I will not provide a detailed recap of the story here since so many other reviewers have already done so. What I will attempt to do is explain why I give Wolves of the Calla only 3 stars, as well as to list its strengths and weaknesses. The story of the residents of the Calla and their joining forces with Roland's ka-tet to vanquish the wolves deserves 5 stars. There is intrigue, town politics, an ominous threat hanging over the twin children of the residents, and an exciting battle between Wolf and man. The personalities of the townsfolk, who are divided in their opinions of whether to fight or submit to the wolves, are well developed, as is that of the enigmatic Andy the Messenger Robot. King has done an excellent job developing the mythology and culture of the "folken" of Calla Bryn Sturgis. The reader is treated to a realistic and colorful portrayal of their language, culture, festivals, music, and traditions. After finishing the story, I felt that I had actually taken a trip there and met its inhabitants.

Where the story line falls short, and earns the book only 3 stars, is the middle half of the novel, where there is a lot of travel to the New York of 1977 and many side narratives about the pasts of several of the protagonists. The travel, sometimes performed involuntarily through a mystical "todash" and sometimes voluntarily through another magical doorway, leads to efforts to protect the rose of previous episodes from harm. Not only is all this back-and-forth action distracting, but the ka-tet's dealings with the owner of the lot upon which the rose grows, and with the hoodlums who threaten him, is tedious. Also in this middle half is an excessive amount of tale telling about the pasts of several of the characters. Pere Callahan's tale is essentially a sequel to Salem's Lot, and has no place here.

The illustrations have added a lot to the cost of the book, but little to enhance the story. I give one star to these illustrations. Granted, Roland's Mid-World is a gloomy place, but these paintings are too gloomy and colorless. Every character is depicted as sinister. They all look physically mangy and stringy, even the good folken of the Calla.

Although I prefer King's horror fiction to his Dark Tower epic, being an ardent King fan I feel duty-bound to read the entire story - all seven volumes worth. Besides, I do want to know how Roland and his ka-tet manage to save Mid-World from the evil of the Dark Tower. Reading the entire magnum opus does require a large commitment, since the story, when completed, is projected to weigh in at more than 3,500 pages. Needless to say this volume of the series should not be tackled unless you have already read the previous volumes, and thus it is best left to the diehard Stephen King or Dark Tower fans. Of course this installment will leave the story, and you, hanging in midair. But have no fear... the last two volumes will be released before year's end.

Eileen Rieback


Excellent!!!   November 4, 2003
 27 out of 33 found this review helpful

First of all I'll start by saying that this book is the best in the series so far. I loved the character development. I do have to say that some parts of this book won't make much sense unless you are a well read King fan. However, I believe, this will only make folks all the more curious to learn of the all encompassing world that is the Dark Tower series. I just wish it was summer of 2004 so I can see what happens. Oh well, I waited over five years for this volume, I'm sure I can stand to wait 7 or 8 months
for the next one. I'll end by saying that while I am a very quick reader, I was surprised by the fact I finished all 719 pages in under 8 hours. I guess I was ready for this one!


You're missing out if you aren't reading this series!   January 25, 2004
 25 out of 28 found this review helpful

Stephen King's fans who don't read the Dark Tower series are really missing out. The "Wolves of Calla" is an impressive, well-written, story that raises questions King has been giving us in other works and ties in one of his very first stories in a unique way.

The suspense and drama of the books are fantastic, but I think it's the characters that really set this series apart. In "Wolves of the Calla", each member of the ka-tet has agonizing personal choices to make and their decisions, sometimes flawed, sometimes heroic, make this series something beyond classification. This isn't a drawn-out epic fantasy or a gimmicky tie in of other novels. Like "Wizard and the Glass" this novel is memorable both in itself and in what is does for the series storyline.

Jake is growing up. The Gunslinger is growing a heart (has been for some time). He's also losing some of his physical abilities, but he's a much more interesting character than when he started out. Susannah's latest personality would defy belief if written by any other writer, but Stephen King handles her masterfully. And Eddie the former junkie is now the one that's desperate to hold the group together. The battle to project a town's children against seemingly unstoppable "wolves" is just one part of the story.

The stakes are raised at the conclusion of this installment by a new character with his own stunning background added to mix and Stephen King tantalizes us with the first real glimpse of how this serious might conclude. I hate the spoilers, so that's all I'll say.

Don't miss it.


what the hell   November 8, 2003
 23 out of 51 found this review helpful

wolves of the calla is by far the worst of the series.
as mentioned by others, there is over 100 pages dedicated to father callahans past, which could have been surmised in a short paragraph.
personally, i think the entire plotline of the rose in new york is superfluous. everything about our world is just a waste of ink, nothing in new york is a challenge. its just sort of a menial task they have to take care of, and as such, instantly makes the reader (such as myself) apathetic to it. if it isnt challenging to the katet, its hardly interesting. what is uninteresting should not be written at all. at least it contributes to his page quota, though. very sly, that Mr King.

a minor complaint: the people of the calla dont speak with the same charm that was present in volume 4 (the "aye" and "ye" just have a way of creating atmosphere. expressions like "big-big", "camalla", and "babbies" just to give you a few examples of what has taken their place (more on this later)

let me say King mentions himself no less than 3 times. read the last page before you decide to buy this. i might have rated as high as 3 stars, but this is such an atrocious error on kings part it must not go unpunished. (like i said, mr king is quite clever)

you probably want to know what happens to susannahs suspected pregnancy, the pieces of maerlyns rainbow, what happened to roland after he killed his mother.. but remember, king likes to disappoint his readers, so you wont find out with any real satisfaction what happens to any of these questions

even questions about the connection of thundercap to the calla are left unanswered (who slightman was reporting to, andys programming, things of this nature). you spend hours reading, and nothing to show for it at all. this is how king hopes to get us hooked up and ready to spend more money on volume 6, since volume 5 does almost nothing to progress the story.

this might sound like kings ineptitude to entertain, but you have to think: it must be damn hard to write a 700 page book, and leave the reader just as unfulfilled as when he/she picked it up.

it leaves you with the feeling of impotent rage. it really does.

oh yes, dont forget about the sly references and allusions to harry potter, star wars, marvel comics, charles dickens, and websters dictionary (might have been oxford, i cant remember).

yes, King, we know what "run" means. most of us Readers can understand the written language.

starting as far back as volume 3 we could tell King was relying more and more heavily on cutting and pasting ideas.
its become obvious that king feels he needs to complete the series out of obligation, but he lacks the will power or imagination to deliver. oh yea, if you do decide to buy the book. tear out the pictures and burn them. they are thick and glossy, and act like giant bookmarks. so if you inadverdently flip to one, you might get ahead of yourself and ruin what little suspense there is. dont worry though, the pictures are so grotesque and inaccurate that this shouldnt be much of a problem.

in case you were wondering, the front cover is supposed to be susannah. yes, i know. susannah is supposed to be black. yes, it is strange that she appears to be quite naked, but if things like that bother you, count on a migraine somewhere between the cammala crap and the abominable illustration of roland.

apparently, it was decided that shoddy writing should be matched with shoddy illustrations in a package deal. we waited over 5 years, so we fans deserve at least that much


Great read, but something nagging.   November 13, 2003
 23 out of 40 found this review helpful

I'm not only a King fan but a huge Tower Junkie. Wolves has been to long coming, but it was worth the wait. In this book he does what he says he was going to do, he wants the Tower books to be a kind of sequel to other of his books. Salem's lot is now finished, our questions about Callahan are now put to rest. The other books will be a kind of sequel to some of his others I believe.
Now the only probelem I had with this story was some of the words, comalla, say thankya big big. Now after awhile these were getting annoying but Steves proise at telling a story kept me going, and all in all Wolves was a great story. He leaves us with more questions than we had going into the story, and that is great story telling. Why? Because it makes you want to read the next book to find out. He is keeping his readers hanging on, and in the end I don't think he will dissapoint.
Now to say something about the ending that so many people have a problem with. Do you really think this will hurt the story? No, I don't think it will. Clive Cussler does it in all of his Dirk Pitt stories and I find it humorous. If he becomes a huge character in the next books I might be a bit dissapointed, but if there is just a small reference then it will be entertaining. Give the guy a chance before you hang him.