The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

By Stephen King

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Jake’s pet bumbler survive the crazy train ride on Blaine the Mono and find themselves in what is best described as bizarro world Topeka, Kansas. This alternate Kansas has been ravaged by a super flu virus that leaves no prisoners. On their way to a glass palace they make camp on the edge of a thinny and Roland tells them about another thinny he came across back when he was younger and before Mid-World moved on. This book is told as one long story throughout the night as Roland recounts his time with his older ka-tet, Alain and Cuthbert, and his love, Susan Delgado. He describes how the last war of Mid-World played out and his role in the fight against the forces of John Farson.

928 November 4, 1997

4.25

4.7

“And now, all these years later, it seemed to him that the most horrible fact of human existence was that broken hearts mended.”

Thoughts

This is more backstory than anything, but it answers a lot of questions we have left unanswered to this point. In one 1,000 page monster, King recounts the youth of our hero Roland of Gilead. As the ka-tet reaches the thinny it brings back memories of the old days in Gilead with his gunslinger mates and their attempt to take down John Farson and his army. While this is a retelling, the pages are filled with action and are told as if you are right there looking into the Wizard Glass yourself. One of the best and most annoying parts in this series is that Roland’s history is a bit of a mystery. Yes, King does this to make our hero more mysterious, but this chapter in our quest aims to answer a lot of the questions we have. We learn about his original ka-tet, his upbringing as a gunslinger, and his first real test of manhood. We also learn about Mid-World history with the battle against John Farson and how that set our dearest Roland on his current quest for The Dark Tower. And at the end we get a nice cameo from our almost forgotten friend, The Man in Black. A bit of a placeholder book, but critical to the back story of our main character, Roland of Gilead. Since this is the best series of all time, this is a must read.