Nerds That Geek Book Review - 'The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Destiny is a word that fascinates all of us. The possibility that we could have a path or life that is already decided for us can be a terrifying prospect. It means that the choices we think matter so much are irrelevant and an endgame that we may or may not care for awaits us regardless. Yet it is a word we throw around often and I would say the common belief is that our lives are composed of hints of destiny since we often believe that there are people or moments that we were meant to encounter or experience.  

The beauty of the literary world, is that the confusion over destiny can be easily resolved through the steady hand of a writer, and the wonder of coincidence, luck, fate or blessing can easily be handled when destiny truly comes to life on the page. Such is the case in the second book in The Dark Tower series, The Drawing of the Three.  

Following the events at the end of The Gunslinger, Roland awakens on a beach and finds himself under siege from a hideous lobster like monster that wounds him and leaves him ill, forcing him to search the beach for medical aid. But instead of finding that, he finds himself facing three doors, standing in the middle of the sand and all of them are labeled with an ominous title; ‘The Pusher’, ‘The Prisoner’ and ‘The Lady of Shadows’.  These doors each carry special meaning, for they will take Roland into three different periods of time in New York City's history and the people he finds there; Eddie, Susannah and eventually...Jake Chambers, will join him on his quest for the Dark Tower and fulfill a destiny they never knew existed.  

What I've always enjoyed the most about Stephen King's magnum opus is that he truly took his time in putting it all together. No detail escapes this series and The Drawing of the Three is no exception to that unspoken rule. I've read the entire 8 book series several times over now and I've always been amazed at how many little things show up in this tale early on, only to pop up again later in the story, and that’s important because in a strange way, this book almost feels unimportant the first time you read it.  

Sure it lets us know that the ‘Three’ will be accompanying Roland to the Tower and that their journey will be perilous along the way, but the gravity of the ‘Three’, and the importance they hold to the overall story is not truly realized until later on. But their future growth and their friendship is all laid out and set up in this tale and the magic of King's writing is that we don't trust any of these new people at first, but as the story goes on, you'll find you want nothing more than to see all of them reach the Tower. It's an engrossing read, and an ominous one at the same time...for destiny, or Ka as it is known in Roland's world, is now in motion.

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