Glass (novel)

Glass (Original title: The Dark Tower IV - Wizard and Glass ) is the title of a published in 1997 novel of the writer Stephen King and is the fourth volume of the eight-volume, dark fantasy saga that under the title of the Dark Tower cycle known is. The background to this novel cycle is presented in detail in the article there.

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The book begins with the continuation of the puzzle competition. This ends with Eddie racking his brain and ultimately defeating Blaine the Mono with un-logic (How did the dead baby even get onto the street? Because it was stapled on the chicken.). The gunslinger, who had previously spurned the "stupid" puzzles, now has to acknowledge that even un-logic sometimes helps. The journey ends with the schizophrenic intelligence named Blaine blowing the dipolar circuits and the train coming to a stop just in time.

The Ka-Tet is stepping out of a "new" world where there are car brands like the Takuro Spirit and baseball teams like the Kansas City Monarchs. In Eddie's and Jake's “when and where” that car brand and baseball team didn't exist. In a leftover newspaper, they learn that just a few years after Roland “pulled” Eddie (see “Three”), the place where they are was hit by a super flu called Captain Trips (see “ The Stand "). Once again they find that there are “other worlds than this” and that each is haunted by different fates. But none of these fates are good and all are dependent on the existence of the Dark Tower. In any case, they continue on their way on a highway and come across a weak point, a break in the space-time continuum, which whispers to itself with an oily shimmer (and this whisper is quite a problem for travelers). When they are finally out of range of the weak point, they see a glassy shimmer in the distance that looms over the highway.

Roland asks his Ka-Tet to rest and tells them a long story from his youth (this is the story most of the book is about). This story follows on from a youth story from "Schwarz". Roland's father wants him and his friends out of the line of fire of the "good man" (John Farson) and sends them to a small barony called Mejis. There they pretend to be the sons of ranchers and ranchers who are supposed to hold a large-scale inventory as a punishment. They encounter betrayal and intrigue, failed gunslingers who call themselves “coffin hunters”, a disgusting witch and a mysterious pink glass ball. And Roland met his first (and only) great love there: Susan. Stephen King throws these factors together into a story without a happy ending, which also has a decent showdown (whereby a weak point plays an important role), in which Roland is brought to the search for the Dark Tower in the first place, the beginning of his obsession, so to speak. But she also claims her first victim: Susan.

Then the readers are back on the highway with Roland and his Ka-Tet and they approach the glass shimmer that turns out to be a palace made of glass. Before they reach him, they discover five more pairs of red shoes and use them to gain access to the palace (similar to the story: The Wizard of Oz ). In the palace they actually encounter Randall Flagg and an assistant whom Flagg had rescued from the city of Lud (see "Dead"). There is a brief fight and conversation with Flagg, who is standing on a huge throne out of reach.

Literature and web links

• Stephen King, Glas, (Original title: The Dark Tower IV - Wizard and Glass) , Heyne, ISBN 3-453-87559-1
• Detailed table of contents in KingWiki .