I enjoyed most of this book, especially the parts with the author written in. Thickened the plot rather nicely. Couln't wait to get through this one and on to the final book.

I honestly think he should have stopped after the fourth book and should've avoid giving us the "Wachowski feeling" of destroying what might have been a really good and original idea...

What he calls in the last book as "methaphysics" to explain (justify) his own presence in the book, I call it a cheap trick. Does he really have to be there? no, I don't think so, specially since he had already abused of the doors to move between worlds. Those two things just destroyed the series...

Whereas the previous five "Dark Tower" novels take place over large, sprawling periods of time, this novel is much shorter both in reality (400 pages) and within the text (all the events take place within a day or two).

When I first started this book, I was disappointed by the focus on Susannah-Mio, as that (at least to me) was not a very compelling part of the storyline. However, the interactions of those characters in 1999 New York City provides for some entertaining moments.

The much more interesting plotline in this novel, however, is Roland and Eddie meeting Stephen King in the flesh. Yes, King wrote himself into his own book! While the phrase "there are more worlds than these" had played a big part in the series to this point, I was shocked to find out that it perhaps even including OUR own world as well. Much like the TV show "LOST", which once hinted that it's characters were nothing more than one man's paranoid delusions, "Song of Susannah" intimates that perhaps the entire Dark Tower creation just springs from the mind of King...that Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and the like aren't even real! The coupe de grace comes when King (the real one!) questions which world the fictional Stephen King actually resides in.

So, although "Susannah" starts off a bit slow, it slowly builds to an exciting crescendo that will whet your appetite for the final installment. I am a first-time reader of the series, and I am chomping at the bit to finally be ushered into the Dark Tower itself!

This was painful. I just wanted to get through it. Boring, silly, egotistic and just....bad. If I hear the word "chap" one more time, I'm going to freak out. I'm listening to it now..oh god, please let it end. Kill me

I wanted to read the entire series before reviewing this and confirming that it is the worst volume in the series, and it is...perhaps this was deliberate on king's behalf to make the last one seem even better, who knows?

This book is essentially an 'add on' to Wolves of the Calla and the whole story could have genuinely been cut down to 50 pages and put at the end of the last volume...

As the title suggests, volume VI revolves around the character Susannah. How you, the 'Constant Reader', views her will have an impact on the enjoyment you get here. I personally don't rate her as my favourite and perhaps this was the reason I wanted to rush through it and get to the final book...

Anyway, the book is almost 500 pages of, what I feel, needless detail on the struggle between Susannah and Mia in regards 'the chap'. We found out about Susannah's/Mia's pregnancy in Wolves of the Calla and yet King goes on and on and on and on and on, boring us at times and (SPOILER ALERT) she doesn't even give birth to the damn thing until the beginning of volume 7.

I just feel it could have been condensed and the series made into 6 books
with any of the relevant content cut down to 50 pages and added onto book 5...I know King can sometimes go into too much detail but I feel this was well overdone perhaps to make sure the series had 7 volumes, was this King's plan? It seems very likely this is the case because this isn't an enjoyable experience.

There are a few good parts to the story, Roland and Eddie meet up with an old friend named Jack Andolini but I won't spoil that bit ;)

Basically, the parts not involving all the palaver of 'the chap' are good, and if you like you could skip most of these parts and not miss a thing...

Of course, if you've got this far, you'll have to read this as I doubt anyone could give up on the Tower at this point..

Book 7 does get better say Thank Ya!!!!!

Song of Susannah is the sixth and penultimate novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. This is the shortest book we've had in this series for quite a while. And, as the characters are split up into three groups, we get less than 200 pages for each. Since King likes to move things along at a rather glacial pace, not a whole lot happens here.

Picking up where Wolves of the Calla left off, the characters disperse back to different times and places in twentieth-century America. Here they all mostly wander around for a while until they get to convenient stopping points that will (one hopes) give the last book an exciting beginning. The "cliffhanger" here is anything but. Like the entire Susannah-is-pregnant story arc, it's hardly compelling (and it's grown rather tiresome).

In Wolves of the Calla, King inserted himself into the Dark Tower world. Now he shows up as a character. While the reader's initial impression of this is likely something along the lines of "Wow, how stupid," like most things in this novel, it doesn't matter one way or the other to the story, really, although King tries to tie together his writing career, life, the universe and everything with it. The book ends with a cryptobiographical diary from King the character which is, again, not particularly compelling.

This makes two poor entries in a row into the Dark Tower series. Song of Susannah is practically nothing but setup for the last book. On its own, it wouldn't be worth bothering with.

I bought the first 4 books and being forewarned borrowed the remaining from the library. And I say thank you if it please, because King ruint the story as the wolves ruint the twins. Read no more for there are spoilers below, but take my word and borrow the last of the series. Or if you have sufficient control over curiosity, just say it ended with Wizard and Glass. No more; say thanks; Roland and his friends continue searching endlessly for the tower.


The Wolves of the Calla gave some reason for concern but had enough action involving the wolves and Black 13 and Susanah's pregnancy to make it interesting. Where it began to fall apart was with the hulldrum story of Father Callahan being forced into our ka-tet? Or is he part of the Ka tet. Though he later dies in the Pig, his death does not unmake the Ka-tet. Still it's obvious King wrote or wanted us to have a strong feeling for Callahan.

I should say it's obvious what King wrote or wanted because he put himself in as a character. Here is where he ruint the story completely. Whenever you read a portion of fiction, you take on a suspension of disbelief. Yes people can time travel, yes they can battle wizards and win, of course Roland's the fastest draw... But when you start to see the seams of the plot waved in front of your nose, you're shocked out of that world. Perhaps it's what he intended but I cannot imagine why. Whenever the character King shows up and says something or is the topic of Roland's Ka-tet discussion, I'm shocked out of their world and thinking about what the Author wants to tell us?

1) Stephen King has to write his series so that the Dark Tower does not fall and the universe collapse.
2) Some of the self-deprication also seems ego driven; Eddie comments that King has a lot of bad habits that needs to be managed. Oh won't the world help King lose 10lbs and stop drinking.
3) Stephen King's too lazy to finish the series; chuckle chuckle

All in all, he started w/ a great story and great immersion. I saw another reviewer mention that 90% of it's good and it's just the 10% that gets harped on. That is true; I imagine if King had limitted Father Calahan to a minor character ("I'm an alcoholic; I used to be a priest; now I kill vampires") and deleted the King is God/Rose plotlilne completely (was never part of the first 4 books) we could have had a great series ending at 6 books. As it is that 10% of the time kept jumping at me; like Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace! I kept trying to enjoy the movie and every 5-10minutes there was Jar Jar.

Finally one other criticism I'll make, while not at the level of his above screwups, the dialog and conversation between Mia and Susannah was overdrawn. A lot of set up and important revelations that ended up revealing nothing and taking a lot of pages. A good editor could have fixed this.

Like most people who have read this book, I was a fan of the Dark Tower series. Specifically, the first three Dark Tower books. Ever since "Wizard and Glass", however, King has been sliding and turning this once fantastic series into an aimless, boring mish-mash of different pop culture fads. This book is by far the worst in the series, and takes forever to explain several simple and uninteresting ideas.

1) The first problem is that too much of the action takes place in New York and Maine, as opposed to Roland's world. I know I'm not alone in saying that the strangeness of Roland's world is one of the things that drew me into this series in the first place. This is a fantasy series, and I just don't find our own world very interesting in a fantasy series.

2) One of Stephen King's worst writing habits is his tendency towards over-description and overkill. This habit has never been more evident than in this novel, where King takes an average of probably three pages to explain something that better writers could have done in three paragraphs. Being a descriptive writer is one thing, but over-describing to the point where it ruins the pacing of the story is another. By the time King finally finishes describing some concept, I would have already understood what he was trying to say and lost interest in it, just wanting him to move the story along.

3) As you might have heard, King writes himself into this story. I don't know of too many readers who were pleased by this, and I certainly wasn't one of them. I still can't believe that King did that and thought it would be a good idea. Not only is it incredibly stupid and tacky, it's arrogant. Even though King doesn't glorify himself, the simple fact that he decided to include himself as a character in this series indicates a massive ego that won't be satisfied unless he himself can play a vital part in the Dark Tower series. And sure enough, it's revealed that his role in the story is to do the will of ka by writing the story of the Dark Tower, and that if he is unable to finish the story, then the Tower will fall and the universe will collapse. If that's not a sign of a God complex, I don't know what is.

4) There were way too many scenes between Susannah and Mia. The whole split personality thing was tiresome back in "Drawing of the Three", and King does nothing to make it fresh here. We have to listen to endless palaver between Susannah and Mia, and equally endless mentions of Mia's "chap" (man, am I tired of hearing that word). If I know Stephen King, I'm guessing that after he's built up how important Mia's baby is to the plot, he's going to put it completely to waste by having it die almost immediately.

If you feel like you have to finish the series like me, then unfortunately this book is a must. Although it is boring and tiresome, there are a few things that happen during the story that you need to know or the next book won't make any sense.

Begging your indulgence for a moment here at the beginning of this review, There are a few philosophical asides that I would like to bore you to tears with, enjoy.

There is an odd thing that happens in epics. I speak mostlh of Western epics here, I haven't really experienced Eastern epics so I can only speak to Western ones. They usually have, within them, a meditation on the art of storytelling itself. The Lord of the Rings has this as do Babylon 5, Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire and those are just the meager few I can think of.. Even the classics of Western Literature like War and Peace have that in there as well. Hell, The Illiad begins by invoking the Muse. I think that may be where this thread entered our fiction, but that's just a personal theory.

This interest in the art of storytelling has appeared in The Dark Tower in several places. Stories are told and, on a couple of occasions, the universe actually stops so they can be told.

By the time you reach the end of this penultimate novel of the Dark Tower series you'll understand that the whole SERIES is a meditation on storytelling. You'll also understand the full extent of Stephen King's hubris as he commits the ultimate act of self-indulgence of a writer. How you deal with that is up to the you.

With all that structural and philosophical stuff out of the way... is this a good book? HELL YEAH it's a good book. We are back to world hopping and time shifting and all the stuff I was complaining about the lack of in the last book.

I now understand what was happening in Wolves of the Calla in a different light. We started with Roland in The Gunslinger being a Sergio Leone type gunslinger, Leone's characters are, as a rule, Single-minded, cynical and they are very good at what they do.. they are the best at what they do actually. In Wolves of the Calla (which I gave a luke warm review when I read it) Roland, in spite of himself, has turned from Clint Eastwood into one of the Magnificent Seven, which Wolves of the Calla is essentially a retelling of.

Like it or not, Roland has been dragged kicking and screaming to a more likable character.

The characters in this Novel are now a family entire but they are also split up, separated and scattered through time. Susan is in 1999 controlled by a demon named Mia and one (or perhaps both) are pregnant. Jake, Callihan and Oy are zonked into 1999 also to help Susannah by attacking a restaurant called the Dixie Pig and Eddie and Roland are sent to Maine to fight an ambush and maybe meet the writer who created them.

The fact is that the story of the Dark Tower is becoming interconnected with Stephen King¡¦s accident (the one which prompted Kingdom Hospital) and, as a result, the last page (whether you have been following this series fanatically or have been slogging through some of the recent books like I was) will make you HAVE to read book seven.

The good news is that King seems to be firing on all cylinders again. The Bad News is that there is one more turn before the Clearing say thank ya.

At the end of this book you will be in the disorienting state of hanging off three separate cliffs at the same time º

Enjoy, after my, un slightly unfavorable reviews of the last two books I need to stress how good this one is.

I am not going to go into detail, I see that has been done quite nicely. This is the 6th book in the Dark Tower series and it does not disappoint. This book continues the journey of Roland and his posse (ka-tet) trying desperately to reach the Tower, and save the rose when its about to be destroyed. I am amazed that the story is still so intriguing after this many installments, it just gets better and better the deeper you get into Roland's world and King's psyche. The story is compelling and extremely well written. I highly recommend this book. I do not recommend you read this book out of order. To fully appreciate the story you need to read the entire series in order. You do not want to be lost in Roland's world.

I found this book to be the weakest of the Dark Tower books. Susannah is not a particularly endearing character. It felt like this book could have been reduced to 50 pages and just added on to the previous book. This book only sets up the last book. However, in typical Dark Tower fasion it is an enjoyable read. And, it does leave you wanting to find out what happens in the next book.

This is not a book you can pick up if you haven't read the rest, but it is also not one you can skip if you want to read the final one.

Thus far the Dark Tower series has been an up and down read. There have been highspots (The Gunslinger & Wolves of Calla) and not so high spots (Drawing of the Three & Wizard and Glass) but nothing I'd really call a low spot. Song of Susannah and Wolves of Calla together should have been one book. The pregnancy of Susanna was drawn out far too long and with some trimming of Wolves of Calla both books could easily have made one good solid novel.

Song of Susannah picks up immediately after Wolves of Calla and honestly has a pretty good pay off to the Susannah pregnancy storyline. It's just too dang long of a series. The entire Dark Tower series should be one book shorter there is just too much needless dragging out of the events in Wolves of Calla which stretches into this book as well.

If you are this far into the Dark Tower series then obviously this is a necessary story to read. There has been much criticism about Stephen King interjecting himself into the novel but it really didn't hurt it too bad to me.

As I now move on to the final book of the Dark Tower, I look forward to seeing ongoing stories wrap up and find out just how bad this child of Susanna's is.

The Tower Series by Stephen King, where do I start? I enjoyed reading these books a great deal, but near the end, it felt like it had just been going on for far too long. It is an epic tale, and King doesn't really pull any punches. Heros die, and for the most part stay dead. Making the books recursive and self referential was little odd, and felt a bit trite in my oppinion. Having himself as a character in his own book was odd. I'm not sure if it worked or not. I think the goal was to again bring the story into "our world" after it had strayed far away into the lands of Rolland.

I feel that now that the books are completed, that the author and editors need to have a pow-wow, and re-edit the books after reading them in one fell swoop over the period of a week, and then a V2.0 version can be released.

If I were to compare these books to JK Rowling's Harry Potter books, I would say these books address more adult themes, but maybe don't hold together as well. There are more gimmicks in the writing, and it is often hard to relate to the character's struggles.

Sincerely,
Ira Carmel.

I thought that I would hate it because of the title. Susannah is my least favorite character. I found to her to be a great manipulator but this book took me on another wonderful adventure and now I am finding myself warming up to this amazing woman of two legs. I don't want to open the next book only because I do not want it to end.

I've been progressively more disappointed with each installment of the Dark Tower series, but I sincerely hope that Song of Susannah is the nadir of this decline. I'm going to start book 7 later this week and at this point, King would have to strive for complete and utter failure to surpass the disaster that was Song of Susannah. Surely he is better than that?

After reading SoS, I'm inclined to think not. I understand that King's brush with death must have been very traumatic. But only would a hack write it into his "magnum opus." Oh my god. I still can't believe he went there. Same with the World Trade Center. Mr. King, have you no shame?

In the Dark Tower series, Stephen King had the chance to create an epic the likes of which has not appeared since The Lord of the Rings. The first few books had promise. In the later books, he veered off track, culminating in the disastrous accident that is Song of Susannah. Characters that were once fascinating have become boring. The amazing world of the previous books has been substituted for New York and, briefly, Maine. Roland is relegated to a supporting role. Mia and her back-story are uninteresting and incoherent. The grotesque characters that appear in the final events of the book are not so much sinister as they are comical. King was so obviously grasping at straws that his assertion about the story flowing out of him "like the umbilical cord from a baby's navel" made me laugh out loud, because surely he was joking. That was the only entertaining part of the book, actually.

And so it's with a sense of dread that I begin reading book 7. And yet, I read it. That's a testament to King's success, I suppose. Even though I'm shocked at how awful this series has become, I'm still going to see it through to the end. I'm reading out of obligation, at this point, and a perverse interest in how much worse it can get.

I still don't like this book or the direction king took the series after the 4th book. The 5th book was decent and kept me into it throughout, but with the finding of the king novel "Salem's Lot" i was afraid of where he was going. This book goes there i'm afraid. I still don't get why King put himself in the books. What complicates matters even worse is the fact that the 5th and 6th books should have been combined...at least in my opinion because they seem so much shorter than the first 4 and the 7th. However, if you've made it this far in the series you should finish it. I personally liked the ending of the 7th book but the 5th and 6th books were pretty terrible. Heck even the 7th could have been so much better.

I still don't like this book or the direction king took the series after the 4th book. The 5th book was decent and kept me into it throughout, but with the finding of the king novel "Salem's Lot" i was afraid of where he was going. This book goes there i'm afraid. I still don't get why King put himself in the books. What complicates matters even worse is the fact that the 5th and 6th books should have been combined...at least in my opinion because they seem so much shorter than the first 4 and the 7th. However, if you've made it this far in the series you should finish it. I personally liked the ending of the 7th book but the 5th and 6th books were pretty terrible. Heck even the 7th could have been so much better.

Like the previous books, have VII ready, the story of course is NOT complete and you want to have ready Disc 1 of the 7th book. This is a shorter Audio with half the cds of the previous books, but it regained the "action" of the second book. No more wondering about the past or someone else's life, the journey finally continues. And hold on for the ride! I really enjoyed this one.

The ending however, as mentioned in many other reviews, bothers me (the reason for 4 stars). The end of disk 11 and ALL of disc 12 are author notes. The book is taking a turn (on disk 11) that (in my mind) could have gone in a different way, (SPOILER ALERT!) Mr. King decided to include himself in the book. Maybe this is how he feels about these books, like they are a part of him and therefore he belongs in them, but we are so passionate about these characters that he seems like an intruder.

This book continues right where Wolves of the Calla takes off. After finishing their business in Calla Bryn Sturgis the ka-tet, joined by Father Callahan, split away to further the quest towards the dark tower.

The underlying story is Susannah Dean, who has been kidnapped by the demon Mia so that the demon may help birth and then raise the child that Susannah is impregnated with.

But there is also the vacant lot in New York that is home to a single red rose that the ka-tet is tasked to protect.

And then there is the Writer, the man who channels the story of the Dark Tower and has stopped writing for various reasons. The ka-tet must not only find this man but also convince him to continue writing the story we are all enjoying.

This is an enjoyable book that continues to build on the wonderful characters he has created, bring us all closer to the Dark Tower, has several plot lines to keep us entertained, and is a real page-turner. If you've come this far on the journey then this book will further delight you on continuing the series.

This was not my favorite of the Dark Tower series. LOVE the series however, but this seemed to me to be a little more reaching for additional content. I am a HUGE fan of Stephen King. This series is well worth the read. I simply wasn't as impressed by this particular book in the series.

Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on," and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams -- mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.

This series was mostly inspired by the epic poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, the full text of which was included in an appendix to the final volume. In the preface to the revised 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings, the Arthurian Legend, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as inspirations. He identifies Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as one of the major inspirations for Roland. King's style of location names in the series, such as Mid-World, and his development of a unique language abstract to our own, are also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's work.

The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements. King has described the series as his magnum opus; beside the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses.

If you think you have Stephen King pegged think again. In this ingenious novel we follow the continued story of Roland of Gilead's ka-tet as they split up to fulfill their destinies and, hopefully, save the Dark Tower and all of the worlds it encompasses.

Roland and Eddie head to Maine in 1977 to save the life of Calvin Tower who owns the lot on which the Rose, the incarnation of the Dark Tower on Earth, grows. Along the way they meet a character who is possibly the strangest and the biggest risk of Stephen King's career. Either King is a genius or on an immense ego trip. I go with the former, and enjoyed that scene immensley. Meanwhile Mia has totally taken over Susannah Dean's body in order to get to New York in 1999 so she can bear her "chap" for the Crimson King. There are suprises in store in this thread of the story and you will learn who Mia actually is. In another story-line Pere Callahan and Jake follow Susannah-Mia to 1999 New York to save Susannah from the clutches of the Crimson King.

Dark Tower fans will love this sixth installment. It was one of the most satisfying and down-right fun books I've read all year.

If part five wasn't crappy enough, we get this. The writting and story are worse here than the last one. The great tale that was was strong with books 1-4 is soured here. Ignore 5-7 and stick with 1-4.

Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, Book 6)
This is a great continuance of the Dark Tower series. Reading the DT series I-V is a must to fully appreciate all the nooks and crannies of Song of Susannah. It always amazes me how King ties the smallest details into completely different scenarios and goes back to explain why and how other events happened based on that.
If you're a Stephen King fan, you don't want to pass up the Dark Tower series!

It was a really good read! Since it wasn't as thick as the others, I finished it quickly and was able to start The Dark Tower a few days later. :)

This boos arrived in a timely manner in good condition and packged very well. I was pleased with both the shipping time and the packaging

I enjoyed this volume immensely. It was short and to the point. I understand that some people don't appreciate how King wrote himself into the Dark Tower story, but I think it was a brilliant and very humble move and a big key to the last Dark Tower book. For being so short, I found that I actually had to read it twice to catch all of the nuance, ties to other books, and references from characters and the "King" character himself. Well done!

This baby must have taken more than 9 months to pop. It at least felt like 2 to 3 years. What is up with the characters meeting King. Is that corny or what? That seems like something you would find in a kids chapter book. This book seemed a little forced, like the story didn't come to King quite like it should have and he just threw what came to his mind on the page.

I found this book somewhat average compared to the rest of the series. In particular, I wasn't too thrilled with the whole "SK" thing. It felt somewhat cutsy to me, and yanked me completely out of the narrative. So, my issue is with the style, not the execution, of the plot in this book.

That being said, the book is an integral part of the series, moves the story in many compelling ways, and I consider it an enjoyable must-read.

Overall the book was O.K. at best. It gave alot of information about the Dark Tower itself and how everything works, but is this the best plot King can come up with? I just feel that he could do so much more. King seems scared that he weren't going to finish the series and wrote it off quickly. I mean writing Callahan into the story is one thing but writing himself into it as an instument of gahn (God) is another. I have not read the last book yet so just maybe he can pull it off with out leaving me disapointed (I dont see how!). Although, he is KING, and he hasnt disapointed me in a book yet.

This book was good...but not as good as the others...I consider it to be a transitional book.
Everything that needed to be explained thus far was recapped and we were provided with the info we needed to carry into the finale.

Did Stephen King really write himself into this book...yeah thats what I thought...whatever...as a fellow "wordslinger" I think that takes a lot of Goddamn guts.

Stephen King reaches the parts other writers cannot reach. In a different class, roll on the final installment.

After four amazing books in this series, I was very shocked and dissapointed by the Fifth book in the seires, "Wolves of the Calla". So much so, that I was almost afraid to read any farther with the anticipation of the series getting worse from there.

Wow, was I glad that I picked this book up! Not only is it leaps and bounds better than its predecessor, but it is back to the feel and mood of the Second and Third installments, dealing with travel to the alternate wheres and whens that Roland and Eddie did in the good ol' days. The doors have returned, and what a delight it is to read about the old hijinx once more.

I don't want to give too much away, but let me just say that King delivers with unthinkable plot twists and story points that did anything but dissapoint me! I loved it all! You also get alot more explination about the Crimson King and what he is all about. (Along with answers to Susannah's "problem", and what it means.)

This story takes place in the course of only one day, and the Ka-tet is now split, so we get a very fast-paced feeling to the story because it keeps cutting between parties as different members of Roland's tet do their thing in different wheres and whens across the Tower's entire span. If you like this style of storytelling, then you shouldn't have a problem, although some people may find many things dissapointing here, but then again, I had plenty things bad to say about book 5, so it's really about the individual and their take on it, and how they choose to look at it.

One thing I found a little tedious was Susannah's mental "dogan". I don't understand the reasoning behind it and simply found it unneccisary and boring. However, it could be simply because it brought me back to ugly Calla Bryn Sturgin again! :)

Oh man, I cheered when the last of the Ka-tet went away from that place for good, as the last remnants of WotC finally left the pages of this otherwise amazing book, and new areas and locations were introduced. Also, and probably the most good about this volume, the story moved forward, unlike the last book. Not only did the story move forward, it RACED at a very fast speed and never let up. Susannah isn't really my favorite character, but the story points talked about during her moments in the book kept me interested, and Roland and Eddie being my two favorites, I never got tired of their half of the story.

Without spoiling anything, I want to advise you to get ready for a great ride. Action-paked, this one is. Shootouts, races against time, story revelations, plot-twists, new lovable characters, and more are crammed into this one, and I feel like it's back to the magic of books 2 and 3.

I haven't spoken about artwork thus far in my reviews of this series, but I just wanted to take a brief moment to compliment the artist who painted very beautiful abstract paintings for the trade hardcover version of this book; bravo, I loved the way it complimented my mood as I read. Normally I dislike artowrk in books because it warps the mental picture I already have in my mind, but because these paintings were abstract, they merely reflected the mood, not the image, so that was very cool.

Verdict: I went through this book in a matter of days, because I couldn't put it down. The ending gets a little slow, but that's forgivable, since two major cliffhangers come into play right when you think it's gonna end on a low note. Don't worry, though, because this cliffhanger will only leave you wanting to buy the last book and begin right away! This book isn't quite a four, but I didn't see where you could rate half-stars, and this book is certainly better than three, so accept my final score as three-and-a-half stars!

After four amazing books in this series, I was very shocked and dissapointed by the Fifth book in the seires, "Wolves of the Calla". So much so, that I was almost afraid to read any farther with the anticipation of the series getting worse from there.

Wow, was I glad that I picked this book up! Not only is it leaps and bounds better than its predecessor, but it is back to the feel and mood of the Second and Third installments, dealing with travel to the alternate wheres and whens that Roland and Eddie did in the good ol' days. The doors have returned, and what a delight it is to read about the old hijinx once more.

I don't want to give too much away, but let me just say that King delivers with unthinkable plot twists and story points that did anything but dissapoint me! I loved it all! You also get alot more explination about the Crimson King and what he is all about. (Along with answers to Susannah's "problem", and what it means.)

This story takes place in the course of only one day, and the Ka-tet is now split, so we get a very fast-paced feeling to the story because it keeps cutting between parties as different members of Roland's tet do their thing in different wheres and whens across the Tower's entire span. If you like this style of storytelling, then you shouldn't have a problem, although some people may find many things dissapointing here, but then again, I had plenty things bad to say about book 5, so it's really about the individual and their take on it, and how they choose to look at it.

One thing I found a little tedious was Susannah's mental "dogan". I don't understand the reasoning behind it and simply found it unneccisary and boring. However, it could be simply because it brought me back to ugly Calla Bryn Sturgin again! :)

Oh man, I cheered when the last of the Ka-tet went away from that place for good, as the last remnants of WotC finally left the pages of this otherwise amazing book, and new areas and locations were introduced. Also, and probably the most good about this volume, the story moved forward, unlike the last book. Not only did the story move forward, it RACED at a very fast speed and never let up. Susannah isn't really my favorite character, but the story points talked about during her moments in the book kept me interested, and Roland and Eddie being my two favorites, I never got tired of their half of the story.

Without spoiling anything, I want to advise you to get ready for a great ride. Action-paked, this one is. Shootouts, races against time, story revelations, plot-twists, new lovable characters, and more are crammed into this one, and I feel like it's back to the magic of books 2 and 3.

I haven't spoken about artwork thus far in my reviews of this series, but I just wanted to take a brief moment to compliment the artist who painted very beautiful abstract paintings for the trade hardcover version of this book; bravo, I loved the way it complimented my mood as I read. Normally I dislike artowrk in books because it warps the mental picture I already have in my mind, but because these paintings were abstract, they merely reflected the mood, not the image, so that was very cool.

Verdict: I went through this book in a matter of days, because I couldn't put it down. The ending gets a little slow, but that's forgivable, since two major cliffhangers come into play right when you think it's gonna end on a low note. Don't worry, though, because this cliffhanger will only leave you wanting to buy the last book and begin right away! This book isn't quite a four, but I didn't see where you could rate half-stars, and this book is certainly better than three, so accept my final score as three-and-a-half stars!

King the Traitor. Why the heck does he feel the need to include himself in the story? Last time I checked, it was Roland the Gunslinger, not dumpy 4 eyes King

Song of Susannah, while still a masterpiece compared to most contemporary fiction, simply does not stand up to the rest of the Dark Tower series in terms of quality. While the book is very interesting, and is definitely a page-turner, I felt at the end like it was almost pointless. Like an extra rung on a ladder that doesn't need to be there in order for you to reach the top. Does the extra rung help? Maybe, but it definitely is not necessary for the ladder to perform its function.

The book picks up immediately where Wolves of the Calla left off, with Susannah (being controlled by Mia) in New York City where Mia hopes her child will be born. Most of the book consists of interactions between Mia and Susannah within her own head. And while these interactions are interesting, they aren't exactly informative. In my opinion, the novel's main weak point is the fact that the ka-tet is not together for the entire novel. Eddie and Roland are in Maine looking for Calvin Tower, and their journey leads them to a particular novelist based out of Maine who seems to have a large influence over the events that occur on their journey to see the Dark Tower. Jake and Pere Callahan are in New York on Susannah's trail, but we don't even get to them until the book is almost over, and by that point I was already a little lost.

The choice to include himself in his own novel is definitely brave by Stephen King. While I don't think this decision turned out to be the disaster it could have been, the whole scenes with King in them just didn't feel right to me. I can definitely understand how some people loved the decision, but for me, it was a little too over the top.

On the positive side, this novel is probably the fastest-paced of the series. I couldn't put it down, and the ending is by far the biggest cliffhanger of the series.

This is not a "bad" book, it just doesn't quite measure up to the standards that King has set for himself with previous volumes.

As a long time Steven King fan, I do not understand how I missed reading this series of books. They are certainly one of his most involved and rivoting creations. I highly recommend putting the time into them.

Song of Susannah was surprisingly good. I have to say I wasn't looking forward to an entire book of Suze and the demon baby. One of the most interesting, I suppose some would say mind-blowing, things was the addition of a certain new character. You kind of knew it was coming, with Salem's Lot hanging out in Tower's bookshelf, but it was still crazy. Actually, I rather liked Stephen King, the character. He was a pretty funny dude, even if he did hit the bottle too hard and too often. I wondered if Stephen King himself really believes that there was some outside force trying to keep the Gunslinger's tale from being told. A force no less than the Crimson King himself (and for some reason I'm really relieved that it isn't spelled "Krimson"). Speaking of the CK, I felt that there was a transition in this book from a non-denominational evil being to the biblical devil.

Most of this story, though, as you might have guessed, was of Susannah-Mia's divided quest to find a place to birth the chap. (Oh, and finding out the real father messed with all my assumptions.) Mia wanted to deliver him in the presence of the CK's henchmen/women/monsters, as she was promised the raising of the boy until it was time for him to fulfill his destiny. Susannah, obviously, thought that wasn't the greatest idea. She exploited Mia's insecurities and caused her enough doubt to kill some time.

Roland and Eddie have a helluva gunslinging battle in 1977 small-town Maine.

Jake and Callahan are on the trail of Susannah through 1999 New York.

The ending is reminiscent of the Blaine business, if you know what I mean.

All in all, not too shabby. As another reviewer said, even if this isn't the best book in the series, it still stands above most of what else is out there.

One more to go! (Man, I'm going to feel so sad when it is over.)

I received the book within 5 days and it was in excellent shape just like new will use this site in the future and recomend it to my family and friends

but it's not too long, so it's OK. I DO agree with some of the negative reviewers that this band is not one of the best DT parts, even that all the three lately written DT novels get out of control some time, but I do NOT agree, I DISagree with people who call this one the worst DT novel. I can definitely say that I prefer this one far from the preceded one because in comparison it does NOT have overlenghth at all. I guess King wanted this book as a kind of bridge to the Dark Tower, related to the readers ...

IM not sure where to begin with this review, its not that the book was poorly written, quite the opposite it was a very good piece but it lacked any sort of luster or appeal. It was quite infact extremely boring, by page 300 I could not wait for it to be over and this is weird because up to this point I have LOVED the gunslinger series, they were all very good from front to back. There is way, way, to much about Susanah and the whole thing about her having this baby and it dragged and draged, maybe this series is showing its age im not sure but one thing is for sure it was no Wastelands or Wizzard and Glass. It was a far fetch from those titles and it had barely any excitement. It got to the point where I had to try very hard to pay attention and often I would find I had read a page and not remebered what it was about and had to read it again. Im giving this book 2 out of 5, very poor story line, poor plot however it was written well I can only hope that the next book is better, cmon King give me the feeling Wastelands did, BLOWN AWAY!! rather than tired and exhausted.

True, I do have to read part 7 still, but part 5 & 6 were very poorly done in my opinion. First of all, it's obvious that the reason for the failure in 5 and 6 is that the gunslingers have lost their edge. They have become parodies of themselves. In another review I saw the phrase, "overly mannered," which I feel hits home. The redundant vernacular: palaver, deal in lead, come commala this, come commala that, come commala with a wiffle ball bat, so... King is fastidious with his overdone jargon that sounds sickenly hackneyed. Since when did gunslingers become such wimps? Since part 5 & 6. That's when. The repetitive symbolism gets overdone until anything having to do with a 19, dinn, or Ka, is just charred nuggets. The symbolism has lost its zest by being referred to annoyingly countless times. As another reader stated, I can't wait to finish the Tower Series, so I can feel some closure on a story that went sour.

After the excitement of THE WOLVES OF CALLA, SONG OF SUSANNAH is more than a little disappointing. Susannah and her demon possessor, Mia, are off to give birth to whatever, Roland, Eddie, Jake and Callahan are in hot, well, lukewarm pursuit, and for many pages nothing happens. Many, Many pages. This book plays to the worst parts of the series, overly mannered speeches, cryptic messages, 19's all over the place and page upon page of meaningless dialogue that will interest only fans of minutia. There are a few moments where things pickup, like when King himself makes an appearance, and while it proves interesting for King to take such a hard look at his 70's self, it's not exactly Kilgore Trout meeting Vonnegut in BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. Another problem I had was that unlike the clear and horrifying creations of Wrightson and Whalen, Anderson's blurry impresionistic images left me cold and did nothing to enhance this volume of THE DARK TOWER. For the second to last book in the series I had hoped for some real resolutions to some of the problems, but I guess King decided to save everything for the last book.
P.S. Man, if I heard that baby called "the chap" one more time...

After having read a few reviews on 'Song of Susannah', it seems that this is a text that is either loved or loathed. While I do agree that the most controversial decision Stephen King makes in the new DT books does detract from them (I will not say what that writing choice is as I do not want to spoil this for readers), I found this book to easily be the most enjoyable of the 3 'new' Dark Tower books. Without the bloat of the final DT book (I like writing that is tight and to the point), or the overkill (and oddly placed story) of the 5th book, this novel weighs in at around 400 pages and it is tight and exciting throughout. The book felt closer to the writing style of the first 3 fantastic DT books, and I even enjoyed this more than 'Wizard and Glass'.

If you are a DT fan you will most likely read all the books in the series, but you would be much happier if you stopped reading after this book. I have no doubts that if you pick up DT7 and start reading it (and I know that you will), you will NOT be happy with how things turn out. It's unfortunate that King couldn't have gone out on a high note with his final book, instead doing so here.

King does jump the shark with these final 3 novella, but I generally found book 6 to be an enjoyable read that I had hoped all of the final 3 books would be.

**** RECOMMENDED

This book was very promptly mailed to me and in excellent like new condition!!

This is perhaps the most disappointing King book I have ever read (and considering that I have read "Desperation" and "Insomnia" that is saying a lot). The storyline was okay until the author lost me by inserting himself into the story. I have no problem with characters from other stories popping up but for the author to become a character was over the top. The only thing I found interesting about King as a character was the diaries that appear as the last chapter of the book.

I thought this was a blatant attempt to market his other books by having them referenced throughout the book. I would guess that anybody that reaches Song of Susannah has read is a faithful reader of King and does not need to be reminded of all his previous works (which as of late have been bad with the exception of "The Green Mile: Hey, Steve, if I wanted to read an infomercial I'll read my junk mail.

I cannot wait to read the last Dark Tower book so I can be put out of my misery.

I have held out long in writing reviews for any of the Dark Tower books, mainly because I felt I should read them all and sort of leave a judgement for the work in it's entirety. Well, as you can see, I couldn't contain myself any longer. This book is absolutely the best so far. The storyline makes the reader feel as though they have gone "todash" and landed smack dab in the middle of the story (without the dreary darkness and chimes!).

King pulls the reader through three amazing sub-quests, Pere and Jake's, Susannah and Mia's(with a lil bit o' Detta thrown in sho nuff), and of course Roland and Eddie's. Right from the get go each paty is faced with action, fear, and a little bit of soul searching as well, that carry throughout the book. It was a reward to the reader(and I am sure for the writer as well) after all the charecter building in the previous volumes. I don't want to give away anything, you'll just have to read it yourself, but make sure you buckle your seatbelt (or sofa-belt, if it do ya) and keep an eye out for Black Thirteen!

Not Disapointed, as usual Steven King is the Best at what he does!

The Gunslinger series came forth in a blaze of glory - the books though sporadic were at least very in depth and well thought out.
By this book I think I was feeling the books were then being rushed a little - this instalment of the Dark Tower series left me wondering a little bit about the magical journey that had been promised, the unseen roads not yet travelled.
Not as good as the earlier books in the series.
But that said, if you are reading the Dark Tower books you are going to read it anyway.

This book flows as quickly as the first book, The Gunslinger. I love the pace of this book and finally we are starting to see the direction of what is the Dark Tower, and what Roland and his Ka-tet have to do in order to reach it. The book leaves you on a cliffhanger, but it flows perfectly into the final book. A-1 recommendation!