Page Count: 699
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group
ISBN: 0-451-19486-1
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....
- "Wizard and Glass" picks up right where "The Waste Lands" ends. They ka-tet is on Blaine the Monorail, traveling towards Topeka, playing the riddle game.
- They ultimately win the game (thanks to Eddie) and Blaine crashes in Topeka, Kansas. They're no longer in Roland's Mid-World; they're now in End-World.
- At this new train station in Topeka they're wondering where all the people are. Jake peeks in the window and sees two dead bodies sitting on a bench under a "Departures" sign.
- They take a newspaper out of the dispenser and discover the "when" they're in is June 24th, 1986... and the headline reads, "'Captain Trips' Superflu Rages Unchecked.'" (They've entered the "when" of Randall Flagg's time in "The Stand" and all the people are either dead, or traveling to find Mother Abigail, or the "Walking Dude.")
- They are all confused by the dates though... When Roland brought Eddie to Mid-World in "The Drawing of the Three" the year was 1987. The Superflu hadn't happened yet. But this newspaper is dated 1986, a year before. They don't get it at first.... but when Roland explains about the Thinny that dissolves worlds that have "moved on," it makes more sense.
- They also discover that they've lost the path of the beam. Not cool!
- From Topeka, Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy head East on Interstate 70 towards a large, shiny, green structure they can see off in the distance.
- They encounter sayings spray-painted on signs that read, "Watch for the walking dude," and "All hail the Crimson King." The words are lost on them (for now), but Roland suspects they'll find out - soon enough - what the sayings mean.
- During one of their nights "on the road," Roland tells them the story of Susan, the woman of his dreams, his soul-mate, his one true love...
Roland and Susan's love story is what "Wizard and Glass" is mostly about. The story Roland tells them takes up approximately 500 pages in this book, LOL. I don't want to give it ALL away by going into all the details, but - in a nutshell - here's what happens: A fifteen-year-old Roland meets a young girl walking down the road named Susan Delgado. They are both taken with each other, but she's already promised to another man. Regardless, it doesn't stop them from meeting in secret.... and they eventually fall in love. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out, and Roland ends up with a broken heart. A severely broken heart. After hearing his gut-wrenching story, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake understand Roland's personality a lot more...
- When Roland's tale comes to an end, they have no idea how many hours, perhaps even days, they've been sitting there listening to him speak. Time is a funny thing in End World.... it's not reliable at all. After stretching their legs, and sharing a meal, they continued down I-70 towards the shiny, green structure. All the while, Susannah, Eddie, and Jake couldn't stop thinking about The Wizard of Oz..... the green structure off in the distance reminded all three of them of the well-known story of Dorothy and Toto.
- While walking down I-70, they found a peculiar thing. Five pairs of red shoes were lined up in the middle of the road. A pair for each of them, including Oy! Obviously, this brought "The Wizard of Oz" to mind again. Realizing that Roland had no idea what they were talking about, his ka-tet told him the story of Dorothy and her trip to see the Wizard.
- They were sure the shoes for meant for them, but they didn't trust wearing them. They picked up all five pairs of shoes and continued their hike towards the green-glimmering palace up ahead.
- When they finally reached the palace, they couldn't figure out how to get the main gate to open so they could go in. Jake figured out that it must be time to put on the red shoes that were left on the road for them.
- After all five of them (including Oy!) laced up their new red shoes, they clicked their heels together (just like Dorothy) three times, and the gate burst open.... and on they went inside.
- In "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy's "Wizard" is really just an old man, blowing smoke up everyone else's ass. In this new twisted version of "The Wizard of Oz" the ka-tet was experiencing in End World, the "Wizard" turned out to be Andrew, the Tick Tock Man (from The Waste Lands).
- The Tick Tock Man wasn't alone. Marten was there too. The same Marten from Roland's boyhood... the same Marten that had had an affair with Roland's mother.... the same Marten in which Roland knew to be an evil sorcerer, a demon, or a devil... the same Marten Roland believed to be the Man in Black, whom he'd chased across the desert. The Man in Black quite possibly being the "dark man," or the "walking dude," or "Flagg," or the "Crimsom King." Of this, Roland wasn't quite positive, but it seemed to add up to make sense in his current state of mind.
- After much taunting (from Marten), Roland snapped.... he attacked Marten, firing numerous bullets into the throne in which Marten sat. There was a puff a smoke, and Marten was gone. The bullets entered the cloud of smoke, shattering nothing but the throne itself.
- The surviving pink ball (from Roland's youth) of Maerlyn's Rainbow (which caused a lot of trouble between Roland and Susan Delgado) was left in Marten's place on the throne.
- Roland decides to finish telling his ka-tet his story. It didn't end with Susan Delgado's untimely death as he let them believe. There was more. He lost much more than Susan that year. Now was the time, the pink ball the way, to show his friends the truth. He had them all peer into the glass.... and there the end of his tale unfolded.
- Through the pink ball looking glass, Susannah, Eddie, and Jake traveled to the "where" of Gilead, Roland's home... back to the great Gilead that had been....
- The story picks up at the Charyou tree, where Susan is burned alive during the Reap Festival. They witness a very young, traumatized Roland travel home to Gilead to rejoin his family.... where the horrors only manage to continue. They watch as Marten tricks the young Roland into murdering his own mother.
- When Roland's story was truly over, the pink ball "kicked them out." When the four of them woke up, they found themselves lying in the middle of a field, approximately thirty miles away from the green-crystal palace. And, miraculously, they were in the path of the beam once more. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Jake said!
- Immediately, they all removed the red shoes. They had served their purpose, and were of no use now.
- While "resting up" in the field, they found a note attached to a tree. It read, "Next time I won't leave. Renounce the Tower. This is your last warning. And have a great day! R.F." They all came to same conclusion... "R.F." was the guy controlling the Tick Tock Man. He was the one named Flagg!
- Rested, they set out again - on the path of the beam - with Oy in the lead, in hopes of finding the Dark Tower.
-The book ends here, but the story continues in book five, "Wolves of the Calla."
Wizard and Glass is fabulous!!! Like the characters Susannah, Eddie, and Jake - after reading the story of Susan Delgado - I understand Roland a lot better now too!
I am totally digging these books a LOT more than I thought I would. They kick ass!!!! I can't wait to start the next one to see what happens!
TWO THUMBS UP!!!!!! GOLD STAR!!!!!! WAY TO GO, STEPHEN KING!!! I can't believe I've waited so long to read these books!!!!