Lornographic Material

Sweet baby Tom Cruise this book is a chore. If it wasn't for the fact that it's been ten years since I first read it, I probably would have skipped this one. This is probably the most incomplete book in the series. We're all over the damn place, and there is no discernible plot other than "Fill in as many holes as possible, and be meta as fuck!"

With this volume, I felt as if WOLVES OF THE CALLA, SONG OF SUSANNAH, and THE DARK TOWER were conceived as one final 2,500 page book. Sure, WOLVES standsalone... kind of. In the way THE WASTE LANDS stands alone, I suppose. We have a cliffhanger in both books, is what I'm getting at. The problem with SONG is nothing truly happens. 544 pages of nothing but reasons and puzzles that will pay off in the final volume.

It's an easy read, don't get me wrong, but it's boring. Like having your teeth pulled while you're asleep. Sure, there's a gun battle, but it's the most lackluster one of the entire series. Yeah, the ending's visuals are pretty disturbing and confusing in a JACOB'S LADDER kinda way, but that's all this book has going for it, and probably is the only reason I give this volume three stars and not something lower. I almost wish King would have released SONG and TOWER as one volume. It would have been his longest published book to date, but at least SONG wouldn't have felt so bloody disjointed. 

In summation: This is the only volume that hasn't changed in my mind from one read to the other. It's still plodding, still sleep-inducing, and lacks any real story. Still, WIZARD AND GLASS is garbage by comparison, and that one had a plot.