Iets minder sterk dan de vorige uit de reeks. Hier en daar voorspelbaar. ( )

While continuing their quest to reach the Dark Tower, Roland of Gilead and his ka-tet--Eddie and Susannah Dean, Jake Chambers, and Oy the billy-bumbler--cross paths with a small group of townsfolk from Calla Bryn Sturgis who request their help with stopping a group of masked riders who storm into the Calla every twenty-three years to steal their children and cart them off into the distant Thunderclap--a stormy and dark territory at the edge of the world. Roland agrees to meet with the townsfolk in order to determine if they can help them.

In the meantime, Jake and Eddie visit the New York of 1977 by means of trips during while they sleep called "toads", and from these visits learn more about the rose and the Dark Tower, and uncover a means to potentially gain a tighter grasp on reaching the tower. Oh, and Susannah's pregnant by something and has another, new personality trying to fight its way to the forefront of her awareness.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook that this is the book where everything goes kind of batshit crazy, and in all honesty, it does. So much happens that is both following a good Western tale mixed with a a bit of fantasy and horror, but then, a lot of coincidences occur that I had to just accept with little to no explanation, such as the proliferation of certain numbers. Following the story does require a knowledge of the previous books but only in order to follow the thread of the main storyline. But what I found most intriguing--and I'm still not certain if it's a good or bad thing--the reader gets to learn what happened to a character from a prior Stephen King novel, and by prior, I mean something originally published in 1975 and dealing with vampires. While I enjoyed this, I don't feel that it had much to do with the story being told in this specific book. I had that impression with much of the details proffered in this book with the series: vampires, numbers, name-dropping a lot of different authors, time traveling, Star Wars, robots, Harry Potter, etc.--had little or no bearing on the story itself. I hope these bits of information will coalesce by the final book. ( )

Now probably my favorite book of the DT series, this story shows the gunslingers at work in their traditional role, reintroduces us to favorite old characters and stories in SK's universe, and is generally full of interesting new characters, plenty of action, and all around fun and tragedy. We get to see Jake growing up and leaving the last of his childhood behind. Roland has another awkward standoffy semi-romance. Eddie and Susannah's relationship deepens, even as Susannah begins to separate.

Audiobook, via Audible. This is the first book read by George Guidall after Frank Muller's motorcycle accident, and his performance is terrific as always, as he makes the voices his own. But I do miss Frank Muller's voice. ( )

Exceptional story

One of my favorites in the series. ( )