The Dark Tower and King

The Prime Necromancer · Post by **The Prime Necromancer** » 2002-12-27 01:56pm

Recently, I picked up a copy of the first book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King in my local library. I've heard good things about the series. I'm not particularly familiar with King's work, as the only book of his I have read is "It" (which I enjoyed quite a bit). However, I heard somewhere that the series acts as some kind of "nexus" (paraphrasing) between his other universes. If this is the case, should I read some other books by King before reading this series, in order to better understand it? If so, which ones?

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2002-12-27 03:16pm

You don't really need to read any of the other books to understand what's happening in the Dark Tower series (at least, not up to this point), as far as I recall. There are some books that will fill in some useful background info, though. I'd actually suggest reading them after the Dark Tower books or you might not know which names/events are significant.

Here's a quick list off the top of my head, trying to avoid any spoilers:

The Stand -- During a dimension-hopping jaunt the DT character's briefly visit the alternate Earth where the events of the Stand took place. Everything you need to know is explained at that point in the DT series, so this isn't a must-read for that reason (you might enjoy it anyway, of course).

The Talisman and it's sequel Black House -- The connection to the DT doesn't become obvious until the sequel book, which does give some insight into aspects of the DT series and may become even more important later on.

Insomnia -- Fills in some information about the Red King, which will very likely be important later but isn't essential thus far.

Hearts in Atlantis -- One of the characters in the title story of this anthology has a connection to the DT series; this same character is also mentioned in Black house.

And here are some books that might come in useful for subsequent volumes:

Salem's Lot -- One of the characters from this book will be appearing later in the DT series

Everything's Eventual -- This is an anthology; King has said that the title story will be connected to the DT series later on.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

-- Joe Momma

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2002-12-27 03:36pm

And pretty much anything with the villain from The Stand in it (I've forgotten his name at the moment).

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2002-12-27 03:39pm

Randall Flagg

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2002-12-27 03:50pm

That's the guy. He crops up quite a bit in relation to the DT books.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2002-12-27 10:12pm

How many books are there so far in the Dark Tower series, and how many is there going to be before its over?

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2002-12-27 10:46pm

oh, so *that's* the basis. never made that connection.

watched the stand this evening btw. good movie.

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2002-12-27 11:46pm

NeoGoomba wrote:How many books are there so far in the Dark Tower series, and how many is there going to be before its over?

There are four currently, with three more to go. The fifth and sixth books are tentatively scheduled for publication in November 2003 and the final book is tentatively scheduled for March 2004.

You can find out more at http://www.stephenking.com/.

-- Joe Momma

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2002-12-28 01:31am

Eyes of the Dragon supposedly has connections to the DT series, as does Rose Madder.

There's some other short stories if I understand correctly, such as "Little Sisters of Eluria"

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2002-12-28 01:43am

Connor MacLeod wrote:Eyes of the Dragon supposedly has connections to the DT series, as does Rose Madder.

There's some other short stories if I understand correctly, such as "Little Sisters of Eluria"

LSE is a Gunslinger short story and it''s reprinted in Everything's Eventual. Figures I'd forget that one and remember the story which only connects later on.

The Little Sisters are alluded to in one scene in Black House as well.

"Little Sisters..." is the only straight-up DT short story that I remember (other than the ones collected into the first book, of course), but there are certainly others that are connected in some way. There may well be other works that will be linked to the DT series once the other books come out. I could see a possible connection to The Shining after the revelations of Black House, for example.

-- Joe Momma

daonesith · Post by **daonesith** » 2002-12-28 04:09am

The Prime Necromancer · Post by **The Prime Necromancer** » 2002-12-28 12:32pm

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

The Prime Necromancer · Post by **The Prime Necromancer** » 2002-12-28 01:07pm

What I meant, of course, is thanks to the rest of you for the help. Not the moron above the message.

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2002-12-28 02:35pm

Ive read the first 3 Dark Tower books so far. They are really good IMO. Im really interested in finding out more about Rolands world and what happened to it.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2002-12-29 04:10pm

Wow. King characters appearing in other books of his... and in Hearts in Atlantis, of all things.

Series sounds interesting on that basis alone.