'The Drawing of The Three,' which is the second book in The Dark Tower series written by Stephen King, in my opinion is one of King's best books.If you're into science fiction, fantasy, or even spaghetti westerns, you will love at least the first few books of The Dark Tower series.In 'The Drawing of The Three,' Roland, a 'gunslinger' from the past (not our past) is consumed with his life's quest -- to find the center of all universes, 'The Dark Tower.' He wants to reverse the decomposition of all things.Roland awakens from a dream.His thoughts are slow and consumed with a conversation he had with a magician, Walter.This conversation lasted ten years, but to him it took place in one night around a campfire.He's cold and wet.He realizes he's lying in water.He must act fast to stay alive -- but though danger is near in form of a beast, the first thing he worries about is his guns.The shells he needs are getting wet.He saves some shells, but loses two fingers to the beast.He's struck with a fever, and growing weaker and weaker he struggles up the beach.He needs help; some kind of medicine.Roland remembers the conversation with Walter as Walter spelled out his fate with Tarot Cards."Three, this is the number of your fate."."Which three?"."The first is dark-haired.He stands on the brink of robbery and murder.A demon has infested him.The name of the demon is 'Heroin.'".Here the back-story foreshadows the future.Roland will draw to himself three apprentices to accompany him on his quest for 'The Dark tower.' The first is a heroin addict, who is bound by his addiction but will become unbound with Roland's persuasive assistance.Roland finds a door sitting on the beach.It stands alone.When he walks around to the other side of this door it disappears.When he goes through it he finds himself staring at a strange world through the heroin addict's eyes.He sees he is in some type of flying carriage.He takes control of the addict's body and assesses the situation.A stewardess offers him lunch.He orders a 'popkin.' After searching the addict's mind he realizes it's 'Sandwich.'.Roland is very sick.He smuggles the sandwich back through the door where his body is, then returns to the plane again.But then he realizes something's wrong.He needs the addict to help him get medicine, but the addict carries a bag of white powder under each arm.And now that he's taken over the addict's body, he's drawn a lot of attention to the addict.Roland starts to realize that the Stewardess has been watching closely and will probably tell authorities of her suspicions.If she does, Roland may never get his medicine, and he will die.Not to mention what that will do to his search for the 'Dark Tower.'.Though the gunslinger, Roland of Gilead, is quick as white lightning, especially at the draw, his flaw is he lacks imagination.This is why he's bungled up the chances for the addict to get off the plane without being arrested.A more imaginative person might have realized the situation sooner and set themselves to acting the part and not have attracted so much attention to them.Now things have been set in motion, and as his body still lies outside the door, he must fix the situation in the plane.Roland, knowing he needs to act fast, draws back from within the mind of the addict and starts to communicate with him.The addict is startled.Roland points out to him that the stewardess, and now the captain suspect him of illegal activity.When the plane lands, they must act; so the addict runs to the plane's toilet and locks himself in, just before several people try to block him.As they pound outside the door, Roland must help the addict peel the taped cocaine bags from under his armpits and transfer it to Roland's world where authorities can't find it.They race against time, but whether they succeed in saving the addict and thus saving Roland I'll leave to another article.'The Drawing of The Three' is a book that stands on its own despite being the second book in a series.It's a fascinating read that unlike many of King's books lends itself to fascination even on a second or third reading.Of course it is of a much different flavor than the first book of the series, 'The Gunslinger.' The first book mainly develops Roland as a character and sends him on the chase.In 'The Drawing of The Three,' King has taken the thick resonance of his first book and expanded it into a full-blown novel.It's definitely a good read.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Drawing of The Three: A Book Review, Part 1
'The Drawing of The Three,' which is the second book in The Dark Tower series written by Stephen King, in my opinion is one of King's best books.If you're into science fiction, fantasy, or even spaghetti westerns, you will love at least the first few books of The Dark Tower series.In 'The Drawing of The Three,' Roland, a 'gunslinger' from the past (not our past) is consumed with his life's quest -- to find the center of all universes, 'The Dark Tower.' He wants to reverse the decomposition of all things.Roland awakens from a dream.His thoughts are slow and consumed with a conversation he had with a magician, Walter.This conversation lasted ten years, but to him it took place in one night around a campfire.He's cold and wet.He realizes he's lying in water.He must act fast to stay alive -- but though danger is near in form of a beast, the first thing he worries about is his guns.The shells he needs are getting wet.He saves some shells, but loses two fingers to the beast.He's struck with a fever, and growing weaker and weaker he struggles up the beach.He needs help; some kind of medicine.Roland remembers the conversation with Walter as Walter spelled out his fate with Tarot Cards."Three, this is the number of your fate."."Which three?"."The first is dark-haired.He stands on the brink of robbery and murder.A demon has infested him.The name of the demon is 'Heroin.'".Here the back-story foreshadows the future.Roland will draw to himself three apprentices to accompany him on his quest for 'The Dark tower.' The first is a heroin addict, who is bound by his addiction but will become unbound with Roland's persuasive assistance.Roland finds a door sitting on the beach.It stands alone.When he walks around to the other side of this door it disappears.When he goes through it he finds himself staring at a strange world through the heroin addict's eyes.He sees he is in some type of flying carriage.He takes control of the addict's body and assesses the situation.A stewardess offers him lunch.He orders a 'popkin.' After searching the addict's mind he realizes it's 'Sandwich.'.Roland is very sick.He smuggles the sandwich back through the door where his body is, then returns to the plane again.But then he realizes something's wrong.He needs the addict to help him get medicine, but the addict carries a bag of white powder under each arm.And now that he's taken over the addict's body, he's drawn a lot of attention to the addict.Roland starts to realize that the Stewardess has been watching closely and will probably tell authorities of her suspicions.If she does, Roland may never get his medicine, and he will die.Not to mention what that will do to his search for the 'Dark Tower.'.Though the gunslinger, Roland of Gilead, is quick as white lightning, especially at the draw, his flaw is he lacks imagination.This is why he's bungled up the chances for the addict to get off the plane without being arrested.A more imaginative person might have realized the situation sooner and set themselves to acting the part and not have attracted so much attention to them.Now things have been set in motion, and as his body still lies outside the door, he must fix the situation in the plane.Roland, knowing he needs to act fast, draws back from within the mind of the addict and starts to communicate with him.The addict is startled.Roland points out to him that the stewardess, and now the captain suspect him of illegal activity.When the plane lands, they must act; so the addict runs to the plane's toilet and locks himself in, just before several people try to block him.As they pound outside the door, Roland must help the addict peel the taped cocaine bags from under his armpits and transfer it to Roland's world where authorities can't find it.They race against time, but whether they succeed in saving the addict and thus saving Roland I'll leave to another article.'The Drawing of The Three' is a book that stands on its own despite being the second book in a series.It's a fascinating read that unlike many of King's books lends itself to fascination even on a second or third reading.Of course it is of a much different flavor than the first book of the series, 'The Gunslinger.' The first book mainly develops Roland as a character and sends him on the chase.In 'The Drawing of The Three,' King has taken the thick resonance of his first book and expanded it into a full-blown novel.It's definitely a good read.
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