Lilja's Library (52 page)

Bert tries to lead the horses over a claptrap and is almost successful. It’s very fortunate for Roland that his friends are so fast even though they aren’t “real” Gunslingers yet. If not for them, Roland would be dead and his hunt for
The Dark Tower
would never have happened. 

As usual, the issue is masterfully illustrated by Jae Lee as well as colored by Richard Isanove. These two, together with Robin Furth and Peter David, have really found each other and are now working as one. Each issue is getting better and better and the expectations get higher and higher with every issue they produce. It’s very rewarding to be able to tell you that they really are living up to the expectations put on them. 

It’s also really nice to see that they are leading the story in
The Long Road Home
down the right path, even though King isn’t involved any longer. Or, not as involved as with
Gunslinger Born,
which they did based on his book. He has still set up the guidelines for the work and I guess that he might have the final say on some things, but so far I bet he is very happy! 

The issue also features the history lesson
Welcome to the Dogan, Part 2: The Evil Uffi
,
which tells of the disappearance of King Arthur and one of the first doors to appear in the tale of Roland’s ancestors.  

We also get a Q&A with Peter David and Robin Furth, in which they tell us about some of the things we can expect in upcoming issues. That, along with some sneak peaks at two sketches, really makes me look forward to upcoming issues.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Long Road Home
2
 

The issues in the series just keep getting better and better, and for each issue I say to myself that this has to be as good as it gets. And I’m wrong every time! 

**** 

The Long Road Home 3 

Posted: May 7, 2008  

In issue three, Alain is about to try to save Roland from Mearlyn’s Grapefruit. He used his power to connect with Roland and is actually successful in doing so. He enters the world of Mearlyn’s Grapefruit and there he finds Roland in the hands of Marten. 

Unfortunately, he isn’t able to save Roland and instead Bert almost has to face Roland in battle. Still, it’s Alain who is the big hero in this issue. He is the one who risks it all trying to save Roland and unite his ka-tet again. 

One thing that I have noticed in the second story arc,
The Long Road Home
, is that Roland’s part is smaller than earlier. He hasn’t done much more than getting caught in Mearlyn’s Grapefruit. That, however, means that we get to know more about Alain and Bert than we have before, which is nice.  

It’s a very smart move to do it this way and let us get familiar with all the characters. My guess is that both Alain and Bert are going to be with us for most of the issues, so it makes sense to bring them forward and make them main characters as much as Roland is. 

Another thing I like is that we get all kinds of references to the books. We get billy-bumblers, the Manni, todash and more. This makes it feel very much in sync with the books and
The Dark Tower
universe at large. 

The history lesson in this issue is probably the best so far. It’s called
Welcome to the Dogan, Part 3: City of the Dead
and continues where part two left off in the previous issue, and it’s very intense. In it there are also references from something called the
Mid-World Dictionary of Occult Terms
, and while I guess it’s just something fictional, I really hope it’s getting published sometime in the future. It sounds like an interesting read. 

After that we also get to see how the cover was done, and a preview of one of the illustrations for the next issue.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Long Road Home
3
 

I haven’t said anything about the script, illustrations or coloring this time, and that’s only because it’s as good as usual and everything we have come to expect. Jae, Robin, Richard and Peter are spoiling us with their good work, so now we expect nothing less than perfection…and so far they haven’t let us down.
 

**** 

The Long Road Home 4 

Posted: June 5, 2008  

With this issue we are up to the last issue before the issue 5 finale and my prediction, which probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone, is that the issue with Roland and his captivity in Maerlyn’s Grapefruit will be solved in this story arc, but not much more. After all, we have more story arcs coming. 

In issue 4 we get to see how Sheemie enters the story in full force and as it turns out, he is more powerful than anyone could have ever imagined. Actually, I believe that he is the one true hero in this arc. 

With issue 4 we also get another confirmation that Cuthbert and Alain are the main characters in
The Long Road Home
. Roland still has a big part, but it is his two friends who take center stage here. 

We also get a closer look at another character who plays a big part in the story. In issue 4 we get the first big introduction of The Crimson King, and I must say that Jae Lee has done a wonderful job of bringing him into the pages of the comic. The King looks mean, cruel and evil, all that we have come to expect of him, and it’s nice to finally get to see what he looks like…up close. 

As usual, everything about this comic is well thought through, perfectly carried out and delivered in a nice package. The regular characters stay as we have come to expect them to be and each new character looks better than I would have dared to hope. Marvel really goes all the way with this one, and for that, I am very grateful. 

The history lesson this time is about mutants. It’s called
Mid-World Mutants
and tells the story of how both man and beast mutated from the downfall after the war known as The Old War, the Great Cataclysm, the Great Fire or The Great Poisoning. As usual, it’s a very interesting read. 

Other than all that, we also get a look at some of Jae’s original drafts next to the one that appears in the issue. Quite interesting to compare.  

Lilja’s final words about
The Long Road Home
4  

Well, what can I say? The people behind
The Dark Tower
comic have done it again. Thanks! 

**** 

The Long Road Home 5 

Posted: July 1, 2008  

The end of the second story arc is here. The fifth and last issue of
The Long Road Home
ends with Roland and his Ka-tet returned home to Giliad. By then Roland has escaped Maerlyn’s Grapefruit with the unexpected help from Sheemie and the three boys can return somewhat unharmed even though everyone can tell there is something that’s changed within Roland. 

Before Roland is saved The Crimson King reveals to him that he’s also the descendent of Arthur Eld. He uses this to claim his right to rule the Kingdom, to be its King. However, The Crimson King suggests that he and Roland join forces and together climb the tower to rule the worlds of chaos. To no one’s surprise, Roland wants nothing to do with it and when he calls The King insane he gets a taste of his power. 

This is when Sheemie, who turns out to be a boy with the looks of an imbecile but with enormous powers, that if only for a short while catches the Crimson King off guard, enters the stage and saves Roland’s life. Unfortunately no one knows what happens to him afterward though… 

The history lesson this time is longer and covers more than we are used to. The first part is called
Invoking the Guardians
and tells how parents try to get the blessing from the guardians of the beams to keep their children well protected. It’s an interesting piece but maybe a little too deep for all except
The Dark Tower
super junkies… 

We also get to learn more about North Central Positronics, Dogans and Le Casse Roi Russe. These are easier to get into and my guess is that the average comic reader will find these more interesting. The issue also contains two notes. One from Robin Furth and one from Peter David in which they talk about their work on
The Long Road Home
and
Gunslinger Born
. 

The issue is very visual and has a very large number of illustrations that cover both pages of a spread. This looks very nice and actually gives the illustrations a lot more depth and detail, which I like a lot. The colors in this issue also, as usual, fit the illustrations perfectly. I’m also very pleased to see more of The Crimson King. He looks as evil as he is and Jae has managed to capture his features perfectly. 

As usual the issue is a very satisfying read. The story, the illustrations, the colors, everything is a joy for both mind and eye. And, it’s perfectly clear to me that Robin, Jae, Peter, Richard and the rest are very capable of delivering this comic without a previously written story from King! 

Lilja’s final words about
The Long Road Home
5 

The story arc ends in a very satisfying way and even though I have just read the last page I’m already eager to see what Robin, Jae and the others will come up with for the third story arc. I’m sure they will have something very interesting in store for us this upcoming September. 

**** 

Dark Tower: End-World Almanac 

Posted: July 1, 2008  

Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
is like a directory of things, places and creatures found in
The Dark Tower
reality. I say creatures because not all of them pass as humans… 

This directory is very similar to
The Gunslinger Guidebook
that was released when the last issue of
Gunslinger Born
was released. It also has a lot in common with Robin Furth’s
The Dark Tower Concordance
and not only the fact that they are written by the same author. 

A difference between
Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
and
The Gunslinger Guidebook
though is that this one is more general compared to where the other was more strongly connected to the
Gunslinger Born
series.  

In
Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
we get to learn more about things like Billy-Bumblers (many of you probably know Oy, right?), Can-Toi (also known as Low Men), The Manni, Fedic and of course The Dark Tower. 

As with
The Gunslinger Guidebook
,
Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
is mostly for the hardcore fans but I think that readers who have enjoyed
The Long Road Home
will enjoy a little background and facts about stuff they have heard about or will hear about in upcoming issues. 

The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
is written by Robin Furth and Anthony Flamini and they have done a very good job writing it as well as researching it. It’s also brilliantly illustrated by David Yardin and colorist Val Staples. The interesting thing about the illustrations we get here is that compared to the regular issues, the ones in
Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
look almost like paintings. 

Lilja’s final words about
Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
 

This is a very good complement to the series even though some of its contents will be familiar to you from the history lessons in the regular issues of
The Long Road Home
. 

Section 3—The Ones About King  

The Essential Stephen King by Stephen Spignesi 

Posted: July 9, 2001  

When I first heard about this book I must admit that I was a bit skeptical. A book that ranks the one hundred best King pieces? Could that really be interesting to read? I mean, doesn’t everyone have their own favorites? 

Well, if Steve would have just listed his favorites from number one to number one hundred and nothing more, I guess that it would have been kind of a dull book. But,
The Essential Stephen King
is so much more!  

In
The Essential Stephen King
, Steve lists his 101 favorite King works, but that is not all. He also gives a description of every work. In them, he tells us what the story is about, a bit about its history and other things that he thinks we, the readers, will be interested in. This part, which he calls “Why It Made the Top 100,” can also be used as a refresher if you have trouble with remembering a specific work.  

On top of that, the book also includes a section (for every work) called “Did You Know?” Here, Spignesi tells us some not-well-known information about the work. This is a little treasure for everyone who wants to know every detail about a story.  

Other sections that are included for every work are “Main Characters” (here Steve lists all major characters of the story), “What I Really Liked About It” (here we get a little more of an exact explanation of why Steve likes it) and “Adaptations” (here all of the film, TV and stage adaptations are listed).  

Even if I think that this is a great book and that it’s really interesting to read, I must say that I think it’s a rather bold book to write. I mean, doesn’t every King fan have his/her own favorites? Hasn’t it been debated throughout the King community (for as long as it’s existed) which of King’s books is the best one?  

The fact that
IT
got the number one spot and
The Stand
got the number two spot wasn’t a surprise or something that will be debated, I don’t think…I would have listed
The Long Walk
(28), “Secret Window, Secret Garden” (38) and “Autopsy Room 4” (50) higher. But then, this is some of the thrill of this book as well. It will, no doubt, lead to many and interesting discussions among King fans about the ranking. And that, I think, is a good thing!  

Then, when Steve is done with his part of the book he lets other King experts speak. Bev Vincent has written an excellent review/essay of Stephen King’s
Dreamcatcher
. Mick Garris, James Cole and Jay Holben have all been asked to complete the sentence “Stephen King is…” This is very interesting reading. Steve has also done something that hasn’t been done before: he has managed to get an interview with King super collector Charles Fried. Here we get to know how he started his collection and a lot of other stuff about his impressive collection.  

And to end it all, Steve has asked his friend George Beahm to write an essay, which he has. It’s called “Stephen King: Survivor Type” and is, like the rest of the book, great!  

Lilja’s final words about
The Essential Stephen King
 

If you like Steve’s other books, then
The Essential Stephen King
is a must. If you like books about King,
The Essential Stephen King
is a must. If you’re a fan of King,
The Essential Stephen King
is a must. In short,
The Essential Stephen King
is a must for your collection!  

The only problem is that when you read it you want to read all of the works that Steve writes about, and to do that you’d need forty-eight hours in a day, and that is not possible… 

You can read
The Essential Stephen King
from cover to cover (like I did) or use it to look up specific stories (like I’m sure I will form time to time) to refresh your memory.
 

Stephen King Universe
 

Posted: November 6, 2001  

The Stephen King Universe
is a book that sets out to try to connect all of King’s stories into a united universe. And let’s face it; there are a lot of connections between King’s stories, but not all of the stories are con-nected… 

The book is divided into different chapters, which contain a bunch of King’s stories. The stories are collected in the same chapter if they are connected in some way. For every story that the book covers, there is a short description of the plot and a summary of the story’s primary subjects (not for all stories though). 

The book starts out great. It covers the universes of
The Dark Tower
&
The Stand
, Castle Rock and The Shop among others. Here, the authors accomplish what they set out to do—they point out connections between different stories and people who appear in them. Most of the connections I can agree with and some are far-fetched. That’s OK, though, because the authors are mentioning all the connections so that I can see how they are thinking. Even if I don’t agree with them, I understand them. 

Here’s an example: The authors connect “I Am In the Doorway” with “The Little Sisters of Eluria” because Roland’s friend Jamie DeCurry says that he “could shoot blindfolded because he had eyes in his fingers.” This is too far-fetched for me… 

Later in the book, the connection between the stories disappeared. Here, like in the chapter “Other Prime Reality Tales,” almost no connections between the stories are to be found. Here, there’s just a description of the story’s plot and its prime subjects. This is great for references, but I don’t think it’s what the book sets out to be about. If the stories don’t fit in the Stephen King universe they shouldn’t have been included in the book, and if they do I feel the authors have failed to show it. 

In some cases the authors seem to feel that two stories are connected just because they are about the same subject. I don’t buy that. I think that for the stories to be connected there should be some mention of a person, a place or an event from the other story. 

At the end of the book the authors include a biography about King, a bibliography of King’s work and some web addresses to King sites. This is great for references.  

Lilja’s final words about
Stephen King Universe
 

The book is an easy read, but I would like to warn you not to read this book if you haven’t already read all the stories that are covered in it. The book reveals quite a lot about what happens in the stories and could spoil a good read for you if you haven’t read the book already! 

I feel this is a good book. In some cases too far from what’s reasonable, in some cases there just isn’t any connection to other King stories, but in most cases I think they have a point and it’s an enjoyable book. 

**** 

Revisiting Stephen King
 

Posted: November 17, 2002  

Revisiting Stephen King
by Sharon Russell isn’t a book you get and just read. If you get this one you are probably going to use it in some kind of work about King or his work—like a term paper or something like that. In
Revisiting Stephen King
, Sharon takes a deeper look at some of King’s work. To be more exact, the books
Desperation
,
The Regulators
,
The Green Mile
,
Wizard and Glass
,
Bag of Bones
,
Hearts in Atlantis
,
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
and
Dreamcatcher
. 

Sharon is analyzing King’s writing style and how King is developing the characters in his books. She is also giving a description of what a genre is. This is done because she is putting the books into different genres and this is the basis for her decisions.  

Personally, I’m not too impressed with this book. It feels too much like a school paper and not like a deeper analysis of King’s work. One thing that is disturbing with this book (which has nothing to do with its content though) is the use of source references. I prefer when they’re used with a small number in the text and then the book titles are listed at the bottom of the page. Sharon uses another system though. She is putting the title in the text, which really interrupts the flow of the reading. It’s a distraction.  

Is the book interesting, then? Well, some if it is, but far from everything. I think that my problem with this book is that I read it as a fan of King’s books and not because I’m doing a paper on his writing style. I guess that the book would be more interesting if I were writing a paper. 

As it is now, the plot description of each book and the character description isn’t that interesting since I already know what the book is about and who’s in it (I have read them all at least one time). The analysis of the plot is a bit more interesting though. Here you can compare her description with your own interpretation of the books.  

At the back of the book there is an index. Most of it’s good, but some of the sections are extremely incomplete, if you ask me. In the section with nonfiction, Sharon mentions the three nonfiction books King has done (
Danse Macabre
,
On Writing
and
Secret Window
) and then she starts to list articles by King. Here is where she is making her mistake. She isn’t close to listing all of King’s nonfiction articles and by including this section she is just giving us an incomplete list, which is confusing. It would have been better if she would have just listed the three books and then ended the list or listed all of the nonfiction articles by King, which would have required quite a bit of work on her part.  

A similar problem appears when she lists the sites about King that are available on the web. Here I realize that she can’t possibly list all of the sites, but the ones she lists are far from the best ones out there. I’m not saying they aren’t good sites, but there are more sites out there that are a must if you are doing a list of sites about King. To give you some examples, she left out sites like Charnel House and Needful Things, and instead she has sites that haven’t been updated in a couple of years or that aren’t even online anymore (not all of them though). That’s not what I call good research. It feels more like she has just done a search on King and then taken the first hits she got. 

Lilja’s final words about
Revisiting Stephen King
 

If you use this book to write a paper you might get more out of it than I did. It’s as much the purpose of this book to be a source for papers as it is a paper itself (just bound a little better). As a relaxing read on a cold winter evening in front of the fireplace, you can do much better with a book by King…any one of them, in fact. 

**** 

Horror Plum’d
 

Posted: December 11, 2002  

So, Michael Collings’s new book about King’s work is finally here. The book is called
Horror Plum’d
and, as usual with Collings’s books, it’s filled with information about King’s work. 

First of all, I want to say that this isn’t the kind of book you read from cover to cover in one sitting. This is more of a reference book. You can use it to find out info about the things King has done. In
Horror Plum’d
, Collings lists all of King’s work, divided into sections that make it easy to find. 

In the chapter where Collings lists all of the books King has written, you find the usual books but also novels, short-fiction collections, nonfiction, reprints and multimedia adaptations of book titles. And, if that isn’t enough for you, you also get a lot of information about foreign publications of the titles. Here Collings lists the foreign title, English translation of the title, translator, publisher and more. There’s a bit more info about some of the titles and less about others depending on what Collings has been able to find. This is really interesting reading! In addition to all this info, there is also cover art for almost every U.S. edition of the books.  

There is also a chapter that deals with shorter fiction. Here we get info about the excerpts that have been released from King’s books, screenplays, short stories, short non-fiction, poetry and more. It’s rather interesting to see how much poetry King has written. Not much of it has been published though. Maybe King will release a poetry book sometime in the future?