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Author: Stephen King
Category: Fiction – Fantasy

Roland Deschain–gunslinger from Gilead–has nearly collected the whole of his ka-tet. Eddie Dean and Odetta (now called Susannah) have fallen to his side and taken their place, emerging as eager gunslingers in training and in Mid-World, they begin their new lives, following their dinh (leader). And while they might have conquered their own individual problems, collectively, their problems are only beginning. Here, they have found the gate of Shardik, the bear and guardian of one end of the many beams that hold together this world and all the others. As Roland soon tells his mates, the universe is a multitude of worlds, all of them supported by the beams; beams which come together at the nexus which is the Dark Tower.

As it turns out, Shardik is no ordinary bear and he is terribly sick. This book picks up as they discover the guardian and are forced to take him on before they can follow the path of the beam towards their goal. Many discoveries are made here and along the way which bring to light the essence of this world and some of the others, the importance of the beams, the significance of the guardians and the danger they are up against. But perhaps most important of all is the fact that the tet is finally completed with the addition of Jake Chambers (who is drawn out of a dangerous gateway–which proves to have dire consequences) and Oy, a billy bumbler (animal described as a mix of a racoon, a badger and a dog) with limited speaking abilities who quickly bonds with young Chambers.

With the tet finally complete, the group must head on along the path of the beam, a path that will lead them through strange cities and stranger people, putting before them terrible danger that they must overcome if they are to continue on. Here they must confront gangs of demented survivors and outlaws who, dangerous as they might seem, might not be a fraction of the trouble Blaine turns out to be towards the end. Unfortunately, the tet needs Blaine and all of their struggles might have been a waste if they can not find the way to outsmart this rival.

Reading with plenty of action and keeping up with the intoxicating thrill of this story, The Wastelands is the book with the best title, but unfortunately also the worst ending. Expect one hell of a cliff hanger that feels less like a cliff hanger and more like Stephen King running entirely out of fuel and thinking he may as well just stop there and continue some other time. It was here that I finished reading the books the first time around. With this ending and thinking that after his accident the author would no longer pick up the series, I gave up. It was not until now, after the series was long finished that I picked them up again. Not surprisingly, the ending angered me this time around as much as it did the first time, but knowing that the fourth book was at arms reach definitely tapered the edge on it. Nevertheless, this book does feel weaker. Stephen King returns to his old habits and begins to write pages of filler. Here and there he adds detail for the sake of adding detail and the result is one of the bigger tomes which feels like it could have been paired down. Thankfully, there is so much going on in this story that the filler does not necessarily feel as such.

Rating:
Comments: From this point on the books begin to get heavy (literally and figuratively), details become important to remember and hints are being dropped all over the place as to where it all will end up.