Part of me feels guilty wasting words in this review, the other part of me is compelled to do so as a favor to society. Obviously we know what side of me won and if you want the short and simple without having to spend your time reading the rest of what I have to say, just take this with you: THIS. BOOK. SUCKS.

Considering the rabid following this book has, the multitude of times I have heard this book is a must read, the number of people that consider this the best book ever written and the high placement often given to this book–contrary to all logic–I am surprised by how terrible this read was. It would not be a stretch to say that this is the worst book I have ever read from cover to cover. It must be noted, however, that most bad books are dropped within a hundred pages if they fail to get my attention. That was not the case with Atlas Shrugged, simply because I had tried reading it once and stopped reading it at about page 500. When I made an attempt to comment on this book’s lack of value, I was promptly told I could not judge it because I never finished it. So, after reading five books in the month of January, this book took me from February to the end of April to get through, mostly because I dreaded having to sit down with it and opted to game, or watch movies, or watch paint dry instead.

The story is simple and tells the story of the Taggart siblings–Jim and Dagny–who are of two very different mentalities when it comes to running their Transcontinental Railroad business. Dagny, a woman who worships reason, is determined to run the business to the best of her abilities, as effectively as possible and circumventing the unnecessary red tape put before her. Jim, is a dunce who hides behind the popular, social driven theories that serve as the counter argument–weak as they might be–to the theme of this book. It is through a number of challenges that Dagny fights the world, trying to do what her mind tells her is best, realizing along the way that she is not alone and all over the world, men of the mind are taking their own stance under the banner of one man, who boldly claimed, he would stop the engine of the world.

Forget the Objectivism argument. Whether you agree or not with Rand’s philosophy, is really beside the point when discussing the merit of a book as literature. This book wields an ‘epic fail’ badge of amazing proportions. We could tackle the monotonous and overly redundant plot, whose sole purpose is to beat into your head with a hammer that this objectivist view point works in every level of life. This is certainly necessary if you have less than three living, active brain cells residing in your head. If you are, however, capable of formulating simple thoughts it does not take very much to get the idea Rand is trying to drive home before you reach page 300. The remaining 900 pages are only a reiteration of every speech made, a re-statement of every argument brought up and more condescending rants from the author.

At 500 pages, The Fountainhead was a challenge to read, but not entirely pointless. It achieves in less than half the number of pages, everything that this book does, while also managing to hold a reasonable plot. Apparently someone, somewhere, did not feel The Fountainhead was enough, that they needed to see the long version written and Ayn Rand was more than willing to comply.

There are only two characters in this book, the noble man of the mind and the looter. That is it. Sure, the two characters go by many names, but they fit neatly into those two categories without any variation. The personalities of the people in each category are the same; they act the same; the behave the same; they dress the same; they think the same. Rearden is Dagny, who is Francisco, who is Galt…changing the names on a character does not a new character make, but this is a concept that seems to have gone beyond Ayn’s head like the idea that people might actually be able to think for themselves (an irony considering the theme of the book, which paints her as little more than a hypocrite). In the same fashion, Lawson is Taggart, who is Stadler, who is Boyle and in like manner, they are all amazingly annoying to the same extent. Ayn Rand succeeds in making flawlessly perfect heroes and perfectly flawed villains, all of them apparent clones of each other. If the simplicity of her characterization were not simple enough, however, Ayn makes it even easier for the reader to translate: if a character is physically lean and good-looking, they are a good guy; if they are pudgy and soft, they are a bad guy. Sadly, this is Rand’s approach and as much as I would like to say it is, this is not an exaggeration. Atlas Shrugged truly paints ALL of the characters with these two brushes, which would not be such a problem if the novel was a hundred pages in length, but when it rakes up 1221 of them, the idea is enough to tempt one to commit suicide rather than read this atrocity.

The simplicity of the plot and characterization is further hindered by Ayn’s inability to see in a gray scale. You are either a man of the mind and reason, or you are scum of the earth. In a very George Bush sort of way, she has divided the world into the Axis of Good and the Axis of Evil and applies those rules so that you fit in one neat box or the other, leaving no room in between. This, combined with her inability to weave a realistic story, leaves us with a mess that is only going to satisfy those of a like mind that enjoy her murderously long monologues which reassure her and her audience of how noble they are and how corrupt the rest of the world is.

This brings us to her philosophy–one I am loathe to bring up because it merits its own discussion, in its own forum, with a proper dialogue and debate–which permeates every page of this tome. Agree with it or not, there is no denying that this is a masturbatory piece of work, whose only purpose seems to be 1) reassert one’s values if you believe in them or 2) show the world how wrong they are for not worshiping her point of view. Ayn Rand leaves no room for realism here, playing on the extremes of the fields makes of this book a highly idealistic work that is in no way applicable to our world and which in turn ends up being an utter waste of time, because what IS important, what DOES need to be said, could have been summarized effectively and efficiently within a couple hundred pages. Instead, what you get is the torment of repetition, where each character takes a stab at making long speeches, whining about how the world can be so blind to not see what they see, complaining about how wronged they are and then turning right around to compliment each other on their own, unique brand of awesomeness. This would all work, even if you do not agree with their theory, if the characters were in some way likeable.

Unfortunately, there are no likeable characters; there is nobody to relate to. Rearden is likeable, for about three hundred pages, before he turns into a complete douche bag. Francisco starts off as an intriguing bad-ass but turns out to be a cartoon with no backbone as it pertains to Dagny, who goes around opening her legs for every man of the mind she meets on any given day. Needless to say, Dagny herself is hard to like, when she goes submitting from one man, to the next, to the next, until she meets the ultimate man of reason (Galt) abandoning her other lovers with twisted justification which is made all the more ludicrous by the men’s own compliance. It is difficult to understand Francisco’s decade long love for Dagny or Rearden’s ardent passion for the same, when in the drop of a dime, Dagny hands herself over to Galt’s feet (I would love to hear the feminist point of view here) and Francisco and Rearden literally bow, noting how right she is to love Galt and not them.

There is a point, where this book loses the seriousness it tries to carry and becomes a complete, laugh-out-loud farce and once you are able to see it for the comedy it truly is, the book becomes actually more manageable. The plot still moves at snail speed, the speeches of 50 plus pages are redundant and boring, but the second part of the book does manage to provide some rather amusing moments.

For all its faults, the book is not entirely devoid of achievement. Ayn Rand has some interesting things to say which would remain so if she did not feel like she had to hammer them into our brains. There are a few plot points which do also start making a bit of a page turner of the book, particularly when it deals with the relationship between Francisco, Dagny and Rearden, but which is concluded in such a laughable fashion that burning the book might have been a real satisfactory action, if I had not been reading it on my nook. Those few, bright moments of insight are unfortunately overshadowed by the sheer magnitude of emptiness this novel stores.

The only thing that might save this novel is, if you are an objectivist yourself and subscribe to this idea, because if she does one thing well, it is applying her theory in every possible way in every aspect of life. One has a right to believe her philosophy–though most people might find it debatable as to its application–and that much could have been delivered better if she had left room for argument, if she had varied her characters, if she had dared step into the gray zones where things are not all evil and good but the complex matters of a complex world. In the end, it is easy to summarize her theory into one sentence, which is really the one thing you can draw from this book (not verbatim): Live and act to the limits of your knowledge and continue to increase said knowledge to the limits of your life. That was one of the truly profound statements I found in Galt’s speech, which I think is the must draw theory of this book and if you can understand that, the rest of this book is fluff.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Author: Jane Austen
Category: Fiction – Drama

Not a bad read, considering this was not at all up my alley. Having seen the movie (Joe Wright’s) first, I certainly felt like the book dragged a bit. The movie adaptation, I must say, did a fantastic job cutting the fat out of this story and giving us the pure core. The book could have used some editing, in my opinion; one hundred pages cut could have definitely helped. That being said, the length is not enough to suggest people stay away from this book.

The story circles around the Bennet family, which is formed of Mr. & Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, each of different temperament. Set at a time when social circles were imperative for the placement of daughters in proper marriages, this novel examines the theme or romance which is sparked when a wealthy young man arrives in the neighborhood to purchase one of the more expensive estates. Mr. Bingley and his friend, Mr Darcy, soon enough make the acquaintance of the Bennet family and promptly enough they are all thought a neat lesson on why it is perhaps not wise to judge a character based upon first impressions. At the same time, it explores the role of women in a society that largely favored men, while giving us as a central figure a very interesting female, lead character.

If there is an intimidation factor for this particular novel, I would put it on the language column. Jane Austen wields an impressive vocabulary that had me using the dictionary option of the nook often. I personally do not mind referencing dictionaries while reading, but I know a number of readers will have issues with that.

While I would say this novel was worth reading, I can also say I will most likely not read it again. It was a good read, it was interesting, it was very well written but the subject was not close enough to what I enjoy to really make it worth the second read; or to look up any of Austen’s other books for that matter.

In closing, do I recommend this book? Absolutely, if you are a fan of the romance/drama literary genre. If not…then there are plenty of other things worth reading to have to plow through this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde
Category: Fiction – Drama

Not an easy read, by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time not so over-the-top to make it scary. The topic has always been one that fascinated me; the idea that one person could push all the evil and negative consequences of their lives into an inanimate object and physically remain untouched baffled me as much as it intrigued me.

The novel focuses largely on Dorian Gray and two of his greater influences in life, Lord Henry–a decadent socialite–and Basil Hallward–a conscientious artist. Through these three men we witness the strange life that is Dorian Gray, a man of limited wealth and grand beauty, charm and charisma, that he seemed to attract every being that laid eyes on him. Though initially, seemingly innocent, we watch the corruption take root, take hold and eventually crush the life of the man who once wished his picture could age instead of his own self.

In a perfect instance of ‘careful-what-you-wish-for’, this novel serves as a very interesting, philosophical problem that is very much worth visiting.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Strain

Author: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Category: Fiction – Horror

Quite easily my favorite vampire novel since Bram Stoker’s Dracula. While this may not be literary genius in terms of the writing and its technical achievement, it is one of the most consuming, frightening, believable stories I have read in a very long time. This is very much an entertaining read, one that clutches with an iron grip and maintains a neck-breaking, page-turning pace that never lets up until the very end.

With a cast of like-able and realistic characters, we witness the start of an outbreak in New York that brings into our continent a previously unseen horror carried out by forces that up until this time, had been kept a secret. Utilizing believable methods, the authors do a great job at creating vampires that truly seem like a threat but never quite seem over the top or ridiculous–the way Anne Rice’s vampires are–or downright stupid–namely the Twilight vampires. If this creatures could be compared to anything, I would most closely put them to the intelligent, cunning, clever, terrifying creatures that took over Barrow in the graphic novel ’30 Days of Night’.

With a story that hooks you from the start and with better than average writing, The Strain proves to be a read that you will largely enjoy and consume far too quickly. Thankfully, the sequel to it is already out (and no, I have not yet read it).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Category: Fiction – Sci-fi/Post-Apocalyptic

Worst book I have read in a very, very, very long time. Yes, it is teen-lit, but that is no excuse for the garbage that is published in those wasted sheets of paper. You may not agree with me and in fact, considering the reception these books are getting from the public, it would seem I am in the minority, but I only finished reading this book to make sure I had a grip on the full story–if you wish to even call it that, considering the preposterous loops and holes that riddle it.

The story is simple enough, the Capitol, which rules the country of Panem and its 12 sister districts, stages an annual game in which a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18, from each district, are recruited as tributes to be placed in an arena, for a battle royale to the death. Why? Well apparently this shows the other districts that the Capitol is the boss, a bit of punishment dished out for a prior rebellion in the past which failed to conquer the Capitol. From the start, the premise is weak, but one supposes that the idea could hold some interesting concepts. The movie Battle Royale did a good job exploring the theme–which quite frankly appears to be ripped off entirely. In the theme of violence and children, Stephen King explored the topic as Richard Bachman in The Long Walk and William Golding masterfully delved into it in Lord of the Flies…but this book does not come within a stone’s throw of those books.

Filled with two dimensional, shallow, uninspired characters, the only thing this story consistently provides is eye-rolls and frustration. Written from a first person perspective, we are trapped in the mind of Katniss Everdeen, which is a shame, because there is not enough in that particular character to keep things interesting. Time and again one finds themselves wishing they could go elsewhere in the arena, where things might actually be worth our time instead of having to put up with Katniss’ pathetic ramblings and waste of time. It gets to a point where the grand majority of contestants are eliminates while we are busy watch Katniss hunt rabbits. That would not be so bad, if the bit of meat this novel provides were of any substance but the author proves her inability to carry a story by constantly making a potentially interesting subject seem insipid, sterile and lacking credible motivation.

The story starts weak and weakens further the closer we get to the book, but it does a great job ensuring that you do not end up getting closer to the two sequels. If you enjoy literature, I strongly suggest you stay away from this book. If you are willing to forgive a lot–and I do mean a lot–of poor writing, then this book might be a good way to burn a few hours in which you are certain you can not find something else to do…like picking your toenails.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Category: Fiction – Fantasy

All of the prior books amount to this, the final, epic story that concludes the Dark Tower Series and as any ending to a grand story, there are going to be people that love it to death and others that do not. For the most part I am one of the former and not the latter, but that is not to say that I have issue with some of the ways Mr. King chose to end the story, not least of which is the concept of Deux Ex Machina which the author himself is fully aware of and embraces. You might call it a set up and part of the story, I still think he needed a little help getting out of the massive tale he had built. On the positive side? It works.

This book is thrilling and exciting in its own King-ish way, taking us beyond the lands of Thunderclap into Fedic and pitting Roland’s ka-tet against the minions of the Crimson King. Starting off in New York, where the prior story left us, the group is finally re-united with a new problem they must face; one that is chasing them and not afraid to take them on. With Mordred on their tail and the Taheen and Can Toi ahead of them, the gunslingers have their hands full with danger, where they are faced with the decision to free the Breakers that are taking down the second to last beam, or kill them along with their captors.

What starts as a raid eventually culminates in the potential disbanding of the famed ka-tet, a tale that seems like deja-vous for the gunslinger that seems to carry death for those he loves as a curse. Roland struggles to fight off this curse while never looking back on his way to the Dark Tower where he will finally face his destiny and fight his way to the top of the Tower.

In a story with far too many potential spoilers, I can not exactly go into details without ruining the book for many of you. Suffice it to say that it is a good story, it is exciting and sad, tragic and lovely and it serves as a good finish to one of the most enthralling series I have ever read. However, I do have a couple of problems with the way Stephen King dealt with Jake Chambers, the Man in Black and with the way Patrick Danville becomes such a pivotal character when he is not introduced until the final third of the last book. When you have characters like Eddie, Susannah and Jake at the side of your gunslinger, I can not help but wonder if King really ran himself into a block wall and found no other way to blow it than this one. This is not to say the end is a bad one, in fact, I think the end was pretty damn perfect and he handles Eddie with amazing, heartfelt emotion. Susannah also is handled respectfully, but Jake once more gets the shaft–get it? The shaft?–which feels more like a slap in the face when Patrick comes into the picture. I will not go into details but if you disagree with me in this one, I would love to hear it. Aside from that, the only other problem I have with this is the Wizard’s Rainbow, or rather the glass from book four and black thirteen from books five and six and the way they are handled…or not handled as might be the case.

This is not a perfect ending and there is a number of things I would have changed and if I stick to it this harshly it is only because this story is so awesome I would love to see it polished. But King had his say and as he has made is explicitly clear he is not going to change a damned thing, which is fine but I do think a few ends could have been tied better and Jake could have been spared another let down. Outside of that, this book is pretty damned awesome.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Comments: Not to sound like a whiner but please take into account that there are a number of amazing things in this story which I can NOT talk about. It is a good book. Read it. Enjoy it. Witness the genius that is this epic and know that you will likely end up reading it again in the future. It is definitely worth it. And now I look wait with baited breath for the movies and TV series which should be going into production shortly.

After the battle of Cally Bryn Surgis against the Wolves of Thunderclap, Roland’s ka-tet must regroup and lick their wounds, if only they were given time to do so. The prior story sets up a number of challenges that the tet is now faced with and which not only plunges them into their next task but also ends up splitting them up.

King returns to what he does best, going once more for the heart of the matter and focusing largely on Susannah, who has held a dark secret until now and which is now coming to light. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will only say that this secret puts her and the rest of the quest in peril and while she struggles to contain and fix this, Roland and Eddie are trying to tackle other issue that have to do with their tet, namely the rose which they encounter in The Wastelands and the corporation that is hoping to fight back against Sombra and its allies.

Finally, after a long and enduring journey, the quest seems to be coming to a head, but the troubles only seem to mount up and the tet is tested as never before while Father Callahan, Jake Chambers and Oy do their best elsewhere to do their part to bring down their enemy. In a story that often jumps from one world to another, one set of characters to the next, the excitement is kept on high most of the time and thankfully Mr. King has decided to let the story be the story it must be and not fill it up with fluff. This results in a story that is shorter than the others but definitely satisfactory and one that sets up the final tome wonderfully. This book is not without its problems but they are for the most part minute.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Comments: Without breaking into spoilers, there are things I would love to discuss here and can’t, but I do have a bit of an issue with things that were brought up early on in the story and seem to be abandoned here and in the following story a bit too easily. Nevertheless, this book is still a good read.

Time is no longer what it used to be, the beams are failing and reality is shifting. These days in Mid-World (and Out-World as the story advances) are shifting and changing. When we come into this story, it is some time later after Roland’s ka-tet left the outskirts of Topeka and enters the stranger edge of the Mid-World where it meets with Thunderclap. This story centers around a village named Calla Bryn Sturgis and the difficult story of thievery, a vicious kidnapping cycle that takes place every so many years by the Wolves.

We know they are coming, those vicious hunters in their gray horses to a land that is blessed (or cursed) with twins. The plot is one that targets the children and harms society as a whole and their hope to stand up against this cycle is little, until a helpful robot names Andy informs the townspeople that gunslingers are on their way. Splitting up into two different factions, one group wants to hire the gunslingers and fight back against the Wolves–hopefully with the help of an enigmatic cultish people named the Manni–the opposing group refuses to think this rebellion is a good idea and is willing to sacrifice half their young for the better of the rest of them.

It is in the middle of this conflict that Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy are cast and they must decide if they should make a stand here or continue on in their own quest. Here they meet a former priest named Father Callahan (drawn from Stephen King’s famed Salen’s Lot novel), who in time tells his story and eventually has the opportunity to help the gunslingers in their quest. But their troubles are many and the Wolves are merely one of them. Susannah is no longer alone and has a dark secret; Eddie is struggling to maintain order in a town whose customs he hardly understands while trying to do his best detective work; Jake is given a glimpse of the childhood he should have had, unaware that the rug is about to be swept from under him and through it all Father Callahan is trying to pull the right levers in order to help this community he now calls home.

This is a good story in all, but once again Stephen King has filled it with filler, this time much of it comes from the backstory that is Callahan’s past and which unfortunately is quite a bit less interesting than King would have us believe. While the story we wish to follow unfolds well and holds intrigue, the interrupting tale of Father Callahan becomes a burden we have to put up with and we do get the sense that it was put there strictly to make the novel longer. To that, I say, poorly played, Stephen King. However, by now we are so invested in the story, that we must plow through that in order to get to the battle against the wolves and the sequence of events that will set up the following book.

With interesting story twists and a climactic ending, this story is solid, but far longer than it should be and weaker than its predecessors.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Comments: Do not let the fact that this is the weakest book in the series deter you. For one, you have to read it in order to get to the others and secondly…well there is a lot of awesome information and developments that do take places. Not only that, this book also serves as the set up for the finale that is the last two books and for that reason there is a lot going on here that might seem weighty now but which becomes crucial later on in other books.

The book with the least exciting name and the least promising premise (a prequel to the story we have followed so far) turned out to be nothing like I expected and might very well be my favorite book in the series. This might be due to the fact that it is essentially a story within a story, perfectly contained and deliciously written.

Here, we catch up with Roland’s Ka-tet, who face off with Blaine and prevail, only to begin noticing the strangeness of the world they have landed in. The thinnies (wrinkles in reality) make things difficult to decipher, but things are very wrong. There are vehicles called Takuro Spirit in the deserted streets of Topeka and the drink of choice is not Coke or Pepsi but something called Nozz-a-la. Those of you that read Stephen King’s The Stand get a huge little treat here as we embark on a new journey across Mid-World chasing after the Dark Tower and learning that the villain they are after goes by the name of The Crimson King (many other King books referenced here). While their journey is filled with perils and strange links to popular fiction, the bulk of this story is not that story, but rather the story Roland tells of his childhood.

In a beautiful and tragic tale, Roland tells of his childhood in Gilead. He tells of Walter, the man in black; Steven Deschain, his father; Gabrielle Deschain, his mother and of cunning and betrayal. He speaks of an effort on the part of the gunslingers to protect the next generation of knights, which ends up sending Roland Deschain, Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns to Mejis (or the Mexico of that world, if you rather) to be kept safe and ironically tossed into the middle of a storm. Originally their assignment is to kill off time and to do little more than counting and keeping one’s ears open. But as they reach the edge of civilization, in a place called Hambry, a Barony of Mejis, Roland and the other young gunslingers are tested in unexpected ways and are robbed of their rest of their childhood as they are suddenly cast into Farson’s plans (another name for a well known villain).

Packed with awesome characters such as Susan Delgado and Sheemie as well as a load of cunning villains such as Rhea of the Coos, Eldred Jonas and the coffin hunters, this story is like a wonderfully told western with a unique fantasy flair. It wraps into an intricate package and explains the birth of the gunslinger we know today, the reason for much of his behavior and fully paints him as more than a hardened knight. It gives him a heart and gives him a sweet heart before it all inevitably comes undone. Skills are tested, love is tested, friendships are tested and in the end Wizard and Glass as one of the most amazing stories ever told, guaranteed to keep you turning pages at a maniacal pace.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Comments: Much of the background of the gunslinger’s story is told here as well as an explanation of the Dark Tower quest and its origins.

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: 4 out of 5 stars
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.

Picking up moments from where The Gunslinger left off, The Drawing of the Three hits the ground running and never looks back. For the first time the magnitude of the epic reveals itself in the growing cast of formidable characters that soon populate this novel. Here is Roland, worn and tired and now injured, for very early on, an attack upon him by creatures he often thinks of as ‘lobstrosities’ puts him in peril, catching him quite off guard. A ticking countdown to his own death begins and this novel unfolds as a race against time, to save himself from the poison that runs through his veins and to draw…not his guns, this time, but his ka-tet.

Along the beach, three doors, one marked “The Prisoner”, one marked “The Lady of Shadows” and one marked “The Pusher” just as Walter had revealed in the prior tome. From each door, the gunslinger will draw a person as Ka (fate) has dictated and they shall become his ka-tet (a group fated and bound to each other). But the drawing of the three is not as easy as it might seem, each of the three comes with their own baggage and they do not necessarily share Roland’s thirst for the Dark Tower.

As the story unfolds, the gunslinger, Eddie Dean and Odetta Holmes criss-cross through doors, taking this adventure between worlds, through portals and filling it with action and adventure that will thrill from beginning to end with it’s seemingly lack of down time. Perhaps it is the fact that this story unfolds in a complicated web of conflict that it makes it so difficult to put down. This story adds meat to the content of the quest and brings forth new faces. Soon enough, hints are being dropped through the story that avid King readers will eat up like tasty Easter Eggs, for scattered through this story and all the following volumes, are plenty of paths from his other books that all lead to this epic tale.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Comments: Rich and enticing, this story picks up where the last one left off and only elevates the story to a whole new level.

Author: Stephen King
Category: Fiction/Fantasy

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. Thus begins Stephen King’s epic and arguably best work. A story set in a post apocalyptic world, in a world not our own. A world where Gilead was the heart of enlightenment and their knights wielded hand crafted six shooters as their primary weapons. It is a world where once greatness and civilization had deep roots running…but no longer. As Roland Deschain, the last of the gunslingers, cuts across that desert, chasing a man he once knew, we are sharply aware that this story will take up places seldom visited by authors.

That this series is an ambitious bit of work is an understatement, but it is not clear that the slim volume called The Gunslinger knows it. Oh, the potential for the story is there, the world unfolds like a marvelous and enigmatic tapestry, the weight of the quest is certainly not light, for soon enough we know the man in black, also known as Walter, is not the end goal, but rather the beginning to the greater quest: to reach the Dark Tower.

Traveling alone with very little water and hardly any food, Roland Deschain–of the line of Arthur of Eld–takes us on a journey through infested towns, grimy camp sites and enchanted grounds were we witness not only the dire circumstances into which this world has fallen, but also the awesome threat that a knight of Gilead can be. Roland gives chase like a hound on the scent, meeting along the way people that remind him of the past and a youth that speaks of his future and whose fate largely represents the dangers and the problems of the gunslinger’s quest.

Without the flair that Stephen King is known for liberally throwing into his novels, this slim volume is but the seed to a story that will engross you and remain in your mind for years to come. It is a quick and absorbing read, that does not remain content to travel on the surface but hints at the magnitude of the story and makes commentary on our world.

One of the greatest books on the series, The Gunslinger is the first of seven dominoes that set of the explosive chain reaction that is this series and this was actually the second time I read it. The first time I read it was years ago, shortly after the release of the third book and I was pleased to see that it had held up as well as I remembered, making it clear that this is not only a good first read but also an awesome one to revisit.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Comments: The shortest of the books and one that will hook you right into the story without giving much room for backtracking.

Author: Anthony Burgess
Category: Fiction

One of those novels you often hear about and know you should read and seem to never get around to reading it. I finally did get to it, at the beginning of a brief literary three-leg run through dystopian futures of which this was the first.

Written in its own slang, created by Burgess himself, mixing English and Russian together, this novel takes some getting used to, given that much of the language that is tossed at you with relative ease is foreign. Russian readers should not find this problematic, but the rest of us require some thirty pages to get used to the idea that this narrator of ours is going to be talking his own personal language. Once that is done, however, it is easy to adjust to and forget, becoming a part of the novel and the mood that is created. The author, therefore, must be commended for taking care of the reader, noting the important terms, translating them in the body of work itself in a way that is neither forced nor scant, but perfectly balanced and well placed in the dialogue and descriptions.

The story surrounds a bored youth in a futuristic world, whose sole escape from reality is through ‘a bit of the ultra-violence and the ol’ in-out in-out’. The leader of a four man group of thugs, Alex is a teenager who goes to school by day and fights, steals and rapes by night. At odds with rival gangs and the police, the four of them are constantly on the watch until Alex finds himself in the clutches of the law and given an opportunity to reform in prison through a new, breakthrough in science. Wanting nothing more than to get out of prison, Alex volunteers only to find the process is perhaps more wrong than the problems it is solving.

Bringing up a series of ethical questions in regards to reformation and society, Burgess has written a book that is essentially composed of three parts and which–he goes on to explain in an essay–stand for the three parts of life: infancy, adolescence and adulthood, each of them spanning seven chapters. Strangely enough, the Americans refused to publish the final chapter, considering it too happy of an ending. As a result, the entire world got one version of the book and America got another (which is also the book Kubrick used to base his film on, which explains the lack of conclusion on the movie as well). The new version out now includes this final chapter and for better or worse draws an entirely different culmination to an otherwise disturbing story.

A great read and once you get used to the made-up slang, a fast one too.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars