Lilja's Library (48 page)

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The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (audio) 

Posted: December 10, 2003  

I have just finished listening to the audio edition of
Wolves of the Calla
. It’s a really long book. It’s on twenty-two CDs and the running time is twenty-six hours. In other words, make sure you stock up on batteries for your Walkman before you start listening to it! 

I think George Guidall does a great job reading
Wolves of the Calla
. There has been some criticism of his reading on the Internet and he has often been compared to Frank Muller, who is considered to be
the
King audiobook narrator. I must say that I don’t really think that is fair, either to Frank or to George, because they really have two different styles when they narrate a book. They are both really good narrators in their own ways and can’t be compared.  

As I said in the review of the book version,
Wolves of the Calla
is one of the best parts in
The Dark Tower
series so far, so the book is pure joy listening to. It’s rather interesting (and totally logical) to find that “read” has been changed to “listened” in the audio edition, like when (in the forward) King (or in this case, George) says that if you haven’t “listened” to the first parts you should do that first. In the book edition, it’s if you haven’t “read” the first parts. As I said, it’s totally logical, but I never noticed it before now.  

King himself reads the afterword to the book, and as far as I understand, that isn’t how it’s usually done. In my experience it’s the narrator who reads the entire book, including foreword and/or afterword. Having it read by King himself is an extra treat. I have said it before, and I know that not everyone agrees with me, but King has a voice that works really well on tape.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (audio)
 

Some years ago I hadn’t listened to many audiobooks, but now I almost always read the book and listen to the audio version. I find it really nice to have someone tell me a story, and I’m getting really hooked on audiobooks. So, if you’re not that familiar with audiobooks, give them a chance. You might find yourself hooked like I did. It’s not a bad thing to be hooked on something. If you’re going to try it you might as well start with
Wolves of the Calla
. It will be hard for you to find a better book to start with, that’s for sure!  

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The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah 

Posted: June 1, 2004  

Song of Susannah
starts where
Wolves of the Calla
ends. You really feel like King wrote them pretty much back-to-back. The Mannis are helping Roland and his ka-tet to open the door in the Cave of the Voices so that they can find Susannah and Calvin Tower. Jake, Callahan and Oy are sent to New York to try and find Susannah, and Eddie and Roland go to Bangor where Tower is with his friend, Aaron Deepneau. 

In the book there are three parallel stories. In one, Susannah and Mia are struggling to keep the baby from arriving too soon. Mia wants to get to the right place before the labor starts, and Susannah wants to go the other way.  

A turtle plays a big role in
Song of Susannah
. One thing that got my attention is that King refers to it as “skolpadda,” which is the Swedish word for “turtle.” At one point a person called Mathiessen Van Wyck (a Swedish United Nations diplomat) tries to get the turtle from Susannah. I don’t know why King is using the Swedish name for “turtle,” and it may not mean anything to the story, but since I’m Swedish it’s kind of funny. By the way, Mathiessen Van Wyck is not a Swedish name; don’t know why King chose to call him Swedish? 

The second story is about how Jake, Callahan and Oy try to find Susannah and save her. Upon arriving in New York they learn that 2 Hammarskold Plaza is now built on the vacant lot where the rose was/is. 

The last story is about how Roland and Eddie go after Tower and Deepneau. They end up in what they believe is the world closest to the Dark Tower: Bangor, Maine; July 9, 1977. Here they find out about something called “walk-ins.” A “walk-in” is a person who just shows up from nowhere, probably like when they arrived from Cave of the Voices. They also run into a fellow named Stephen King… 

We all know who King is and what his relation is with
The Dark Tower
series, but I don’t think even he imagined that what happens in
Song of Susannah
would happen when he started the series. 

The book ends with a fictional (at least, I think so) journal by King that goes between July 12, 1977 and June 20, 1999, which has a rather surprising ending.  

This time I also got a chance to look at the illustrations, and I must say that even though they are quite different, they are really good. I especially like the one called …Ka Comes To Me.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
 

Personally, I think it feels a bit strange that King is a character in the story. I’m torn between what I think about it. One part of me thinks it’s pretty neat and another part of me doesn’t like it at all. I guess I’ll have to wait for the last part (only three more months) until I decide for sure… 

One thing is for sure though. The wait for the last part will be pure horror! The end of
Song of Susannah
really sets the tone for the last part. I’m really dying to see how it will all end! 

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The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (audio) 

Posted: July 7, 2004  

Once again I have listened to a King book on audio CD, and once again I’m surprised over how much I like it. It always gives an extra dimension to the book after reading the actual book. I still haven’t listened to a book before I’ve read it, but that is simply because I have always gotten my hands on the books before the audios. It would be interesting to listen to a book and then read it…but then I don’t think I can pass on a new book by King long enough to wait for the audio. (Clarification: The book and audio are released on the same day, but as a reviewer I get ARCs before the actual book’s release.) 

Once again, it’s George Guidall who reads the sixth
Dark Tower
book,
Song of Susannah
, and as usual, he does a good job.
Song of Susannah
is on twelve CD’s, which is shorter than
Wolves of the Calla
(twenty-two CD’s), and is a fairly fast listen at only fourteen hours.  

As usual, Guidall reads the book well, and contrary to what many others believe, I think that he does the different characters very well. He even brings Oy to life for me, and that says a lot. Besides portraying the characters well, I think he has a soft and nice voice that is very well-suited for narrating books; I guess it’s no coincidence that he has recorded more than eight hundred novels. 

Song of Susannah
is somewhat of a “middle-book” in the series. Even though there are many interesting plotlines and some really important events, it’s not getting us that much closer to an ending and/or the Tower. It’s more like a build up for the final one, released on September 21 (King’s birthday). (More thoughts on the story itself can be found in my review of the book.)  

The only thing to do now is sit back and wait for September 21 to arrive. Then, once again, I’m going to take out my Walkman, insert the first CD of
The Dark Tower 7
, put on the headphones and sit back and enjoy the ride with King and Guidall as my guides…  

Lilja’s final words about
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (audio)
 

OK, I know that many of you don’t like the audiobooks, but believe me, I have had some really interesting mail from people saying that after listening to audiobooks (some copies won through this site) they are hooked on books on tape (or CDs) and will continue to listen to them. So, in other words, give it a chance. You won’t regret it. 

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The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower 

Posted: September 22, 2004  

How do you review a book you don’t want to reveal anything about? A book you are scared to death that you will ruin for anyone who hasn’t read it yet? Well, I’m going to give it a try. 

The book I’m talking about is, of course, King’s last part in
The Dark Tower
series, entitled
The Dark Tower
. Never has there been so much fear of reading spoilers for a King book before its release than now. And I understand why. After all, I didn’t want to know anything before I read it. This is the end of a tale that has been in the making for more than thirty years… 

In
The Dark Tower
we get the conclusion of Roland’s journey to The Dark Tower. Does he reach it? Do the people who travel with him reach it, and if so, do
all
of them reach it? The questions before reading this book are numerous, and I’m happy to say that most of them get straightened out.  

In this book there is almost more action than in the first six combined. This book has everything. There is fighting, there are old friends and enemies as well as new. Good things happen and bad things certainly happen. And, of course, you get the ending of the tale!  

As I said, this is where
The Dark Tower
saga ends. This is the last book in the series, and my guess is that the ending will be discussed as well as argued about between the fans for quite some time. Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone. No matter what ending King would have written there would have been people who liked it and those who didn’t. Personally, I love it.
The Dark Tower
saga couldn’t have ended in a better way. That is all I dare say about it.  

If you haven’t read the fist six parts you should go out and get them ASAP. If you have read them…you’re ready for the last one—the ending.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
 

This is one of King’s best books to date. Of course, you’ll need to have read the first six books to appreciate it, but if you have, you are going to just love it. If you haven’t, you should go out this instant and get all seven parts!  

Someone told me that the best way to review this book was to simply say, “GO OUT AND READ THIS BOOK!” so that is what I’m going to do…GO OUT AND READ THIS BOOK! 

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The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (audio)
 

Posted: November 21, 2004  

So, I just finished
The Dark Tower VII
on CD. As usual, George Guidall is doing a good job reading about Roland and his gang. He has now narrated
The Gunslinger
(the new edition),
Wolves of the Calla
,
Song of Susannah
and
The Dark Tower
. During this time he has gotten a lot of negative comments about his reading as well as good comments (the positive have been a bit fewer though). Many critics are comparing him to Frank Muller, who narrated
The Gunslinger
,
The Drawing of the Three
,
The Waste Lands
and
Wizard and Glass
. Personally, I think they are both good narrators, but I’m going to stick out my chin here by saying that I actually think George is a little bit better (guess how much mail I’m going to get about this)… 

But then on the other hand, if you’re going to look for the best narrator of them all it would have to be King himself. He has narrated versions of
The Gunslinger
,
The Drawing of the Three
and
The Waste Lands
. 

OK, with that said, back to my review.
The Dark Tower VII
consists of twenty-four CD’s and is approximately twenty-nine hours long, and as I said when I reviewed the book, this is one of King’s best books to date. It has everything in it and, of course, it has the ending to a story that has been in the making since the 70s. What more could you possibly ask for? Not much.