Wolves of the Calla was sick. Putting Roland and the group in a town that needs help, with a fight coming their way, was a setup I could get into.
After spending so much time in Roland’s past in Wizard and Glass, we’re back with the group we’ve been following. This time, their journey brings them to Calla Bryn Sturgis, where masked riders known as the Wolves come to take the town’s children. The people know another attack is coming, and they ask the gunslingers to help them.
That gives this book a clear problem right away.
There’s still the larger journey toward the Tower, but there are people here who need something done now. These families have to live with what the Wolves do. They’ve been afraid for a long time, and deciding to fight back means taking a risk they’ll have to face together.
I liked having the group involved in that kind of situation. Roland’s determination was one of the things that hooked me in The Gunslinger, and this gives him somewhere to put that focus. There’s a threat to understand, a town to deal with, and a defense to prepare.
It also gives you a chance to see how far the others have come.
Eddie and Susannah arrived in this series with their own lives already falling apart around them. Now they’re part of a group that other people are looking to for help. They still have their own personalities and problems, but they’ve learned things along the way, and those things matter when the Calla needs gunslingers.
Susannah is a badass.
She has that toughness I’ve liked since her introduction, and this book gives her room to bring it into the fight. The sharp throwing plates used by the Sisters of Oriza are a memorable part of that. It’s another strange detail that fits into King’s world, and it gives the women of the Calla a dangerous skill of their own.
Watching the group prepare to stand together was a big part of the appeal for me. Roland may be the most experienced person there, but there are other people with abilities, judgment, and responsibilities. The situation needs more than one man being good with a gun.
The town has its own complications too. Getting frightened people to agree on what to do is a problem before the fighting even starts. These are their children and their homes. You can understand why somebody might want help and still be terrified of what resisting could bring down on them.
That fear gives the preparations a purpose. You know why the gunslingers are there and what the people are asking of them. I’ll leave the details of the confrontation alone, but the fight to defend the Calla is one of the things that stayed with me about this book.
Father Callahan brings another piece of King’s world into it.
He comes from ’Salem’s Lot, and having him here is another example of the connections I enjoy in King’s books. The people in these stories can carry their histories with them into another book, and those histories become part of something bigger. Callahan has his own story to tell, and it adds another thread to what the group is dealing with.
There’s a lot happening beyond the town’s immediate problem. The Tower is still there, the connections between worlds keep growing, and trouble within the group doesn’t stop just because they’ve agreed to help somebody else.
For me, though, the defense of the Calla is what gives this installment its strongest pull. I liked seeing these characters arrive somewhere they were needed and prepare to do something about it. The danger, the gunslingers, and the town getting ready for what’s coming made this one a good time.
Who I’d recommend it to: Readers who like the Western side of The Dark Tower and want to see Roland’s group work together against a threat to an entire community. The connections to King’s other books add something too.
Caution: The threat to children is central to the story, and there’s violence and disturbing material throughout. Expect time spent getting to know the town and preparing for the confrontation.
Discussion question: Who stood out most to you during the defense of the Calla, and what did you think of the group working together as gunslingers?
— Cory Lane