Back to Old Friends

Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy- bound together in a quest for the Dark Tower. Their quest was considered to have been finished nine years ago with the publication of the seventh volume, titled The Dark Tower. Although only Roland made his way to the Tower, the series finale made for an exciting read, and it is a fitting capstone to a fascinating and thrilling series.

... Except it's not the final book. Last year, King wrote and published another book chronicling the quest for the Tower. Although published eight years after the The Dark Tower, it acts as a sort of bridge between the fourth book, Wizard and Glass, and the fifth book, The Wolves of the Calla.

I can't wait to read it. I absolutely love the characters, even though this time I know what their fates are. Eddie will still be shot to death, Jake will still be run over by a van, Susannah will still abandon the quest for New York, Oy will still die protecting Roland from Mordred, and Roland will still climb the Dark Tower, only to be sent back to the beginning of the series.

It will be awesome. Why not? It's a Stephen King novel... It's guaranteed to be good.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

Literature By Character

      In this post I'll list out some of the characters I've loved the most throughout my readings. They won't be in any particular order, just a general list of my favorites.

• Eddie Dean (Dark Tower series, Stephen King)- I really like Eddie for millions of reasons, but mainly because he has such a dark past to him, yet he's such a purely awesome and hilarious person... and I feel like if I would have acted much like he did had I been put in all the bizarre situations that Roland put him through. 
• Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien)- He's such a great, loyal friend who never leaves Frodo's side. Of all the characters in LotR, I've always identified with him the most, with all the motivations that drive him.
• Johannes Verne (The Lonesome Gods, Louis L'Amour)- He's well-read, he's sure of himself, and there's something definite about him that I identify with. I genuinely wanted to see what he would do next.

       Yeah, it's a short list... I'll make another post when I think of more.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

Darkness of the Night

All in all, what we see
can be just a fantasy.
Down is up, up is down,
Shadows dancing like a clown.

When he comes, for all to see,
you'll wish, you'll fight, the fantasy
Flames so bright, to set alight,
Will turn darkness into light.

Your leaders, in all their glory,
lay in bed pale and gory.
The young and brave, to gain their pay,
rush to battle, yet lose the day.

When all is gone, the good and light,
the peace and order and all that's right,
There will be, one young man,
who will lead a merry lam.

All in all, what we see
will be just a fantasy.
up is down, down is up
will you know your turn is up?

When he comes, for all to see,
you'll laugh, you'll point, he's history.
Flames so bright, to set alight,
again turn darkness into light.