The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is a story of a journey through a world where no hope remains. It’s set in a postapocalyptic world, but is by no means science fiction or at all unbelievable. I have to say, it’s honestly the most believable future I’ve ever read. This is my first book by Cormac McCarthy, and as the blurb on the inside of the jacket says, he literally pulls me through the story unable to put it down, as if by reading I’m keeping the characters alive.

If I had a complaint for this novel, it would be that in the end, I almost felt cheated. Almost. The book was so good, but has none of the classic climax and surreal action I come to expect in fiction. But, in its realism, it is so true to the characters and world, that everything feels impossibly vulnerable–nothing more than a candle in a wind storm, refusing to be snuffed out by nothing more than some indomitable will and obstinate refusal to accept the truth of the situation. It is also a poignant story of a father and son’s love and how that keeps them going, day after day, in spite of a world that will stop at nothing to see them give up.

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Wizard and Glass is the fourth book in the Dark Tower Series, by Stevie. Written after a ten year hiatus from the series, it manages to capture the feel and voice of the original books; however, ten years of honed writing talent and life changes (he was hit by a car and nearly killed, for instance) really show through in this book.

The flashback to Roland’s childhood is gripping from the first word. When it concluded, five hundred pages later–yes, five hundred–I was so bent that I went back and started reading it again. It was that good. The rest of the story? Yeah…

In truth, the book is a prequel, with a little plot wrapped around it to make it book five instead of minus one. This didn’t bother me at all. He could have ex dues mechina’d and aliens in chapter fourteen’d, and I’d still have read on. It was that good.

A perfect example of building suspense and conflict, a textbook execution of climax and resolution, and a wonderful study in real, gritty characters, this one goes on the top shelf, next to Tolkein and Gorin No Sho.

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