And the series continues. It's something special when you read a book that has so much of the author's heart and soul laced into the pages. This series is so much a part of King that he had to make himself a character in it (that scene with King talking to Eddie Dean and Roland was something else.

Like with all books in the series thus far, the journey has been infinitely more important than the destination. His mind truly is an amazing thing, the way he doesnt see himself as a great architect, but a vessel for his imagination--or simply a translator for his fantasies. It's honestly the only way I could see someone constructing a universe (or a multi-verse) the way he has. Could you imagine outlining every detail of this series? How exhausting that would be--not just exhausting, in fact I think that's the wrong word altogether. Daunting. Yeah, that sounds better. If I had to outline a series like this I think I would be too intimidated to start. No wonder it was hidden in a waste box for decades in his basement, I'd be terrified to face this mammoth down too.

Anyway, there really is something about reading a book by a great. There's just some sort of emotional stirring in your gut when you read their work, something that reminds you just what greatness is. I love this series, and I now look on to the last book sad that it's coming to an end. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to see the Tower and follow Roland inside but I'm sad the journey is coming to a close. The good news is, there are more great books out there to read--but there's only one dark tower.

The story wasn't bad, some of the new characters were interesting, but I cannot give it a higher rating because of the author himself.

Stephen King has indulged in the ULTIMATE form of ego stroking in this volume and it pissed me off. The plot could've been structured some other way to avoid what he's doing right now - you *can* adjust plot, much as it sometimes hurts to do so - and the fact that he went ahead and wrote what he wrote is annoying and... well, gross. It's gross.

I had hoped, by the time I finished the book, that I could understand why he did it, that maybe I'd see that the story really *had* to be written that way. At the end of this book, I didn't see that and was still irked. And disappointed.

Only one more book to go, and I'm doubting he'll redeem himself in my eyes...

This is a hard book for me to review. I just finished it for the fourth time, and I really cannot tell you what it's about. Unlike every other novel in the Dark Tower saga, Song of Susannah doesn't stand on its own. It's a continuation of Wolves of the Calla, and by the story's end no plot threads are finished — everything is left hanging for the finale. It's a fast-paced tale, and the writing itself is good, but it simply doesn't stand on its own merit.

The problem is nothing really happens here. There is no major character development. The reader is not introduced to any new concepts or ideas or characters. It just feels incomplete, or like King wrote the book on autopilot. There is a reason it took me over a week to finish what should've been the quickest read in the DT cycle — this book is a bit of a chore.

That being said, this book is not bad. The Ka-tet is as lovable and fun to read about as ever, but I do not like the fact that they are split up throughout the entirety of this novel and don't come together until book seven. King expands on the meta concepts introduced in Wolves of the Calla in interesting ways, though the developments can be a bit much to handle. I personally love King's insertion of himself here — I think it's the most thrilling part of this particular book — but I know some fans are repelled by it. That's cool. Different strokes, and all that.

I'm keeping this review short because, honestly, I'm struggling with finding things to say about Song of Susannah. It's not bad, but it's not great. It's an easy read, but it does nothing but set the stage for The Dark Tower. It has identity issues, and it's a little messy. I was going to give it three stars, but I'll be generous and give it three and a half. I think it works as the penultimate story in this series, but I certainly don't love it.

In the aftermath of the battle with the Wolves, Susannah disappears with Black Thirteen to go have her baby. Can the rest of the ka-tet find Susannah and secure the vacant lot where The Rose grows before the Tower falls?

This is my third time reading Song of Susannah. It's still in my Dark Tower bottom three but I come at it from a different perspective since my wife and I will be greeting our chap in just under a month.

In my re-read of Wolves of the Callah, I said I thought that book could have been a hundred pages shorter. The same goes for Song of Susannah. There is so much extraneous crap in this! Talk, talk, talk. The Beams holding up the Dark Tower are in danger but let's waste a lot of time with chitchat. Susannah is my least favorite member of the ka-tet and this one is very Susannah-heavy.

That being said, I still enjoy it. While I logically know the Tower isn't going to fall, King has me frantically reading to make sure this is still the case. The man knows how to ratchet up the suspense when the characters aren't talking everything to death. Eddie and Jake seem like bonafide bad asses in this book, even more than the last. There were also quite a few references I didn't catch the first time through, like to blind bluesman Reverend Gary Davis and to The Quincunx.

I found it somewhat off-putting when Stephen King wrote himself into the series when I first read it but it seems like a normal part of the story now, like a scar that's faded so much it's almost invisible.

Not a whole lot else for me to say, I'm afraid. This was very much a transitional book. I think maybe Stephen King wanted the Dark Tower to go seven books and padded Wolves and this one to make it so. Trimming the fat and combining Wolves and Song into one would probably have made a better reading experience.

Okay, back on the Path of the Beam for me. Let's see if I can get to the Dark Tower before my wife gives birth to our chap.

The 2011 re-read:
Susanna/Mia uses Black Thirteen and flees to New York to have her baby. Roland, Eddie, Jake, and Callahan get the Manni to open the Unfound Door and end up in the wrong places. Can Roland and Eddie convince Calvin Tower to sell them the lot where the Rose grows? Can Jake and Callahan find Susannah before she has her baby?

Song of Susannah was my least favorite book in the Dark Tower series the first time through. Susannah has never been my favorite character in the Dark Tower saga and this book is really Susannah-heavy. On the second read, I had to raise it another star. The Susannah/Mia conflict had its moments and did a lot of setting up for the big shebang coming in the seventh and final book. A lot more background information was revealed.

I'd be lying if I said Susannah was the reason I upped this one a star upon re-reading. The other reason is that Jake and Eddie seem like bonafide Gunslingers in this book, even more than they did in Wolves of the Calla. I have a feeling their fates in The Dark Tower are going to be almost as painful the second time through. The relationship between Eddie and Roland has developed quite a bit since The Drawing of the Three, as has Roland's character. I still love Long, Tall, and Ugly, even though he'd probably leave me along the Path of the Beam the first morning I bitched about not having coffee.

There is something else that I liked a lot more the second time but it's pretty spoilerific. Now that I've had a few years to digest Stephen King writing himself into the story, it doesn't really irk me like it did the first time.

While it's not my favorite of the Dark Tower books, it's still good and it lays a lot of the cards down on the table for the final volume, The Dark Tower. See you all along the Path of the Beam.

Cred ca este cea mai stranie carte de pana acum din toata seria. Cred ca numai Stephen King ar fi putut sa se introduca ca personaj in propria poveste. Si cred ca doar in seria asta acest lucru sa fie ceva normal, normal pentru Stephen King.
I think it is the weird book so far in the whole series. I think that only Stephen King could have introduced himself as a character in his own story. And I think that only in this series will this be something normal, normal for Stephen King.

The penultimate (not counting the tacked on afterthought that is The Wind Through the Keyhole) book in the Dark Tower overwhelming mass of text had a couple of advantages vs. the parts leading up to it. There's some decent writing in here that occasionally caught my interest and also, it's shorter.

The main "story" again flounders, goes off on tangents, feels stitched and patched and hardly moves in any direction, least of all towards any Tower. I won't even go into the "writer within the story"-idea.

One more to go. It's a pity I am not interested in the least in what the tower holds or what happens to any of the characters, but however those things turn out, the absurd completist in me will at least settle down (for now, anyway...)

Definitely not my favorite of the series. Still worthy of four stars on my second go round reading this book. Let’s just call it a segue to the final installment.

Things seemed a bit unorganized at times as King plods along a bit towards the finish line for the series.

I didn’t really care for the Mia character. Not sure why King spent so much time on her and less time on the ones he has poured his heart and soul into for five books.

That being said, my breath was taken away and goosebumps were a plenty when King wrote himself into his own novel! Some people hated this but I found it to be mind fuckery at its finest

4.5

Unpopular opinion: I liked Song of Susannah better than Wolves of the Calla. LOL

It seems that a lot of my friends and fellow reviewers thought this book was boring or fell off with The Dark Tower series with this one, but I loved it. I was not bored at all with the story, it was extremely fast paced and engaging and I REALLY loved what Stephen King towards the end. (if you know, you know)

I get that the overall arc of the story did not progress with this installment, but I think we learned some valuable things here that will arm our ka-tet with important factors they'll need when they face off with whatever they may find in their path in the final book of the series. I am SO hyped to finish this series coming off this book. I also must confess that Susannah & Company is/are my favorite character(s), so that might be why I loved this book so much when others didn't.

Song of Susannah was not as enjoyable for me this time around. I deducted one star from my original rating.

It seemed like there were a lot of words, (especially the word "chap", enough already!) but the story didn't seem to move very far.

What I really enjoyed about this audio were the diary entries from SK himself, which were read by the narrator after the story was over. In these entries, he talks about his drinking, about how some of the DT stories came about, and about how he and his wife argued over his taking his daily walks alongside a busy highway. That was truly chilling. I don't remember these being in the book back when I read it the first time, so it may be something that was only included in the audio, or in reprints of the original book? If I'm in error about that, I'm sure someone will let me know.

I only have one book to go in my audio re-read of the DT series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Fantasy

This is the sixth novel in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. In this book, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet continue their epic quest to reach the Dark Tower, the epicenter of existence in a multiverse under threat of catastrophe. Their objective is to get to the tower before it is destroyed.

In this book, the group is separated into three groups, and the reader will follow the quest of each one of them. There are a lot of obstacles that Roland and his companions need to overcome. Susannah Dean is now carrying a child that might not be human. After Susannah becomes possessed by Mia, a demon who wants to give birth to this child, they are sent to New York City in the year 1999.

The group's connection is pushed to the test as they travel across parallel universes and contend with dangers coming from a variety of areas. As Roland and his allies move closer to their ultimate goal of reaching the Dark Tower and saving all of existence, they are faced with the challenge of overcoming their own personal demons and making difficult decisions.

The fact that Stephen King himself appears as a character in this novel is one of its most bizarre aspects, as his presence has a positive impact on the narrative in several ways. Despite the fact that I do not consider this to be quite as good as the first three novels in the series, I do believe that it is significantly better than the prior two books. There's a logical reason why Susannah's name is included in the title as well. When reading about her, the reader invests a significant amount of time in knowing about this character. In general, this was really entertaining.