Just not my kind of book or series I guess.

I found some parts interesting but having to dig through the paragraph-long sentences that seemed to jump randomly from subject to subject just lost me. 

Some people really enjoyed this book. I've had many people recommend it. I passed the 50% mark today, which is my rule before giving up on a book, and decided I simply was NOT enjoying it at all and saw no point in continuing.  

I'm really disappointed because I had heard so many good things about this series. 

King resumed the epic quest for the Dark Tower five years after the publication of the first volume. The main character and the setting remain the same, but it's a very different style of book, much more slowly paced and filled with more mythic allusions; the doorways are the very definition of portal fantasies to our contemporary world, the drawing of the three echo Tolkien's establishment of the Fellowship, and you can just go on and on. He examines addiction and obsession and mental illness challenges, but never loses sight of the ultimate goal, though neither Roland nor King nor the reader are sure how or when or if that goal will be achieved. The mirror-world that Roland and his friends move through is masterfully created, a version of ours that has moved on, with neat pieces from horror and science fiction sprinkled liberally about the landscape. (The lobstrosities are particularly creepy.) It's a terrific read, very rich and detailed, with some of the best characterization to be found in modern fantasy.

"Roland, l’ultimo cavaliere in un mondo ormai scaduto, sterile e vuoto."

Secondo capitolo della saga e.....tachicardia cazzo!!!
Avvincente è dire poco.
Ci svegliamo su di una spiaggia deserta, abitata da crostacei giganti e quasi intelligenti, tanto da riuscire a mutilare Roland, tranciando due dita della mano destra del pistolero....come farà ora?
Deve praticamente ancora iniziare tutto, iniziare la ricerca delle porte che lo condurranno al "prigioniero" Eddie e la sua scimmia , alla porta della "signora delle ombre" di Odetta e Detta, una negra dolce e intelligente ed una fottutamente cazzuta, e non chiamatele "nere" che si offendono. E alla porta della "morte" dove troverà Jack...ma chi è quest'ultimo?

Un viaggio al cardiopalma, un susseguirsi di colpi di scena, sparatorie, morti, mondi paralleli, voci nella testa, sogni febbricitanti.
Un' avventura che si ha voglia di proseguire nonostante i pericoli e la messa a repentaglio della propria vita.

E tra un' aramostra e l'altra accompagneremo questi Stintini cazzuti alla ricerca della Torre Nera.
Forza che il viaggio è ancora lungo.

4.5/5 stars

n  “Dad-a-chuck? Dad-a-chum?”n

Those words - those crazily addictive questioning words asked by the Lobstrocities after they come rolling out of the night-time surf - they have always stood out in my mind's memory (side note: all week I've been saying them around the house ”Ded-a-check?”). It's one of the things I have never forgotten from my first reading of this second book on the road to the dark tower. How could I, when our hero is maimed so early into these pages. I remember back when, sitting stunned as Roland watched his fingers drop into the gullet of the snapping crawly thing on the sand. n  “Dum-a-chum?”n Was he asking “for another finger or two”, as he came for more of Roland? I think he was. n  “Dod-a-chock?”n Yeah, dod-a-chock, you little monster you. Your questioning sentences are cute and they roll off the tongue, but you are one scary bastard. This wasn't the first time King would gamble with the fate of a main character. It is “Ka”, as Roland would say. But here and now in that moment, the Tower became an afterthought. Our hero went for his gun, only to find it fall from a fingerless right hand.

And of course I could not have forgotten the three doors standing somewhere along the beach ahead, and who lay behind them – well, the first two anyway. With an infection racing towards his heart, finding the first promised door becomes Roland's only chance. If this book was good in its start, then it's great in its second third. The dynamic progresses again with the opening of the second door. It's kind of brilliant in its portrayal. And for whatever reason, I'd forgotten about the Pusher. Who and what he is, and how his actions of the past have tied things together. Forgetting has its way of making reading new again. The beach ends here, and the waste lands are ahead.

Tras el salto a ciegas que supone el primer libro, ahora al menos sabemos que la piscina tiene agua cuando Stephen King nos vuelve a soltar en el universo de la Torre Oscura.

Precisamente me quejaba en la reseña del primer libro que éste resultaba una especie de prólogo o presentación del mundo donde se encuentra Roland. Pues ahora ya sabemos dónde está el pistolero y desde la primera página podemos disfrutar de la historia. Una historia mucho más completa y basada en los personajes que permite seguir ahondando en el universo de La Torre Oscura sin que perdamos interés en los personajes, como me pasaba en el anterior libro.

La llegada de los aliados de Roland me ha parecido un acierto y permite dar mucho más juego a la trama. Unos aliados muy bien construidos y atractivos que me recuerdan al mejor Stephen King.

Dudaba antes si seguir con la saga por las altas expectativas pero de momento las ha cumplido y seguiré con ella sin dudarlo.

The Drawing of the Three deserves my five stars not simply for being a kick-ass book but for a more important reason: it rescued and defined the entire Dark Tower series.

If you read, or read between the lines of most reviews of The Gunslinger, you'll find that many people enjoyed it but were not blown away. The style is inaccessible, there are no answers to questions and you don't really understand what's going on. Then read what people say when they hit Drawing. They are catapulted into the series and never look back. It was the same for me. After the first book, it was 50/50 as to whether I was going to continue. After Drawing, I was like Eddie Dean on smack: I had to climb the Dark Tower. Stephen King must have made the decision that he was taking this seriously and going all the way.

I'm a fan of a wild opening scenes and there is none wilder than Roland on the beach. King signals that Drawing and the rest of the series will not have that sleepy, dream-like feel of Gunslinger. Roland is going to have to scratch and claw his way to the Tower and King is not going to make it easy on him, say thankya. If you yell out, "holy shit" while you're reading something, it was good.

The Dark Tower series is, stripped to its bare bones, a Quest Story. The Quest has been done. And done. I would argue, however, that King recognized that many Quest Stories omit what is potentially an interesting facet of the plot: how were the Quest pilgrims drawn together. Even in books I admire, this aspect is not always fully realized. In Lord of the Rings, we don't see any invitations mailed for the Council of Elrond. In Hyperion, the Pilgrims are suddenly in a flying tree. A tree. While it's an author's prerogative to explore the facets that advance their vision, I'm glad King dedicated an entire novel to this group union and I'm glad he called it a "drawing" because not all participants come "willingly".

The pace is lightening. The scenes are gold. The dialogue is razor sharp. And Roland has a purse. That's right, you got a problem?

3.5 stars!

This is the second book in my re-read of the Dark Tower series via audiobook.

For some reason this series alternates narrators. I can't figure that out? I guess it's not that important, but I much prefer George Guidall who narrated the first book, than Frank Muller, who narrated this one. This audio actually brought my rating down by a half star. I love the story, but the narrator did not work well for me.

I shall march onward with book 3 soon!

My 2nd time on the journey but 1st time listening to audio!
This was my favorite book in the series last time and we may be on par for another - this one is just so rich in character and plot development and so dang interesting!
I already knew everything that was going to happen and I still found myself going ooooo and ahhhhh on a regular basis.

This doesn't change my rating but I'm on the fence with the narrator, he does Detta and Odetta amazingly but really botches Eddie. I know the narrator changes in a couple books and I'm actually looking forward to it!

Το κάλεσμα των τριών νομίζω ότι έχει πιο ενδιαφέρουσα πλοκή και περισσότερη αγωνία από το πρώτο μέρος της σειράς.
Επίσης νομίζω τα βρήκα αρκετά με τους ήρωες διότι κατάφερα να συμπαθήσω λίγο περισσότερο τον Ρόλαντ, όπως επίσης με εξέπληξαν ευχάριστα οι δύο καινούριους ήρωες στο βιβλίο (δεν λέω ποιοι). Ο Κινγκ τους έπλασε με ένα παρανοϊκό αλλά πολύπλοκα υπέροχο βάθος (πραγματικά δεν ξέρω πως αλλιώς θα μπορούσα να το περιγράψω).
Κάτι που ακόμη βρήκα ευχάριστο είναι ότι παρόλο που και πάλι γίνεται χαμός σε έναν μεταποκαλυπτικό κόσμο, το "κάλεσμα των τριών" δεν έχει αυτή την καταθλιπτική και αποπνικτική ατμόσφαιρα του πρώτου, διότι η πλοκή κινείται με ταχύτητα κρατώντας και τον αναγνώστη σε εγρήγορση.
Μου άρεσε πολύ περισσότερο απ’ ότι περίμενα.

We're all friends here so I can be 100% honest with you..

I have no clue what's happening in The Dark Tower series.

I'm super confused and I don't understand how the world works.

And yet...

AND YET...

I still want to read this series. I never stopped being interested or entertained while reading it despite my complete and utter confusion.

I don't understand my feelings for this series. I should hate it but I don't.

Send help!

Dad-a-chum?
Dum-a-chum?
Ded-a-chek?
Did-a-chick?

You'll never look at a giant crab the same again!

That's most of what I remember from this book. Our man Roland walking up the beach dodging talkative crabs and encountering free standing doors through which his three companions are delivered, complete with satisfying backstories.



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