I agree 100%, with regards to the Detta/Odetta/Susannah/Mia character. This is why Song of Susannah is my least favorite DT book. I never cared for any of the permutations of that character. How many times did we have to hear about "the chap"? That's also why I rate The Drawing of the Three lower than most others. WAY too much Detta / Odetta. One or two "honky graymeat muhfucker" is okay. But like 100 times, really?
Also my favorite.
As to the topic at hand, I really did like Wolves of the Calla. Number 3 on my list, behind the aforementioned Wizard and Glass and The Wastelands. But not too far behind. I can forgive all that Mia nonsense because the rest of the book was so good.
But WotC has a robot named "Andy."
Not Deep Blue or IBM's Watson or even Honda's ASIMO... but "Andy." Kinda like the Lord of the Rings' horse named "Bill" among all the odd names in the series.
Perhaps I digress.
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
I couldn't agree more! I felt an overwhelming surge of pride when Oy greeted the Calla-folken. Roland's Rice dance was amazing also. It was refreshing to see him having a good time and behaving as most humans do- even though his blue eyes were stone cold up until the end of his dance.
Roland and Callahan have a lot in common in this respect- they have seen the worst of humanity and it shows in their mien. Roland's eyes are forever cold, and Callahan can see the emptiness and sadness in a Dixie cup blowing across a street.
I do not think that this book was drawn out as a whole, but I do agree that Callahan's story was too long. I skimmed a few paragraphs (being a literature and ESL teacher I am the master at skimming while still getting the gist). But you know what? I did the same thing in the drawing of the three with Odetta/Detta. Her part of the tale really, really got to me...I don't know how to put it exactly- but it's akin to how I feel when I do too many crossword puzzles in a row. I just felt funny in my tummy and I wanted it to end (even though I liked it). Actually, I had to stop reading the series for a few months after that book. :-)