"Yet suppose further. Suppose that all worlds, all universes, met in a single nexus, a single pylon, a Tower. And within it, a stairway, perhaps rising to the Godhead itself. Would you dare climb to the top, gunslinger? Could it be that somewhere above all of endless reality, there exists a Room? ... "You dare not." (The Gunslinger)

Whilst advancing the story at a considerable pace, THE WASTELANDS still does not draw together the books as a series in the same way that later books do. This is in no way a criticism, but I do feel that at the time he wrote The Wastelands, Stephen King was not fully aware that the Dark Tower series was going to be his life's ambition, or the key to the rest of his writings. We already had some obscure references to elements of the Dark Tower in the form of Randall Flagg, who already appeared in THE EYES OF THE DRAGON and THE STAND, and even more obscure references in IT (The Turtle) but THE WASTELANDS stands as a key element in The Dark Tower series but not the key element, if you see what I mean. In THE WASTELANDS, Eddie and Susannah are learning to be gunslingers.

Roland has already foreseen that he cannot complete his quest alone, and as he was the last of the gunslingers, felt it necessary to share his skill with his two new companions. Early on the in the book, they encounter one of the Guardiand, Shardik, the Bear. Roland reveals that the Guardians form a circle at the centre of which is the tower he seeks. For the first time it is impressed upon us that the tower is on the path of one of the beams.

At the same time, Roland is becoming confused about whether or not the boy Jake ever existed. Jake himself, meanwhile, is very much alive and well in New York, and has memory of his time with Roland. He now seeks a way back to Roland's world, and finds it in the vacant lot where the solitary rose grows.

Once more united with Roland, he quickly assimilates himself into the ka-tet. They encounter Oy, a strange creature known as a bumbler which can mimic human speech and is part dog, part something else; they continue on the land of Lud, where they encounter Gasher, who kidnaps him and holds him prisoner. This time Roland has no intention of losing Jake again and sets out to rescue him while Eddie and Susannah search for Blaine, the monorail which they hope will take them through the wastelands.

Having saved Jake, Roland and he join the others on the monorail where they have to solve a riddle to get it moving. However, Blaine reveals that he intends to run the length of the tracks then plunge into the chasm at the end, taking the five members of the ka-tet to their deaths. Roland challenges Blaine to a riddle contest. If they can set Blaine a riddle he cannot solve, he will let them live. If not, they go to their deaths. Stephen King was always good at cliffhangers, though not as good as Edgar Rice Burrouhgs, of course, who invented the device as we know it in modern literature. However, you cannot help but want to know what happens next, and that brings us to the pivotal book in the series, WIZARD AND GLASS, of which more in the October issue. T

A big thank you to Kerry Hood and Hannah Norman at Hodder UK for supplying images for this series.

Links: There are numerous sites dealing with King's Dark Tower series, many of them started with the best of intentions but fizzling out before book 4, Wizard and Glass was published. Best of all are the three official sites, one from Stephen King's own official site, one from the US publisher Simon and Schuster, and one from the UK publisher, Hodder. Click on the images below and you will be transported to Mid-World, Stephen King's universe of the Dark Tower. But don't forget to come back here, Constant Reader!