Wolves of the Calla
Published: 4, November 2003
Author: Stephen King
Genres: Arthurian, Dark, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Media Tie-In, Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Suspense, Thriller, Western, Witches, Wizards
Book 5 of 7: The Dark Tower
Check the summary of this book here:
Wolves of the Calla Summary
The Review:
Stephen King's fantasy tale Wolves of the Calla is the fifth installment in his The Dark Tower series. The saga of Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Jake Chambers, and Oy as their journey toward the Dark Tower continues in this book. Two extracts were released prior to the novel's release: "Calla Bryn Sturgis" was published on Stephen King's official site in 2001, and "The Tale of Gray Dick" was featured in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales in 2003. Both sections were updated and included in the full edition of the novel published in 2003.
Wolves of the Calla stays true to the series' Western roots by presenting a Mid-World version of The Magnificent Seven. And, for the most part, the author succeeded. This is just another fantastic addition to an already fantastic series.
Stephen King's Dark Tower series combines an epic fantasy adventure with classic Old Westerns, a dash of gothic horror, and a dash of urban fantasy for good measure.
This blend produces a series that is bound to become a legend. After surviving a monstrous mechanical bear and other dangers in Wizard and Glass, Roland the gunslinger from Gilead and his ka-tet stumbled upon the small village of Calla Bryn Sturgis.
This town has a problem that I won't discuss for the sake of new readers and spoilers, but, like the farmers in the classic Western The Magnificent Seven, the locals of this village ask the traveling gunslingers for assistance in fighting off the evil ones, but this isn't your typical Western.
On their mission to defend the rose that is the Dark Tower, Stephen King's protagonists travel back and forth to 1970s New York, fighting evil people along the way and discovering strange connections between his world and ours.
The disgraced Father Callahan of Salem's Lot, Maine, who just happens to be the local priest in the Calla, is also brought into the mix.
Add in Susannah, a rehabilitating schizophrenic ka-tet member who is growing something awful in her tummy, and Andy, a robot who helps the farmers of the Calla by carrying messages and providing horoscopes, and you have the strangest adventure novel in years.
In the midst of it all, the author weaves a tale that is both gripping and familiar. I felt like I was sitting around a campfire listening to him tell the story on a cool autumn night.
Fans of the Westernized version of The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven will recognize the opening scene of this book: a little agricultural community that is plundered on a regular basis, with the locals attempting to figure out what to do about it without destroying their entire town.
But why should Roland take time away from his search for the Dark Tower to assist these people? In answering this, Stephen King brings into play something that hasn't been particularly apparent in the previous books, namely, Roland's deeply embedded sense of morality, which was a part of his original world, which included not just chivalry and nobility, but also a search for an absolute standard of right and wrong.
This theme line goes through nearly all of author's writings, but I believe it comes into sharper clarity in this one and is, therefore, the fundamental lynchpin of the Tower itself.
Jake and Eddie both get a lot of character development in this book, something I felt was lacking in volumes three The Waste Lands and fourth Wizard and Glass, while Roland himself displays some new but perfectly appropriate features.
Father Callahan from Salem's Lot is introduced as a key character, and his narrative serves as a crucial subplot in this book, but I felt that it was too drawn out and might have benefited from some editing.
Susannah becomes a presage for the following book Song of Susannah, as she appears to have numerous identities once more, and she may be pregnant with the Red King's offspring.
Despite, and frequently because of, the insanity, there's a lot to like here. For the residents of Calla Bryn Sturgis, Stephen King constructs a convincing accent.
The personalities of the gunslingers all deepen in some way. Even though the author is blending together a broad selection of genres and pop culture, most components of the universe feel original. And the showdown, in the end, is truly spectacular.
Wolves of the Calla, like I've come to expect from a Dark Tower novel, is well worth the ride, as frustrating as it might be at times.
With this series, I'm in for the long haul. If you enjoy creative writing and have some spare time and patience, you should begin reading this series if you haven't already.
This novel includes a lot of waiting, plotting, and planning, but because of the addition of Father Callahan as a character, I never grow bored of it. His tale brilliantly fleshes out and contextualizes the realm. Jake has a very intriguing line as well.
For most of the novel, the rest of the Ka-Tet takes a back seat, but they're still there and just as entertaining to read about. However, Jake, Callahan, and the Calla are the main characters in this novel. This book also serves as a type of mixer for the prior volumes, in my opinion.
The Dark Tower's seven volumes should be read as a single continuous novel, as the author intended.
It's best read on vacation in a quiet place where you can let the tale engross you without being interrupted.
It's an engrossing, engaging, and often scary story that makes you reflect on yourself and your role in the cosmos and in time.
But not directly - and subtly, like if traveling through a time vortex, leaving you with a hazy recollection - almost a yearning - for the characters and events you've met throughout the saga.
Final Thoughts:
There's a lot of sadness, comedy, sarcasm, selflessness, and consciousness in this one. Perhaps a touch wordy, but as another stride more toward the Dark Tower, this novel succeeds admirably.
I believe this book will please everyone who has read the previous volumes and been engrossed in Roland's universe.
The fresh emphasis author has brought to this project is also noticeable. In the first four novels, there was a propensity to stray, bringing in topics that seemed to have nothing to do with the overall plot.
There is a tight story thread here, as well as an exact description for the hows, whys, and composition of this fantastical world, which can now be understood as embracing all real and fictitious universes.
He appears to be following in the footsteps of Robert Heinlein's later works, and Heinlein is specifically acknowledged in this work a couple of times, in which Heinlein effectively connected all of his works together in a multi-verse of multiple timelines and author-created worlds.
Even if you aren't a fan of Stephen King because you don't like horror literature, you should give this book and series a chance. Fans of fantasy and science fiction will particularly like it.
If you are offended by violence or vulgarity, be cautious. It's not the worst, but this is mature material.
Synopsis:
“Wolves of the Calla is the thrilling fifth book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series—a unique bestselling epic fantasy quest inspired many years ago by The Lord of the Rings.
In the extraordinary fifth novel in Stephen King’s remarkable fantasy epic, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World. Their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis, a tranquil valley community of farmers and ranchers on Mid-World’s borderlands.
Beyond the town, the rocky ground rises toward the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is slowly stealing the community’s soul. The Wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to, and they can give the Calla-Folken both courage and cunning. Their guns, however, will not be enough.”
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords:
Bryn Sturgis, Calla Bryn, Character Development, Father Callahan, Harry Potter, New York, Roland And His Ka-Tet, Salems Lot, Tower Series, Wastelands, Wizard and Glass
Rating: 95/100
Recommended: 100/100 Yes.
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