Graphic Novel Review – Treachery (Dark Tower Graphic Novel Series, Book 3) by Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee,, Richard Isanove (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/Horror
Length: 176 pages
Publisher: Marvel
Release Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0785135746
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Dark Tower Graphic Novel series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the third book in the Dark Tower graphic novel series based off of the full length series by Stephen King. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It’s a very dark and complex story set in a sort of post-apocalyptic fantasy world with a spaghetti western feel to it.

This book, as the name implies, is about treachery. Roland and his ka-tet return to Gilead triumphant, but Roland continues to struggle against the pull of Maerlyn’s Grapefruit. We are also introduced to Aileen, the daughter of Cort, who despite being a woman is determined to become a Gunslinger. Roland’s father continues to struggle against treachery from Farson’s men and his own informants. Roland’s mother also returns home after some time at a convent, however she isn’t totally ready to give up her allegiance to Marten. Things are basically building towards disaster the whole book.

As you can tell from above the story jumps around quite a bit and is getting quite complex and epic in proportion. It wasn’t hard to follow though. The illustration is very very good and the characters very distinct looking. I love the full color and all of the detail in the illustration, it is just fantastic.

My favorite part of the book was the introduction of Aileen. I know in my review of the first book in this series I complained a bit about the lack of strong female characters, Aileen goes a long way towards solving that problem. She is determined to become a Gunslinger even though it’s a occupation only allowed for males. She is also the daughter of Cort and gives us some incite into Cort’s character. Additionally she is funny and smart which makes her fun to read about.

Roland is in the story a lot more too. I feel like we haven’t really gotten to understand him all that well because he’s been in and out of the story so much. This story focuses more on him and we get to know him a lot better in this book as well.

The book ends in utter disaster, I mean it is well written but you can just tell these characters are just at the start of a vast amount of suffering. This is definitely an adult book; it is brutal and violent and of course there is nudity. It’s a dark and moody story.

Overall I enjoyed this third book in the Dark Tower graphic series. The story is complex but still easy to follow and the illustration is spectacular. I would recommend to fans of dark fantasy graphic novels. I am definitely looking forward to reading the fourth book in the series, The Fall of Gilead.

This book goes toward the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge