In Wizard & Glass, Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake escape death but find themselves in another world - Topeka, Kansas, devastated by the plague from The Stand. On their road to find their way back - and in the shadow of a forbidding yet familiar-looking glass palace - Roland tells them the story of his first love and the beginning of his quest for the Dark Tower.
The bulk of the novel is Roland's tale of youth and tragedy, but the framing story is quite good in its own right. We get about 160 pages advancing the quest, with plenty of excitement, humor, and sci-fi/fantasy mind-bending as the ka-tet grow even closer and stronger together.Roland's story (the other 500 pages) is reminiscent of the flashbacks from The Gunslinger, but more fully realized and satisfying. It strikes just the right tone in its unique mix of courtly medievalism, Wild West shootouts, and eerie technological ruins. Sent east by his father for safety, Roland and his two friends encounter a plot against the kingdom, a vindictive witch, and Susan Delgado - Roland's first and only love. Mere teenagers, they fall into a rush of emotion and devotion which becomes their downfall as they are caught in the forces swirling around the town.
If it weren't for the ending and the sprinkles of adult-rated content, Roland's story could be straight from the Hardy Boys or Scooby-Doo: "And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!" But the ending is harsh, devastating, and poignant all at once. We learn a lot more about what has shaped Roland's hard and merciless nature, but we also see the broken heart beating limply in the rubble.
Though I would have wished for a little more forward progress in the present storyline, Wizard & Glass ultimately delivers. I can't wait to read the fifth book - oh, wait, there are a bunch of other Stephen King books related to The Dark Tower that I need to read first... shoot...
Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 vindictive witches
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