. She spoke in a quiet, oddly gentle voice.

“There’s precious little plan in it. Most times that’s all to the good. The most important thing I can tell you is not to believe anything I say once we get up from here, dust off our bottoms, and rejoin the folken. Especially nothing I say when I stand up at the meeting with the feather in my hand. Most of it will be lies,” He gave them a smile. Above it, his faded blue eyes were as hard as rocks. “My Da’ and Cuthbert’s Da’ used to have a rule between ‘em: first the smiles, then the lies. Last comes gunfire.”

“We’re almost there, aren’t we? ” Susannah asked. “Almost to the shooting.”

…Roland nodded. “And the shooting will happen so fast and be over so quick that you’ll wonder what all the planning and palaver was for, when in the end it always comes down to the same five minutes’ worth of blood, pain, and stupidity.”

I read the hardcover of this book and there are some great paintings in the book that depict key events. I was thinking of giving this book to charity but might keep it for a while.  This book certainly is in danger of being tossed on the digital book burning pile being built by you-know-who. After all, the “Wolves” use “sneetches” as a weapon and anything associated with Dr. Suess is now-you know-“bad” https://people.com/books/dr-seuss-boo... or https://medium.com/@heinemann/the-sne... And the book is full of non-woke stuff like faith, family, guns, gunslingers, etc. C’mon, he has a 12-year-old white boy carrying and using a gun. Likely this book will be wokism fodder. I suspect at some point, even a man of the left will face the fact that this book will not be tolerated.  

Giving this one 4 Stars

There are a few things that are taking up residence in my head that I can't get into here without blowing the lid off the series as a whole, but woooo-weeee, cowboy (or girl!) it's a doozy!

*giggles and rubs his hands together and is NOT at all surprised that the extended TV show that was supposed to DO THIS SERIES JUSTICE had been pulled*

So, who out there wants to see a wild mashup of westerns, fantasies, horrors, and science fiction?

*crickets*

What? Just me? No. Obviously not just me. But let's add one little detail, my friend number 19. Or should we also add my other friend 99? Or is it 1999? As in, we're gonna party like it's 1999? Or shall we draw back the curtain in the emerald tower and take a good long look at that Dodge Caravan?

Muahahahahahahaha

I LOVE a good in-joke. I especially love great popular references used by a great writer who is just as much a FAN of popular culture as he is a creator of so much of it. Gimmie that Snitch! Oh, it must have been made by this fellow named Harry Potter...

Honestly, I didn't really have ANY clue as to what this book was REALLY supposed to be about when I first picked it up years ago. A big battle on the way to the Dark Tower? Yeah, sure, it is that, but when you start making the world super thin and the todash keeps sending you to New York City and you wish you had a godlike florist to protect the universe from zombies, vampires, and thugs who terrorize bookstore owners, you've got to start wondering why the WOLVES on the edge of End-World are such a mystery. And they are.

And I cry beg your pardon, but I LOVE me a good cyborg, thank ye sai.

The first time I read this book, I thought it was pretty fine. A bit long in the tooth with padre Calahan, mayhap, but once I'm in on the joke, I like it ALL just fine, now.

Bravo, Mr. King. Bravo.