Book Review: The Drawing of the Three – Stephen King
One of the first books I picked up last month was The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I read The Gunslinger back in June 2017 – TWO YEARS AGO?! – I really wanted to get back to the series after such a long break!
Goodreads – The Drawing of the Three
While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland, the last gunslinger, encounters three mysterious doorways on the beach. Each one enters into the life of a different person living in contemporary New York.
Here he links forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean and the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes, in a savage struggle against underworld evil and otherworldly enemies.
Once again, Stephen King has masterfully interwoven dark, evocative fantasy and icy realism.
My Thoughts…
The Drawing of the Three has a completely different feel to The Gunslinger. That kinda worked for me though. In the first book, we come to learn a lot about Roland and his history, the Dark Tower and his quest to reach it. Consequently, we spent a lot of time venturing through his world. The Drawing of the Three differs from that completely! Instead, we flit between Roland’s homeworld and a modern-day version of New York.
Roland seeks supporters in his quest to the Tower and fight against the dark. Eddie Dean and Odetta Holmes’ lives change completely when Roland barges into their reality. Each with their own demons, Roland has his work cut out for him if he wants them fighting fit on his side, especially since he could be dying himself.
The Drawing of the Three has a greater emphasis on characters, in my opinion. That may be the nature of the book, as Roland doesn’t actually seem to get that far in terms of his quest. I enjoyed the inclusion of the additional characters. Overall, they give the narrative more depth. No man can achieve everything by himself after all.
Eddie and Odetta haven’t had the easiest lives so far – Eddie has grown up with drugs as his crutch. Both he and his brother are in deep when Roland drags him out of that dark cycle. Odetta’s struggles are borne from an ‘accident’ that took her legs years before. Her challenges aren’t just physical though – the psychological trauma that accompanies it has scarred her more in the long run.
Watching each character fight their own battles (with a little help from one another) is entertaining, but more importantly, incredibly and hauntingly realistic. Only once they have put their own demons to rest can they face even greater darkness – The Dark Tower. I cannot wait to read the next book. Stephen King is one of my favourite authors and I am glad he has dipped into the fantasy genre. I won’t be waiting two years to read the next one, that’s for sure!
