Wolves of the Calla

Dark Tower V

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: George Guidall

Wolves of the Calla is the thrilling fifth book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series—a unique bestselling epic fantasy quest inspired many years ago by The Lord of the Rings.

In the extraordinary fifth novel in Stephen King’s remarkable fantasy epic, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World. Their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis, a tranquil valley community of farmers and ranchers on Mid-World’s borderlands.

Beyond the town, the rocky ground rises toward the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is slowly stealing the community’s soul. The Wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to, and they can give the Calla-folken both courage and cunning. Their guns, however, will not be enough.©2003 Stephen King; (P)2003 Simon & Schuster, Inc., All Rights Reserved, Audioworks is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

The New York Times Book Review [A] hypnotic blend of suspense and sentimentality...sprawling, eventful tale of demons, monsters, narrow escapes and magic portals.

LOCUS Wolves of the Calla is one of the strongest entries yet in what will surely be a master storyteller's magnum opus.

The San Francisco Chronicle One gets the feeling that this colossal story means a lot to King, that he's telling it because he has to....he's giving "The Dark Tower" everything he's got.

The Philadelphia Inquirer The man can spin a yarn, and a great one at that.

People The master of the macabre....[King] is still quite the entertainer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution An impressive work of mythic magnitude. May turn out to be Stephen King's greatest literary achievement.

The Kansas City Star It works because King, despite his long resume, keeps insisting on surprising himself and, in so doing, surprising us.

The Denver Post Brilliant in technique and ability...Feed your head! Now dig in, 'cause King's latest in this seven-course banquet...is a lip-smacking, brain-filling repast.

Bangor Daily News "The Dark Tower" is King's masterpiece....Wolves of the Calla succeeds as a standalone work.

Publishers Weekly The high suspense and extensive character development here...plus the enormity of King's ever-expanding universe, will surely keep his "Constant Readers" in awe.

The Dark Tower Review - Part Five

<B><U>The Dark Tower: </B> Wolves of the Calla</U> opens with a prologue that introduces listeners to the folken of Calla Bryn Sturgis, people in need of ?hard calibers?; people in need of help from Gunslingers. The residents of the Calla are farmers and ranchers but as listeners quickly learn, they are themselves a crop of sorts, harvested every 20 odd years by the wolves. Roland and his band are engaged to put an end to the raids of the wolves forever.

The narrative elapsed time in <U>Wolves of the Calla</U> spans about the space of a month but it is packed with action, back story and tantalizing links to other worlds in Stephen King?s universe. One of the leaders of the Calla folken is a man called Pere Callahan. In a former life, he was known to a small New England town called Jerusalem?s Lot as Father Donald Callahan.

As the Gunslingers prepare to defend the Calla from the oncoming attack of the wolves, listeners learn more about what is going wrong at the Dark Tower and find new ways to travel between the worlds. We also see the true gunslingers in a maturing Eddie Dean and soon to be tested Jake Chambers. In addition, Susannah Dean is about to face her greatest trial. You will have to listen to the story to find out what happens?

George Guidall does a great job of reading this 5th volume of <B><U>The Dark Tower</U></B>. Listeners will definitely miss Frank Muller?s voice for the first hour or so, as Stephen King himself acknowledges in the Afterword, but Mr. Guidall is an excellent choice to take up this spectacular tale in Mr. Muller?s sad absence.

Must read Stephen King books that link directly to <U>Wolves of the Calla</U>: <U>Salem?s Lot</U> and <U>Hearts In Atlantis</U>, the second of which is available from audible.com. Other King books related to <B><U>The Dark Tower</U></B> include: <U>Eyes of the Dragon</U>, and <U>Insomnia</U>, to name but a couple.

Review continues, Summer 2004, with <U>Song of Susannah</U>?

Kevin

I liked Wolves of the Calla a great deal. While the 1st and 4th of the series are still my favorite (I have not listened to the 6th or 7th yet) I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The biggest dissappointment was the Frank Mueller was not the narrator in these books like he was in the prior books (which I heard on cassettes). I don't know what happened to Frank, but he was missed. I got used to the new narrator, and he did a good job, but I liked Frank more.

The Wolves

Another fantastic entry in the Dark Tower saga. if you have enjoyed the other stories this one will not disappoint.

Characters Finally Brought to Life

Having read the first four books and enjoyed them it was even more enjoyable to hear the characters come to life by having the book read to me. This story begins to tie up many loose ends from the first four books and helps the reader understand more about the quest for the Dark Tower and what it means. Having heard of the death of the reader shortly after his completion of this book made me sad to think he will not be reading the last two chapters because I felt I had come to know him and he was fantastic.

Another home run in the epic series

Memorable and heartfelt, WOC is one of my favorite books in this series.
RIP Muller