` — Bueno, pues después de conocer a uno de esos tipos en persona, se interesó por el fenómeno. Escribió varios artículos sobre ello, aunque decía que ninguna revista famosa lo publicaría sin importar lo bien documentados que estuvieran los hechos. Dijo que escribir sobre los visitantes del oeste de Maine le había enseñado algo que jamás había esperado aprender a esa avanzada edad: que hay cosas que la gente no cree, ni aunque pueda probarlas. Solía citar un verso de un antiguo poema griego: El pilar de la verdad tiene un agujero´

`En la tierra de la memoria, el tiempo siempre es ahora. En el reino de Tiempo Atrás, los relojes marcan las horas… pero las manecillas se mueven. Existe una puerta ignota (oh, perdido) y la memoria es la llave que la abre. ́

Hasta ahora, ha sido el volumen más flojo de la saga. No he dejado de tener la sensación de que todo avanzaba a paso lento, pero a la vez demasiado precipitado sin llegar a una conclusión clara. Estirar el chicle más de lo necesario, sería la sensación acertada. A pesar de ello, sí que tiene algún que otro capítulo memorable, como el hecho de que nuestros personajes conocen a Stephen King. Este hecho le da una conexión real con nuestra realidad, por así decirlo nos da el punto de visión desde el que debemos de mirar hacia el universo de Stephen King.
La mezcla de cultura popular, junto a la fantasía o el terror y,por supuesto, la construcción de personajes sin parangón de King hacen de esta saga de las mejores jamás escritas, al menos hasta la fecha de publicación. Prácticamente, la carrera de King se ha basado, sin quererlo, en construir un metaverso en el que el destino de todo, y de todos está estrechamente conectado. No me deja de sorprender la capacidad de crear mundos a este nivel.
El mundo de Roland es uno de tantos, pero a su vez cada estilo de la rueda gira en torno a una lógica diferente, aquí, en esta saga es donde se desarrolla toda la capacidad imaginativa del autor, sinceramente, convirtiéndose esto en una verdadera obra de gigantes. Una saga ambiciosa, un eje principal que conecta toda justificación de King para crear mundos. Aunque se hubiese retirado después del siguiente tomo a este como pretendía, nos hubiera dejado un volumen titánico de obras conectadas, pero como escritor incansable y excelente nunca se ha cansado, su trabajo, poner toda su imaginación al poder de quien lo lee, King, un género en sí mismo.

3`5

I liked this installment mostly for the fast pace and the action that kept it as a page turner. I read it a lot quicker than I have some of the others because of this.

I was a little worried about how the 'visit to Sai King' would be handled, but I liked it fine.

Now I am excited to read the final installment...although I think I will miss them all when I am done1

This book definitely has some fun moments but in the grand scheme of the Dark Tower it's just not up there with the rest. Still a good book but I didn't love it.

King you almost had it, you really did. This series could have been something special. Pure Fantasy Western that echoes numerous cultural references and King's works themselves. A true magnum opus that bridges all his works.

Well he certainly did it but not in the great subtle way he should have done, wouldn't that have made a great series.
"The man in black moved through the desert and the gunslinger followed"

King starts off this series with these words. It's pure. It spells out the whole series. King spends the next few books fleshing it out, the characters and world growing organically. By this point in the series King decides to take an axe to his creation and sour that purity.

Instead of creating a great web referencing the popular culture that inspired the series as well as links to his other works in any number of subtle ways he decides to wave the whole fucking thing in your face.

Having the characters become obsessed by their own bizarre references, at worst having them put on red shoes and repeat theres no place like home. YES I'M REFERENCING WIZARD OF OZ just incase i didn't spell it out enough I'll have the characters mention it every chance I get.

King continues to do this getting more bizarre referencing 19 and 99 and 1999 for what reasons he only knows. He seems to think it all fits nicely to together but to me it just becomes more ridiculous and annoying.

King then decides to completely remove any possible pure immersion in this world by screaming at you THIS IS A BOOK. A made up one. want proof? Okay I'll include myself at a main character and have me writing it. SEE. now even the characters are questioning whether they are real. (they're not by the way I'M WRITING ABOUT THEM)

I really didn't want for this rant to exist, but it does and damn if I need to get some of it out my system.
I don't usually get angry with writers. People write good books and thats great and people write bad ones and that doesn't upset me. Here King created something I loved and here decides to tear the thing apart in the most frustrating way.

I still love this series, I love The characters, The feel of the world. The reason I'm so bothered by the direction King goes in because he really could have had something. Something that to me would have been Fantasy at it's best and most pure. I'm no writer so maybe I shouldn't balk at the direction King was 'driven' to go in but damn if I don't feel he really missed a trick.

This is a reread so I know where the series is going and King does pull it back quite a bit with the finale. But in this one he really decides to tumble down the rabbit hole and to me taint the series in a way that can't be undone.

3.5 stars rated relative to the other books in the series

I agree with other reviewers that this is probably the weakest book of the series, but that isn't saying much considering the incredibly high standard we are talking about. No, there isn't a ton of action; yes, there is a lot of internal mono/dialogue. That doesn't ultimately matter though because King still conjures that ineffable substance that makes anything he writes worth reading. Like the previous books in the series, Song of Susannah gets to your heart, your hopes, and your dreams for our band of travellers both cursed and blessed.

In the Land of Memory, the time is always Now.

In the Kingdom of Ago, the clocks tick . .. but their hands never move.

There is an Unfound Door
(O lost)
and memory is the key which opens it.

I can't describe how happy certain events in this one has made me. It's SO good. I never expected early on that it'd go in this direction, and I love it. This literally could've only ever been written by Stephen King, and within the exact time frame that he wrote it in. There are still so many ways he could take this, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out in the next one. If you've just begun this series, or are thinking about starting it - DO IT AND KEEP GOING! Looking back, the earlier books are even better because of what I know now, what's happening now. I love everything about this.

Canción de Susannah

Estamos ya en el sexto libro de La torre oscura, el final se va acercando.
***** SPOILER****
Si no has leído esta serie quizás sería bueno que no siguieses leyendo esta reseña. Cuento ciertas cosas que es mejor encontrárselas al leer el libro, no antes.

Después del enfrentamiento con los lobos para defender a los pobladores de Calla, todo el equipo debe trasladarse al mundo real para intentar encontrar a Susannah, secuestrada por Mia.

Durante toda la serie hemos visto como se turnaban entre el mundo medio de Roland y el mundo de sus amigos. Este episodio su desarrolla en el mundo de estos, donde encontraran a viejos conocidos.

En este paso, el grupo se divide viviendo cada uno su propia aventura, pero en épocas diferentes. En otro dónde y otro cuando. Mientras que Susannah/Mia están en 1999 en Nueva York, al igual que Jake y el padre Callaghan, Roland y Eddie pasan a 1977 en Maine.

Especialmente espectacular la llegada de El pistolero y Eddie que tienen que hacer frente a una gran bienvenida. Como siempre en la serie, la presencia de Roland es presagio de buenos momentos y más cuando se ve en la necesidad de usar su arma.

Hay que resaltar que desde el anterior libro el nombre de King aparece cada vez más en los comentarios de los protagonistas. En este, hay un capítulo dedicado a Stephen King que hace como una parodia de sí mismo. Es muy curioso como el propio Roland junto a Eddie van a visitar al escritor en su propio rancho y este los recibe confesando que está escribiendo la serie de La torre oscura. La serie le ha llevado tantos años escribirla que ha improvisado mucho. El camino hacia la torre lo tendría claro desde el principio, pero no lo que se iban a encontrar los protagonistas en su ruta.

Para finalizar, hay una transcripción de un diario del propio King. Una auténtica maravilla imperdible por los seguidores del autor. En él cuenta desde que empezó a escribir esta serie de la torre oscura, las dudas y las influencias que iba teniendo, además de otros libros que escribía en esos años.

So close to the end I can taste it. I really enjoyed reading this installment of the epic quest. Not a whole lot of backstory in this one either. All the action made it so exciting. Can't wait to see how it all ends!

May 2022 reread

This book was way more fun to read the second time around! There's so much action and it makes this book unputdownable. I wasn't super impressed when I read this book the first time. It just didn't seem to grab hold of me the way the other books did. I had a completely different experience this time around! I enjoyed the style this book was written in. It really does seem like the different parts of a song. I loved the writers journal at the end! I'm sure a lot of it was fictional but I still thought it was really cool and entertaining to read!

Only one more book to go and then my second journey to the Dark Tower will be complete!

Mia, daughter of none, is soon to become mother of one.  Her long-anticipated chap, the one with the disconcerting blue eyes (even in utero), is about to be born.  The Dixie Pig awaits, filled with the Taheen, humanoids with the heads of animals.  They serve the Crimson King.  Seems a poor choice for a place to birth a baby, but we are not in charge, we do not get to decide.

Black Thirteen, the much feared crystal ball is temporarily stashed where its cunning glammer can cause no harm.  Stored in a wooden box made of ghostwood and covered with a cloth, its slickness and pulsating pull is muffled for the nonce.  There is an unfound door to be reckoned with, as well as Walk-Ins and a scrimshaw turtle.  Yar, reality can be thin.

'...a place where shadows are cancelled and time holds its breath.'

Song of Susannah, such a lovely cadence to the words, no?  I purchased my copy of this hot off the press in 2004.  It has a cloth bound cover.  The thing I noticed with my third read of it was how thick the pages are.  I like this one better every time I read it.

3.5

Number six. I have been really getting into reading the series. Really looking forward to reading the conclusion. Song of Susannah brought together the strands of the previous novel. What I liked about it was the appearance of Stephen King and how he mentioned his demons. Addiction is a theme running through the books. Drugs, smoking, killing, religion and greed with the Tower and his lust for books.

The wolves have been vanquished. Mia has taken over Susannah and escaped through the door in the cave with the Crimson King’s eye. Mia tells her story to Susannah and we get a glimpse of the Crimson Kings followers and of course Mia’s chap makes an appearance.

Roland and Eddie find themselves in an ambush. Jake and Callahan find themselves with Oy in a showdown. A lovely appetizer to the main event and final book.

This book was just disgusting in it's narcissism and lack of story advancement. Once again we have a 400 page book where nothing at all really happens for 95% of the book. Also it's a book that is all about Susannah - who I have hated since I first "met" her.

The entire story diverges from the "rules" of the established world that has been created in all the previous books.  Suddenly Susannah can imagine a microphone and talk to other people mind to mind? WHAT! Since when? Since when has Susannah been able to have conversations with her other personalities?

I also found there to be some ridiculous plot contrivances like  the little turtle charm that makes a person do whatever you want.

Most egregious of all and the most supercilious is how Stephen King writes himself into the story as a character. It was beyond what I can accept or tolerate.

The entire book was completely irritating and I'm sick to death of the overuse of the weird way everyone talks. I'm sick of a story about the Dark Tower, never actually progressing towards the Dark Tower. I'm tired of a bunch of filler books which don't advance the story. I have no idea how this series is mentioned sometimes on lists of "the best fantasy fiction".