The Drawing of the Three

What can I say. This was fantastic from beginning to end. Reading how Roland drew Eddie, Odetta, Detta, and then Susannah was wonderful from beginning to end. King made everyone come alive and I still smile thinking of our initial ka-tet. I can't wait until the next book.

"The Drawing of the Three" follows seven hours after Roland has his palaver with the Man in Black. The last gunslinger is told that he is going to be drawing three and is warned about what is coming next. We see as Roland comes across doors along a lonely beach filled with strange lobster like creatures and draws Eddie Dean (from New York 1987) Odetta Walker (from New York 1964) and someone called The Pusher (from New York 1977).

Our Roland has grown. The man we saw in show more "The Gunslinger" has regrets after letting "the boy" fall. He initially is reluctant to turn into a mentor or a friend, but when he draws Eddie Dean, it's Roland's first step on stepping back on a path that will lead him to his new ka-tet.

I think that King did an excellent job about Odetta/Detta Walker, our Lady of Shadows. King made me sympathize and worry that Odetta was going to be lost or do something worst because at this time I had read "Silver Bullet" and a few other King works and I didn't trust him. Even though I knew the outcome while re-reading, I was still holding my breath.

And what can you say about Eddie Dean? I fell in love with this character as a pre-teen. This was also the first book I ever read that had an interracial relationship. I loved him and Susannah and wanted to go on adventures with them and Roland as we traveled a world that had been burned away.

King manages to make every character in this book stand tall and feel real. From Eddie's brother Henry, to Odetta's chauffeur, all the way to the people that Roland meets in New York as he walks alone there in 1977.

The writing is fantastic. I forgotten how well King can write action scenes. The last part of the book grabs you and you stay with it. You wait with bated breath to see if Roland will be able to defeat the third draw or come out the loser. All I can say is hang on with your breath. There are some call backs to Lord of the Rings (speaking about elephants) and of course having Roland off on his great quest to stand before The Dark Tower.

The next book up is "The Waste Lands." I can't wait. show less

I've read this book several times and I have to admit that I was at first rather blown away (read in '88) and somewhat disgruntled at the same time.

I mean, what is this? Is it a fantasy with rather odd actual doors on a beach, or is it a time-travel SF with alternate realities (and more), or is it a commentary on different New York Cities across a span of 30 years to the eighties?

Sheesh. It sounds like a real mess, right?

But in reality, with the hindsight that comes with having read the whole series and seeing how the entire shape of things comes together into one of the most original, genre-defying epics of our age, I have to give it all the props. I can't *not* like it.

Eddie Dean and O-Detta and Roland are one HELL of a Ka-Tet. A show more real mess, here, but what do you expect with a heroin junkie and a split-personality black woman in a wheelchair becoming GUNSLINGERS? Not just gunslingers, but the force of good on a quest to fix the whole freaking UNIVERSE.

The chutzpah! Not just Roland's chutzpah, but Stephen King's chutzpah!

Fortunately for us, this gathering up and bonding of a new Ka-Tet is still just another beginning, following beautifully from the Gunslinger.

*shivers in delight, anticipation*

And you've GOTTA see the full-color illustrations in these books! show less

What can I say. This was fantastic from beginning to end. Reading how Roland drew Eddie, Odetta, Detta, and then Susannah was wonderful from beginning to end. King made everyone come alive and I still smile thinking of our initial ka-tet. I can't wait until the next book.

"The Drawing of the Three" follows seven hours after Roland has his palaver with the Man in Black. The last gunslinger is told that he is going to be drawing three and is warned about what is coming next. We see as Roland comes across doors along a lonely beach filled with strange lobster like creatures and draws Eddie Dean (from New York 1987) Odetta Walker (from New York 1964) and someone called The Pusher (from New York 1977).

Our Roland has grown. The man we saw in show more "The Gunslinger" has regrets after letting "the boy" fall. He initially is reluctant to turn into a mentor or a friend, but when he draws Eddie Dean, it's Roland's first step on stepping back on a path that will lead him to his new ka-tet.

I think that King did an excellent job about Odetta/Detta Walker, our Lady of Shadows. King made me sympathize and worry that Odetta was going to be lost or do something worst because at this time I had read "Silver Bullet" and a few other King works and I didn't trust him. Even though I knew the outcome while re-reading, I was still holding my breath.

And what can you say about Eddie Dean? I fell in love with this character as a pre-teen. This was also the first book I ever read that had an interracial relationship. I loved him and Susannah and wanted to go on adventures with them and Roland as we traveled a world that had been burned away.

King manages to make every character in this book stand tall and feel real. From Eddie's brother Henry, to Odetta's chauffeur, all the way to the people that Roland meets in New York as he walks alone there in 1977.

The writing is fantastic. I forgotten how well King can write action scenes. The last part of the book grabs you and you stay with it. You wait with bated breath to see if Roland will be able to defeat the third draw or come out the loser. All I can say is hang on with your breath. There are some call backs to Lord of the Rings (speaking about elephants) and of course having Roland off on his great quest to stand before The Dark Tower.

The next book up is "The Waste Lands." I can't wait. show less

Not many authors are blessed with the ability to seamlessly slip into the stream of different fiction genres in the same story. A lucky few are able to break such boundaries with separate stories, giving them an envious diversity of markets. But to weave several distinct types of fiction into the pages of one novel, without losing narrative focus or diluting the effect of the types, is a feat reserved for the true masters. [The Drawing of the Three], the second book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower epic, is such a book, and King is such a master.

[The Drawing of the Three], bends genres much more than the debut book in the series, [The Gunslinger], marrying aspects of sword-and-sorcerer fantasy, science fiction, gunslinging westerns, show more historical fiction, dystopian, horror, and crime thrillers. The entire Dark Tower series is set in the same world, or worlds, where the hero, Roland of Gilead, a knight errant armed with .45 revolvers rather than a sword, quests for a mysterious Dark Tower. But [The Gunslinger] reads more like a fable or morality tale, an ethereal introduction to Roland and his peculiar dilemma. [The Drawing of the Three], on the other hand, pulses with blood and sweat, obsession and greed, driving the quest at a fatal speed.

At the conclusion of [The Gunslinger], Roland has caught up with The Man in Black, an agent of the Dark Tower. This mysterious figure tells Roland that he must “draw three” in his journey. [The Drawing of the Three] finds Roland passed out on a beach. Along the beach are doors. The doors open onto other worlds that open into other worlds, worlds that exist alongside and are loosely interwoven into Roland’s world. From these doors, Roland “draws” companions who will accompany him on his journey. In many ways, these companions are reflections, or echoes, of Roland’s own obsessive, if noble, spirit – saving them is Roland’s own salvation.

[The Drawing of the Three] is my favorite of the now eight books that compose the Dark Tower epic. The unique narrative of the book, as told separately and sometimes simultaneously by Roland and his companions, allows the reader the deepest glimpse into Roland’s internal life. This installment also features Roland at his weakest, in worlds that are unfamiliar to him and dependent on the strength and character of others, a situation he rarely finds himself in.

5 bones!!!!!
An All-Time Favorite show less

Edited - after re-read on 8/14/22, Bumping this one up to 5 stars

Just looking at this one after you’ve closed the first, you already know you’re in for something different. The most obvious sign is the size – King has expanded the world by more than half. The first would look dwarfish lined beside this much larger work.

The first began on a vague note, and this one continues on a dreamy beginning vibe as Roland arrives on a beach, finds a door suspended in midair, and the door leads to New York city, but at different moments in time. Through each opening he’s supposed to nab his future traveling companions, all foretold at the end of the first book’s conclusion. Eddie (The Prisoner), Odetta (Lady of Shadows), and Jack Mort show more (Death.)

All readers are anxious for Roland to start his journey, but we still have quite a way before the official walk starts. Seeing Roland thrust into the 80’s to recruit Eddie, a heroine addict in trouble with the mob, is funnier than you’d think. It reminded me a bit of Crocodile Dundee coming to New York city for the first time. They then have to travel to the 60’s for Odetta, a woman who lost her legs in an accident, a woman whose mind hides another personality.

Roland hasn’t been around folks he has to work and connect with in ages, but now King forces him to walk the road with new companions, all with their own personal demon taint. King also cripples him from the get-go with an unexpected ‘attack.’ He seems more human in this book and is even more epic a character.

Eddie is a fiercely strong being, choosing to follow a path he knows little about, shrugging off drug addiction and adjusting. Odetta…I disliked a lot. Savannah never grows on me in either form. Her interactions on the beach especially irritated me as a monstrous woman. There’s much sickness and deviancy among the book’s players, from the minor to the major.

It’s still written in a surreal fantasy realm this time with some fun and underlying humor. Makes you eager to read the next book to find out what happens next, and I definitely enjoyed it more than the first. Eddie especially.

And those lobrosities are creepy. show less

I hadn't liked The Gunslinger as much as everyone else seemed to. It was just not as good as some of the many, many other King novels I've read and loved. So I kept dragging my feet instead of reading The Drawing of the Three, thinking it might be more of the same.

And I couldn't have been more wrong. This book is AMAZING, and I loved every second of it. (It also reminds me some of the Dresden Files, and you know how much I love that series, right?).

Seriously, if you've stalled out on this series after the first book, PLEASE give this one a try. It's SO worth it...! From the lobstrocities (Did-a-chick? Dum-a-chum? Dad-a-cham? Ded-a-check?), to the gun fight in the pharmacy, to the taking over other people's minds, to the characters show more involved in this novel; I loved them all. It's brilliant, and every bit deserving of its praise. (And seriously, the word 'lobstrocities' deserves at least one more mention because of its hilarious horribleness....!)

I now cannot wait to see what happens to these people in the next novel. High praise for the narrator Frank Muller, who made every character, from the lobstrocities (I love this word), to the characters appealing, separate, and wholly alive. I hope he's done the whole series of audiobooks? If so, I'm there...!!!

5 stars, and highly, recommended. Whether you like your crustaceans gigantic, semi-intelligent and vocal, or not.

Also, check out this review - it's one of the best out there. And, it has pics from the graphic novel. And, this person is exceedingly kind.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/203451131?book_show_action=true&from_r... show less

Second book in the Dark Tower series. I actually really liked it, but some of the writing is so juvenile... what my cousin Paul would call "pedestrian," I guess. And the sexism--geez. Cliches up the ying-yang, too. That's why I downgraded it to 3 Stars.
I really liked the Lobstrosities, those things like a carnivorous lobster on steroids. Do you know, when this was written, there were only a billion people on this planet? 1989. Yea. Let that sink in how fast these "mahfah" humans are fugging themselves out of their only home.
Here's a cute little couplet credited to Henry, Eddie Dean's dead junkie brother: "Flip-flop, hippety-hop, offa your rocker and over the top, life’s a fiction and the world’s a lie, so put on some Creedence and show more let’s get high." If you're feeling blue, say that to yourself, and then light up.
I like the part in the end where the CPA Mort gets what he so richly deserved.
When Roland has reached the Western Sea (the Pacific ocean, before the world moved on), and after he got his two fingers and his big toe bitten off by the lobstrosity, he headed up the beach, north. But about three times, King got his directions confused. I don't know how this book could be around so many years without this getting corrected.
I enjoyed the part when Eddie Dean is on the airplane, smuggling cocaine from Barbados, and Roland comes through the doorway on the beach, and into his head. The flight attendant (King calls them "stews" or "stewardesses), sits in her jumpseat forward of first-class and lights a cigarette! Can you picture that?
Got to hand it to Stephen King for an imagination that I admire. show less