The first half of this entry into the Dark Tower series excels far above the first two books. Dealing with a time paradox in a psychologically thrilling manner, King is at his best. Unfortunately, this fizzes in the second half of the book, which reads more like an entirely separate and unfinished entry into the series. The post-apocalyptic city was not well-written or creatively imagined, and King seemed to mostly be going for the easy gross-out factor.

For my full review, see: http://wp.me/pp7vL-5a ( )

I'm largely reading the Dark Tower series because of Lost. Well, I've been meaning to read it for a while, but I've been told that the writers of Lost draw a lot of direct influence from the Dark Tower series, especially for the upcoming final season. So I'm trying to push through all seven books before the next premiere in February.

I'm already seeing these influences, the most obvious of which is time travel. In the first book, The Gunslinger, Roland comes across a boy named Jake who died in our world and awoke in Roland's. Roland later lets him die again, sacrificing him to pursue his own quest. In the second book, The Drawing of the Three, Roland finds himself travelling into our world in the minds of three separate New Yorkers in various different time periods. The third of these is Jake's murderer, and Roland kills him - before the murder takes place.

The first half of the novel deals with the results of the subsequent time paradox, as both Jake and Roland begin to go insane with two separate memories of their past/future/whatever duking it out in their brains. This problem is eventually solved with the drawing of Jake into Roland's world, and the fortified party continues its quest for the Dark Tower.

The best part of The Wastelands is that it shows us more of Roland's fascinating world, a unique and original creation that is part fantasy, part science fiction, part Western and part post-apocalyptic, and - because this is Stephen King - tinged with an American vibe that somehow manages to feel appropriate. While an excellent book, The Drawing of the Three was lacking in that regard because the scenes in Roland's world took place entirely along the same stretch of dull, desolate beach. The Wastelands blows that effort right out of the water, as within the first fifty pages the party enters a pine forest and is attacked by a huge and ancient bear, which then turns out to be a nuclear-powered cyborg, one of many relics left behind by the long-forgotten Great Old Ones. That sounds silly, but it's actually brilliant, and a thousand times better than Tolkien-riffed fantasy about elves and orcs.

Unfortunately, a very large chunk of the book is devoted to resolving the Jake-Roland time paradox, which means we are rudely thrust back into New York for 150 pages. This was a very unwelcome interruption, especially when I thought we were finally done with our own world and were about to go exploring in Roland's. It also contains a pretty sloppy mistake for a series that so heavily involves time travel: this segment involves Henry Dean, Eddie's older brother, and takes place when he is eighteen, shortly before he "shipped out to Vietnam." It also takes places in 1977. Spot the error.

A second comparison I'm going to draw to Lost is the regular themes of fate and destiny, and an unwillingness to dole out answers. Lost was quite unwilling to hand out answers to anything in its early seasons, but I watched regardless, because it was a fascinating show and I had faith things would be explained eventually. The most frustrating thing was not the writers' unwillingness to explain - despite complaints from unimaginative people who give up on the show, I'm smart enough to realise that if everything was dumped straight up in the first episode it would defeat the entire purpose - but rather in the characters' unwillingness to ask questions. This is exactly the same situation that exists in the Dark Tower series. Eddie and Susannah are swept up in Roland's quest and agree to seek out the Dark Tower without understanding what it is or why he seeks it. Jake's adventures in New York are doubly frustrating, partly because we have to read about them at all, and partly because they're all about fate and destiny and visions and things he just "knows." It's tedious to read, it bogged down the pace and I got mighty sick of it. (Yes, I was quite disappointed when Lost's fifth season finale suddenly took a sharp turn back towards the DESTINY theme. Jacob in particular pissed me off, it felt like fan-fiction.)

But then - hallelujah! - Jake is drawn into the gunslinger's world and we resume our quest. Not only that, but we finally get answers, as Roland divulges the reason he seeks out the Dark Tower - and a damn good one. It was established in the first two books that Roland's is euphemistically described as having "moved on;" not only has it suffered two separate apocalypse-level events, one a thousand years ago and one within living memory, but it seems to be coming apart at the seams. Time flows strangely, the sun rises and sets in odd directions, and the land itself seems to be expanding. The Dark Tower is a kind of lynchpin for reality itself. Roland intends to find it, make sense of it, and use it to repair his broken world. (Blaine, a diabolical entity encountered at the conclusion of the book, implies in passing that each "level" of the Dark Tower contains an entire world, including our own world; so perhaps the Tower both exists inside the universe, and also contains it).

And is if that wasn't good enough, the second half of the book is simply excellent storytelling. The travellers enter the ruined city of Lud, and their experiences there are on par with Eddie's drawing in The Drawing of the Three, both on the plane and in Balazar's nightclub, for the best writing of the series so far - and the best writing King has ever done. Jake's drawing drags The Wastelands down quite a bit, but the rest of the book is brilliant, and probably better than its predecessor.

My previous complaints about the Dark Tower series largely rested on the fact that it took too long to build up momentum. The Gunslinger introduced the quest and the hero, and the Drawing of the Three introduced his companions. The Wastelands, at long last, fires up the engine and comes screaming out of the garage. This series may have taken its sweet time to get started, but now I'm glad I put the effort in.

I sure feel bad for all the original readers who had to wait nine years for this book, though. ( )

"Blaine is a pain." What else can I say? ( )

The third installment of The Dark Tower series, which ends with one heck of a cliffhanger. I think the first three books of the series are absolutely the strongest, and while you will want to go on and read Wizard and Glass to resolve the story, the novels become noticeably weaker after this. ( )

I'm getting into the Dark Tower series more and more as these books progress. So far, each one has been better than the previous one. ( )

I'm getting into the Dark Tower series more and more as these books progress. So far, each one has been better than the previous one. ( )

This was an amazing book, easily the favorite of the Dark Tower books I have read so far, which are the first three books.

To my delight, this book spent the better majority in Roland's mysterious world instead of spending half of the book in a New York setting. The only part that was really spent in NYC was when it was telling of how Jake was finding all the clues about the Dark Tower like the key and rose.

This was an amazing journey of a book, and I find it hard to believe that it is only the third book in one epic saga, because this could have been a great novel even without the other books.

And as for the ending, well, let's just say when you finish this book, you basically have no choice but to drift right on to the fourth in the saga..... ( )

Not bad at all. King obviously feels comfortable with his characters and none of the books feels cranked out or a simple retread of what we've already read. ( )

I really enjoyed this third Dark Tower book. King's writing style has continued to evolve in a positive way, and he keeps finding new ways to expand the Dark Tower mythology. I liked how Mid-world is a strange amalgam of our present, past, and future. The author draws in companies and technology that are real and imagined and melds them with mythology and superstition to build Lud, then pulls elements out to show how the Tower influences our now - the doors between worlds are two-way.

The book is very visual, and little touches such as graphics and diagrams add a lot of polish to an already strong story.

If any criticism can be leveled against the story, it is that it chooses to end on such a strange note - the story feels half told. I am spoiled though, reading the series so long after its original publication. I have the entire series ahead of me, so I can say that The Waste Lands ends in the correct place. ( )

I never knew there could be so much walking in a book! For me it seemed this was a cross between The Wizard of Oz, Ghostbusters, and some weird fairy tale kid's book. I just didn't get it. ( )

In rereading this, I found I remembered a lot more than I had with Drawing of the Three (though a lot of what I remembered I had thought happened in the previous book, like all of Jake's story in NY). There is so much awesomeness here. I loved Lud and Blaine and all the technology, I loved Shardik and the portal, I loved the house and Eddie and Jake's shared dreams. And Oy! I forgot how much I loved Oy!

I am eager to read Wizard and Glass now, though I remember not liking it as much as the first three (despite liking finally getting some backstory on Roland). ( )

I enjoyed Dark Tower III, although perhaps a bit less than book two. I thought the pacing was inconsistent where things picked up and never really stopped in Drawing. Well, we learn a bit more about Roland's world and its connection to our own and others like it. Disappointed it ended on a cliffhanger. Fun read. ( )

My second favorite of the Dark Tower series. Really started to pull things together. Blaine Blaine. ( )

Finally: the novel happens. The landscape of the world in which the Gunslinger lives and treks changes and becomes more real to the reader. Two more characters permanently (one is a boy from New York City and the other a small animal called a billy-bumbler that mimics back human words with a sense of intelligence) join up with the Gunslinger's group.

Some post-apocalyptic machinery takes place which takes the story from a Dalí-esque desert to a sci-fi analogue of a city (much like New York) in ruin that is governed by violent acts between two gangs of self-destructive marauders.

I enjoyed this volume very much…I just feel it was titled incorrectly. The actual land o' waste doesn't actually happen until the last 50 pages or so…and I felt it was far too under-described—but this is understandable considering the circumstances of Blain the Train… Still, I was expecting a Waste Land, and not just mere glimpses. Maybe this gets explored a bit in the next book(s)? We shall see! ( )

Silly, volume III. ( )

The train in this story scares the crap out of me! The third installment of Dark Tower you can't skip this one. This transports Roland and his crew to a new level. ( )

My favorite of the Dark Tower series so far. (Yes, I'm way behind) ( )

After the buildups of the first two in the series, this third installment picks up the pace. Thank goodness that I wasn't reading this as they were getting released. I heard that there was a long wait between 3 and 4.

The way the book finishes is reason enough to start it. ( )

This is a fan favorate of the series, however i found it to be a little boring to be honest, and it leaves you with a huge cliffhanger. However, this is also where the characters get ALOT of developing and their bonds with one another really grows. Alot happens in this book, and it is really good, i just found it to be a little boring. ( )

This series is really shaping up to be an amazing read. The plot, the character development, everything about it pulls you in and keeps you reading non-stop. Excellent work. ( )

Classic King! In my opinion, this is the second best of the series (behind wizard and glass). The action is wildly vivid and exciting, yet each of the main characters is developed to human-like complexity while the engaging plot continues to unfold. ( )

Not all it's hyped up to be. But at least it's not as bad as the first in the series. ( )

Kind of a disappointment, although I could sense it coming after reading Book 2. How could King sustain the excitement and tightness of the first two throughout all seven books? I'm skimming many pages at a time, and I'm very upset at who Susannah has become. She used to be a strong, complex woman, and now she's reduced to a caricature. And Eddie making those sick "yes massah" jokes? WTF? ( )

Book 3 of the Dark Tower is very story-driven. A lot happens in this book to drive the story forward, vastly different than the scene-setting Gunslinger or the character-driven Drawing of the Three. Ka is pushing the characters along in this book, and a lot of the story happens because ka was there to intervene. The characters pulled from New York begin to have a better grasp on their new world and how to act in it - they are becoming true gunslingers.

The cliffhanger ending leaves the reader jumping for the next book in the series. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2R... ( )