Wizard and Glass is number four in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, and this is my second trip to the Tower. As a long Constant Reader, I always had mixed feelings about this book when I thought back on it.
Most of the story takes place with Roland telling his ka-tet about his childhood and his first love, Susan, the girl in the window. It tells the story of three boys who are sent away, supposedly to keep them safe from being caught up in the growing war led by John Farson, the Good Man. Instead, they find themselves in Roland’s past, in the small seaside town of Hambry, where they are meant to quietly count boats, observe resources, and gather information. What they uncover instead is a conspiracy to support the Good Man and join the coming battle.
Roland is a young gunslinger, the youngest, the strongest, the smartest, but he is still just a boy. When he sees the beautiful girl in the window, Susan, he falls for her. Susan, however, is promised to the town’s mayor as his gilly girl. Although the mayor is already married, he plans to take Susan in the hope that she will give him an heir, since his wife Olive has not been able to bear a child.
Early in the novel, Susan meets Rhea of the Coos, a witch who must test and confirm her purity in one of the most invasive ways imaginable. From that moment, all the characters are in place and what follows is a tragedy that plays out across the pages. It is a romantic, Western-style small town tragedy.
It is a beautiful story and I loved it far more this time around. I especially noticed the small details Stephen King includes to show just how young Roland and Susan really are. The first time I read the book, I was probably around their age. Reading it now as a mother approaching forty gave me a completely different perspective on their very young, very pure, very sweet love.
I really enjoyed my second time around.
Five wizard rainbows out of five.
