The Wastelands

The Wastelands is King's third entry in the Dark Tower series. It is here that King finally delves into the world he created whereas in the first two books we saw characters be introduced and storylines created that will be followed through for the rest of the series. We finally get to learn of the plight of Mid-World, the universe in which the Dark Tower series is set. Mid-World is a strange place that is literally being torn apart at the seams by time. The land is dying, the people are going insane, and computers begin developing humanity and use it to torture large populations of people into murdering each other. If this all seems, pardon the phrase, out of this world, then welcome to Stephen King's mind. This is just the third stop. The main appeal of this novel definitely is the world King has created. The Gunslinger's ka-tet have entered a familiarity with each other after the insanity that happened with the last novel. We know the ka-tet won't be broken up by personal problems but rather external forces this time. A main part of the novel is travel. Essentially, the novel is a road novel. We learn about the land around us and what is at stake at the Dark Tower. Depending on how much you like getting lost in another world (in my case, a whole lot), this novel will be either hit or miss. In terms of story, not much happens other than the characters getting from A to B, but in terms of fleshing out the world, you get a whole lot of landmarks and monuments to marvel at. While this novel doesn't rival Drawing of the Three in terms of intensity or set-pieces, it is still entertaining enough to make you want to return for the next book. It also doesn't help that the novel ends on a pretty huge cliffhanger.