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View Full Version : Bracket #8: The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)



mae
04-11-2014, 05:59 AM
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, 1997
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/510/medium/W_G_trade_face.jpg

Please vote for The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_IV:_Wizard_and_Glass) using the following scale:


5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1
0
Never read


If you haven't read this book yet, please vote Never Read. Feel free to discuss your votes in this thread.

Please base your vote only on this book's own merits, not how it fits into the series as a whole.

webstar1000
04-11-2014, 06:03 AM
Loved it. I thought seeing how Roland became a man and the character development of his childhood friends was spot on... oh how I wish there were more books about thier adventures in the start of their quest...

Jean
04-11-2014, 06:03 AM
4

mae
04-11-2014, 06:05 AM
Probably my only zero.

Jean
04-11-2014, 06:08 AM
pablo!!! but the Blaine part is also in this book! and the final ka-tet talk. And however abysmal the Mejis adventures of a teenaged Roland with the local cheerleader are, there's also the battle in the canyon... and that scene in the bar... and quite a lot of those little things that (even in spite of the pathetic character of Rhea etc) are quite satisfactory

webstar1000
04-11-2014, 06:09 AM
Probably my only zero.

0?????????????????????????????????? Wow... I don't know of any King book that deserves that...

Ben Staad
04-11-2014, 06:10 AM
One of my least favorite in the series however there are some truly awesome sections.

mae
04-11-2014, 06:10 AM
pablo!!! but the Blaine part is also in this book! and the final ka-tet talk. And however abysmal the Mejis adventures of a teenaged Roland with the local cheerleader are, there's also the battle in the canyon... and that scene in the bar... and quite a lot of those little things that (even in spite of the pathetic character of Rhea etc) are quite satisfactory

Sorry. It was such arduous work to get through this novel. The next one wasn't much better, but at least there was something. Here, apart from very few good but fleeting moments, it was DULL DULL DULL.

Girlystevedave
04-11-2014, 06:11 AM
4.

Not my favorite of the DT series, but still...

Jean
04-11-2014, 06:12 AM
<...>The next one wasn't much better <...>
PABLO!!!!!!!!! you're talking about bears' absolute favorite here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mae
04-11-2014, 06:14 AM
<...>The next one wasn't much better <...>
PABLO!!!!!!!!! you're talking about bears' absolute favorite here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All that hay-jumping? :pullhair:

Jean
04-11-2014, 06:16 AM
: firmly :

Yes.

Groomp
04-11-2014, 06:21 AM
4

Ben Staad
04-11-2014, 06:24 AM
And fortunes and Doctor dooms...loved it.




<...>The next one wasn't much better <...>
PABLO!!!!!!!!! you're talking about bears' absolute favorite here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All that hay-jumping? :pullhair:

fernandito
04-11-2014, 06:36 AM
4.

Iwritecode
04-11-2014, 06:51 AM
I’ve gone back and forth on this book over the years. I was just getting into the DT series when it first came out. When I read it I was upset that it barely advanced the main story at all.

Now that the series is over and I’ve re-read it a few times, I kind of enjoy it. It’s solidly in the top half of my overall list, so I gave it a 4.

divemaster
04-11-2014, 06:53 AM
Absolute 5 for me. Not only my favorite Dark Tower book, but one of my favorite books, regardless of author. I've re-read it more than any other DT installment. I love the backstory and all the Meijis stuff. The love story hit me totally the right way (I have a soft spot for stories of unrequited or star-crossed love). Everything about this book is perfection.

webstar1000
04-11-2014, 07:23 AM
Absolute 5 for me. Not only my favorite Dark Tower book, but one of my favorite books, regardless of author. I've re-read it more than any other DT installment. I love the backstory and all the Meijis stuff. The love story hit me totally the right way (I have a soft spot for stories of unrequited or star-crossed love). Everything about this book is perfection.

You... have made my day. :) Not teasing today my good friend. I totally agree with you....

stroppygoblin
04-11-2014, 07:36 AM
I think I mentioned this somewhere before, but listening to this as an Audio book, totally changed it for me. I read pretty quickly and have a tendency to almost speed read the first time through a book. Initial readings of this were all about the main story line and getting back to it and I found the backstory a painful diversion. In fact there have been a couple of early DT re-reads where I would skip the majority of the book and miss out the whole Mejis story altogether.

I am older and (a little) wiser now and find that having the story narrated at a slower pace, really allows you to submerge yourself in the young Roland and his tumultuous affair with the 'Lovely girl at the window'. A veritable 5 for me now, all day long.

frik
04-11-2014, 07:51 AM
Favorite DT book. King at his best.
Went right to the heart.

5

sk

Ben Staad
04-11-2014, 08:44 AM
The backstory did very little for me and everytime I read this book I find myself speed reading to get to the part(s) I like. Good book but it didn't manage to grab me.

Andrew Campbell
04-11-2014, 12:51 PM
An easy "5". Neck-and-neck with Wolves of Calla as the strongest of the DT novels.

BROWNINGS CHILDE
04-11-2014, 01:18 PM
There seems to be more controversy about this book than any other SK work. People either love it or hate it. I'm in the love it group. Followed closely by Wolves. I don't think I can give any SK book a zero. For me, a zero would have to be a book that I simply couldn't finish. One that has no redeaming value whatsoever. I can't designate any SK novel as completely worthless, even Lisey's Story.

Jean
04-11-2014, 01:31 PM
People either love it or hate it..
People, maybe. Bears love some parts and are indifferent to, or mildly annoyed by, others.

mae
04-11-2014, 01:35 PM
I never understood why it is liked so much. It ranked 19th overall the last two CRAs, and before that it came in 16th. The whole book could've just been slimmed down by about half and maybe it would make some more sense.

Jean
04-11-2014, 01:38 PM
I never understood why it is liked so much. It ranked 19th overall the last two CRAs, and before that it came in 16th. The whole book could've just been slimmed down by about half and maybe it would make some more sense.
why didn't you give it at least a 2.5 then? I still can't understand that zero thing. That barroom scene alone is worth an additional 1, and the Blaine part at least 2.

Come to think of it, the Blaine episode is one of my favorites in the world's literature.

mae
04-11-2014, 01:42 PM
One scene does not redeem hundreds of pages of nothing.

Jean
04-11-2014, 01:44 PM
Personally, I think it does. Even if we assume there was only one - while there were at least three (the bar, the canyon, Blaine). I also love the after-Mejis chapters.

mae
04-11-2014, 01:46 PM
I could've given this a 0.5, I'll concede that. Half a star, basically, for the bar scene, but that was not an option.

Jean
04-11-2014, 01:46 PM
nothing for the others?

mae
04-11-2014, 01:49 PM
Not really. I'm trying hard to recall anything else fondly but I just can't, sorry. This was the only King book that was physically painful to read. The book is almost 800 pages, and I enjoyed maybe 20-30 of them. Maybe it should've been a novella, like Eluria.

Jean
04-11-2014, 01:50 PM
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif.html)http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif.html)http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear_sad.gif.html)

Heather19
04-11-2014, 03:09 PM
Hated it. I didn't start to the like Dark Tower till I got to the Waste Lands, and to go from that into this, well..... It just lost all the momentum it had been building and pulled me right out of the story. Maybe a chapter or two throughout the series, but a whole book dedicated to his backstory didn't interest me at all. Sorry Bears, don't hate me :couple:

Jean
04-11-2014, 11:22 PM
funny how bears suddenly came across as W&G apologists... although it's their least favorite DT book and they struggled through the Mejis part, hating western/fantasy/puerile romance both in general and in particular...

mae
04-18-2014, 06:12 AM
The poll has closed. The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass has earned a FAS (final average score) of 4.120000000 or 82.40%. It received a rating of 5/4 with 10 votes.