The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three Bk. 2 (Dark Tower) - Stephen King

After years of hunting down the man in black, things didn’t necessarily go as planned for Roland at the end of ‘The Gunslinger’ [book 1 in ‘The Dark Tower’ series].

His obsession with the Dark Tower is as strong as ever, however, there are other forces at play – forces far more powerful and dangerous than the man in black ever was – it’s no longer a question of what Roland wants, more is it a question of what he is prepared to do in ...
...to survive ‘The Drawing of the Three’.

Having been told a bit of his future by the man in black during their ultimate standoff in the first book [The Gunslinger], Roland awakens at the start of ‘The Drawing of the Three’ on a desolate beach, not seven hours after this confrontation. His awakening is far from a gentle one… Roland is being attacked by a giant sea creature with deadly pincers. Obviously a mutated form of lobster, Roland ... more

After years of hunting down the man in black, things didn’t necessarily go as planned for Roland at the end of ‘The Gunslinger’ [book 1 in ‘The Dark Tower’ series].

His obsession with the Dark Tower is as strong as ever, however, there are other forces at play – forces far more powerful and dangerous than the man in black ever was – it’s no longer a question of what Roland wants, more is it a question of what he is prepared to do in order to get what he wants… but first he has to survive ‘The Drawing of the Three’.

Having been told a bit of his future by the man in black during their ultimate standoff in the first book [The Gunslinger], Roland awakens at the start of ‘The Drawing of the Three’ on a desolate beach, not seven hours after this confrontation. His awakening is far from a gentle one… Roland is being attacked by a giant sea creature with deadly pincers. Obviously a mutated form of lobster, Roland quickly discovers that it may not be the cleverest of creatures, but it is definitely one of the deadliest. Managing to survive the confrontation, minus a few fingers on his right hand and one of his toes, life isn’t looking too great for poor Roland whose health quickly begins to deteriorate as the infection sets in.

Stranded in a strange land, one that appears uninhabited by humans, and is comprised of the ocean with its deadly mutant lobsters, and rocky hills and forests where the roar of an extremely large creature can be heard at regular intervals, Roland’s future is looking dismal indeed… but he refuses to give up.

Managing to drag himself along the beach, careful not to get himself eaten by the sea creatures, Roland is on the brink of closing his eyes for eternity when all of a sudden, much like a desert mirage, he sees… a door. No building, no walls… just a single door with a gold knob. The door isn’t attached to anything, it’s just standing there on the beach. Confused, Roland circles the door, noticing that depending on where he is standing, the door seems to change… towards the rear all that is visible is the shadow of the door, and at some point, looking at the door at a particular angle, the width of the door seems to change. Not knowing what to make of it, Roland notices a sign on the door with two words printed on it… The Prisoner.

Opening the door, Roland peers inside and sees…

You didn’t actually expect me to tell you, did you? That would be spoiling it.

Very much in the same vein as ‘The Gunslinger’, the second volume in ‘The Dark Tower’ series – ‘The Drawing of the Three’ – is incredibly fascinating with its strange mutants, dismal landscape and thick aura of mystery… and with the arrival of the first door [there are 3 in all], the feel of the book immediately changes, and the reader can’t help but become conscious of the fact that Stephen King has just managed an incredible coup.

It isn’t just that he managed to find a way to save a situation that appeared to be ‘un-saveable’, but he accomplished it in a way that, although fantastical, appears to make perfect sense. The strange door, standing all by itself on a desolate beach with giant mutant lobsters somewhere in the backdrop and the terrifying roars of a mysterious creature wafting down from the mountains. There’s a nightmarish quality to it all, one that you can actually ‘feel’.

Stephen King’s imagination is a wondrous thing, and once again I caught myself thinking that if it could be siphoned into bottles, it would probably be the worlds most powerful and addictive hallucinogenic.

Continuing…

‘The Drawing of the Three’, although continuing where ‘The Gunslinger’ left off, is a bit ‘darker’ with a nice sharp edge to the storyline that keeps the story from giving too much of itself away… there is never any predicting as to the outcome, and with each new door comes a new adventure, each one more mind-boggling than the next.

The addition of some really interesting characters to the story is a definite plus and gives the reader an in-depth glimpse at Roland’s true nature that is only possible when he is interacting with others. The new characters, just as interesting as Roland, are Eddie, a heroine junkie with some serious issues, Odetta, a wealthy wheelchair bound woman with a deadly personality disorder and Jack, a young man whose hobby is to cause fatal accidents – Jack gets a real sexual rush out of knowing that he’s indirectly responsible for either maiming or killing people.

These new characters are a ragtag bunch that appear to have absolutely nothing in common – although they come from the same dimension [ours], they don’t actually come from the same time. At first glance, the reader can’t help but wonder what the heck they’re doing in the story, after all, none of these characters are equipped to help Roland on his journey, in fact, some of them are downright nuisances, but fate has brought them together nonetheless, and if you want to find out what the purpose is… then you have to read the book!

As for myself, totally addicted to the story, I am now reaching for ‘The Waste Lands’… book III in ‘The Dark Tower’ series. A review will follow shortly…
 

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