My favorite thing about this series is how the style changes with each book. This one is no exception, of course. Here you have the most "Wild West" of the series. By that, I mean that a band of gunslingers is called upon to protect a township from the invading forces of bandits that take what they want from time to time. Me not being a fan of Western Films can really only quickly recall one reference: The Three Amigos.

Even though King does not explore it as well as other of his books, this is the first of the Dark Tower books that is of a town collective. You get to know the inhabitants of the town with each of their characteristics described that this ends up being another Anytown, USA…just a tad archaic and outer-dimensional. One can argue that Wizard & Glass explores a town as well, but I feel, much rather, it's less about the town as a collective, and more about the individuals within and their singular goals. In the Wolves of the Calla, there is a collective, and the goal is a shared one.

Overall, I thought this was a strong story. It is not my favorite, and not as explorative as The Waste Lands, but I did enjoy the 'Salem's Lot segue. I am even tickled by the bit of metafiction that is taking place (and, from what I hear, is thoroughly explored in The Dark Tower, Book VII).

King also does not shy away from using gut-wrenching tragedy to bring out (and force) the adult growth out of his children characters. At first, this came as a shock to me, but I believe that I was simply caught up in the suspense of the final thirty pages. Personally (and because of experience), I should have known better.

All in all, a good story, may it do you fine. ( )

I'm not going to rate these separately as that doesn't make sense to me. I thought this was a wonderful series. I was horrified when he got hit by the car and I thought he may not be able to finish the story. The plot was incredible and the characters were like close friends of mine by the end. His imagery and imagination are an inspiration to those of us who strive to write for a living. His best work by far, IMHO. ( )

Excellent book with a lot of memorable scenes. Roland's dancing of the Commalla was really moving, and the introductions of the ka-tet to the village made me smile. I love the way that King creates the feeling of history for his Gunslingers that is deeply rooted in tradition, and seeing the parallels between Roland's youth and his old-but-young Gunslinger apprentices who are starting to open their eyes to the world.

A friend recommended that I read Salem's Lot before starting Book 5, and I am glad that I did. I largely panned Salem's Lot because of how incomplete Father Callahan's story felt, but when viewed alongside Wolves of the Calla the author can be forgiven a bit. King does a great job with repetition and layers, bringing Eddie back to Jake's New York (and the beginning of his own New York) to learn more about the lot and about "The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind".

And, of course, the action at the end is great. We see more strange bleeding from the fiction of our world to the reality of this midworld, something I hope they will explain in Book 6. The one thing I am not looking forward to is how the next book might be Susannah focused. She is my least favorite member of the ka-tet. ( )

The Dark Tower series is wonderful until this novel. I left it feeling greatly disappointed. ( )

The fifth installment in the Dark Tower series is full of cross-references to other King works that I love, further unifying the Stephen King universe, which even in this one novel has an infinite number of connected worlds. It begins by bringing in a familiar character from our world: Father Callahan of ‘Salem’s Lot, who after that fateful encounter with vampires began to walk the hidden roads of America, finally winding up in a rice-growing village in Roland’s world. There Roland and crew meet him and make him a part of their ka-tet. Father Callahan also has another piece of the Wizard’s Glass: the black eye of the Crimson King himself, which our heroes can use to get back to New York to do important things.

There’s a lot going on in this long novel. We learn more of the rose first glimpsed by Jake in The Wastelands (Volume III) and find out what kind of danger it is in. There is news of the Beams and the Breakers, and even the Low Men make an appearance. There is the small matter of Susannah’s demon pregnancy. And there is a spaghetti Western-style plot in which Roland and the others have to save a town from marauding wolves who steal one-half of all the town’s twins (and the kids are mostly twins), only to return them retarded and doomed – “roont,” as the townsfolk of the Calla say.

The cross-references abound, and King even manages to gleefully introduce elements from Marvel comics, Star Wars and the Harry Potter series. But the climactic reference in thrillingly audacious, even for King. I won’t give it away; suffice it to say, you won’t be able to wait to start reading Part 6. ( )