by Stephen King
Part of The Dark Tower
First published 2003
Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are moving southeast through the forests of Mid-World when they reach the valley of Calla Bryn Sturgis. It is farming country, quiet and bordered by open range, and the people there are desperate. Beyond the town, the land climbs toward a place called Thunderclap, a region of darkness that sends creatures known as the Wolves riding out on a terrible schedule. Each time the Wolves come, they take children. What happens to those children is worse than death. Roland has faced long odds before. So have Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. They offer the Calla-folken something the town has never had: trained fighters who know how to stand and shoot. But guns alone will not stop what is coming. The people of the Calla must find the nerve to fight alongside the gunslingers, and Roland must manage secrets within his own ka-tet that could break everything apart. The fifth book in King's Dark Tower series, this is a story about a community pushed to its limit and a gunslinger who cannot walk away.
Genres: fiction, adventure, fantasy, dark-fantasy, epic-fantasy
Vibes: dark, epic, gritty, intense, suspenseful
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family, quest, sacrifice
Setting: Mid-World, Calla Bryn Sturgis, Thunderclap
714 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: child-death, kidnapping, violence