Stephen King invites listeners back into the world of Roland the Gunslinger in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in his epic "Dark Tower" series. Roland and his companions escape from one world and slip into the next, where Roland tells his story, one that details his discovery of something even more elusive than the Dark Tower--love. Simultaneous trade paper release from Plume. 12 cassettes. The first three volumes of this series have been repackaged and are listed below this annotation.
Frank Muller, the recognized virtuoso of audiobook narration (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), takes on Stephen King's Goliath tale of sorcerers, time travelers, and sci-fi love. Totaling more than 27 hours and spanning 18 cassettes, Wizard and Glass requires the listener to love Muller's Hannibal Lecter-like voice--either that or suffer in audio hell for the equivalent of three full working days. While some might find his breathy staccatos irritating at best, others will find his voice the perfect accompaniment to King's creepy characters and nightmarish plots. (Running time: 27 hours, 18 cassettes)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Dark Tower's best. SK's best.:
Let me say first that I am not a fan of either King or the Dark Tower series (V VI VII being quite subpar as far as fantasy goes, but that's another story). With that in mind, Wizard and Glass struck me as, probably, no other book has.
Having recently re-read it (for, I think 8th or 9th time), I can with full confidence say, W&G will remain a timeless classic of fantasy - stand-alone, without unnecessary intro featuring the end of Blaine, or the ending, featuring the Tick Tock Man, either... more info
The cracks begin to show:
I enjoyed and detested this book. I enjoyed it for the last good look we get at the Old World, where the tale of Roland's coming of age is told. I detested it for being the beginning of the series' decline, where Roland's group begins to wander aimlessly from one random contrivance to another - it's obvious that Stephen puts his imagination into neutral towards the end of Wizard and Glass and just lets it coast along without drive or direction, all the way to the end of the series. SPOILERS BELOWmore info
Good not great:
Book 3 of the series left off with such a cliffhanger that I couldn't wait to start this one. I have fallen in love with Roland's world and am just so intrigued with every little detail that King has imagined into this land. But with this book you spend almost all of it in Roland's past when he is a kid. I personally didn't like this very much. I don't want to say to much but there wasn't that real grand feeling I was getting when Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake are traveling through the "present." I got... more info
Amazing...:
The Dark Tower Series is perhaps my favorite series out there...there's nothing quite like it. I've enjoyed all the books in the series for different reasons, but Wizard & Glass has always held a special place in my heart. It's the only book I find special enough to review. I won't go into specifics on plot ... that's been done here. What I will try to express are the overwhelming feelings that I experienced the first time I read this book. I was in my junior year of college at the time; a... more info
