WOLVES OF THE CALLA by Stephen King

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	• Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5) Stephen King Scribner, 2005 - 736 pages average customer review:based on 379 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

WOLVES OF THE CALLA by Stephen King

Wolves of the Calla is the fifth novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It is also the worst book in the series thus far. There are a ton of small plot holes here, and quite a few things that happen are pretty convenient. King tries to create suspense by hiding the main characters' knowledge from the reader for hundreds of pages. But this is just tiresome and amateurish.

This book takes about five hundred pages to get going. It's bogged down by a large amount of back-story and general farting around, much of this having to do with the homoerotic vagabond adventures of Father Callahan, who makes his first appearance since `Salem's Lot, the second book King ever published. And Callahan is written inconsistently. He really doesn't believe in God much, if at all, yet he staunchly holds to Catholic positions (seemingly for no other reason than the sake of the plot).

King continues his highly derivative, winking-at-the-reader "homages" to various other sources: this time it's Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel Comics, and even King himself. When you combine these (Doctor Doom in the wilderness with the lightsaber and the exploding Harry Potter ball - it sounds like ridiculous Clue), the effect is exponentially worse.

If this were a stand-alone novel, there would be no compelling reason to read it. Unfortunately those committed to reading the Dark Tower series through don't have a choice.

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I tried to like it...

Honestly, I feel like Wolves of the Calla was by far the weakest in the series so far. I know a lot of people who really loved this book, but I just can't understand why. It felt like a 700 page sidetrack of plot. Only once or twice in this entire book is the Dark Tower itself even mentioned. Flagg is left completely out of it, and they get absolutely no closer to the tower itself.

I'm a huge King fan, but sometimes there are little ticks about his writing that bug me here and there. This book was chalk full of them. I felt like if King would have removed all the character's dialogue of "aye, do ya well" "do ya ken" " "see this very well" "hear him very well" over and over again the book would have been several hundred pages shorter. Also the writing is packed with rhetorical questions. How did Jake feel about this? What about that? What did Roland think of this? Again and again. It just felt forced for the sake of King finishing the book.

The idea of the wolves was cool, but after 700 pages of build up I just didn't care anymore. I wanted them to get back on the track of the tower, not mingle on some farm in the middle of nowhere.

There were elements of the book I really liked. Callahan's story, black thirteen, sussanah's situation...they all kept the story flowing at least...but I feel like if this book was cut in half it would be a lot better. This book really frustrated me.

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A nice place to visit

I will preface my review by saying SPOILERS!

I took a long break after reading book 4 "wizard and glass". For some reason, I had an especially hard time with Susan Delgado dying - not that it happened, because I knew it was coming, but dang it! I liked her. I found Roland's story in that book awesome, and was disapointed when the narrative came back to the 'ka-tet'.
After taking a year, I picked up book 5, which was not even close to the length of time between those two books' publications.

When the katet came to the Calla, I enjoyed every minute of the story. I really feel like King explored what it would being a gunslinger actually involved. What feels like a detour to some (and even characters mentioned this) Roland describes as their duty. The answering of the three questions, the investigation and the plan to ambush the Wolves was great. I enjoyed the dialogue and vernacular of the Calla people.

I didn't mind all of the back story with Father Callahan. I have gotten used to the fact that storytelling is a large part of the Dark Tower series, going back to book #1.

The parts of the book where the group goes back to New York were a little out of place. I didn't mind them because it felt as if King is now moving his readers toward the end of the series, as the last three books I believed were published right after each other almost in a trilogy format. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the story in the Calla.

The biggest gripe I have with the story, is that after hundreds of pages of buildup to the Wolves attacking, the fight is anti-climactic. The Wolves are almost too easily disposed of. Yeah, I realize that's a spoiler, but I did warn you :).

I don't think it will be a year before I read the sixth book. I enjoyed the fifth, may it do ya fine.

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Keeps getting better!

Stephen King is a genious. This series is fantastic. This series will blow your mind and keep your imagination running! If you like the idea of an alternate reality this series is really for you!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, the Dark Tower series is unlike anything you have ever read. Here is the fifth installment.

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