Abandoned by Booklikes

What can I say. This was fantastic from beginning to end. Reading how Roland drew Eddie, Odetta, Detta, and then Susannah was wonderful from beginning to end. King made everyone come alive and I still smile thinking of our initial ka-tet. I can't wait until the next book.

"The Drawing of the Three" follows seven hours after Roland has his palaver with the Man in Black. The last gunslinger is told that he is going to be drawing three and is warned about what is coming next. We see as Roland comes across doors along a lonely beach filled with strange lobster like creatures and draws Eddie Dean (from New York 1987) Odetta Walker (from New York 1964) and someone called The Pusher (from New York 1977). 

Our Roland has grown. The man we saw in "The Gunslinger" has regrets after letting "the boy" fall. He initially is reluctant to turn into a mentor or a friend, but when he draws Eddie Dean, it's Roland's first step on stepping back on a path that will lead him to his new ka-tet. 

I think that King did an excellent job about Odetta/Detta Walker, our Lady of Shadows. King made me sympathize and worry that Odetta was going to be lost or do something worst because at this time I had read "Silver Bullet" and a few other King works and I didn't trust him. Even though I knew the outcome while re-reading, I was still holding my breath. 

And what can you say about Eddie Dean? I fell in love with this character as a pre-teen. This was also the first book I ever read that had an interracial relationship. I loved him and Susannah and wanted to go on adventures with them and Roland as we traveled a world that had been burned away. 

King manages to make every character in this book stand tall and feel real. From Eddie's brother Henry, to Odetta's chauffeur, all the way to the people that Roland meets in New York as he walks alone there in 1977.

The writing is fantastic. I forgotten how well King can write action scenes. The last part of the book grabs you and you stay with it. You wait with bated breath to see if Roland will be able to defeat the third draw or come out the loser. All I can say is hang on with your breath. There are some call backs to Lord of the Rings (speaking about elephants) and of course having Roland off on his great quest to stand before The Dark Tower. 

The next book up is "The Waste Lands." I can't wait. 

book pages - 496