Sorry. Wrong door. I thought it was the desert.

Here it is, Book 3 of “The Dark Tower” series, which I may not finish the whole of in the next 5 weeks, but it won’t be for lack of trying!

I love this series. I love these characters. The Waste Lands isn’t as fundamentally excellent as The Drawing of the Three was, but after the action and adventure that was The Drawing of the Three there’s some needed setting up of next steps in advance of Wizard and Glass. I assume. I don’t know. King can be a fickle and selfish writer sometimes, but I’m an optimist.

A few notes: the new characters introduced in The Drawing of the Three, Eddie and Susannah Dean, are very good foils for the gunslinger, Roland’s seriousness. They are real people for the reader to relate to, from “our” world, not Roland’s upside down world (literally?) that has “moved on.” I’m cautious about my complete investment in them, though, especially because Susannah’s value as a character in this one felt somewhat diminished compared with her participation in Book 2. It would be nice if King didn’t have to include a plot-turning anchor based on a woman’s sexual participation in a supernatural event.

The parallels and connections between our world and Roland’s are fascinating to me, and sometimes I wonder if I’m paying enough attention, or if I’m missing connections that will pay off in the future. Did King think it all through, or is he flying by the seat of his pants here, and should I just jump on for the ride? The fact that there is time travel involved that doesn’t acknowledge the concept of a multiverse makes me feel like I should just relax and go with the flow.

Finally, a note on the wildlife in this world. The lobstrosities of The Drawing of the Three did not prepare me for the absolute adoration I have for Oy, the billy bumbler introduced in this book. Google some fan art. I want one. You want one. You’re welcome.