Product Description

The ka-tet of Roland, Alain, and Cuthbert have returned safely to their home in Gilead. But all is not well. Roland has kept the evil Maerlyn's Grapefruit and has become obsessed with peering into its pinkish depths despite the deadly toll it's taken on his health. And what the young gunslinger sees brings him the darkest of nightmares. Meanwhile, Roland's father has led a posse in search of those who threatened his son's life in Hambry - John Farson and the Big Coffin Hunters. And in this encounter, Stephen Deschain's life may be forfeit. This title collects Dark Tower: Treachery numbered 1-6.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4454 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-21
• Released on: 2009-04-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780785135746
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Home sweet home
Roland Deschain has suffered a lot and lost a lot in the last two arcs of the "Dark Tower" graphic novels-- and unfortunately he doesn't have an easier time when he finally gets home.

Picking up after the end of the prior arc, Stephen King's "Dark Tower: Treachery" brings our hero and his embattled ka-tet back to Gilead and more trouble waiting for them. Between Jae Lee's gorgeously gritty, colourful artwork and King's almost Shakespearean tragedies, it's a moving piece of work that shows how Roland Deschain became the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love.

Alain and Bert are made official gunslingers, but are troubled by Roland's continuing obsession with the Grapefruit and the horrors it contains -- visions of the Crimson King, of a blood-coloured wasteland, and of his murdered father. In the meantime, their fathers set out to destroy Farson's gang, nearly costing one of the gunslingers his life; Cort's teenage niece embraces the life and practices of a gunslinger, even though she isn't allowed to technically become one.

Worst of all, Roland's disgraced mother Gabrielle (sent to repent in a nunnery) is seduced back into doing Marten's bidding, so he can destroy the "mighty beast that is the gunslingers." And after Roland almost shoots his best friends, he tries to do the right thing by handing the Grapefruit to his father -- but he already knows too much of the horrific danger approaching Gilead.

Most of "Dark Tower: Treachery" is the calm before the storm -- the forces of evil are approaching Gilead but most of the people there don't know yet. So while this is a slower-moving affair than "The Gunslinger Born" and "The Long Road Home," all the piece of an epic clash are clicking into place. And you can tell that this is not going to end well for the people around our tortured young hero.

As rewritten by Peter David, King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("Now there are some who simply equate riddles with jokes..."). And his simple dialogue has a powerful sound, mingling Old West and medieval styles ("I have the rest of eternity to feel no pain. I'll endure what I must until then").

And since this is a King story, there are moments of sheer horror: the killing of Charles and his poor little baby, and Steven's ka-tet stopping a fatal wound with gunpowder. The inside of the Grapefruit is relatively tame, but the close-ups of the Crimson King are pretty nightmarish.

Jae Lee weaves a colourful, hazy painting around the entire story as well, with plenty of striking artwork (a naked, emaciated Roland hugging the glowing Grapefruit). He splits much of the narrative between where the good guys are (the dusty, rather run-down citadel of Gilead) and the bad guys' domain (blood-red skies, twisted trees, all-engulfing mist and the suitably reddish domain of the King). It's lovely work.

Roland really gets put through the grinder here -- not only is he haunted by his torture inside the Grapefruit and the loss of Susan Delgado, but he basically becomes a Grapefruit junkie. Alain and Bert get to shine as newly-minted gunslingers and steadfast friends, and Aileen adds a strong female presence to the cast. They need it, since the only other surviving woman is Gabrielle -- and it's hard to see how a strong guy like Roland could have such a pitifully weak mother.

"Dark Tower: Treachery" is the windup for a devastating blow, and its lack of a central plot is its only weakness. Glorious art, a scarred teenage hero and plenty of eerie bad guys make this a great adaptation.

To Short
The images are great, Mid World is very well presented. The only problem is that the story advances very slooooooooowly. I mean in 7 issues Roland and his ka tet are very introduced.

I expected more (this is the 3rd series in the comic after all). I think the guys at Marvel Comics are milking this story for all it's worth.

Treachery
I should state right away that I have not read Stephen King's book series "Dark Tower"; yet I do intend to buy the 7 books. I'm also very fond of this variant of books (graphic novels), so I did not hesitate to order. The book is split into six chapters, which corresponds to the individual 6 magazines the book is a compilation of. I notice that a lot of people were dissatisfied with the previous hardcover edition books in the series due to them having left out material, but since this is my first encounter with the Dark Tower-series, I can only recognize their grievances as probably valid, but not really concerning myself at this time. This particular book on the other hand, appears to contain a lot of new material, so not too much to complain about there in regards to "staying true". That they publish high-quality hard-covers is uncommon enough as it is, in this market of cheap paperbacks and low-quality publishing.

Since this is the third book of the series, I assume you've read the first, hence I won't tell much about the contents themselves. After the previous disaster where Susan Delgado died, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet return with Maerlyn's Grapefruit taken from the Crimson King, to reap their reward of full acceptance into the society of the Gunslingers, led by Roland's father. Being the rather gloomy series that it is, dark clouds quickly amass upon the horizon, and disaster follow disaster through the worst of treacheries, yet at the same time young love is kindled while old ones die out.

The story is quite the epic with its brooding heroes, evil forces, beautiful but troubled women, horrible creatures and all the various vicissitudes of life. The drawings themselves are simply breathtaking, and contain such amazing colouring, shading, drawing and storytelling that I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to come out come February, I believe.

All in all, epic storytelling for adults that I found appealing in every way and without the negative sides that I find King to sometimes espouse in some of his writing; a kind of soft-core horror that I can't really imagine thrill anyone but the occasional housewife back in the 80's. If you ever liked the type of graphic novel represented for example by "300", "Sin City", "Preacher" and so on, I think I can guarantee you'll find this to be enjoyable too. I read it in one sitting, if that is anything to go by. 5 stars.