Carlo_M
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 1997
- Messages
- 13,385
Roland (and his band of gunslingers) adventures continue in Stephen King's new novel: Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower Series Book 5) released yesterday.
Any other DT fans out there pumped up?
I've been waiting seven years for this book. I discovered the trilogy in 1991 when I came to college, via the Plume trade paperbacks. These had the artwork from the commissioned artists (King commissions a different one for each novel - soon to be broken as I believe Michael Whelan, who did Book 1, will be doing Book 7) but I longed for the hardcover as I am a collector as well as a fan.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that a small boutique publisher (Donald M. Grant) was the only one who had hardcover rights to these, and that the runs of the first 3 books were 20,000; 30,000 and 40,000. They were also more expensive, but that is because the books were of superior build quality (I work in a library so I know about binding techniques and paper quality). Trust me, the DM Grant versions will last more than a lifetime.
Anyway, I went on my merry way trying to purchase all the HC versions. I was able to buy #3 and #4 from regular stock, and obtained back stock of #2, but #1 always eluded me (it sold regularly for hundreds of dollars at collector's shops). Luckily a few years back Grant did second printings of the first three in hardcover (with new all-new artwork by Phil Hale for #2) so I purchased those.
But meanwhile, the real gem of these is the story. In my opinion, this is King's finest story. It combines all of the elements that have made him successful: a bit of horror, great adventure, great characterization, some links to "our" world, ties to his other works, The Dark Tower series has it all.
For those interested in starting up, this summer Viking publishers (King's old pub) issued Hardcovers of the first four books. This was King's attempt to finally make the series available to the mass public. I bought those too as reading copies and they are wonderful editions. Pick them up at Amazon or your local bookstore.
I am trying not to jam through Wolves of the Calla as #6 (Song of Susannah) doesn't come out until mid-2004, but I'm finding it hard. I thought I'd only read a few pages last night but ended up burning through 40 pages in an hour and had to stop myself or else I would have read through the night (it was already 11PM when I started and I have to be at work at 8AM).
Any DT fans please chime in with your thoughts and experiences with this wonderful series!
Which is your favorite book? (Mine I think is Book 4, not a popular choice I know, but I loved the backstory of Roland)
Any other DT fans out there pumped up?
I've been waiting seven years for this book. I discovered the trilogy in 1991 when I came to college, via the Plume trade paperbacks. These had the artwork from the commissioned artists (King commissions a different one for each novel - soon to be broken as I believe Michael Whelan, who did Book 1, will be doing Book 7) but I longed for the hardcover as I am a collector as well as a fan.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that a small boutique publisher (Donald M. Grant) was the only one who had hardcover rights to these, and that the runs of the first 3 books were 20,000; 30,000 and 40,000. They were also more expensive, but that is because the books were of superior build quality (I work in a library so I know about binding techniques and paper quality). Trust me, the DM Grant versions will last more than a lifetime.
Anyway, I went on my merry way trying to purchase all the HC versions. I was able to buy #3 and #4 from regular stock, and obtained back stock of #2, but #1 always eluded me (it sold regularly for hundreds of dollars at collector's shops). Luckily a few years back Grant did second printings of the first three in hardcover (with new all-new artwork by Phil Hale for #2) so I purchased those.
But meanwhile, the real gem of these is the story. In my opinion, this is King's finest story. It combines all of the elements that have made him successful: a bit of horror, great adventure, great characterization, some links to "our" world, ties to his other works, The Dark Tower series has it all.
For those interested in starting up, this summer Viking publishers (King's old pub) issued Hardcovers of the first four books. This was King's attempt to finally make the series available to the mass public. I bought those too as reading copies and they are wonderful editions. Pick them up at Amazon or your local bookstore.
I am trying not to jam through Wolves of the Calla as #6 (Song of Susannah) doesn't come out until mid-2004, but I'm finding it hard. I thought I'd only read a few pages last night but ended up burning through 40 pages in an hour and had to stop myself or else I would have read through the night (it was already 11PM when I started and I have to be at work at 8AM).
Any DT fans please chime in with your thoughts and experiences with this wonderful series!
Which is your favorite book? (Mine I think is Book 4, not a popular choice I know, but I loved the backstory of Roland)