Susannah, now pregnant, has yet another taking control of her. The demon-mother, Mia, uses Susannah and Black Thirteen to transport to New York City of 1999. Jake, Oy, and Pere Callahan must rescue Susannah while Eddie and Roland transport to the Maine of 1977. A vacant lot in New York is the prize that must be saved and ties these together. (source)
Susannah, now pregnant, has yet another taking control of her. The demon-mother, Mia, uses Susannah and Black Thirteen to transport to New York City of 1999. Jake, Oy, and Pere Callahan must rescue Susannah while Eddie and Roland transport to the Maine of 1977. A vacant lot in New York is the prize that must be saved and ties these together.
(source)
Content warning
Hardly a spoiler, but for those who really don't want to know *anything* about the plot
One word to describe this book:
Exhausting.
Want more? Okay, let's see . . .
Slow
Preachy
Disappointing
Unfulfilling
Masturbatory
This book is a grind, and it's filled with Christian bullshit that King lays on thick. His appearance in the book felt cheap and silly to me when I read this years ago; now, it feels like masturbation. Ah, okay, one more word to describe this book:
Review of 'Cancion De Susannah / Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
It feels more like an elaborate bridge than a novel in its own right, but this entry in The Dark Tower series still succeeds by giving us quality time with a quality character (or two or three).
I do not like it how King wrote himself into the story. This part also seemed separate from the rest of the story somehow. It was different in style and very short compared to the other parts.
Review of 'Cancion De Susannah / Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I tore through this book... Some of that is do to it's shorter length relative to all of the (later) Dark Tower books, but it was also a pretty engaging story that moved quickly.
Of all of the books in the series which I've read, this one felt like an episode more than a self-contained story. While, in the strictest terms the ending somewhat resolved the main plot, it also held the aftermath away from us. King seems to have acknowledged this in-text with several meta references to the cliffhanger "Blaine the Pain" ending of book 3. But there was very little lag time between the publishing of this book and the 'final' book in the series, so I don't think it's as frustrating this time around.
I'm looking forward to reading Book 7 and seeing how this train pulls into the station after decades of work.
I tore through this book... Some of that is do to it's shorter length relative to all of the (later) Dark Tower books, but it was also a pretty engaging story that moved quickly.
Of all of the books in the series which I've read, this one felt like an episode more than a self-contained story. While, in the strictest terms the ending somewhat resolved the main plot, it also held the aftermath away from us. King seems to have acknowledged this in-text with several meta references to the cliffhanger "Blaine the Pain" ending of book 3. But there was very little lag time between the publishing of this book and the 'final' book in the series, so I don't think it's as frustrating this time around.
I'm looking forward to reading Book 7 and seeing how this train pulls into the station after decades of work.
Review of 'Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, Book 6)' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Ok, time for some honesty: I have, for years now, claimed to love the Dark Tower above all other series. And I do....at least through Wizard and Glass. I have read the first four DT books countless times.
The last three, however, I have only read once, back when they were first published. I found them disappointing, to say the least. So THE GREAT DARK TOWER REREAD OF 2016-2017 marks my first time revisiting Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower in more than a decade.
(More honesty: I have never read The Wind Through the Keyhole. I know, I know, I'm an Inconstant Reader.)
I had hoped that the passage of time would help me to have a greater appreciation of the end of the series. I had thought that perhaps I had just been suffering from DT fatigue--when it began permeating nearly everything King …
Ok, time for some honesty: I have, for years now, claimed to love the Dark Tower above all other series. And I do....at least through Wizard and Glass. I have read the first four DT books countless times.
The last three, however, I have only read once, back when they were first published. I found them disappointing, to say the least. So THE GREAT DARK TOWER REREAD OF 2016-2017 marks my first time revisiting Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower in more than a decade.
(More honesty: I have never read The Wind Through the Keyhole. I know, I know, I'm an Inconstant Reader.)
I had hoped that the passage of time would help me to have a greater appreciation of the end of the series. I had thought that perhaps I had just been suffering from DT fatigue--when it began permeating nearly everything King was writing, I grew a little weary of the whole thing. I suspected that distance would make the heart grow fonder.
Nope.
Let's have even more honesty: Song of Susannah is not a very good book. If it had been written by anyone other than King, it would long ago have been out of print and forgotten.
The biggest problem is that nothing really happens in this book. It's really all about getting the players in place for the final volume. That's fine; that's essential; that has to happen; but did we really need nearly 550 pages to accomplish that?
Song of Susannah is also plagued by an extreme lack of action. Much of the book is composed of lengthy conversation after lengthy conversation. That's also fine; exposition is a vital part of storytelling; but after awhile I just wanted something to happen. What I did NOT want was yet another pointless discussion between Mia and Susannah.
(Fun DT drinking game: every time Mia utters the phrase, "I was made to have my chap and to raise him," or some variant thereof, take a shot.)
What makes Song of Susannah work, even a little, is the characters, whom by now we know and love so well that we would read about them going grocery shopping (oh, wait, that was Wolves of the Calla), and with good reason: they are great characters and reading about them is like seeing old friends. The addition of Callahan just makes it better.
I'm not bothered, as some are, by the splitting of the ka-tet here. The interplay between Roland and Eddie is always great, and Callahan and Jake make a nice pair also. It's like that season of Friends where they decided to shake things up by rearranging all of the roommates, so you had Chandler and Monica getting married and Joey and Rachel living together. It's not the best season of Friends, but hey, at least it's still on the air.
That's how I would characterize Song of Susannah: it's not the best, but hey, at least it's another Dark Tower book.
I suspect that a large portion of Wolves of the Calla could have been excised, and a large portion of Song of Susannah could have been eliminated, and the remainder could have been combined into one very strong novel. We've seen extremely episodic DT volumes already, so it's not like there wasn't precedent.
This was not to be the case, however, and as a result the finished product is a bit (wait for it)...nineteen.
Review of 'Cancion De Susannah / Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower)' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Das Game-of-Thrones-Problem: Irgendwann ist der Autor so überfordert von den verschiedenen Handlungssträngen, dass die Figuren einander nur noch gegenseitig erzählen, was gerade in einem anderen Handlungsstrang passiert ist oder umständliche, wenig überzeugende Antworten auf naheliegende Leserfragen zum Plot vortragen.
Only two stars, because this is clearly the weakest volume of the whole series. The pace is just too slow here. Not to mention the fact the story arc about Susannah - which obviously gets a lot of attention in this - is not the best one. Still, it's the Dark Tower, and when you've got this far, you know you're going to continue no matter what.
Only two stars, because this is clearly the weakest volume of the whole series. The pace is just too slow here. Not to mention the fact the story arc about Susannah - which obviously gets a lot of attention in this - is not the best one. Still, it's the Dark Tower, and when you've got this far, you know you're going to continue no matter what.
