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The Dark Tower is a fantasy fiction, science fantasy, and western themed series of novels by the American writer Stephen King. The series has been described as King's magnum opus - besides the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses.
The series was inspired by the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning. In the preface to the 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as inspirations, identifying Clint Eastwood's character as the genesis of Roland of Gilead.
The central character, Roland, is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own - politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as magical powers and relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest, his raison d'etre, is to find the Dark Tower, a mythical building said to be the nexus of the universe. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and indeed, it literally appears to be coming apart at the seams - mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, and even the Sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though events in later installments shed light on these mysteries.
But all it leaves... is questions.
Characters in the series
Roland
Roland, son of Stephen, a Gunslinger, was born in Gilead. He is now the last Gunslinger, with the sole charge of finding the Dark Tower, in some hope of reversing the erosion of time and the universe. As the series opens, he chases Walter, the Man in Black, across a desert. He finds Jake Chambers, an 11 year old boy from 1970's New York City and befriends him. His relationship with Jake in The Gunslinger defines his personality: He can be friendly but is usually distant; his is wise and skilled but ignorant of our ways; he has no real sense of humour but is noble. However, ultimately he fails Jake, leaving him to fall into an abyss in order to capture the Man in Black.
Books in the series
- The Gunslinger (1982, originally published as separate short stories. Revised edition released in 2003)
- The Drawing of the Three (1987)
- The Waste Lands (1991)
- Wizard and Glass (1997)
- Wolves of the Calla (title originally announced as The Crawling Shadow) (2003)
- Song of Susannah (2004)
- The Dark Tower (2004)
..
Connections to other works of King
The series has become a linchpin that ties much of King's work together. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other random elements from many of King's novels.
The following is a list of specific connections between books. Note that all Dark Tower books are connected to each other chronologically.
- The Gunslinger
- The Drawing of the Three
- The Waste Lands
- Wizard and Glass
- Wolves of the Calla
- Song of Susannah
- The Dark Tower (2004 novel)
External links
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