Review: The Drawing Of The Three – Stephen King

The Drawing Of The Three – Stephen King

While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland is drawn through a mysterious door that brings him into contemporary America. 

Here he links forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean, and with 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.

The Drawing of the Three is book #2 of the Dark Tower series. This review is spoiler-free, but you might want to check out my review of book #1: The Gunslinger.

Review: Roland, the gunslinger, must find the three people who will help him reach the tower. He knows that he needs these people, but he doesn’t know who they will be until he opens the doors to their world. The “Three” are not who Roland—or the reader—expects. Each of the Three has a dark side, and none of them can be trusted.

This book is closer to King’s normal writing style than the first book in the series. This is both a good and a bad thing. Book #2 is missing the poetic writing style and the eerie tone that I loved in the first book, but it has more action and more explanation of events. I got frustrated with the first book because a lot of things happened, but nothing was really explained. I did not have that same frustration with book #2. In this book, the world is developing quickly, and Roland’s quest is becoming clearer.

The best part of book #2 is the characters. They are all so . . . horrible. They’re drug addicts, serial killers, and thieves. They can be friends one second and then trying to kill each other the next. Their selfishness and unpredictability makes them fascinating to read about. Roland is my favorite. I’m looking forward to learning more of his backstory.

My only criticisms are the pacing and the insta-love. It took me a long time to get interested in this story because it started off quickly and then slowed way, way down. It does pick up again, but I got bored during the airplane scene.

There is also some insta-love. I know that it will be explained eventually, but I wanted more explanation now. I don’t know what these two characters see in each other.

Despite my criticisms, I’m excited to continue with the series. I want to know where this story is heading. (Well, other than to the tower. I know it’s heading to the tower.)