The Griffin or the Agate

What started off years ago as a loose collection of stories written between novels has now become Stephen King's most eagerly anticipated work. His epic series The Dark Tower has proved quite the playground for King's fertile imagination. When last we saw the gunslingers and their ka-tet, their group numbered five: Roland, last of the ancient gunslingers, the laconic leader of the quest to save the Tower; Eddie Dean, ex-junkie from '70's New York; Susannah, his wife and possessor of numerous personalities; Jake Chambers, a boy touched with special powers, and his animal friend Oy, the Billy-Bumbler. Most of the previous novel, Wizard and Glass, centered around Roland's retelling of an episode in his life long ago when he lost the only love of his life.
    Wolves of the Calla may surprise some of King's readers because this is a story slowly unwound, with much more emphasis on interaction and personal struggles as opposed to the action and shock of his horror novels. It is, essentially, King's version of The Seven Samurai, Kurosawa's masterful film about a handful of warriors who try to defend a simple farming village from an overwhelming force of bandits. In Wolves the titular threat are returning for one of their raids that occur every 24 years or so, during which they take children born as twins. The stolen kids are returned several days later but are 'roont': mindless, forever childlike, dying young. After beginning the courtship ritual necessary for gunslingers to be permitted to take on the task of turning back the Wolves Roland and his companions are served with a pair of surprises - one, that the town's spiritual leader is from the same world as Eddie, Susannah, and Jake, and two, that one of the fabled Wizard's Spheres is here, perhaps the most dangerous of all - Black Thirteen.
    Those familiar with King's writing quirks won't be surprised that the new ally is a loose end from one of his earlier books, and a good part of Wolves recounts his long and strange journey to Calla. And while all of the characters go under the microscope the most interesting to watch is Eddie. All throughout the series King has hinted that Eddie is on his way to becoming a hardline, top-notch gunslinger, but in Wolves we get to see it as he travels back to New York to try to save a lot that contains a very special rose. Here we get to watch the hard steel that Roland saw in Eddie come to the surface - in some ways he's more frightening that his teacher.
    The quibbles are minor. I don't mind the slower pace, but those who are used to the constant threats present in say, Dreamcatcher might not appreciate the ride. They should, though, because King is ever improving as a writer, veering away from shock and gore and more toward a sort of literary ripeness. I'm not thrilled about his once again going to Susannah's multiple personalities, but I didn't care for it the first time, either. Still, these are minor objections.
    King states that the remaining two books of the series are finished to some degree, and for those of us who have been waiting impatiently for each one the news couldn't be better. Bring them on.   §

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