Editors Reads Verdict
The emotional core of the entire Dark Tower saga: Susan Delgado and Roland's doomed love story is written with the passion and tragedy of Hardy, and the events in Hambry explain the Gunslinger that the whole series has been circling.
What We Loved
- The Susan Delgado love story is written with the patience and tragedy of Hardy — genuinely literary romance in a genre novel
- The decision to spend 600 pages in Roland's past pays off by explaining the man the entire series has been circling
- The frame narrative — Roland's companions listening to his story — deepens every prior relationship in the ka-tet
- The tragedy of Hambry is signposted early but lands with full force despite the reader's foreknowledge
Minor Drawbacks
- The near-total abandonment of forward quest momentum for six hundred pages tests the patience of action-oriented readers
- The Blaine resolution in the opening pages, while satisfying, may feel anticlimactic given the intensity of the Waste Lands cliffhanger
- Some readers find the shift from mid-world to western romance jarring after the first three books' tone
Key Takeaways
- → Who Roland is as the Gunslinger was formed entirely by what happened at Hambry and what he lost there
- → Love and obsession can coexist — Roland's pursuit of the Tower is inseparable from the wound Susan's death left
- → Tragedy is most devastating when the reader can see it coming but cannot prevent it
- → The people we lose shape our purpose more than any victory we achieve
- → King can write tragedy with the care of literary fiction when the story demands it
| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Plume |
| Pages | 672 |
| Published | November 4, 1997 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Dark Fantasy, Horror, Science Fantasy, Western |
Wizard and Glass Review
Wizard and Glass is the longest, most unusual, and arguably most essential volume in the Dark Tower series. After dispatching the Blaine cliffhanger in its opening pages — with an answer that is both absurd and deeply satisfying — the novel pivots entirely away from the forward momentum of the quest to spend 600 pages in Roland’s past.
The ka-tet settles in after their ordeal, and Roland, compelled by grief and the unfinished business of memory, tells his companions the story of his first mission: sent at fourteen to the coastal town of Hambry with two young companions — Cuthbert and Alain — supposedly to count the Affiliation’s resources, actually to keep him away from a romance his family disapproves of. In Hambry, Roland meets Susan Delgado.
The love story at the heart of Wizard and Glass is the most surprising thing King has written. Susan is not a fantasy heroine but a fully imagined young woman — brave, principled, and trapped by a social obligation she did not choose. Roland’s love for her is total and devastating, and King writes it with the kind of patient, detailed tenderness usually associated with literary fiction. The romance earns every page it is given.
The tragedy that follows is one the reader can see coming from early on — Hambry is full of betrayal and dark magic, and the world of Mid-World does not permit happiness to last — but King’s skill is in making the ending arrive with full force despite the warning signs. Susan’s fate is one of the most genuinely upsetting moments in the series, and it explains everything about the man Roland Deschain has become.
The frame narrative — Roland’s companions listening, learning who he was before he became the Gunslinger — deepens the entire series retrospectively.
Our rating: 4.5/5 — The emotional centre of the Dark Tower saga, and proof that King can write tragedy as well as horror.
Reading Order
- The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1)
- The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, Book 2)
- The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
- Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4)
- Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5)
- Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, Book 6)
- The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7)
- The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, Book 4.5)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Wizard and Glass" about?
After resolving the Blaine cliffhanger, Roland tells his ka-tet the story of his first quest at fourteen: his love affair with Susan Delgado in the town of Hambry, and the betrayal that shaped everything he became. A 600-page flashback that is simultaneously the longest and most essential Dark Tower novel.
What are the key takeaways from "Wizard and Glass"?
Who Roland is as the Gunslinger was formed entirely by what happened at Hambry and what he lost there Love and obsession can coexist — Roland's pursuit of the Tower is inseparable from the wound Susan's death left Tragedy is most devastating when the reader can see it coming but cannot prevent it The people we lose shape our purpose more than any victory we achieve King can write tragedy with the care of literary fiction when the story demands it
Is "Wizard and Glass" worth reading?
The emotional core of the entire Dark Tower saga: Susan Delgado and Roland's doomed love story is written with the passion and tragedy of Hardy, and the events in Hambry explain the Gunslinger that the whole series has been circling.
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