Average customer rating:
- A Must Read Series
- I feel like I lost to that pain, Blaine
- Review of Wizard and Glass
- A Great Read, But...
- I suggest that you stop here.
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Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4)
Stephen King
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
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The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1)
ASIN: 0451210875
Release Date: 2003-10-07 |
Amazon.com Books
Wizard and Glass, the fourth episode in King's white-hot Dark Tower series, is a sci-fi/fantasy novel that contains a post-apocalyptic Western love story twice as long. It begins with the series' star, world-weary Roland, and his world-hopping posse (an ex-junkie, a child, a plucky woman in a wheelchair, and a talking dog-like pet named Oy the Bumbler) trapped aboard a runaway train. The train is a psychotic multiple personality that intends to commit suicide with them at 800 m.p.h.--unless Roland and pals can outwit it in a riddling contest.
It's a great race, for the mind and pulse. Movies should be this good. Then comes a 567-page flashback about Roland at age 14. It's a well-marbled but meaty tale. Roland and two teen homies must rescue his first love from the dirty old drooling mayor of a post-apocalyptic cowboy town, thwart a civil war by blowing up oil tanks, and seize an all-seeing crystal ball from Rhea, a vampire witch. The love scenes are startlingly prominent and earthier than most romance novels (they kiss until blood trickles from her lip).
After an epic battle ending in a box canyon to end all box canyons, we're back with grizzled, grown-up Roland and the train-wreck survivors in a parallel world: Kansas in 1986, after a plague. The finale is a weird fantasy takeoff on The Wizard of Oz. Some readers will feel that the latest novel in King's most ambitious series has too many pages--almost 800--but few will deny it's a page-turner.
Amazon.com Audio Review
Frank Muller, the recognized virtuoso of audiobook narration (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), takes on Stephen King's Goliath tale of sorcerers, time travelers, and sci-fi love. Totaling more than 27 hours and spanning 18 cassettes, Wizard and Glass requires the listener to love Muller's Hannibal Lecter-like voice--either that or suffer in audio hell for the equivalent of three full working days. While some might find his breathy staccatos irritating at best, others will find his voice the perfect accompaniment to King's creepy characters and nightmarish plots. (Running time: 27 hours, 18 cassettes)
Book Description
The end is near.
Start at the beginning.
The Dark Tower saga builds to an explosive climax...
In November 2003, the fifth Dark Tower book hits stores for the first time-followed by books six and seven.
This #1 bestseller heralds the beginning of the end.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read Series.......2007-10-09
Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on," and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams -- mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.
This series was mostly inspired by the epic poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, the full text of which was included in an appendix to the final volume. In the preface to the revised 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings, the Arthurian Legend, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as inspirations. He identifies Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as one of the major inspirations for Roland. King's style of location names in the series, such as Mid-World, and his development of a unique language abstract to our own, are also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's work.
The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements. King has described the series as his magnum opus; beside the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses.
I feel like I lost to that pain, Blaine.......2007-09-28
I REALLY want to enjoy this book as much as the first 3 in this series. I really do.
I first picked up The Gunslinger when I was in high school in the late 80's. It was love at first read! I waited years for King to write more and I eagerly waited and ran to the bookstore and bought the first edition hard covers. I did the same with Wizard and Glass, and, then I attempted to read it.
The first 100 or so is excellent. I love the whole Blaine thing. I'm reading fast and then BAM...This flashback lovestory stops me dead in my tracks (have I just gotten splattered at the front of mono? Did I get - at least - a case of reading whiplash? lol).
I've tried reading this book for years and I just couldn't get through 500 pages of a sappy teenage romance novel (Roland's early life and the story of his father, or Roland's training would have been much more interresting to me!) I'd read halfway through the book and give up until this week when I FINALLY forced myself past the, to me, boring bits and finished it. The story does picks up a lot in the last half of the book...thankfully! (I would have hacked away a lot of the first half of the flshback pages if I were King's editor).
Yay, I'm glad to be back on track to the Tower again.
Review of Wizard and Glass.......2007-09-27
Review of Wizard and Glass
Wizard and Glass is the fourth volume in Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. To fully appreciate this story, read The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, and The Waste Lands before tackling Wizard and Glass. I am preaching to the choir here, since anyone who has read the first three books is already hooked, like one who stares too long into the Wizard's Glass.
The Dark Tower is the story of Roland Deschain, the Gunslinger, a sort of knight whose quest is to find the tower that sits at the center of all the universes. Accompanying Roland on this phase of his journey are former heroin addict Eddy Dean; legless multiple personality Susannah/Odetta; Jake, a boy who died in the first book but who is brought back in the third; and Oy, a talking animal.
The first part of Wizard and Glass concludes the riddle contest with Blaine (If you don't know who Blaine is, shame on you! That means you haven't read The Waste Lands.) The group then enters the Topeka, Kansas of an alternate universe, the dead world of another Stephen King novel, The Stand. In this world, Interstate 70 out of Topeka follows the "Path of the Beam" toward the Dark Tower.
When the group camps for the night, Roland tells a story from his youth, which forms the main portion of the book. The tale involves the adventures of young Roland and his companions Alain and Cuthbert in a town called Hambry, in the Barony of Mejis. Hambry, like Roland's entire world, is a mixture of medieval, old-western, and post-apocalyptic elements. Palaces, cowboy saloons and long-abandoned oil refineries co-exist in this land. The town is filled with bizarre and menacing characters: Rhea, the wickedest witch in the west; lustful and corrupt Mayor Hartwell Thorin; Jonas and the Big Coffin Hunters, badmen who make Jessee James and his cronies look like boy scouts; and many others.
While there is plenty of gunplay and intrigue, a key theme of Wizard and Glass is the romance between Roland and beautiful Susan Delgado. This romance reveals another side of Roland. In the other books of the series, he is mysterious and cold, willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to reach the Dark Tower. In Wizard and Glass, at least we glimpse the human being within the Gunslinger.
The Glass of the title is a mystical pink crystal, one of thirteen that form Maerlyn's Rainbow, created ages ago by a malevolent being. Through it, Roland's companions witness the dramatic and tragic conclusion of his story. But beware! The glass is cursed, and can bring only sorrow to its user.
The Wizard is Marten Broadcloak, archenemy of Roland, and the reason Stephen Deschain sends his son to Mejis. He has many other names. In the New York of our world, he is Jack Mort, the Pusher, who caused Jake's (first) death and the loss of Odetta's legs. In The Gunslinger he is Walter, the Man in Black. In the world of Hambry, he is John Farson, euphemistically called "The Good Man," who seeks to overthrow the Baronies. Near the end of Wizard and Glass he takes on another, rather fanciful identity, but I don't want to spoil the fun. I'll just hint that, when our heroes encounter him, they're not in Kansas anymore!
Roland's tale is too long to be told in a single sitting in our world, but time does not flow smoothly in the worlds that have "moved on." In Roland's world it is feasible to tell a 27-hour story (the length of the audio-CD version of Wizard and Glass) in one evening. Apart from this plot device, the story in this book could not have been exactly the same as what Roland told his companions. The narrative is in the third person, and contains scenes Roland did not witness and could not have known in such detail.
Wizard and Glass is one of Stephen King's best works. Any fan who finishes this fourth book of the Dark Tower series will approach the last three volumes with renewed gusto.
A Great Read, But..........2007-09-16
I have thoroughly enjoyed King's Dark Tower novels, from The Gunslinger all the way through the final installment, The Dark Tower. However, despite the overall excellence of this postmodern dark fantasy, that's not to say he made some missteps along the way. Wizard and Glass, while well-written and interesting, fails to advance the actual plot of the series, and it seems as though King is treading water.
Picking up right where The Wasteland's cliffhanger leaves off, we find our Ka-Tet aboard Blaine the Mono attempting to answer his riddle and making a dramatic escape (I won't tell you how). Afterwards, continuing their quest, Roland recounts the tale of his youthful days and his lost love out on the plains long and long and long ago. This is an elegantly-told, bittersweet, doomed saga that includes intrigue, magic, action, post-apocalyptic horror, love and deep, despairing loss worthy of Roland Deschain's bleak universe. It's an integral tale for the series, and is long on character development and atmosphere, but doesn't add anything in the way of plot or advancement to the tale - if anything, it keeps the series at a standstill. However, necessary reading for any Dark Tower fan.
I suggest that you stop here........2007-08-25
This is the last of The Dark Tower novels that is worth reading. I finished this yesterday, and it was great. The first four Dark Tower novels have good depth in their story. Great writting by Stephen King. I recommend avoiding the last three books and stick with the first four. You'll like this book, so give it a try.
Book Description
Enter a mysterious realm inhabited by fire-breathing dragons and ancient sorcerers as you color 16 boldly drawn illustrations. Use crayons, felt-tip pens, or other media to transform portraits of bearded sorcerers astride fearsome beasts, in long robes and pointy hats reading books, sharing the company of wide-eyed owls, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful coloring book.......2007-02-06
I bought this for my son who loves to draw. The pictures are simply beautiful and it is a unique way to produce a coloring book.
Product Description
PURE FANTASY -If you like the world of mythology and fantasy, then this is the pattern CD for you. Over 50 full-size stained glass designs of Fairies, wizards, gargoyles, trolls, dragons and other fantastic creatures of the human imagination are illustrated in their full glory. There's panel designs as well as suncatchers and mirrors. Patterns accommodate all levels of glass expertise. Each stained glass pattern is available in a JPG, TIF, and Glass Eye 2000tm format for easy resizing and recoloring in any graphics program on your PC or Mac. This is CD #2 in the series: the Paned Expressions Studios Stained Glass Pattern CD library, for those who are collecting the series.
Customer Reviews:
Rare Creatures Never before available.......2005-09-19
Once again, these guys have given us the rare and unusual to do in glass. I especially love the GreenMan pattern and the Unicorn Moon pattern. Truly wonderful patterns and only a lack of imagination could hold you back with this collection! Thanks again to the great artists at Paned Expressions.
Book Description
Fun-to-color portraits of favorite characters from an American classic: Dorothy and Toto, the Wizard, the Wicked Witch and beautiful Glinda, the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Oz Gatekeeper.
Customer Reviews:
Color Away!.......2000-06-15
This activity book contains eight, 3 ½ X 5 inch "rice paper quality" transparent/translucent sheets. Included in the book are: 1) Dorothy & Toto, 2) The Scarecrow, 3) The Tin Woodman, 4) The Cowardly Lion (pictured below-colored), 5) The Oz Gatekeeper, 6) The Wicked Witch, 7) Glinda the Good Witch and 8) The Wizard of Oz. The artist's drawing are based on the Denslow-type characters not the "movie". Great for kids or for the adult Wizard Of Oz lover to add to your collection. The pictures are small but just enough to add color to a window! The portraits will come to life when you color them with colored pencils, paints felt-tip pens or crayons.
Book Description
Mystical magicians weave their spells in this collection of 16 stained glass images. Add spellbinding hues to bubbling cauldrons, ancient amulets, winged serpents, and magic wands. Then watch these enchanting realms spring to life with a sparkling effect when completed and held up to bright light.
Product Description
The official Amazon reviews for Stephen King's Dark Tower series from loyal readers and fans alike.
Customer Reviews:
Are You Kidding Me?.......2007-10-08
I'm hoping that this is a gag listing. $50 for a compilation of reviews posted by Amazon customers? The same reviews that are freely available on the product pages?
If it is for real then this is the ultimate rip-off! Not only is it shocking to see freely posted reader reviews being sold, but for a price of $50! Complete disgrace; overwhelming greed.
I wonder of the Amazon customers who wrote these reviews think of their works being a source of profit for others?
Book Description
“A Gift upon the Shore is a lyrical, haunting story of two women, an artist and a writer, surviving in a dark near future. Driven by rich and fully drawn characters, this is a powerful, compelling story of a friendship that survives the devastation, only to face a more difficult test from the ‘gift’ found upon the shore… It is also about remaining human under the worst of conditions, and the humanizing influence of books and art, even when their existence is threatened.
“Above all, it is a poignant expression of the durability, grace, and potential of the human spirit.”
—Jean M. Auel
Customer Reviews:
A Woman's perspective of "The End".......2007-03-14
First, let me say that this is a slow paced book, and not riven through with violence, though there is enough. If your looking for Post Apocalyptic Fiction such as the Stand or Swan Song (both of which are proudly on my shelf) this is not for you. There's no Mad Max Thunderdome. Instead, there is a quiet, almost Quakerish view of a very small part of a world gone terribly bad.
This wonderful book has earned a permanent place in my collection of Post Apocalyptic Fiction, along with Jack McDevitt's Eternity Road and Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. Why? Because not only does the book observe The End through the eyes of a woman, which is quite unique, it shows the constant human need for knowledge, the quest for lost knowledge, and best of all, the complete love of books that inhabits these three novels.
I've been on a Post Apocalyptic kick, lately, working my way through books never before read and those read and nearly forgotten. It has left me, surprisingly, with some hope for us, for our future.
This book will quietly haunt you, you will remember it, you will pass it along to a friend, you may reread it. I think you will never forget it.
The world ended and it's all the Christian's fault........2006-07-27
That is this book in a nutshell. The Christian characters are all unfailingly and unrelentingly wild eyed lunatics who nearly destroy attempts at recovery after the End. The only hope for humanity lies with our agnostic heros who work to plant a seed for a future rebirth of civilization. I'm glad I borrowed this one from the library instead of buying it.
Unforgettable journey.......2004-05-15
"A Gift Upon the Shore" is a story that will always stay with you once you've read it.
In contrast to lots of other apocalyptic novels this one is so believable, the characters so real. It is very well written and you can't but feel with the heroines as they survive the end of civilization and struggle on day by day and year after year. And here for once are people who don't just settle into cave man style lives ("Earth Abides") but here you find the ultimate effort of trying to preserve knowledge for the generations born after the "Golden Age".
Ho Hummm..........2004-03-19
First off: I was looking forward to reading this book. I love `post apocalyptical' novels, so when the Library had this book for sale, I eagerly snapped it up. Well...I have to say the first chapter ruined it for me. Number one, I'm not a big fan of novels written in the first person, but this book has a chapter at the beginning, which is written from one of the main characters POV that spoils major, plot points. This is a pet peeve of mine when reading fiction, and it seems to be a trend when writing from first person. I prefer not to read what's going to happen before it does...Ugg.
But I persevered, and read more of the book. I found the writing style of this book to be quite dry and stilted. Chapters read like entries into a diary, and characters speak quite unnaturally. There is one paragraph where a main male character speaks in a single huge paragraph without pause! Ech. Every character has a biblical name and the writing style seems stiff and boring to me.
I guess "A gift upon the Shore" is just not my bag. The narrative style was too dry and unappealing and the author tells us whats going on most of the time rather than showing us. I guess I'll just have to give this book a pass.
10 Stars If I Could!.......2003-12-08
This novel supposedly takes place in the near future, beginning just before a nuclear war and subsequent plague decimates the human population. Mary Hope is the principle character, and she relates a story that begins when she is a young woman and progresses until she is older, in her 60's, this story being told to a young man named Stephen as Mary attempts to prepare him to eventually replace her as the teacher of their small group on the Oregon coast. Most of the group is of a fanatical religious bent and she has to carefully navigate through this. Author M. K. Wren gives us this interesting tale through the perspective of a woman, and I am aware that women tend to be more introspective than men are, of emotions and their environment, and also more attuned and sensitive to interpersonal relationships, this is all very evident in this novel, and well done. The story is very philosophical, I loved it. The underlying message is that the human race has squandered precious resources preparing for war, plunging us into worldwide recession, culminating in nuclear war and plague. There is no ultimate right and wrong, only human values and the importance we ourselves place on them.
The story gives graphic detail of events at the "end" and far past it, made me feel as though I was really there. It illustrates the strong will and determination some people possess in the face of calamity, and a quest to save part of civilization. I loved the rational world-view of the two principal characters, Mary and Rachel, no mythmaking or herd behavior with these ladies, they accept the true nature of the universe. A very poetic novel, always reflective, I savored every word.
Average customer rating:
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A Gift upon the Shore
M. K. Wren
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Alternate History | Anthologies | Arthurian | Contemporary | Epic | General | Historical | History & Criticism | Magic & Wizards | Series
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The Rift
ASIN: 0140130888 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Utopian Studies, published by Society for Utopian Studies on March 22, 2001. The length of the article is 5057 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Utopias of old, solutions for the new millennium: a comparative study of Christian fundamentalism in M.K. Wren's A Gift Upon the Shore and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
Author: Donna Spalding Andreolle
Publication:
Utopian Studies (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2001
Publisher: Society for Utopian Studies
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Page: 114(11)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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