THE DARK TOWER: FALL OF GILEAD

Although I enjoy Stephen King's writing and own many of his works, I have never read The Dark Tower series. My introduction to the series came via the prequel adaptation from Marvel under the direction of Robin Furth. I enjoyed the previous volumes in the series and FALL OF GILEAD continues where LEGACY left off. Deceived by Marten Broadcloak, Roland Deschain has shot and killed his mother. Roland is imprisoned to await judgment, but in the meantime John Farson is approaching the city of Gilead with a major army. He means to conquer it and make it his. Unbeknownst to Roland and his father Steven, Gilead has already been breached by secret servants to Farson who betray the Deschains and the city from within.

While it's not the last part of the story in this prequel, FALL OF GILEAD definitely has the feel of the story rapidly coming to an end; a tragic and horrible end. The City of Gilead has fallen by the end of the book, almost all of the gunslingers are dead, and all of the women and children of the city have been burned to a crisp. The only ones to escape are Roland and the remaining members of his ka-tet and Farson won't stop until all of them are dead.

I have heard from those that have read The Dark Tower books that this graphic novel adaptation is different from what happens in the books. In some ways, I'm glad of that because when I finally do getting around to reading the series, I will have some surprises.

FALL OF GILEAD isn't quite as strong as preceding volumes in the series. However, it does capture the never-ending sense of doom and foreboding that this story is about. The good guys don't win in The Dark Tower saga (at least so far) and, as often in real life, evil seems much more powerful. That sense of dread fills every page of FALL OF GILEAD and sets the stage for the final part of the story at the Battle of Jericho.