Song of Susannah
Locus Award nominee 2005.
The next-to-last novel in Stephen King's seven-volume magnum opus, Song of Susannah is at once a book of revelation, a fascinating key to the unfolding mystery of the Dark Tower, and a fast-paced story of double-barreled suspense.
To give birth to her "chap," demon-mother Mia has usurped the body of Susannah Dean and used the power of Black Thirteen to transport to New York City in the summer of 1999. The city is strange to Susannah... and terrifying to the "daughter of none" who shares her body and mind.
Saving the Tower depends not only on rescuing Susannah but also on securing the vacant lot Calvin Tower owns before he loses it to the Sombra Corporation. Enlisting the aid of Manni senders, the remaining ka-tet climbs to the Doorway Cave...and discovers that magic has its own mind. It falls to the boy, the billy bumbler, and the fallen priest to find Susannah-Mia, who in a struggle to cope – with each other and with an alien environment – "go todash" to Castle Discordia on the border of End-World. In that forsaken place, Mia reveals her origins, her purpose, and her fierce desire to mother whatever creature the two of them have carried to term.
Eddie and Roland, meanwhile, tumble into western Maine in the summer of 1977, a world that should be idyllic but isn't. For one thing, it is real, and the bullets are flying. For another, it is inhabited by the author of a novel called Salem's Lot, a writer who turns out to be as shocked by them as they are by him.
These are the simple vectors of a story rich in complexity and conflict. Its dual climaxes, one at the entrance to a deadly dining establishment and the other appended to the pages of a writer's journal, will leave readers gasping for the saga's final volume (which, Dear Reader, follows soon, say thank ya).
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Stephen King
Stephen King’s name is synonymous with horror, suspense, and the kind of storytelling that lingers long after the final page is turned. Born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, his love for the macabre began early, drawing inspiration from his small-town upbringing and the creeping unease that would define much of his work. From his first short stories published in magazines to the blockbuster novels that changed the literary landscape, King's journey from aspiring writer to a cultural phenomenon is nothing short of legendary.
The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower tells the story of Roland Deschain, a lone gunslinger on the search for the elusive Dark Tower. Why he's looking for the Tower, no one knows. What he expects to find there, even he doesn't know. All he knows is that he must get there, at any cost.
Along the way Roland meets up with many characters, and encounters many strange places. Roland's world is moving on, and he with it, a remnant of the past. Drawn to the brink of death, he draws three people from a very familiar world to aid him in his quest: Eddie Dean, a former New York junkie; Jake Chambers, a boy who has inexplicable ties to Roland; and Detta Walker, a woman who could be their damnation, or their salvation.
The Dark Tower consists of seven primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series The Dark Tower Graphic Novels
