The Dark Tower, Part 2- Chapter 8

This week Miles and I are only talking about one chapter, but what a chapter it is! This is a long tale of Ted The Breaker (which is what I'm calling him now) and how he was recruited to work at Algul Siento. Ted has an ability that essentially makes him priceless to the Taheen and Cantoi and Humes, and so he's pretty much able to get away with murder (maybe literally) without them being able to do much of anything to reprimand him. Ted's story is really interesting because far from the usual tale of someone with superhuman abilities who has to constantly hide from people who want to use him as a weapon, Ted is desperate for someone to take advantage of his gift. Yet he can't seem to even give it away! I really liked this subversion of expectations and the very human explanation that King gives for the doctors not wanting to even acknowledge what Ted can do. It's infuriating, but it really makes a lot of sense. Finally, the gang hears from Susan about the whole weird dream she had and the announcement that Stephen King had been killed, and the Ka-tet puts their heads together to figure out when the accident would have to be and how they can possibly save this guy. In the end, though, they decide that they're going to have to deal with Breaker University before they can worry about King, because Sheemie is tied up there and he's the one who can get them back and forth through time. I am so excited about Sheemie's abilities, y'all. Seriously. Thank you so much for listening! See you next week! Artist credit: https://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Dark-Tower-sketches-683940603