Wizard And Glass

A novel by Stephen King, eligible for the 2003-4 OUSFG Award.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340829788/

"The Dark Tower beckons Roland, the Last Gunslinger, and the four companions he has gathered along the road. And, having narrowly escaped one world, they set out on a terrifying journey across the scarred urban wasteland to brave a new world where hidden dangers lie at every junction.

Tiny Jo: Blimey! I can't believe this only came out in paperback this year! Still, I bow before Niall's superior knowledge of these things. Anyway. The first thing to say is that there's pretty much no point in reading this unless you've read the other 3 books in the series so far. Having said that, it's a pretty good series and is worth checking out, perhaps even if you're not much of a fan of epic fantasy.

The description given by Amazon is a little misleading in fact, because this book is mostly flashback. In that sense it's the closest to being a stand-alone book since the first one, but for all that I think the history of Rowland in the present day of the books is important enough to the story of his past that although that is in itself relatively selfcontained, it still won't work desparately well on it's own.

King's writing is good - detailed and evocative in places. I wasn't always convinced by the turns of events but for the most part, the story carries you along, tinged by the tradgedy you know is coming at the end. I enjoyed reading this but I think it will appeal to a particular taste. Try the Gunslinger and if you like that then it might be worth persevering.