The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Series: The Dark Tower #2
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Age Group: Adults
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Published: 2003
First Published: 1987
Format: Paperback
Pages: 454
Source: Book Depository
Buy: $9 with free delivery
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 



IMPORTANT: do not read the following book description if you have not read the first book in the series, The Gunslinger. However, my review will not contain any series spoilers.

After his confrontation with the man in black at the end of The Gunslinger, Roland awakes to find three doors on the beach of Mid-World's Western Sea--each leading to New York City but at three different moments in time. Through these doors, Roland must "draw" three figures crucial to his quest for the Dark Tower. In 1987, he finds Eddie Dean, The Prisoner, a heroin addict. In 1964, he meets Odetta Holmes, the Lady of Shadows, a young African-American heiress who lost her lower legs in a subway accident and gained a second personality that rages within her. And in 1977, he encounters Jack mort, Death, a pusher responsible for cruelties beyond imagining. Has Roland found new companions to form the ka-tet of his quest? Or has he unleashed something else entirely? - Book Depository

It was almost two years ago since I read the first book in this series. I was so put off by it because it didn't seem like something I would enjoy from the first book. As a crazy King fanatic, I decided to give this another shot since I found my copy of it recently which I bought about two years ago, also. I was not disappointed by this one. It really picked up the pace from the previous book and it was way more King-ish.

It took a little while to get stuck into this book, about 50 or so pages. But once the pace picks up, it never lags from there on. Though, I found it a little bit of a struggle to get through the last 50 pages. I guess it was because there was a lot of action going on and I'm not a fan of action. But the pages in the middle were definitely far from boring.

My favourite character in this would have to be The Prisoner, Eddie Dean. He was just so lovable. There was also a few more side characters, The Lady of Shadows, Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker and The Pusher, Jack Mort. I don't want to spoil the first book so let's just say there was a great deal of character development throughout the book. Also, the 'drawing' concept was genius!

The writing style is easy to get into. It all flows well and there's nothing complex about it. It's very straightforward which I love about King's writing. He doesn't use flowery descriptions or pages upon pages of describing the setting. Though, he does have some good metaphors and descriptions here, don't get me wrong, but it's not overpowering. The plot is very much King's main focus in writing this.

Overall this book was awesome. There is still a lot of unanswered questions I have so I'm looking forward to the next books in the series to see how everything turns out.