The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass: (Volume 4)
£5.70
Now with a stunning new cover look comes WIZARD AND GLASS, the fourth captivating volume in King’s epic fantasy series THE DARK TOWER.
In the fourth novel in Stephen King’s bestselling fantasy quest, the Dark Tower beckons Roland, the Last Gunslinger, and the four companions he has gathered along the road.
In a terrifying journey where hidden dangers lurk at every junction, the pilgrims find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, that has been ravaged by a superflu virus.
While following the deserted highway toward a distant glass palace, Roland recounts his tragic story about a seaside town called Hambry, where he fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of an evil harrier who ignited Mid-World’s final war.
JOIN THE QUEST FOR THE DARK TOWER…
‘Superbly energetic, it’s King at his best’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
‘Strange, scary and utterly gripping – the perfect start to an unforgettable journey’ GUARDIAN
THE DARK TOWER SERIES:
THE DARK TOWER I: THE GUNSLINGER
THE DARK TOWER II: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE
THE DARK TOWER III: THE WASTE LANDS
THE DARK TOWER IV: WIZARD AND GLASS
THE DARK TOWER V: WOLVES OF THE CALLA
THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH
THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWER
THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE: A DARK TOWER NOVEL
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton, 1st edition (11 Mar. 2010) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 4104 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 728 pages |
by Liz Barnsley
Wizard and Glass picks up where the last book left off, with our hero, Roland, and his unlikely band of followers escaping from one world and slipping into the next. And it is there that Roland tells them a story, one that details his discovery of something even more elusive than the Dark Tower: love. But his romance with the beautiful and quixotic Susan Delgado also has its dangers, as her world is tom apart by war. Here is Roland’s journey to his own past, to a time when valuable lessons awaited him, lessons of loyalty and betrayal, love and loss.
Book 4 of The Dark Tower and one that is often described as being the best of the lot, a favourite of a lot of Dark Tower fans and having re-read it I can see why quite clearly. That said it is also the least favourite of a fair few. Perhaps therefore, this is the one that divides us, the constant readers. Either way the sheer brilliance of the storytelling remains undiminished. Here we take a break if you like from the path of the beam and head back into Roland’s past and learn a little more about what has led him to this quest. As a glimpse of the boy now a man it is compelling, fascinating and addictive reading. Whilst only a small part of the journey is undertaken in this instalment, in some ways it is the also one of the greatest parts.
The main thing I love about this novel is for me, this is where the mythology as a whole started coming into focus. The world that Roland and friends have slipped into here is a world that is very familiar to me, belonging as it does to my favourite King novel. And of course, if you read it all you realise that everything written sits somewhere along the path of the beam..whether you are in a Dark Tower story or not. As an overall body of work, with hopefully a fair bit more to come, I call that pretty amazing. Hey, what can I say. Unapologetic fangirl.
When you are re-reading a series like this and reviewing as you go, its hard to find new ways of describing each particluar part within the whole – they are all fantastic. What else is there to say? Perhaps that this one, Wizard and Glass, is like the eye of the storm…because I know whats coming.
Happy Reading Folks!
by Robbo
I have read the Dark tower books 2/3/4/5 numerous times since they were first released.
Funnily enough 6/7 I have only read once,possibly because I felt the characters deserved a better fate (especially Eddie ) although Roland’s eventual ending was not a disappointment to me but the happy ever after cop out for the others was( and let’s not talk of Mr King’s self indulgent involvement in his own series constant reader ,meta-fiction sucks) which is why 6/7 are not a must re read or maybe the journey was far better than the eventual destination.
Wizard and glass is “the” Dark tower book to me,it encompasses all that was good about the series and it’s the one I return to the most to re read.
It is in my opinion Stephen king storytelling at its absolute best and is only matched by The Stand for its scope and imagery and sheer readability.
All the characters (Blaine,the big coffin hunters,Rhea , Cuthbert, Alain, deputy Dave and the return of the walking dude to name a few) are brilliantly realised and pull the reader into the story and the writing feels effortless transporting you to Gilead , mid world, Hambry and beyond.
Stevie has written many great books (true mostly the early stuff) and this is right up there with them.
I heartily recommend reading all of the preceding tower books (ok and the last two as you just have to find out what happens) as the world building and characterisation as the ka-tet grows adds immeasurably as the series progresses making wizard even better, but when you get to it take your time and savour it, Wolves ain’t bad but ……well you know the rest.
Long days and pleasant nights if it please ya.
by D Brookes
This book has a big fat disappointment nestling in it. I’m hoping that, if I tell you about it now, you will enjoy it a little more than I did, and perhaps give it the four stars it really deserves rather than the three I’ve settled with.
This is a flash-back novel. It’s not a bad thing in itself, but when you’ve read the first three instalments and left on a cliff hanger, you’d better hope that the momentum keeps up! It does – we get the resolution of the story segment truncated in “The Waste Lands”, and it’s a good one too. We get a little more as well. And then we get about five hundred pages of flashback, returning to Roland’s youth and his – don’t get me wrong – very interesting adventures. But these aren’t the characters we’ve come to invest our hopes and emotions in; it’s barely even the same Roland, the period of time between them is so great. So you’re not reading Dark Tower 4, you’re reading that tie-in novel that you probably would have picked up anyway, provided it’s second-hand and in good condition. King shamefully weaves it into the fourth novel – or more accurately, plonks it right in the middle – so that the frame of the story, in which the adventures of Roland, Odetta (or Suzanna), Eddie and Jake continue, is something that we have to read so that we’re not missing stuff. Really, he should have put the opening on the end of the last book, and the ending on the start of the next, and let us in on the secret that this is not entirely relevant to the story we’re reading. It’s like cruising at 90mph only to have to take a little detour around a school at 20mph before you can start picking up speed again.
Don’t misunderstand – it’s a good book. It’s worth reading. But it feels a little like filler and doesn’t have enough of the characters we really want. Should you buy it after completing “The Waste Lands”? Of course you should! It’s great! Just be forewarned that this is a different story to the one you’ve been reading, and the main characters, the one’s you’re really interested in, take a back seat to Roland’s back story.