Wizard and Glass

This book is so incredibly, unbelievably breathtaking. It's such a rollercoaster of a story. The highs are towering (no pun intended) and the lows are subterranean. This was a reread for me and while I enjoyed the story the first time around, I loved it so much more this time. I was way more emotionally invested in and, connected to the story this time. The love story of Roland and Susan is so gracefully, magnificently written. It just erupts with unmatched fire, passion, and potency. We all know just how dominant new love can be. King does a brilliant job with making us readers feel everything right along with the characters as they're feeling it. Through this story, we're able to get the backstory of how Roland came to be the man we first met in The Gunslinger. We find out why Roland chooses to begin his quest for The Dark Tower. King always does well with creating a story within the story. This might just be the greatest story within the story ever! The ending was... strange and unexpected. I'm not quite sure where all that came from. Overall this book is a work of art and if it wasn't clear, this is my favorite of the series!

I think I might be done with this series. Wizard and Glass was a dissapointment for me, unfortunately, despite looking forward to reading Roland’s backstory. The book’s main problem was that it was BORING as hell. I struggled for two months to finish and I started to skip at the end. I did not like the beggining as I am not a fan of riddles and, unexepectedly, Roland’s story was even worse.

By the end of this novel I realize I don’t like the characters too much ( except for Jake), I actually despise Susannah and I don’t care that much what happens to them and the Tower. I still like King’s writing and I plan to read more of him but it might not be this series.

This was by far the best, in my opinion. I loved the story of fourteen-year-old Roland and his love Susan. As mush as King says he struggles to write romance, I saw no evidence of that here. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking.

After a riddle contest with Blaine the Mono, Roland and his ka-tet continue on their quest for the Dark Tower. While camping, Roland reveals the story of his youth and his first love.

The best part of this was Roland's backstory. You see that he wasn't always the killing machine he's become and learn a lot more of the backstory of the series as well. Astute Stephen King readers will appreciate the world they go through after entering the thinny.

The only complaint I have about this one is that I could have done without all the Wizard of Oz business. It seemed like he just slapped that on to wrap things up.

The 2011 re-read:
My opinion of Wizard and Glass has been colored somewhat by the passage of time. While I enjoyed the tale of Roland's first love and the confrontation with the Big Coffin Hunters, the flashback seemed about a hundred pages too long, like maybe Stephen King wasn't sure where he wanted the story to go next and decided to do some stalling.

That's not to say I don't like Wizard and Glass. It's just my least favorite of the first four Dark Tower books. It's still pretty good, though. The tension mounts as Roland and his young ka-tet head toward their inevitable conflict with the Big Coffin Hunters. It reminds me a lot of the battle between the Earps and the Cowboys in Tombstone.

The middle book of the Dark Tower is still a satisfying read, no matter what your opinion of the extended Flashback. Roland's back story makes him an even more tragic figure than before.

This buddy-read has been long- Some of our ka-tet have fallen...some have been left behind in the dust. We have picked up a few new members along the way- but only the strongest and most cunning will survive the whole journey to The Daaaaark Tooooooower.



Buddy-read with our fearless leader- Quick Draw Stepheny, Jumpin' Jeff, Calamity Bev, Welcome- Kid Colt Karly, and Dastardly Dan...and let us have a moment of silence for our fallen members- Bronco Bustin' Black Jackin' Jason- Jason's perverted name will be missed- as will Jason...and who knows maybe a year from now he will get past page 43. One can only hope. May luck be with you, my friend. Also missing in action- is the cute as a button Bloody Black Kit Kat- We lost Kat to.....THE MANGAAAA....Da da Daaaaaaaaaaa *key scary music*...and last but not least Shotgun Slingin' Steven- Steven was last seen fighting with a succubus in The Wastelands- This was a battle he unfortunately lost. Sorry Steven- We tried to save you...really we did.



WIZARD AND GLASS- book # four in the series- begins exactly where The Waste Lands leaves off...Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake "Ake", and Oy: are riddling with Blaine the Mono. After dealing with Blaine the Pain- the ka-tet ends up in Topeka, Kansas...where they are rewarded with Roland's story. The story of his past...The story of what made Roland...Roland.



His original ka-tet- Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns...





...his battles with baddies- Rhea of the Coos and The Big Coffin Hunters...



...and the love of his life- Susan Delgado.

This one is for the laaaaaaaaaaaaadies. Or men with curiosity and romance in their hearts- because over 1/2 of WIZARD AND GLASS is the love story between Roland and Susan and how Roland came to be the heart-broken, distant, cold- man we see before us. Some people don't want to know what made their hero that way...some like these things to remain a mystery. I am not one of those people- I like things explained, and I don't mind my heroes vulnerable and human.

WIZARD AND GLASS is my favorite of the series so far! I am sooooooo looking forward to the next buddy-read. Let the journey continue!!

Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include Wizard and Glass in my Dark Tower Ranking list here. Please subscribe if I've earned it!

In a sentence: Stephen King does Tombstone (the movie) to great effect.



With only about 25% of actual series plot development (or 500 pages sandwiched between plot development), you'd think I would hate this book. Had I not known about this beforehand or had I waited 6 years for more Dark Tower, I'd probably be singing a different tune.

Then again, I love me a western and to call them Gunslingers on top of it all (such a cool word), I'm pretty sure I would have loved Wizard and Glass no matter what.

After quickly resolving the cliffhanger at the end of The Wastelands, Roland Deschain proceeds to tell his story that he has obviously been needing to tell for quite a while. I honestly thought we wouldn't have a resolution to that particular scene until much later in the book with the flashback in the middle of that. I'm very glad my expectations were wrong.

Roland, at only 14 years old, is sent to Mejis with his two good friends Mat and Perrin... I mean Cuthbert and Alain. I couldn't help but draw the comparison to the Wheel of Time as it's pretty close, but also vastly different.



In book one, The Gunslinger, we found out that Roland became the youngest gunslinger ever at the age of 14 and Roland's flashback picks up immediately after.

As far as the people of Mejis know, these youths were in fact truant youngsters who were sent on a mission to count. That's right, count everything from fish nets to horses. In reality, they are sent there to get them out of harm's way, but what they find instead is a group not dissimilar to The Cowboys from the movie Tombstone named the Big Coffin Hunters.

At this point in the history of Mid-World, the Affiliation is the governing body, to which Roland and his friends belong, but which is facing the growing problem with the Good Man, who's inciting rebellion among other things.

Innocuous mission turns dangerous, sweet. But that's not all you get, you'll also find one of the best love stories you've ever read. More you say? There's suspense, tragedy, gunslinging, and one of the most amazing scenes I've ever read involving the best stand-off you'll ever find anywhere.

EDIT: How did I forget to add the greatest love story ever told. I think I was worried about spoilers, but what the hey! Roland and Susan Delgado. Period. King proves he's a master with all the good stuff in this book, this love story is one of the best.

Regarding the famous (or infamous) Wizard of Oz elements I thought this worked extremely well. The Dark Tower is all about drawing comparisons between this world and the world of The Dark Tower. It's just the right amount of dreaminess that fits so perfectly with this world and made the smooth transition back to Mid-World.  

If King wants to tell the rest of this series through flashbacks, I'm on-board. I really hope to hear more about Cuthbert and Alain and if not both, then at least Cuthbert. Can he please join the new Ka-tet? Pretty please?

While I didn't quite know what to expect, but knowing at least that there was a lengthy flashback, the more I think about it, Wizard and Glass is my favorite volume in the Dark Tower so far. The flashback story is amazing and ratchets this series up in scope and epicness, giving method behind the madness.

If you haven't read The Dark Tower series, you're in for a treat. What? I'm the last person to do so? Well, I love it. I don't reread books much, but I will definitely do so once I'm done. This series is epic and tragic in every sense of each word. You will not regret it.

5 out of 5 Stars

Ps. Did I mention there's gunslinging?

Upon re-reading this novel, I feel like I have become Susan Delgado, trapped behind the glass. Mayhap I'm banging my hands against the walls of the thinny, mayhap I'm rustlin with some of the timbers just whispering to a spark.

I love and hate this book.

The first time I read it when it came out, I was like... GREAT! We get to see what happens to Blaine and the Ka-Tet! How far do they get to the Tower before all turns to Ka-Ka? After 500 pages, I knew. After 700, I despaired. After 1,850 pages, I just wanted to click my heels and go the f*** home. Is this an end? Is this a GOOD end? I leave that determination up to all you good folk on the outer edges of Mid-World.

Me, however, I DID NOT like what I did for the Dark Tower. A little bit, yes. Some parts were fantastic and necessary and a real wooo-wooo moment for fans of SK in general. But let's just say you probably should start out a big honker of a tale like this at the BEGINNING of a big honker of a bigger tale. Instead, we have 10% story progression and 90% flashback.

Don't get me wrong, however! The 14-year-old Roland and his youthful Ka-Tet is a great story all on its own, ushering forth a doomed romance, gunslinging, magic, a LoTR Palantir, and enough WWII machinery to burn away Mid-World. This is the time before the World Has Moved On and the conflagration that set this choo-choo a-humping.

For itself, the tale might have been better at the very beginning, or better yet, spread throughout the first book of the DT, giving us a back-and-forth of young-man Roland and Terminator Roland as he hunts down the Man in Black. Yes, the first book would be huge, but at least things would be in their proper places.

As for Roland's later Ka-Tet? Sure, we could have another campfire story, but it would be a LOT shorter and we wouldn't have to rely on the Thinny to spread a week's tale into a single night. And also that... thing... that Baum thing... wouldn't feel like such a fizzled bomb.

Good, fun writing, all told, never boring, but the structure of this... well... I think Stephen King forgot the face of his father.

“The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass” by Stephen King, the thirteenth stop on my epic Dark Tower journey, dives deep into Roland the Gunslinger’s backstory—my favorite character—and it was an incredible ride.

Before my review, I’d love to share my specific path in The Dark Tower series. I spent a few months researching how to get the most out of King’s magnum opus. I asked fellow Constant Readers, amazing librarians, and horror readers who confirmed this was the best route for the ultimate Dark Tower reading experience…

The Stand
The Eyes of the Dragon
Insomnia
Hearts in Atlantis
‘Salem’s Lot
The Talisman
Black House
Everything's Eventual (The Little Sisters of Eluria)
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
Charlie the Choo-Choo
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

Here are the trigger warnings I found while reading this novel…

- Pandemic
- Racism
- Violence against animals

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, this was a genuine page-turner! I couldn’t wait to continue reading it due to the aftermath of “The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands.” Please don’t worry; I’d never spoil anything, but this was a great way to start this novel. It was creepy yet exhilarating since I had no idea what would happen. The cliffhanger from the previous book and reading “Charlie THE Choo-Choo” for another huge plot twist were all mind-boggling.

Also, for those of you who are taking this journey to The Dark Tower, King summarizes what transpired before starting the next book.​ Since so much is happening with many characters, situations, antagonists, and everything else, this helped as a friendly reminder of what happened before the next set of events.

I enjoyed this “story within a story” style as it gave me a deeper look into Roland’s backstory with Gilead, his mother, and his early love life.​ I do wish “The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass” was a bit scarier, but I get it. This felt like a much-needed break from the usual horror found in previous books of the series, but regardless, I enjoyed it immensely.

One huge thing that made up for it was an epic tie-in to another popular novel by King! No spoilers here, but when you realize it, it’ll blow your mind as it did mine.

So far on my journey to The Dark Tower, I love the true meaning of a ka-tet. The symbolism with friends, doing the right thing, fighting evil, and so much more, has been a fun recurring theme to read about. As I’ve always said for decades now, friends can be family, and in many cases, that’s all the family you need to navigate life.

Even though I wish there had been a bit more horror here, I loved all the action in the various fight scenes throughout the novel. They were fantastic and action-packed, and again, I couldn’t stop reading once they happened.

Now, when it comes to the ending, it’s just three simple words, my friends: OH MY GOD!!! The ending was so magnificent that I read it twice because at first, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was so insane that it left me speechless. I’ll be thinking about this ending for many years to come.

I give “The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass” by Stephen King a 5/5 for another memorable reading experience and an extensive look at what makes Roland the Gunslinger tick. I loved his backstory, this new ka-tet's adventures, and ​a drop-the-mic ending​ that still ha​s my jaw on the floor. This is another King classic, and I’m so excited to see how everything in The Dark Tower ends.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, since I already found a wizard and a glass, it’s time to look through a keyhole to find some wind.