The Beginning of the End
4 stars
Content warning Spoiler for prev book
In The Gunslinger, we witnessed the end of an era for Roland of Gilead:
He finally catches the Man in Black, the dark wizard the Gunslinger has pursued, alone, for what may have been an age. During that fateful confrontation, Roland learns that he will once again have companions on the path to the Tower. And so the time of the lone gunslinger comes to an end.
The Drawing of the Three picks up right where The Gunslinger left Roland:
On the beach, at the westernmost edge of the trail that brought him to the Man in Black. Things go badly for Roland right at the beginning of this book, and that sets the atmosphere for all the chapters to follow as Roland races against his impending death to collect the companions he will need if he is to make it to the Dark Tower.
Where The Gunslinger felt to me like a very long prologue, The Drawing of the Three feels like the first fully-realized book in the epic of The Dark Tower, and a fantastic start to a strange and dark journey to the Tower at the end of the path.