The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

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This article is about the novel. For other uses, see Wasteland.
The Dark Tower III:
The Waste Lands
ISBN
978-0-937986-17-2
Preceded byThe Drawing of the Three 
Followed byWizard and Glass 

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands: Redemption, commonly known simply as The Waste Lands, is a

Grant. The book was reissued in 2003 to coincide with the publication of The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
.

The book derives its title from the T. S. Eliot 1922 poem The Waste Land, several lines of which are reprinted in the opening pages. In addition, the two main sections of the book ("Jake: Fear in a Handful of Dust" and "Lud: A Heap of Broken Images") are named after lines in the poem.

The Waste Lands was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Novel.[1]

Plot

Five weeks after the events of

Shardik, a gigantic cyborg
bear, they discover one of the six mystical Beams that hold the world together. The three gunslingers follow the Path of the Beam inland to Mid-World.

Roland now reveals to his

Jake Chambers in the way station and letting him fall to his death in the mountains.[N 1] However, he also remembers passing through the desert alone and never meeting Jake. When Roland saved Jake from being killed by Jack Mort in 1977,[N 2] he inadvertently created a paradox
; Jake did not die and thus did not appear in Mid-World and travel with Roland.

In 1977 New York, Jake Chambers is experiencing exactly the same mental divide, which is causing alarm at his private school, and angering Jake's cocaine-abusing father. Roland burns Walter's jawbone and the solution to his dilemma is revealed, but to Eddie instead of Roland. Eddie must carve a key that will open the door to New York in 1977.

Jake abruptly leaves school and finds a key in a littered vacant lot where a single red rose has bloomed. Jake manages to pass into Roland's world using the key to open a door in an abandoned haunted house on Dutch Hill in his place and time. This portal ends in a 'speaking ring' in Roland's world. During this crossing over, Susannah has sex with an incubus, distracting it while Eddie continues to carve the key which will allow Jake safe passage to Mid-World. Once the group is reunited, Jake's and Roland's mental anguish ends. Roland has now completed the task of bringing companions into his world.

Following the path of the Beam again, the ka-tet befriends an unusually intelligent billy-bumbler (which looks like a combination of badger, raccoon and dog with parrot-like speaking ability, long neck, curly tail, retractable claws and a high degree of animal intelligence) whom Jake names

Oy
, who joins them on their quest.

In River Crossing, a small, almost deserted town, Roland is given a silver cross and a courtly tribute by the town's last, ancient citizens.

The ka-tet continues on the Path of the Beam to the city of Lud. Before arriving there, the ka-tet hear the drum beat from the song "

Blaine the Mono
. The "Ageless Stranger" (an enemy whom the Man in Black warned Roland that he must slay) arrives to recruit the badly-injured Tick-Tock Man as his servant.

Centuries of system degradation have caused Blaine to go insane. Once the travelers are aboard, it announces its intention to derail itself with them aboard unless they can defeat it in a

Topeka
, the end of the line.

Twelve portals and guardians

Twelve Guardians, which guard the Twelve Portals, are explained. Each Guardian matches up with a Guardian at the Portal on the other end of the Beam, and at the point where all the Beams meet is the Dark Tower. The Guardians are revealed in several scenes: the first is revealed when Roland is explaining to Eddie and Susannah Dean what Shardik was and his understanding of the Beams; another is revealed when Eddie and Susannah approach the Cradle of Lud; and the last, Bird and Hare, are revealed in the poem Roland and his lover, Susan Delgado, recite to each other occasionally: "Bird and Bear and Hare and Fish..." The only pairs identified are by Susannah and Eddie while at the Cradle of Lud.

Shardik was created by

Sombra Corporation
.

The pairings as mentioned in the book are:

  • Bear - Turtle
  • Horse - Dog
  • Fish - Rat
  • Elephant - Wolf
  • Lion - Eagle
  • Bat - Hare

Film

Main article: The Dark Tower (2017 film)

Stephen King and Nikolaj Arcel have confirmed that the 2017 film The Dark Tower is a sequel to the events of The Dark Tower book series, following Roland Deschain on his "last time round" the cycle to the titular Dark Tower, equipped with the Horn of Eld.[2] The film was released on August 4, 2017 in 3D and 2D by Columbia Pictures.[3] The film has been described as a combination of the first novel,

The Wind Through the Keyhole
.

Notes

  1. ^ as depicted in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
  2. ^ as depicted in The Drawing of the Three.

References

  1. ^ "Past Bram Stoker Nominees & Winners". Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. ^ Trumbore, Dave (14 July 2016). "'The Dark Tower' Movie Is Actually a Sequel". Collider.
  3. ^ Reyes, Mike (2017-01-13). "2017 3D Movie Schedule: The Full List Of Titles And Release Dates". CINEMABLEND. Retrieved 2017-04-01.

External links

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