Page Count: 590
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group
ISBN: 0-451-17331-7
Category: Fiction
Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi (?)
Dove's (Personal) Review: I'm sticking to the same format for this book.... instead of a review, I'm posting a "Summary of Events". Which means, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK YET BUT PLAN TO AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER BECAUSE THIS WILL SPOIL EVERYTHING FOR YOU....
- "The Waste Lands" begins several months after the end of book two, "The Drawing of the Three."
- Roland is teaching the members of his ka-tet (Eddie and Susannah) to shoot/hunt/live off the land (they are currently "living" in the woods).
- Their camp is invaded by a huge, robotic, 70-foot bear (Mir).
- Eddie has taken up carving again as a hobby.
- "Mir" chases Eddie up a tree. Susannah kills the bear by shooting the radar-dish off the top of it's head.
- Roland tells them the story about "the bear" (Mir/Shardik); Mir/Shardik is a "Guardian." (There are 12 Guardians that guard the twelve portals which lead in and out of the Roland's world. They also, Roland believes, lead to the Dark Tower.)
- Roland tells Eddie and Susannah about chasing the "man in black" across the desert.
- Roland fears he's losing his sanity. He can feel it all slipping away.
- Roland also tells them the story about Jake, "the boy who wasn't really there." This is the reason Roland is scared he's losing his mind. Jake died in his world, and was transported to Roland's world... where Jake died a second time. (Time travel/paradox is explained further later on, as we find out Jake is battling with the same sense of "losing his mind.")
- Eddie dreams of the Dark Tower. In his dream, he sees it while standing in his own grave, surrounded by a field of roses.
- They pack up their camp and follow Mir's back-trail, hoping it will lead them to one of the twelve portals.
- They find the portal; Eddie shoots all the little "mini-guardians" (also robots)... a snake, a rat, a funny box-shaped thing.... and Roland shoots the robotic bat that tries to attack Eddie.
- At the portal, they find - and begin to follow - the path of "the beam."
- Roland fights off insanity as he continues to dream about Jake. Eddie and Susannah are very worried about him. Roland eventually surrenders all his weapons to Eddie to avoid any "insane" mistakes.
- While following "the beam" through the woods, Eddie finds a tree with a special branch growing out of it. His "carver's eye" sees a "key" in the wood. He takes the branch with him hoping the key he will carve will be good enough to fulfill part of his quest to the Dark Tower.
- Jake, back in New York, thinks he's losing his mind too! He remembers dying - twice - yet he's still alive.
- Jake writes an essay for school about "truth," then decides to ditch school entirely before handing in his paper. He thinks that after his teacher reads it, the teacher will also find him "insane."
- While Jake wanders around New York he finds a book store... he also finds an abandoned lot that used to be a deli he (and Eddie) knew about in a different "when."
- Jake hops the fence and enters the lot. He finds a key (just like the one Eddie thinks he can carve out of the branch)...
- Jake also finds a beautiful rose growing in the middle of the lot. The rose seems to contain a "new world" within it's petals.... Jake believes the rose is the way back to Roland's world.
- Eddie thinks he knows how to solve Roland's "insanity" problem.... it involves the key, but he's not sure exactly how. He believes the wooden key is the "key" to reuniting Roland with Jake.
- Back in New York, Jake yearns to be with Roland. He's miserable in New York, and has to return to Roland's world where he feels at home; where he's part of a ka-tet.
- Eddie and Jake work together (each from their separate worlds) to bring Jake through to Roland's world.
- Jake goes to a haunted house.... the same house Eddie was terrified of as a child.
- The house is evil, and the "door keeper" awakens, trying to kill Jake.
- While Jake is being attacked by the "door keeper," Roland, Eddie, and Susannah are at the "Speaking Ring" where Eddie needs to use the key he carved to open to door for Jake.
- The "Speaking Circle" is guarded by a demon. They need to distract the demon so Eddie will have time to open the door.
- Susannah volunteers to be the demon's victim. She allows the demon to rape her, keeping it busy and away from Eddie.
- Eddie finally completes the key and opens the door.... he sees that the house is attacking Jake.
- Roland hears Jake struggling. He jumps through the door and rescues Jake. At the same time, he instructs Susannah to let go of the demon. The demon charges the door - going through the door entirely, into the haunted house in our world - and ends up attacking the "door keeper."
- United, at last, Roland and Jake are very happy. Roland promises Jake that he'll never let him go again. (But, inside, Roland doubts his own promise... he fears the Dark Tower will interfere).
- Roland, Eddie, and Susannah fill Jake in about what's been going on lately.... and together, the four of them, make sense out of all the "time travel/paradox" stuff....
- They continue to follow the path of the beam to the city of Lud.
- We finally encounter Oy, a billy-bumbler. (Billy-bumblers are small animals that look like a combination between a racoon and a woodchuck, with a little Dachshund mixed in. He's got a cork-screw tail, a long, graceful neck, a slender black nose, and gold-ringed eyes.) Jake adopts the billy-bumbler and names him Oy!
- On the way to the city of Lud, they come across a small village. There are people here. Old people, but friendly. They are folks left over from the world before it "moved on."
- They have dinner with the old folks in the village (Si, Mercy, Old Mother (Aunt Talitha), Bill, Till, etc., etc.). During dinner they try to gather as much information as possible about the city of Lud.
- Jake also asks about trains.... he bought (and brought with him) a children's book, "Charlie the Choo Choo." The old folks are alarmed - then curious - about how Jake knew about their train named "Blaine the Mono."
- Interesting Note: On page 335 it says, "Gods pity you, then," she said, "for the sun is going down on the world. It's going down forever." At that Susannah stirred uneasily; one hand went to her belly, as if her stomach was upset."
Upset stomach, my ass!!! LOL! I think she's pregnant. And I think the baby belongs to the demon that raped her at the Speaking Circle.
The second pregnancy reference is on page 371: "The only fact she left out was really not a fact at all... at least not yet. She'd had no morning sickness, after all, and a single missed period meant nothing itself."
Yup, I'm betting Susannah is pregnant... and it's gotta be by the demon!!!
- From the village they move on to the city of Lud.... a city similar to New York (if New York was a ghost town).
- They find a plane wreck. Jake recognizes the plane from one his classes and is amazed to discover it here in Roland's world.
- The next few days are uneventful, but then all hell breaks loose...
- When they come to the bridge that crosses the Send River into the city, Susannah, Eddie and Jake can't help thinking of it as the George Washington Bridge. It looks just like it... except this one appears to be a thousand years old and it's falling apart. It's rusty, the metal is twisted, and the cables are frayed.
- The get half-way across it when they're joined by Gasher. Gasher is a "Gray" resident of Lud. He kidnaps Jake, and threatens the rest of them with a live grenade.
- Roland goes after Jake (he finds Oy and they look for Jake together).
- Susannah and Eddie look for Blaine (the train/monorail).
- Gasher brings Jake through a junkyard maze, hoping that Roland can't follow his tracks. He's bringing Jake to see the Tick-Tock man. They end up going under the city, down into the sewer system.
- Eddie and Susannah come face to face with a group of "Pubes." They kill a bunch of them and force two of the remaining ones (Jeeves and Maude) to show them the way to the train station.
- Roland follows Oy's nose, hoping that Oy will pick up Jake's scent. He's also has to avoid the booby-traps Gasher is leading him through. Jake's scent takes them down into the sewer.
- Eddie and Susannah find the Cradle of Lud (the train station where Blaine the Mono is waiting). It's similar to Grand Central but bigger, better, more luxurious. On top of the Cradle stands a 60-foot statue of a Gunslinger.
- Jake and Gasher get to the Tick-Tock man. Tick-Tock takes Jake's watch away from him.
-Eddie and Susannah "wake up" Blaine with the intercom box. They prove they are from New York by naming local sights. Blaine answers them in a voice very similar to John Wayne, "Okay, Pilgrim, I believe you." Blaine then demands they ask him a question. If it's not a good one, he'll kill them both.
- Roland and Oy find Jake.
- Tick Tock beats up Jake a little to demand respect... then starts asking him questions: What's your name? Are are you a Not-See (Nazi)? What's an American? During the questions, Jake notices Oy's eyes peering in at him through a grate in the wall.
- Eddie and Susannah discover that Blaine the Mono is addicted to riddles.
- Jake distracts Tick Tock; Oy attacks him. Tick Tock gets Oy in his hands and tries to wring his neck. This pisses Jake off... he grabs Tick Tock's machine gun and lets him have it. The gun jams up though before Jake gets off a good shot. Tick Tock drops Oy and comes after Jake. Jake finds another gun, and shoots him this time. Gasher attacks Jake and tries to strangle him. Roland jumps in - finally - and kills Gasher, rescuing Jake and Oy.
- Blaine the Mono takes over the city of Lud electronically. This drives the Pubes and the Grays crazy.... they start committing suicide all over town.
- Blaine wants Roland to share all the riddles he knows. Roland tells Blaine to show them the way out of the sewer, back to Eddie and Susannah.
- Blaine agrees. He sends a metallic, silver sphere out of the ceiling and tells Roland, Jake, and Oy to follow it.
- The silver sphere leads to Eddie and Susannah at the Cradle of Lud. The five are joyfully reunited.
- They come to understand that Blaine the Mono is completely insane. But he's their only hope in following the beam further to get closer to the Dark Tower.
- Tick Tock wakes up to the voice of "Richard Fannin" (Flagg?) calling him...
- Tick Tock is scared of this "beast" who looks like a man.
- "Richard Fannin" tells Tick Tock to say something an old friend used to say to him... "My life for you!" (which is the same thing Trashy says in "The Stand" to Randall Flagg). Tick Tock repeats that phrase over and over again.
- Fannin wants Tick Tock to seek revenge on Roland, Jake, Oy, Eddie, and Susannah for almost killing him. Tick Tock agrees.
- Fannin takes the "clock necklace" and Jake's watch away from Tick Tock... these two items seem to "seal the deal" between the two of them.
- Back at the Cradle of Lud, the gang has to answer Blaine's riddles before Blaine takes them anywhere. The riddle is: "You have to prime the pump to get me going. Only my pump primes backwards."
- Susannah knows the answer, but it's trapped deep in her memory. She asks Roland to help her remember the voice of her father. Roland hypnotizes Susannah. Detta Walker emerges with the answer to Blaine's riddle.
- The combination to operate the key-pad on Blaine's control panel is the answer. All the prime numbers between 1 and 100, entered backwards: 97 - 89 - 83 - 79 - 73 - 71 - 67 - 61 - 59 - 53 - 47 - 43 - 41 - 37 - 31 - 29 - 23 - 17 - 13 - 11 - 7 - 5 - 3 - 2 - 1.
- When the combination was entered, Blaine opened his doors, and let them all aboard.
- The journey across the Waste Lands begins...
- Blaine and Roland make a deal.... if Blaine answers ALL their riddles correctly he can kill them all. However, if he misses one or more, he must take them all the way to Topeka (where the tracks end) and allow them to continue their quest for the Dark Tower.
- The book ends here, but the story continues in "Wizard and Glass."
The Waste Lands is a great book!!! More details and story-lines are falling into place, and lots of other questions are answered in this one. Also, there are many things that hint to the books that follow. I can't wait to get started on them!!!
TWO THUMBS UP!!!!!! GOLD STAR!!!!!!