History Literature / TheWastelands

''The Waste Lands'' is Book III of Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower'', released in 1991, and has two parts. In the first, the TemporalParadox the [[Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree previous book]] created makes [[TheGunslinger Roland]] begin to [[SanitySlippage lose his mind]]. In the second, the [[TrueCompanions ka-tet]], now including the [[DeathIsCheap recently resurrected]] Jake Chambers and the billy-bumbler Oy, fight their way through the ruined city of Lud to catch the last train out of town...

* ShoutOut: Eddie thinks that Blaine's god-drums are ''almost'' as loud as the time he saw Music/{{Anthrax}} in concert.

''The Waste Lands'' is Book III of Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower'', released in 1991, and has two parts. In the first, the TemporalParadox the [[Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree previous book]] created makes [[TheGunslinger Roland]] begin to [[SanitySlippage lose his mind]]. In the second, the [[TrueCompanions ka-tet]], now including the [[DeathIsCheap recently resurrected]] Jake continue their journey, get caught, escape and move on.

* ArcVillain: [[spoiler: Andrew Quick/The Tick-Tock Man is the third major obstacle on Roland's quest after The Man in Black and The Pusher. He is the leader of the Grays, operating in the city of Lud and kidnapped Jake Chambers to make him show him how the long-dead machines work as he wants to defeat The Pubes, a rival faction and take over the city.]]

* CargoCult: The inhabitants of Lud sacrifice people [[LotteryOfDoom several times a day]] when what they think is the drumming of angry ghosts is heard. Eddie is not amused to recognise the drums as the beat of "Velcro Fly" by Music/ZZTop with the lyrics muted, played over the [[CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker public address speakers]]. However Blaine, who's entirely willing to take on the role of a [[MachineWorship mad god if that's what the humans want]], later implies that [[RealAfterAll it's sent "angry ghosts" for real]] if they don't play along.

* ForeverWar: The gang war in Lud between the Pubes (descendents of the original inhabitants of Lud, which tended to be younger, thus the name) and the Grays (descendants of the army of harriers lead by Andrew Quick to conquer Lud, who were generally older, thus the name) has been going back and forth for Gan knows how long by the time the book takes place.

* BigBrotherBully: Eddie's big brother Henry is revealed to be one. Eddie seems to realize it for the first time.

* SeriousBusiness: Riddles. Roland takes it personally when Eddie tells a stupid one. Back in the day, he also saw [[SadistTeacher Cort]] kill a man for cheating in a riddling competition.

* WastelandElder: Eddie daydreams about meeting some of these ("wise fuckin' elves!", he muses), who would give the ''ka-tet'' some food and supplies and maybe tell them the best route to the Dark Tower, when he sees the Lud skyline from a distance. He realizes, though, that the chances of them meeting anyone like that are slim to none (though they do meet some decent folk in River Crossing).

* PacifismBreakingPoint: Logan completes an epic journey across America to get the money he needs to save his family from the Hulk Gang, all without popping his claws (which he hasn't done since being tricked into killing his fellow X-Men), or using lethal force (except against Red Skull, who barely counts as a human being). When he returns home, he finds the Hulks have murdered his family just because they got bored. As a friend counsels him not to seek revenge, he responds that his name isn't Logan anymore:
-->''*SNIKT*''
-->'''Logan:''' It's Wolverine.

* CargoCult: The inhabitants of Lud sacrifice people [[LotteryOfDoom several times a day]] when what they think is the drumming of angry ghosts is heard. Eddie is not amused to recognise the drums as the beat of "Velcro Fly" by Music/ZZTop with the lyrics muted, played over the [[CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker public address speakers]] set up before [[AfterTheEnd the world moved on]]. (However, the mad ArtificialIntelligence Blaine later implies that [[RealAfterAll it's sent "angry ghosts" for real]] if the locals don't play along.)

* HornyDevils: The Oracle. Sex with an incubus here is portrayed as very unpleasant and painful.

** Also "all things serve the Beam". Or, as Eddie says it, "all things serve the f***in' Beam."

[[quoteright:251:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3thewastelands.jpg]]

''The Waste Lands'' is Book III of Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower'', released in 1991, and has two parts. In the first, the TemporalParadox the [[Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree previous book]] created makes [[TheGunslinger Roland]] begin to [[SanitySlippage lose his mind]]. In the second, the [[TrueCompanions ka-tet]], now including the [[DeathIsCheap recently resurrected]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Jake]] continue their journey, get caught, escape and move on.