Bookshelf: Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three

Stephen King's second book in the series of The Dark Tower is much better than the first, Gunslinger. While the first one in the series does have it's place of setting up our main guy the second gives us an array of action, and personalities that are intriguing and fun to follow as they develop. The story makes you very anxious to pick up the rest of the series as quick as you can unlike the first novel that left you feeling conflicted about whether you might like the series or not.

After Roland awakes from the confrontation with the man in black he finds three doors that lead to three separate times in New York City. After entering into these doors he will draw three figures that are meant for his trip to The Dark Tower. In the first door he draws Eddie Dean, Prisoner, a heroine addict leaving in 1987. In 1964, he meets Odetta, The Lady of Shadows, who has another personality, and has been dealt the tragedy of losing her legs in a subway accident. And lastly, he draws Jack Mort, Death, who commits awful crimes as a pusher. Roland may have added more difficulties to his quest though than he intended possibly putting his travels to the Dark Tower at risk.


After reading the first one I was hoping the second would be the novel to pull me in, and it definitely did. From the beginning to end you have a lot of scenes that push the book forward, and on top of that the characters introduced in this novel leave you a lot more curious, and the character development is done well. Though I will admit I can't help but still puzzle over the man in black from the prior novel. The interesting thing is seeing how Roland is developing after the incident occurring with Jake in the last novel.

King's writing skills are also noticeably better. He has a way of getting into the character's head that feels like first person though he is writing from third. It flows well. The fast paced action scenes can get confusing to follow at times if you're a fast reader, but in the middle of the deep change going on in the characters you never get quite lost either.

Odetta and Eddie are also great characters to introduce as well. There stories add a lot to the novel, and they both sort of have a level of good and bad that makes them complex enough to dislike at times, and relate to at others. While Roland seems like a superhero they add a depth of realness that is needed to the story.

The Drawing of the Three is a great addition to grow the series, and it makes you want to instantly pick up the next ones. You also go from maybe being vaguely curious about The Dark Tower to very curious about where this whole thing is headed. Each door was a mystery in itself, and King knew how to build up the suspense to that in his fantasy endeavor. Even while it isn't horror it still does employ a lot of the techniques he uses in it.

Rating 8 of 10.