2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Song of Susannah by Stephen King the sixth book of the Dark Tower series.


Pages: 544 pages


Length: 1 Month (June)


Participants: Trisha, Bailey, Alison, Alekhya.


Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Hi Ladies! I am probably going to start this book this coming weekend :)

Alison wrote: "Hi Ladies! I am probably going to start this book this coming weekend :)"

Woo, go Alison! 🙌 I’m still chugging away at the last couple chapters of Wolves of the Calla but will start this one not too long after. Thank goodness Song of Susannah is a bit shorter. Looking forward to chatting with you all again!!

Hi everyone. I just finished this the other day so I'm looking forward to more discussion!

I will start the book next week. Had quite a reading slump last month.

I've started this book and have gotten a decent way into it so far and I'm beginning to enjoy it more than I thought I would!

5th Stanza, part 2: (view spoiler)[ Going back to what I was explaining about Susannah a few books ago, I think the way she presents appears to be most similar to dissociative identity disorder (DID). This book made me realize that when Susannah had to 'distract' the demon when they were pulling Jake through the door, she probably dissociated (at least a little) while it was occurring because it was so traumatic, thus creating Mia daughter of none. The way DID works is clients' personalities 'break apart' for lack of a better term due to immense and repeated trauma during childhood. (People typically develop their lifelong personality throughout childhood, but those with DID do not solidify into one which is why alters are present. A common analogy is dropping a glass bowl on the ground and using the broken pieces to represent the different alters a person has. Odetta would have been the host because she was at the front most often, Detta was an alter, and when the two of them fused they became Susannah who has memories from both alters and is neither one nor the other but both, now Mia is the newest alter.) Likely, having intercourse with a demon in order to pull Jake through his door was highly traumatic and Mia was probably created to deal with that trauma. This is obviously just where my mind goes when thinking about the characters because of my psychology background, I have no idea if this is where SK was going with this story. Anyways, my thought is that Mia fronted or was essentially in the passenger seat of the body to help Susannah get through what she needed to get through.
There's several different ways that this can be interpreted and that's the beauty of any form of art but this is just my idea based on my own interpretation.

I loved the scene where Susannah visits the inner world and turns the dials to slow down the labor process. I also loved when she went back to the cave and was able to find the turtle in the bag that helper her and Mia hypnotize people. Even though Mia is supposed to be the bad guy in this situation, I really love how her and Susannah are working together to solve the problems that they both face because they share a body.

I honestly didn't expect to like this book at all but so far I'm enjoying seeing more of Susannah. Although I'm nervous for the ending because I can't see Mia and the chap having a positive outcome for Susannah or the body. (hide spoiler)]

I am starting today! 😊

A few more update for you all:

9th Stanza, Eddie Bites His Tongue: (view spoiler)[ So the ka-tet has managed to get Tower to sell the vacant lot to them. I wasn't expecting him to back out of his offer and I certainly wasn't expecting Deepenau to act the way he did towards his friend. I loved Deepenau's witty comebacks and was so proud of Eddie for being able to bite his tongue in order to get to Susannah faster. I so hope they are able to be reunited. (hide spoiler)]

10th Stanza, Susannah-Mio, Divided Girl of Mine: (view spoiler)[ Okay so I was wrong about Mia being created because of Susannah's further trauma. Holy crap she dropped a massive truth bomb on us all in this chapter! To summarize, there are 6 Beams and 12 Guardians (2 for each end of the Beam), beyond the Tower is the Beam of Maturin (the Turtle), and there are 6 demon elementals with 12 demon aspects because they are both male and female. One of these elementals captured and stored Roland's 'seed' as a female and deposited it into Susannah as a male. The prophecy states that this child will kill Roland and end their quest for The Dark Tower. Walter/Flagg offered Mia the ability to become moral and bear a child at the cost of her nearly eternal but discorporate state; she accepted the offer and has slowly been stealing Susannah's body from her. (hide spoiler)]

11th Stanza, The Writer: (view spoiler)[ Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it does!! So we find out that Stephen King is another Beam for the Tower? This was king of confusing but I loved this whole chapter! And the statement that's made about all of King's works being to a greater or lesser degree about the Tower is so cool. I love books/movies/etc. that build massive universes like this and the fact that all of King's books are connecting in this way is amazing. Also, the reference to It in this chapter and that King seemed to be afraid of It has me shook. I just loved pretty much everything about this chapter. (hide spoiler)]

Just checking in...
I just barely started the book, made it through the 2nd stanza. I don't know if my slump is still not done but I'm not invested in the story yet.
It's a shorter story, so will finish it either way. Hope it gets more interesting.

I finished this a week ago and still don't know how to sum up my thoughts for our discussion.

(view spoiler)[ I liked how King wove himself into the story and sort of made himself the unknowing puppet master for all of the characters he's written into existence. I also enjoyed reading the coda from the end of the book and I wonder how much of that imitates his real experience with writing and life. It's obviously at least a little different because he didn't actually die from the accident (THANK GOODNESS), but I wonder how many of those interactions with Tabby were genuine or if they were at all.

Anyways, so the chap is born and surprisingly no one died(I think?) Again, even though Mia was the bad character throughout the book Susannah still seemed to form a bond with her and it felt like they were trying to help each other out at the end of things. (hide spoiler)]

I have no idea where this last book is going to take us but as always I'm excited for it. I'm planning to start it a little early since we're also reading The Talisman and I have a 4 week class that month. We're in for a wild ride, everyone!!

Hi All...I am about halfway or 3 quarters through the book and am really enjoying it! In my opinion, it is a more confusing book (in certain places) than the rest of the series (luckily I have my husband to discuss my confusion with ;)

Here are my thoughts so far (and I will somewhat follow Bailey's spoilers with my thoughts :)

5th Stanza: (view spoiler)[ Bailey, Thank You for your insight into Susannah and her multiple personalities! Very interesting read...and I agree that perhaps Mia was created to try to help Susannah deal with the trauma with the demon.

In discussions with my husband, he says that Mia is actually a spirit that has invaded Susannah's body :0 I suppose that this will be revealed later in the book if this is true...

I have to say that I didn't like Detta Walker in previous books but in this one, I am sort of on her side! She sure doesn't take any crap and Mia is scared of her...I wonder how this will play out!

I, too, enjoyed the scene with Susannah controlling the pregnancy by turning down the labor dial, the pain dial, etc in the Dogan. The Dogan was where Jake was in the Calla, hiding from Ben Slightman and Andy so I wonder if Susannah's Dogan (in her mind) is similar...

The ceramic turtle in the secret pocket of the bag that carries Black 13 was a wonderful passage! The fact that the turtle mesmerizes people and hypnotizes them was one of my favorite parts of the book so far!
(hide spoiler)]

Stanza 6: (view spoiler)[ The whole explanation of how Mia came to be part of Susannah's body...so I guess she is a demon that was living in "the Prim" and while Susannah was having sex with the demon to help Jake through the door, Mia was invited into Susannah's body?? Randall Flagg/Crimson King(??) promised Mia a child of her own for 7 years and so she inhabited Susannah's body...do I have this right? This part was a bit confusing for me, as was the location (the Castle where Susannah and Mia had their palaver). This castle is in the End World and the place where Mia chowed down in the banquet hall. Did Mia live here?? Why did she choose this place to have the palaver with Susannah? I take it there is a bunch of dead people in this castle because the smell of death and rot is everywhere...
(hide spoiler)]

7th Stanza: (view spoiler)[ Loved the shoot out between Andolini and his men and Roland and Eddie...my palms were sweating ;) John Cullum to the rescue!!
(hide spoiler)]

9th Stanza, Eddie Bites His Tongue: (view spoiler)[ Tower...what a selfish, self absorbed human being!! I love how Deepanau stood up to him and loved his sarcastic, dry comebacks! I don't think Tower was expecting this and seemed taken aback by the fact that Deepanau wasn't just being silent!
Interesting how Tower recognized Roland and started talking High Speech to him as they went out to the porch to transact the deed!
I suppose Tower will go on being Tower, the selfish human being he is EXCEPT in 4 years, he and Deepanau will rescue Callahan! This is where we find out how Eddie directs them to be at that place at the right time to rescue Callahan....

Now Roland and Eddie are on their way to meet with Stephen King (a young author in Maine who wrote Carrie...Tower isn't sure that King will ever be a famous author)...So very tongue in cheek of you, Mr. King!! I can't wait to read what happens when you meet Roland and Eddie....:)
(hide spoiler)]

10th Stanza, Susannah-Mio, Divided Girl of Mine: (view spoiler)[ You summed this chapter up in a great way, Bailey!! So this is where my confusion with the book sets in...I had numerous discussions with my husband and along with your great summary, Bailey, I think I get Mia's origins!
All a plan of the Crimson King/Randall Flagg to stop Roland's quest for the Dark Tower...I wonder how all this will end in the final book!
(hide spoiler)]

I hope to finish this book in the next day or so! I have to say that this is up there among one of my favorites of the series so far...:)

I am going to start The Dark Tower early also...with about 1000 pages and also about 1000 pages in The Talisman, they may be the only 2 books I read in July...LOL

I just finished and have to say...Wow, what a way to end the book!

(view spoiler)[ The interactions with Stephen King were my favorite parts of the book and the Coda at the end was a perfect way to end it but booo...leaving a cliffhanger for the next book! Maybe I should write him a letter...wink, wink ;)
I believe that the Coda contained a lot of truth that happened in King's life! Who doesn't look back on their lives and realize...blink, I was just 19 and starting out, wasn't I?? I am sure he and Tabby had fights about King taking walks on a dangerous road and in the world in the book, the worst happens! Also, my husband told me that King was an alcoholic and that there are a lot of references to AA in his books.
I also believe that The Dark Tower just flowed out of him and is at the center of all of his writings.

I wondered about the aura (black) that faintly surrounded King -and didn't the vampires have a blue aura?? Black means death and I suppose that since he dies in the book, that was a foretelling of what was going to happen to him (in the book, not in the real world). My husband hinted that the auras appear in Insomnia but wouldn't tell how...

Susannah and Mia do form a bond and I wonder whether Mia helps Susannah escape in the beginning of the next book? I feel that that little ceramic turtle that mesmerizes people (and Susannah left in the gutter and Ka allowed Jake to find) will play an important part in what happens in the Dixie Pig!
(hide spoiler)]

Alison wrote: "I just finished and have to say...Wow, what a way to end the book!

The interactions with Stephen King were my favorite parts of the book and the Coda at the end was a perfect way to end it but b..."

(view spoiler)[ Yes I’m so excited to see how the beginning of the next book plays out!! We have Eddie and Jake about to walk in and Susannah and Mia working together it seems so I’m hoping all make it out alive but we’ll see.

The aura stuff kind of confused me too. Because Roland said it was faint when he and Eddie visited him so why wouldn’t they have done anything to prevent his death? It kind of seems like their existence depends on his ability to write their stories but I guess that’s the big event that we’re leading up to going into The Dark Tower. SK was also discovered to be a Beam of the Tower in this book, too, was he not? So with another Beam gone the Tower has really got to be struggling.

Considering King’s track record with endings I’m super nervous going into the last book of the series but have my fingers crossed for all our beloved characters (especially Oy) 🤞 (hide spoiler)]

Also I’ve unironically started saying things like “Say true” and “Palaver” which confuses the hell out of my boyfriend 😂 The good news is he plans to read the series at some point so eventually we’ll be able to look back fondly and laugh at the things he doesn’t get understand. I think “Thankee-sai” is etched on my brain for the rest of forever LOL

Just dropping by to say that I'm keeping an eye on your updates and that I have no idea when I'll get back to this series. Way too behind now! But I will read The Talisman as planned. Sorry, Alison & Bailey! :(

Quick check-in: I'm still crawling at a snail's pace. Finished the 7th stanza. I still hold hope to finish it this month.

5th stanza: Bailey, Alison (view spoiler)[ I think its safe to say we all love the Dogan and turtle scenes :D (hide spoiler)]

6th stanza: Alison (view spoiler)[ I don't think the castle Allure is the same as the banquet hall as Susannah explicitly asks Mia not to take her there for their palaver (hide spoiler)]

7th stanza: (view spoiler)[ “He never got the chance; before the question occurred to him again, death had slipped between them.”

These kinds of spoiler-ish hints make me go aaahhhhhhhh!

Also, can I just say how badass John Cullum turned out to be for a character whose first description was:
“The going-on-elderly gent, who was wearing a checked flannel shirt in spite of the store’s warmth”

(hide spoiler)]

8th stanza: (view spoiler)[ The Stave and response in the 8th stanza are my favorite so far. It's catchy and kinda relatable too.

Also, this Stephen King business is getting me curiouser and curiouser. Him writing himself into the plot was one of the best plot twists ever
(hide spoiler)]
I feel the story picking up pace now. Will definitely finish it off this weekend!

Trisha wrote: "Just dropping by to say that I'm keeping an eye on your updates and that I have no idea when I'll get back to this series. Way too behind now! But I will read The Talisman as planned. Sorry, Alison..."

Sad to hear that you weren't able to get back into the series with us but hopefully you get to on your own time! Looking forward to discussing The Talisman with you though!!

Alekhya wrote: "5th stanza: Bailey, Alison [spoilers removed]

6th stanza: Alison [spoilers removed]

7th stanza:

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!!

(view spoiler)[ I feel the same way about the foreshadowing techniques SK uses, they really just feel like spoilers rather than foreshadowing. My partner is listening/reading The Gunslinger right now and I got to listen to some of the audiobook with him yesterday. It was so strange to hear the first book outright describe Susan's death when I feel like that was the big reveal in Wizard and Glass. But I read the older edition and not the newer one so at least I got to experience the big reveal. Maybe he thinks readers will forget about that by the time they get to Wizard. (hide spoiler)]

Finished the book today. It wasn't bad but this is definitely not my favorite book in the series

Stanza 9: (view spoiler)[Until I finished the part where Roland removed the bullet from Eddie’s leg, I was constantly scared that Eddie would literally bite his tongue off during this. I know its a little bit extreme and unnecessarily but we are in a Stephen King novel. Anything is possible. (hide spoiler)]

Stanza 12: When Jake references(/predicts?) the fall of the World Trade Centre, I was so surprised, I went back to check the date of publication. I knew King took his own time to publish each installment but didn't realize how long. I was still placing the publications in the 20th century.

Stanza 13: Not really a spoiler, just a quote that is relevant to ordinary humans, especially me: (view spoiler)[ “In the Land of Memory, the time is always Now.
In the Kingdom of Ago, the clocks tick … but their hands never move.
There is an Unfound Door
(O lost)
and memory is the key which opens it.”
(hide spoiler)]

I posted a brief review of Wolves and Susannah to Goodreads and to my blog. I enjoyed discussing these with you and I hope you enjoy the final book this month. I'll check back to see what you all have to say when I reread that one later this year!

https://morecream.wordpress.com/2021/...

Cheers,
Jarrod