Well to get through The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla I had to check it out FIVE times! I'm not sure why it took me so long. I mean I think I finished Infinite Jest in less time. Probably a combination of a bunch of factors... needing to take a break from reading, being burnt out on Dark Tower books, moving, etc. Also it doesn't help that it is a really long book in which not much happens.So in this volume Roland and his ka-tet get sidetracked on their quest into a Seven Samurai type situation. Now this takes up most of the space in the book and is incredibly boring... mostly because the people they're trying to protect aren't that interesting and most of the time is spent just waiting until the end for the bad guys show up. And once they do show up Roland and company have no problem dispatching them. There's no suspense here. There are a couple of subplots that advance the story but they're left unresolved for the next book.
Also, check out this cover... the bad guys look like Doctor Doom with a lightsaber... and that's exactly how a character describes them. Which in theory should be cool but here it really isn't. They end up being so lame.
Now if I remember correctly, the following list books are mentioned: Tess of the D'Ubervilles, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Ulysses, Harry Potter and Invisible Man. C+
