4.7
-
13,596 ratings
The third volume in the #1 nationally bestselling Dark Tower Series, involving the enigmatic Roland (the last gunfighter) and his ongoing quest for the Dark Tower, is “Stephen King at his best” (School Library Journal).
Several months have passed since The Drawing of the Three, and in The Waste Lands, Roland’s two new tet-mates have become trained gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s world—has already died. Now Roland and Jake exist in different worlds, but they are joined by the same madness: the paradox of double memories. Roland, Susannah, and Eddie must draw Jake into Mid-World and then follow the Path of the Beam all the way to the Dark Tower. There are new evils…new dangers to threaten Roland’s little band in the devastated city of Lud and the surrounding wastelands, as well as horrific confrontations with Blaine the Mono, the piratical Gasher, and the frightening Tick-Tock Man.
The Dark Tower Series continues to show Stephen King as a master of his craft. What lands, what peoples has he visited that are so unreachable to us except in the pages of his incredible books? Now Roland’s strange odyssey continues. The Waste Lands follows The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three as the third volume in what may be the most extraordinary and imaginative cycle of tales in the English language.
Kindle
$10.99
Available instantly
Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Library Binding
$22.45
Paperback
$16.99
Ships from
Amazon.com
Payment
Secure transaction
ISBN-10
1501143549
ISBN-13
978-1501143540
Print length
640 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Scribner
Publication date
May 02, 2016
Dimensions
5.5 x 1.3 x 8.38 inches
Item weight
1.24 pounds
Beating heroin was child’s play compared to beating your childhood.
Highlighted by 1,077 Kindle readers
The lessons which are remembered the longest, Roland knew, are always the ones that are self-taught.
Highlighted by 1,043 Kindle readers
The wheel which turns our lives is remorseless; always it comes around to the same place again.
Highlighted by 654 Kindle readers
ASIN :
B018ER7IR8
File size :
8440 KB
Text-to-speech :
Enabled
Screen reader :
Supported
Enhanced typesetting :
Enabled
X-Ray :
Enabled
Word wise :
Enabled
"The reigning King of American popular literature." ― Los Angeles Daily News
"Enjoyable…whets the appetite for more." ― Bangor Daily News
"Splendidly tense—rip-roaring." ― Publishers Weekly
38
JAKE HAD NO CLEAR memory of the time which followed, and that was probably merciful. He had left his world over a year before nine hundred people would commit suicide together in a small South American country called Guyana, but he knew about the periodic death-rushes of the lemmings, and what was happening in the disintegrating undercity of the Grays was like that.
There were explosions, some on their level but most far below them; acrid smoke occasionally drifted from the ventilator grilles, but most of the air-purifiers were still working and they whipped the worst of it away before it could gather in choking clouds. They saw no fires. Yet the Grays were reacting as if the time of the apocalypse had come. Most only fled, their faces blank O's of panic, but many had committed suicide in the halls and interconnected rooms through which the steel sphere led Roland and Jake. Some had shot themselves; many more had slashed their throats or wrists; a few appeared to have swallowed poison. On all the faces of the dead was the same expression of overmastering terror. Jake could only vaguely understand what had driven them to this. Roland had a better idea of what had happened to them-to their minds-when the long-dead city first came to life around them and then seemed to commence tearing itself apart. And it was Roland who understood that Blaine was doing it on purpose. That Blaine was driving them to it.
They ducked around a man hanging from an overhead heating-duct and pounded down a flight of steel stairs behind the floating steel ball.
"Jake!" Roland shouted. "You never let me in at all, did you?"
Jake shook his head.
"I didn't think so. It was Blaine."
They reached the bottom of the stairs and hurried along a narrow corridor toward a hatch with the words ABSOLUTELY NO ADMITTANCE printed on it in the spiked letters of the High Speech.
"Is it Blaine?" Jake asked.
"Yes-that's as good a name as any."
"What about the other v-"
"Hush!" Roland said grimly.
The steel ball paused in front of the hatchway. The wheel spun and the hatch popped ajar. Roland pulled it open, and they stepped into a huge underground room which stretched away in three directions as far as they could see. It was filled with seemingly endless aisles of control panels and electronic equipment. Most of the panels were still dark and dead, but as Jake and Roland stood inside the door, looking about with wide eyes, they could see pilot-lights coming on and hear machinery cycling up.
"The Tick-Tock Man said there were thousands of computers," Jake said. "I guess he was right. My God, look!"
Roland did not understand the word Jake had used and so said nothing. He only watched as row after row of panels lit up. A cloud of sparks and a momentary tongue of green fire jumped from one of the consoles as some ancient piece of equipment malfunctioned.
Most of the machinery, however, appeared to be up and running just fine. Needles which hadn't moved
IF ONE OF YOU TELLS A RIDDLE I CANNOT SOLVE, I WILL SPARE YOUR LIVES AND TAKE YOU TO TOPEKA, WHERE YOU WILL LEAVE THE MONO AND CONTINUE YOUR QUEST FOR THE DARK TOWER. HAVE I UNDERSTOOD THE TERMS AND LIMITS OF YOUR PROPOSAL CORRECTLY, ROLAND, SON OF STEVEN?"
"Yes."
"VERY WELL, ROLAND OF GILEAD.
"VERY WELL, EDDIE OF NEW YORK.
"VERY WELL, SUSANNAH OF NEW YORK.
"VERY WELL, JAKE OF NEW YORK.
"VERY WELL, OY OF MID-WORLD."
Oy looked up briefly at the sound of his name.
"YOU ARE KA-TET; ONE MADE FROM MANY. SO AM I. WHOSE KA-TET IS THE STRONGER IS SOMETHING WE MUST NOW PROVE."
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the steady hard throb of the slo-trans turbines, bearing them on across the waste lands, bearing them on toward Topeka, the place where Mid-World ended and End-World began.
"SO," cried the voice of Blaine. "CAST YOUR NETS, WANDERERS! TRY ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS, AND LET THE CONTEST BEGIN."
Read more
Stephen King
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both MR MERCEDES and END OF WATCH received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.
King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game and It.
King was the recipient of America's prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.
Read more
Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5
13,596 global ratings
Brent
5
Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
Great Read!
rpj
5
Enjoying
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
Son loved it
B. Marshall
5
The Waste Lands
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
Part of The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. Highly Recommended!!!!!!! Too bad I could not give 10 stars.
#1 The Gunslinger - Introduction to the last Gunslinger, Roland. This book was wonderful. It introduces you to some of the characters of the series and gives you the Gunslinger's quest. #2 - The Drawing of the Three - Roland pulls future Gunslingers, Jake, Eddie, and Suzannah from our world over to his. I really enjoyed how this was done. The characters are very likeable (especially OY) #3 - The Wastelands - The Gunslingers make continue on their way. Blaine really is a pain. #4 - Wizard and Glass - Roland tells them the story of Susan, The girl at the window. A very sad thing that happened to him in childhood. A beautiful story. #5 - Wolves of the Calla - The gunslingers help a town that is about to have their children taken. Jake makes a friend his own age. A character from another King book is met. This book was well put together. #6 - Song of Suzannah - This one tells of something that Suzannah is going through. #7 - The Dark Tower - The quest is finally over. The tower is reached. But who will make it there? Believe it or not this book made me cry. #* - The Wind Through the Keyhole - This story takes place between some of the other books. It is Roland and his gang taking refuge from a storm and Roland telling stories to pass the time. The stories are beautifully written.
All of the stories in this series are exceptional. I love how they flow together. It really does seem like one continuous book.
Read more
3 people found this helpful
4.1
-
5,995
$4.99
4.3
-
1,084
$0.99
4.6
-
6,082
$7.99
4.3
-
6,140
$3.99
4.6
-
1,014
$6.49
4.5
-
4,774
$1.17
4.6
-
6,762
$5.00
4.5
-
21,335
$3.88
4.3
-
2,174
$11.99
4.2
-
3,838
$1.97
4.6
-
5,489
$9.99
4.5
-
3,107
$2.50
4.2
-
100,022
$8.39
4.3
-
155,575
$6.33
4.6
-
140,302
$13.49
4.3
-
88,556
$9.59
4.4
-
94,890
$11.66
4.3
-
154,085
$2.99
4.3
-
143,196
$9.47
4.1
-
80,003
$13.48
4.3
-
54,062
$14.99
4.4
-
59,745
$16.19
4.2
-
107,613
$8.99
4.4
-
94,673
$8.53