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Wolves of the Calla
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Read Wolves of the Calla
The Dark Tower: Book 5

Wolves of the Calla (2003) (edit title/settings)

by Stephen King (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Wolves of the Calla is the fifth book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. This book continues the story of Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Jake Chambers, and Oy as they make their way toward the Dark Tower. The subtitle of this novel is Resistance.

Summary edit see section history

After escaping the alternate Topeka and the evil wizard Randall Flagg, Roland's ka-tet travel to the farming village of Calla Bryn Sturgis where they meet the townsfolk, as well as Father Callahan, who was originally introduced in 'Salem's Lot. He and the townsfolk request the ka-tet's... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

After escaping the alternate Topeka and the evil wizard Randall Flagg, Roland's ka-tet travel to the farming village of Calla Bryn Sturgis where they meet the townsfolk, as well as Father Callahan, who was originally introduced in 'Salem's Lot. He and the townsfolk request the ka-tet's assistance in battling against the Wolves of Thunderclap, who come once a generation to take one child from each pair of the town's twins. After a few months of being away, the children are then returned "roont" (ruined) - mentally handicapped and destined to grow to enormous size and die young. The Wolves are due to come in about a month's time.

Father Callahan also tells the gunslingers his remarkable story of how he left Maine following his battle with the vampire Kurt Barlow in the novel 'Salem's Lot. Since that encounter he has gained the ability to identify Type-3 vampires with a blue aura. After some time he begins killing these minor vampires as he finds them; however, this makes him a wanted man amongst the "low men" and so Callahan must go into exile. Eventually he is lured into a trap and dies, allowing him to enter Mid-World in 1983, much as Jake did when killed in The Gunslinger. He appears near the Calla with an evil magic ball called Black Thirteen, and is found by the Manni people in a place called The Doorway Cave.

Not only do Roland of Gilead and his ka-tet have to protect the Calla-folken from the Wolves, they must also protect a single red rose that grows in a vacant lot on Second Avenue and Forty-Sixth Street in mid-town Manhattan of 1977. If it is destroyed, then the Tower (which is the rose in another form) will fall. In order to get back to New York to prevent this they must use the sinister Black Thirteen. To add to that, Roland and Jake have noticed bizarre changes in Susannah's behavior, which are linked to the event recounted in The Waste Lands when Susannah couples with the demon in the stone circle. Roland informs Eddie that Susannah has been impregnated by the demon, and though he fears for her safety he remains surprisingly calm. They promise to keep the fact that they know a secret from Susannah, but later Susannah reveals to the ka-tet that she herself has come to grips with it, and knowledge of a second personality living in Susannah named Mia "daughter of none" is shared.

Jake finds out that his new friend Benny Slightman's father is a traitor by following him to a military outpost between the Calla and Thunderclap known as "The Dogan" (which is also featured in The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home). Jake tells Roland, who shows mercy by not killing Slightman, instead leaving him alive for his son and Jake's sake. The wolves attack, using weapons resembling the snitches found in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series (which are actually stamped 'Harry Potter Model') and lightsabers, and are revealed to be robots and to have Doctor Doom-like visages. The gunslingers, along with some help from a few plate-throwing women in the Calla, defeat the wolves, all the while with the children safely hidden in a rice patch nearby. Mia takes over the body of Susannah and flees to the doorway cave, where she uses Black Thirteen to transport herself to New York.

Characters edit see section history

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

The story takes place mainly in Calla Bryn Sturgis, where Roland and his ka-tet stop and decide to help the people there against the invasion of the wolves. Throughout their stay there, they also travel, through todash, to many points in time of New York, where they will have to protect the rose in the abandoned lot visited by Jake in The Wasted Lands.
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Organizations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

Tian was blessed (though few farmers would have used such a word) with three patches: River Field, where his family had grown rice since time out of mind; Roadside Field, where ka-Jaffords had grown sharproot, pumpkin, and corn for those same long years and generations; and Son of a Bitch, a thankless tract which mostly grew rocks, blisters, and busted hopes.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue: Roont

Part One: Todash
I. The Face on the Water
II. New York Groove
III. Mia
IV. Palaver
V. Overholser
VI. The Way of the Eld
VII.Todash

Part Two: Telling Tales
I. The Pavilion
II. Dry Twist
III. The Priest's Tale
(New York)
IV. The Priest Tale Continued
(Highways in Hiding)
V. The Tale of Gray Dick
VI. Gran-Pere's Tale
VII. Nocturne, Hunger
VIII. Took's Store; The Unfound Door
IX. The Priest's Tale Concluded
(Unfound)

Part Three: The Wolves
I. Secrets
II. The Dogan, Part 1
III. The Dogan, Part 2
IV. The Pied Piper
V. The Meeting of the Folken
VI. Before the Storm
VII. The Wolves

Epilogue
The Doorway Cave

Author's notes
Author's afterward

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Destiny (Ka): The idea of Ka is present throughout the series. Ka roughly translates to destiny, and all of the characters slowly come to accept that there is little they can do to escape it.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 5 of 8 in The Dark Tower. (standard series)

Preceded by Wizard and Glass, and followed by Song of Susannah.

This is book 5 of 24 in Dark Tower Universe. (universe)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Stephen King (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Bernie Wrightson (Cover Artist)
  2. George Guidall (Reader)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Donald M. Grant
Country: United States
Publication Date: November 4, 2003
ISBN: 978-1880418567
Page Count: 714

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3561.I483 W65 2003
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

There is extreme violence, graphic imagery, and mild sexuality.

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • 'Salem's Lot

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