Wolves of the Calla

infobox Book |
name = The Dark Tower V:
Wolves of the Calla
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Stephen King
cover_artist = Bernie Wrightson
country = United States
language = English
series = Dark Tower
genre = Fantasy, Horror, Science fiction, Western
publisher = Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc.
release_date = November 4, 2003
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 714
isbn = ISBN 1-880418-56-8
preceded_by = The Dark Tower IV - Wizard and Glass
followed_by = The Dark Tower VI - Song of Susannah

"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.

Plot summary

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 occupies 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 them to a military outpost between the Calla and Thunderclap known as "The Dogan" (which is also featured in ""). 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 snitches 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 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 her to New York.

Influences

Stephen King has acknowledged multiple sources of influence for this story, including Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", its stepchild "The Magnificent Seven", Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy, and other works by Howard Hawks and John Sturges, among others.

Many direct references to popular culture are noted either by characters or via narration within the book's text. Such instances include: several of the Wolves carrying weapons that resemble lightsabers and a "messenger robot" similar in demeanor to the android C3PO from the "Star Wars" movies, with the look of an Isaac Asimov robot; the Wolves themselves seeming to bear a physical resemblance to Doctor Doom from the Marvel Comics comic books, and flying grenades named "sneetches" that are stated as being from the "Harry Potter" production line, a direct reference to the J.K. Rowling books.

Editions

*ISBN 1-880418-56-8 (hardcover 2003)
*ISBN 0-7435-3351-8 (audiocassette 2003)
*ISBN 0-7435-3352-6 (CD audio 2003)
*ISBN 0-7432-5162-8 (paperback 2005)
*ISBN 1-4165-1693-X (mass market paperback 2006)

External links

* [http://www.darktowercompendium.com/ The Dark Tower Compendium website]
* [http://www.stephenking.com/DarkTower/ The Dark Tower official website] (requires Macromedia Flash 6)
* [http://www.stephenking.com/pages/works/list_written.php List of Stephen King's works] - including this series - from his official website
* [http://www.thedarktower.net/wiki/ Dark Tower Wiki]
* [http://www.thedarktower.net/ TheDarkTower.Net]
* [http://www.thedarktower.com/ TheDarkTower.com]
* [http://www.thedarktower.com/palaver/showthread.php?t=696/ Towerpedia!]
* [FR] [http://www.latoursombre.fr/ LaTourSombre.fr : French encyclopedia]