I just finished book 4 of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King entitled Wizard and Glass. The following is spoiler free. The series is about a gunslinger named Roland and his quest to reach the Dark Tower. He is accompanied by several companions on his journey, all drawn from "our world" to Roland’s. His world has similarities with our own, like an oil drilling station with the words "Exxon" on them. Basically it’s a parallel universe with a different timeline, because things have turned out quite different in Roland’s world. If you want to know more than that, you have to start the series.

This book is almost entirely a flashback, and could probably be read independent from the rest of the series. Aside from a deeper understanding of Roland and his world, most of the characters are new and from a time in Roland’s life that we know little about. Also different is the love story that dominates much of the book, which is really fantastic.

We hit up the library today and picked up book 5, Wolves of the Calla. Should you read this series? I would say my interest is growing with each book, and why that is I’m not sure. I think it’s partly that King has become a better writer as the series goes on, and I’m also growing more accustomed to his style of writing. If you like fantasy that isn’t overboard, and you’re looking for a big commitment, I would check this series out. After you read A Game of Thrones though.

I just finished book 3 in the Dark Tower series. It’s a fun series so far with a lot of good sci-fi content but also some really great characters. I don’t want to say much about it because Kevin is also making his way through the series, but I think I’m ahead of him now. It’s interesting because book 1 was written in the 70′s, and book 3 was written in ’91. By the time I finish the series they will have spanned four different decades.

Before I move on to book 4 though I’ve checked out State of Emergency by Pat Buchanan. Hopefully this will be a good motivator for pre-election day postings. I’d also like to plug the local library where all these recent books have been checked out. The Dark Tower series might be worth buying, but I wasn’t about to spend $150+ on the hardbacks to find out. I’m hoping State of Emergency is also really good, but it’s probably not something I’ll go back and read in 10-20 years. The library is a great resource and money saver, and they even have a website!

I finished book 1 of The Dark Tower series today and picked up book 2 at the library. I feel like I can’t fully review the book because I haven’t fully read the series. It’s much like watching the The Fellowship of the Ring without knowing how the rest of the trilogy plays out. While I can’t fully appreciate the entire series, or the clarity that future books in the series will bring to this first book, I can give my impressions fo far.

The book is only 200-250 pages and a pretty quick read. I found myself confused for much of the book, but in a good way. The reader is left in the dark about both time and place. Very little is told of the main character’s life and where he came from. While quite a bit happens in the book, the reader has very little context to place anything. At first it was frustrating, but it eventually became intriguing. I’ve never read a Stephen King book, so getting used to his style took a little time. I remember at the beginning I felt like he was personifying everything. "Outside the wind was blowing….like it was in a hurry." I don’t know if he ever said that or actually used personification at all, but that’s how I remember it anyways. About halfway through the book though I was in a groove and caught up in the story. This is one of the first things King ever wrote, so I’m curious to see how his writing has improved over the years.

I’m now onto book 2. I’m checking these out from the local library because buying the series would be a big investment ($150 for all the hardbacks). If I really love the series then I would definitly consider adding them to our slowly growing library.

I finally finished The Da Vinci Code. I hit a rough patch where I wasn’t very impressed with the book, but I think things improved near the end. I enjoyed the book, but I would recommend Angels and Demons first. I think the controversy around The Da Vinci Code made it more popular, not necessarily because it was better. I’d still like to read Dan Brown’s other books, but they will have to wait. I’m back to the world of fantasy.

Since I didn’t have a series I was dying to start, I decided to go to the library and find something. I ended up with book one in the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger, by Stephen King. I’ve never read a Stephen King book, so instead of going out and buying anything, I’m giving them a test run. While I enjoy buying books, it’s a little like collecting for me. If I’m going to put books on my shelf, I want them to be good books that I really like.

The Gunslinger goes pretty quick, and so far I’m intrigued. It’s not very clear at all what is going on so far, but I’m curious enough to continue. I’ve read that even King himself says the series doesn’t get very good until book two, so I have that on hold at the library. I’ll read book two before I make any judgements about the series and whether or not I’d like to finish all seven books.

Anybody read anything good lately?

I have yet to see The Da Vinci Code, and I still have 100 pages left in the book, but I’m excited to hear that Angels and Demons is already being considered for the big screen. Even though I haven’t finished The Da Vinci Code, I agree with many others that Angels and Demons is the better book. Not only is the story better, but Angels and Demons seems more like movie material than The Da Vinci Code. Angels and Demons has tons of cool action and some sci-fi elements, where a lot of The Da Vinci Code is a bunch talking. That’s not saying that books with people talking is bad, but that some books make better movies than other books.

Since I’m talking about the book, I might as well give my opinion thus far. As a work of fiction, I think it’s an average book. I’m past the holy grail explanation that seemed to go on forever. I see what people are upset about, but I’m personally more upset that Dan Brown ruined the believability of the novel. I was enjoying the entire ride until the holy grail explanation. The problem I have is not so much that it’s "heretical," but that he didn’t convince me of anything. While he tried to give proof to support that part of the story, I think he glossed over way too much. If you’re going to challenge the convential wisdom of your reader, you better have a heck of a lot of proof. Otherwise not only do I not believe the author, but that discrepancy between the fantasy world and real-life end up colliding and ruining the whole experience.

This is where I think Dan Brown’s biggest error occurs. He’s crossed fiction and non-fiction on a subject and in a manner that pulls the reader out of the fantasy world he’s created. I personally think it ruins an otherwise enjoyable mystery.

I finished Angels and Demons today and I’ll be starting The Da Vinci Code as soon as I get the book covered.

Speaking of covering books, I thought I’d point people to a great place to buy book covers. Working at a library gave us some insight into how books are covered and all that stuff, and we’ve had a lot of fun covering the dust jackets of the hardcover books we own. I bought a box of 50 covers for only $20! I have the 4th one down on that list (12 x 23.5).  These have fit all my novels, but if you have a weird sized book measure it first. Also you should pick up some tape to put the cover on. Be warned that this is a semi-permanent process, because the tape adheres to both the book and the jacket cover. We use this tape (the 1/2" stuff).

Your friends and family will ooo and ahhh at your shiny books.

I finally finished A Feast for Crows only about 6 months after I started the book. I went through a period where I’d seldom take time to read, and when I would, for only a short period. I read about 250 pages of the book though in the last two weeks, and promptly delivered it to Andrew.

About 30 mins after I finished that book I picked up Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I’d wanted to read The Da Vinci Code, and even though Angels and Demons isn’t required reading, I decided to read them in the order he wrote them (it’s about the same character, so I think that will be beneficial). After about 50 pages I’m getting into the story, though I still don’t know very much. I brought it home and put a mylar cover on it just like you find at the library. I swear it makes the actual content of a book better.

Hopefully I can finish this one quick and move on to Da Vinci before the movie comes out. I just realized that is less than two weeks away. I better get a move on.