A Review of the Book "The Drawing of the Three" by Stephen King

Title: The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc

Year: 1987

509 pages

From the Back: Taking place mere hours following the dramatic events seen in The Gunslinger, Roland of Gilead now continues on his solitary quest for the Dark Tower, leading him to a seemingly endless stretch of beach along the Western Sea - a terrain filled with unearthly monstrosities that mean certain death if he lets his guard down. But there are other mysteries along this desolate shoreline as well: three arcane doorways standing freely in the sand and cryptically designated as The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, and The Pusher. Each one is a portal to our world's New York City at different points in time, and each one is complete with its own set of dangers that could spell the end of Roland's Journey. The world has moved on, and the Tower draws ever closer.

Personal Thoughts: The Drawing of the Three is the second book in the Dark Tower series. Knowing the series has at least 5 more books, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. It was a character development book of which there always needs to be one in a large series. Usually I struggle with character building books, this one wasn't actually too bad. Because there were three characters to bring into the fold (hence the title of the book), it was like reading three mini-books, making the entire novel easier to handle. After having read a few Stephen King books, I'm beginning to notice a pattern in some of vulgarity in his language. However, I'm not sure if this is a King-style or an era-style. While some people might find King's language offensive, it doesn't take anything away from the story, in my opinion.

    Overall, it was an excellent story, which I'm just coming to expect now as I make my way through King's publications, and I'm looking forward to future Dark Tower books.