SPOILERS BELOW
After a brief hiatus, we return to our journey toward the Dark Tower. Sort of. Roland and his Ka-tet do get closer to their destination in this volume, but the majority of the novel is given over to an extended flashback to Roland's youth. But that tale is so engrossing, and reveals so much about the gunslinger's character, that I found myself not really caring...
Last time I mentioned how I realized that Roland is more the Obi-Wan of this saga than the Luke. Nevertheless, he is still our main character and its his actions that ultimately drive the story more than any of the others. Even the other members of the ka-tet. And so far, the over-arching story of the Dark Tower has been Roland having to decide whether he will stick by his companions or abandon them if it means he will reach the Tower. What makes Wizard and Glass probably the best entry so far is that King uses the lengthy flashback to roll the clock back to show us how the gunslinger became the man he is. By telling us the story of his first love, his first ka-tet, and what set him on the road to the Dark Tower, King kind of retroactively completes Roland's character arc.
Let me explain. The Roland we know is a hard man, burdened by past sins and almost doomed by his search. He's grim and haunted but over the course of the first three books, we've seen him come out of his shell and rekindle his humanity. The Gunslinger was the start where through his relationship with Jake, Roland was able to become less all-consumed by his hunt for the man in black and his quest for the Tower. That was a failure in the end, Roland chose the Tower over his loved ones again, but unlike before he regretted that decision. That led into Drawing of the Three, where by necessity Roland was forced to rely on his new companions. In that case, choosing the Tower was the same as choosing his companions because he wouldn't reach the Tower without them. And those companions, Eddie & Susannah, came to rely upon Roland in return. So with the gathering of a new ka-tet, more of his humanity came back out. And then in The Waste Lands, he atoned for his bad decision by rescuing Jake and fully stepped into the mentor role for his new ka-tet. All of Roland's rebirth has led up to this book, where he completes his arc by laying his sins bare before his friends (and us, the readers) and owning up to his mistakes that has brought him to this point. It makes Wizard and Glass kind of an endpoint in a way, like the series is about to take an intermission. Which makes sense since King took a break from the series after this book.
What really makes this transition in our gunslinger feel so earned is that his flashback tale is just damn good. It's in stories like this that King shows that he isn't just a horror writer, because most of the book gives over to Roland's tale which is more combination western and romance. True, the plot falls into the "small town hiding a dark secret" setup that King has used several times before, but it's in the details that it stands out. There are elements of horror here and there, but they are at the edges of the story and only come forward when it makes sense. Throwing us back in time also lets King do what he does best, quickly establishing interesting characters with complex personalities. No more so than Roland's first love Susan Delgado. Susan's ghost has haunted Roland since the beginning and now that we meet her, it's easy to see why. She's adventurous, practical but with a romantic streak, and takes no shit. Just the kind of girl an idealistic, young fool like Roland used to be would fall in love with. Their romance is beautiful in the way young love is; stubborn and in denial at first but then completely devoted and completely doomed. Her fate is the tragedy that will spurn Roland's quest, the first time he chose the Tower over a loved one. And her death was just the first of many.
Wizard and Glass is also the first Dark Tower book to overcome the series' terrible pacing. Indeed, after resolving the previous book's cliffhanger (and bids good bye to Blaine the Mono) the book settles into an almost leisurely pace. Kind of befitting the campfire story and summer romance atmosphere of the story. That laid back speed contributes to the feeling that we've reached a mid-point on our journey, like we've closed chapter one on this saga of the Tower. My only complaint is that the villains have still stood at the periphery for that chapter. The only major antagonist we've dealt with directly is Blaine the Mono, who isn't connected to the larger infection of the Tower and is defeated at the beginning of this book. The man in black puts in two memorable appearance this outing, including one tying him to another popular King villain, and promises some future shenanigans. But I'd like for him or someone else in league with the Tower's infection to hinder the ka-tet and make their journey harder. The landscape has been their biggest challenge so far. A story like this lives and dies on the quality of its villains, and while the man in black has been memorable and intriguing it would help if he actually did something besides be creepy. But hey, Wolves of the Calla is up next and that's the longest Dark Tower book. Plenty of pages for him to work his evil mojo.
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