The Dark Tower is a
series of seven booksHeptalogy is a rarely used term for a series of seven creative works that are connected by a common storyline. One recent famous example is the Harry Potter series of books. The term is sometimes found in the nonce form "septology", or in the form "septet"....
written by American author
Stephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. An estimated 300–350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and...
between 1970 and 2004. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction,
science fantasyScience fantasy is a mixed genre of stories which contain some science fiction and some fantasy elements.-Science fantasy vs. science fiction:...
,
horrorHorror fiction is a genre of fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle and horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of a disturbing supernatural element into everyday human experience...
and
westernWestern fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
elements. They describe a
gunslingerGunfighter, also gunslinger, is a 20th century name, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun.-Origin of the term:...
's quest toward a tower whose nature the books call both physical and metaphorical. King has described the series as his
magnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer.The term Great Work is also used in several...
. Besides the seven novels that compose the series proper, many of his other books relate to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. After the series was finished, a series of
comics prequelsThe Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born is a seven-issue comic book limited series, published by Marvel Comics. It is the first story arc of five based on The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King. It is plotted by Robin Furth, scripted by Peter David, and illustrated by Jae Lee and Richard...
followed.
The series was chiefly inspired by the poem "
Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a poem by English author Robert Browning, written in 1855 and first published that same year in the collection entitled Men and Women. The title, which forms the last words of the poem, is a line from William Shakespeare's play King Lear...
" by
Robert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and milly playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
, whose full text was included in the final volume's appendix. In the preface to the revised 2003 edition of
The Gunslinger, King also identifies
The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, the
Arthurian LegendThe Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the legends that concern the Celtic and legendary history of Great Britain, especially those focused on King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table...
, and
The Good, the Bad and the UglyThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly , is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
as inspirations. He identifies
Clint Eastwood'sClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American actor, film director, film producer and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and five People's Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.Eastwood is...
"
Man with No NameThe Man With No Name is a stock character in western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by American actor Clint Eastwood in what is often called "The Dollars Trilogy" directed by Sergio Leone....
" character as one of the major inspirations for the protagonist,
Roland DeschainRoland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society...
. King's style of location names in the series, such as Mid-World, and his development of a unique language abstract to our own (
High SpeechThe High Speech is a fictional language in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and its related works. When the first novel in the series, The Gunslinger begins, the main protagonist Roland Deschain is the only known user of the High Speech as the world has moved on.-Usage:The language was used as...
), are also influenced by
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from...
's work.
Plot summary
In the story, Roland is the last living member of a
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
ly order known as
gunslingers and the last of the line of "Arthur Eld," his world's
analogueThe term analogue is used in literary history in two related senses:* a work which resembles another in terms of one or more motifs, characters, scenes, phrases or events....
of
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated...
. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a
feudalFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the
American Old WestThe American Old West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
but is also
magicalMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
. While the magical aspects are largely gone from Mid-World, some vestiges of them remain, along with the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Even the Sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.
For a detailed synopsis of the novels, see the relevant article for each book.
Characters
Along his journey to the Dark Tower, Roland meets a great number of both friends and enemies. For most of the way he is accompanied by a group of people who together with him form the Ka-tet of the Nineteen and Ninety-nine, consisting of
Jake ChambersJohn "Jake" Chambers is a major character in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. He first appeared in the short story "The Way Station" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April 1980, which was later compiled as one of the chapters of the first Dark Tower book, The Dark...
,
EddieEdward Cantor "Eddie" Dean is a fictional character in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. He was introduced in The Drawing of the Three and became a main character for the remainder of the series.-New York:...
and
Susannah DeanSusannah Odetta Holmes Dean is a fictional character from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series...
, and
OyOy or OY may refer to:* Oy vey , a Yiddish exclamation of chagrin, dismay, exasperation or pain * A village in the Oy-Mittelberg municipality, Bavaria, Germany...
. Among his many enemies on the way are The Dark Man and The Crimson King.
Language
King created a language for his characters, known as the
High SpeechThe High Speech is a fictional language in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and its related works. When the first novel in the series, The Gunslinger begins, the main protagonist Roland Deschain is the only known user of the High Speech as the world has moved on.-Usage:The language was used as...
. Examples of this language include the phrases
Thankee, Sai ("Thank you, Sir/Ma'am.") and
Dan-Tete ("Little Savior"). In addition King uses the term 'Ka' which is the approximate equivalent of destiny, or fate, in the fictional language High Speech (and similarly, 'Ka-tet,' a group of people bound together by fate/destiny). This term originated in Egyptian mythology and storytelling and has figured in several other novels and screenplays since 1976.
Series
- The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)
- The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
- The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
- The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997) - Locus Award nominee, 1998
- The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003) - Locus Award nominee, 2004
- The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004) - Locus Award nominee, 2005
- The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004) - British Fantasy Award winner, 2005
Possible continuation
In an interview in March 2009, King stated, describing an idea for a new short story he recently had: "And then I thought, 'Well, why don't I find three more like this and do a book that would be almost like modern fairy tales?' Then this thing started to add on bits and pieces so I guess it will be a novel." According to King, the idea is a new Dark Tower novel. King said, regarding the Dark Tower series, "It's not really done yet. Those seven books are really sections of one long uber-novel."
Illustrations
Each book in the series was originally published in
hardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
format with a number of full-color illustrations spread throughout. Each book contained works by a single illustrator only. Subsequent printings of each book in trade paperback format usually preserve the illustrations in full, except for books I and IV. Pocket-sized
paperbackPaperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or cardboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples.-Use:...
reprints contain only black-and-white chapter or section header illustrations.The illustrators who worked on each book are:
- Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism, formerly working for over 30 years as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy before devoting all his work to a fine art career....
, multiple award-winning science fiction and fantasy painter. The Dark Tower is among his early notable works.
- Phil Hale
Philip Oliver Hale, born in 1963, is an American figurative painter who currently resides in London, England.Prior to turning to fine arts he worked as an illustrator, doing mostly figurative work...
, the only Dark Tower illustrator who created a second set of illustrations for a later printing of the book he illustrated.
- Ned Dameron.
- Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
, graphic designer noted for working in many media, including photography and film. The only Dark Tower illustrator to work in photocollagesPhotomontage is the process of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not use film,...
.
- Bernie Wrightson
Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...
, established illustrator for 1960s and 1970s horror comics.
- Darrel Anderson, the only Dark Tower illustrator who used digital illustration
Computer illustration or digital illustration is the use of digital tools to produce images under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device such as a tablet or a mouse. It is distinguished from computer-generated art, which is produced by a computer using mathematical...
techniques.
- Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism, formerly working for over 30 years as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy before devoting all his work to a fine art career....
, returning more than 20 years later as the only recurring Dark Tower illustrator.
Reception
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Washington, D.C. and is the city's oldest paper, founded in 1877. Being located in the nation's capital, it has a particular emphasis on national politics and international affairs...
's Bill Sheehan called the series "a humane, visionary epic and a true magnum opus" that stands as an "imposing example of pure storytelling," "filled with brilliantly rendered set pieces... cataclysmic encounters and moments of desolating tragedy." The
Boston Globe's Erica Noonan said "there's a fascinating world to be discovered in the series" but noted that its epic nature keeps it from being user-friendly.
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
Michael Agger was disappointed with how the series progressed; while he marveled at the "sheer absurdity of [the books'] existence" and complimented King's writing style, he said preparation would have improved the series, stating "King doesn't have the writerly finesse for these sorts of games, and the voices let him down." The San Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireSan Francisco Chronicle is Northern California's largest newspaper, and one of the largest in the United States, serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area, but distributed throughout...
's Michael Berry, however, called the series' early installments "highfalutin hodgepodge" but the ending "a valediction" that "more than delivers on what has been promised."
Tie-in books
The series has prompted related non-fiction books by authors besides King. Robin FurthRobin Furth is the personal research assistant to Stephen King and the author of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance, which was published by Scribner on December 5 2006...
has published the two-volume Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance
, an encyclopedia-style companion to the series that she originally wrote for King's personal use. Bev VincentBev Vincent is best known as the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated, authorised companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series. He has been writing News From the Dead Zone for Cemetery Dance magazine since March, 2001.He has a Ph. D...
has published The Road to The Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King's Magnum Opus
, a book containing back story, summary and analysis. Stephen King has endorsed both books.
Prequel comic series
A prequelA prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel .-History:Though the word "Prequel" is of...
to the Dark Tower
series, set around the time of the flashbacks in The Gunslinger
and Wizard and Glass
, has been released by Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born
is plotted by Robin Furth, scripted by Peter DavidPeter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer, known for his work in comic books and Star Trek novels, as well as in television, movies, and video games....
, and illustrated by Jae LeeJae Lee is a comic book artist.Lee first rose to prominence in the industry for his work on Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, Inhumans , and The Sentry, as well as his creator-owned character Hellshock at Image Comics.Lee is currently working on the Marvel Comics' spin-off of Stephen King's The Dark...
and Richard IsanoveRichard Isanove is a French artist and painter working in the American Comic Books industry.-Biography:Born in the South of France, Richard studied Film and Animation at the Ecole nationale superieure des arts decoratifs in Paris and moved to the United States in 1994 to study Animation at the...
.
The project is overseen by King. The first issue of this first arc was released on February 7, 2007. A hardcover volume containing all 7 issues was released on November 7, 2007.
The second arc in the Dark Tower
comic series was released by Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
, and it is called The Long Road HomeThe Dark Tower: The Long Road Home is a monthly five-issue comic book mini-series, a spin-off of Stephen King's sci-fi western novel series of the same name. The first issue was published on March 5, 2008...
. The first issue was published on March 5, 2008. A hardcover volume containing all 5 issues was released on October 15, 2008.
The third arc in the Dark Tower
comic series was released by Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
, and it is called The Dark Tower: TreacheryThe Dark Tower: Treachery is a monthly, six-issue comic book mini-series, a prequel spin-off of Stephen King's sci-fi western novel series The Dark Tower, the first issue of which was published September 10, 2008...
. The first issue of the six issue arc was published on September 10, 2008.
Following the completion of the third arc a one-shot issue titled The Dark Tower: SorcererThe Dark Tower: The Sorcerer is a one-shot issue comic book, which serves as a prelude to The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead story-arc within Marvel's The Dark Tower comic book series, which is a spin-off of Stephen King's The Dark Tower novel series.Unlike the previous three Dark Tower story-arcs,...
was released April 8, 2009. The story focuses on the history of the villainous wizard Marten BroadcloakRandall Flagg is a fictional character created by Stephen King. Flagg has appeared in nine novels by King, sometimes as the main antagonist and others in a brief cameo. He often appears under different names, most are abbreviated by the initials R.F. There are exceptions to this rule; in The Dark...
.
Marvel Comics has also published three supplemental books to date that expand upon characters and locations first introduced in the novels. The Dark Tower: Gunslingers' Guidebook
was released in 2007, The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac
was released in 2008, and The Dark Tower: Guide to Gilead
was released in 2009. All three books were written by Anthony FlaminiAnthony Flamini is an American freelance comic book writer.-Comics Work:Writer*All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1-12...
, with Furth serving as creative consultant. End-World Almanac
and Guide to Gilead
feature illustrations by David Yardin.
Film adaptation
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
Movies has reported that a film adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even other films...
is in the works; whether it is for a movie or a television series is unknown. J. J. AbramsJeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, composer, and founder of Bad Robot Productions...
, co-creator of the television show LostLost is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific...
, is supposedly attached to produce and direct.
Carlton CuseCarlton Cuse is an executive producer and screenwriter for the American television series Lost. Although born in Mexico City, Carlton Cuse grew up in Boston and Orange County, California. He was a student at The Putney School. He then attended Harvard University, graduating with a degree in...
and Damon LindelofDamon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has also written and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
, who co-created the show LostLost is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific...
with J. J. Abrams, have optioned the Dark Tower
series from King for a reported nineteen dollars, a number that mysteriously recurs throughout the Dark Tower
series of novels. According to issue #923 of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
, King "is an ardent supporter of the desert-island show and trusts Abrams to translate his vision" into a film franchise with Lindelof being "the leading candidate to write the screenplay for the first installment." In a July 2009 interview with C21 Media, Lindelof revealed that he and Cuse had indeed optioned The Dark Tower
's rights, but said he was wary about committing to such an ambitious project: "The idea of taking on something that massive again after having done six seasons of Lost
is intimidating and slightly frightening, to say the least."
King also reported that he had turned down long-time collaborator Frank DarabontFrank Darabont is a Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed the films The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist.-Early life:...
, creator of such films as The Green MileThe Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name. The film stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb and Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey....
and The Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank Redemption is a American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, loosely based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption...
, after he had asked to do the film.
Multiple mock trailers have appeared on YouTube. Also, the official Grand Prize winner of Simon & Schuster's (King's Publisher) American Gunslinger contest, "Roland Meets Brown", by Robert David Cochrane, can be found there.
In King's 2007 film The MistThe Mist , is a 2007 American horror film based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont who had previously adapted Stephen King's work...
, the main character, David Drayton, can be seen painting a movie poster with Roland in the center, standing in front of a trans-dimensional Ghostwood door, with a rose and the dark tower to each side.
In April 2009, both Abrams and Lindelof revealed that they would most likely begin adapting the series when Lost concludes in 2010.
In May 2009, rumours emerged that
Christian BaleChristian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. In addition to starring roles in big budget Hollywood films, he has long been heavily involved in films produced by independent producers and art houses....
was the top contender to play Roland.
Connections to King's other works
The series has become a
linchpinA linchpin, also spelled linch pin, lynchpin, or lynch pin, is a fastener used to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on...
that ties a lot of King's work together. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other various elements from many of King's novels and short stories.
Intertextual references
As with most of Stephen King's novels many elements of real life popular culture are mentioned in each of the Dark Tower
novels including other books, poetry, songs, and movies. These works may be mentioned in passing or often as important plot devices.
Included here is a list of such references. All works mentioned below occur within the books' narrative and do not include any mention in the foreword or afterword of the books:
Books
ShardikShardik is a fantasy novel written by Richard Adams in 1974.-Plot introduction:Adams's second novel Shardik concerns a lonely hunter, Kelderek, who pursues Shardik, a giant bear he believes to embody the Power of God; both of them become unwillingly drawn into the politics of an imaginary region...
by Richard AdamsRichard Adams , a non-conforming English Presbyterian divine, author of various sermons and other writings in divinity, was the grandson of Richard Adams, the rector of Woodchurch, in the part of Cheshire which is called the hundred of Wirral, and son of Charles Adams, who, with his brother...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
by J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The HobbitThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in a time "Between the Dawn of Færie and the Dominion of Men", The Hobbit follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins to win a share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug...
by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carrol (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the...
by Thornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. His best known work is his play Our Town.-Early years:...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South, in the town of "St Petersburg", inspired by the town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River, where Mark Twain grew up....
by Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The PlagueThe Plague is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that tells the story of medical workers finding solidarity in their labour as the Algerian city of Oran is swept by a plague epidemic. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny and the human condition...
by Albert CamusAlbert Camus was a French author, philosopher, and journalist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He is often cited as a proponent of existentialism , but Camus himself refused this particular label...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Browning
by Robert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and milly playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M...
by L. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker, best known today as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
'Salem's Lot
by Stephen King (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla and The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
The Harry Potter SeriesHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
by J.K. Rowling (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla)
Watership DownWatership Down is a heroic fantasy novel about a small group of rabbits, written by British author Richard Adams. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...
by Richard Adams (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower III:The Waste Lands)
The Door into SummerThe Door into Summer is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published in hardcover in 1957. It is a fast-paced hard science fiction novel, with a key fantastic element, and romantic elements...
by Robert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of the genre. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's...
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
CarrieCarrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the titular character Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...
by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
The ShiningIf your looking for the film with the same name based on the novel, see, The Shining The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…"...
by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower II:The Drawing of the Three)
Peace Like a RiverThis article is about the novel by Leif Enger. For the song written by Paul Simon, see Paul Simon Peace Like a River is a best-selling novel by Leif Enger, who took the title from the lyrics of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul", which was performed at his wedding...
by Leif EngerLeif Enger is the author of the United States bestselling novel Peace Like a River.Enger was born in 1961 and raised in Osakis, Minnesota. Since his teens, he wanted to write fiction. He worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio from 1984 until the sale of Peace Like a River to...
(The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
InsomniaInsomnia is a novel written by Stephen King and first published in 1994. Like It and Dreamcatcher, its setting is the fictional town of Derry, Maine. The original hardcover edition was issued with dust jackets in two complementary designs...
by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
The CollectorThe Collector is the title of a 1963 novel by John Fowles. It was made into a movie in 1965.- Plot summary :The novel is about a lonely young man, Frederick Clegg, who works as a clerk in a city hall, and collects butterflies in his spare time. The first part of the novel tells the story from his...
by John FowlesJohn Robert Fowles was an English novelist and essayist.-Birth and family:Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England, the son of Gladys May Richards and Robert John Fowles. Robert Fowles came from a family of middle-class merchants of London. Robert's father Reginald was a partner of the...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
The MagusThe Magus is the first novel written by British author John Fowles. It tells the story of Nicholas Urfe, a teacher on a small Greek island...
by John Fowles (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Poetry
Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a poem by English author Robert Browning, written in 1855 and first published that same year in the collection entitled Men and Women. The title, which forms the last words of the poem, is a line from William Shakespeare's play King Lear...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Waste LandThe Waste Land[A] is a 434 line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Black Riders
by Stephen CraneStephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
Movies
The ShiningThe Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. Though it had mixed reviews from the critics upon its release it was wildly popular with moviegoers and financially successful...
(The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
HalloweenHalloween is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional suburban midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on Halloween. The original draft of the screenplay was titled The Babysitter Murders. John Carpenter directed the film, which stars Donald Pleasence as Dr...
(The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
The TerminatorThe Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed and co-written by James Cameron and distributed by the independent film studio Orion Pictures. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese. The film was followed by...
(The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
The Last StarfighterThe Last Starfighter is a 1984 science fiction adventure film directed by Nick Castle. There was a subsequent novelization of the movie by Alan Dean Foster, as well as a video game based on the production...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
The Dark CrystalThe Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film directed by puppeteers Jim Henson and Frank Oz, creators of The Muppet Show. Although still marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. Characters for which they are famous do not appear, but some of the same...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
Journey to the Center of the EarthJourney to the Center of the Earth is a 1959 adventure film adapted by Charles Brackett from the novel by Jules Verne. It stars Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson, Diane Baker, Thayer David, Alan Napier, and Gertrude the Duck...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
War of the Zombies
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
HudHud is a 1963 film which tells the story of a self-centered, modern-day cowboy. It stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde and Whit Bissell. It centers on the recurring theme of an unyielding patriarch whose sense of principle and honor brings him into conflict with his...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
RoboCopRoboCop is a 1987 science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is murdered brutally and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical / fantasy film directed mainly by Victor Fleming from a script by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, and others and based on the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American western film directed by John Sturges about a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits. It is a resetting of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film, Seven Samurai.-Plot:...
(The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
Flash Gordon (Serials)Flash Gordon is a 1936 serial film which tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles B. Middleton, Priscilla Lawson and Frank Shannon played the central roles...
(The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
PhantasmPhantasm is a low-budget "cult classic" horror film produced in 1977 and released during 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli....
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New HopeStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released simply as Star Wars, is an American 1977 space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It was the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films continue the story, while a prequel trilogy contributes...
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Rebel Without a CauseRebel Without a Cause is a 1955 film directed by Nicholas Ray that tells the story of a rebellious teenager played by James Dean, who comes to a town, meets a girl, disobeys his parents, and defies the local high school bullies. It was an attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth,...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Blood Work
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Child's PlayChild's Play is a American horror film written by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland. It was released on November 9, 1988. The film met with moderate success upon its release, and has since developed a cult following among fans of the horror genre. The film is the first in the Child's Play...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
CujoCujo is a 1983 horror film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. It was directed by Lewis Teague from a screenplay by Lauren Currier. The film was #58 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.-Plot:...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
WestworldWestworld is a 1973 science fiction / thriller film written and directed by Michael Crichton. It stars Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin. It was followed by a sequel, Futureworld, and a short-lived television series, Beyond Westworld.-Plot summary:It is sometime in the near future, in...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
The Lost ContinentThe Lost Continent is a science fiction film, starring Cesar Romero and Chick Chandler. It was directed by Sam Newfield. This independent film was only shot in eleven days, on a low budget. The footage on the plateau where the dinosaurs lived was printed with green tinting. The plot of the film...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Stalag 17Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor....
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Songs
Hey Jude"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney. Originally titled "Hey Jules", the ballad was written to comfort John Lennon's son Julian during his parents' divorce...
by the BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
(The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, et al.)
Shall We Gather At The River?"Shall We Gather at the River?" is a traditional Christian hymn, written by American poet and gospel music composer Robert Lowry . It was written in 1864....
by Robert LowryRobert Lowry was an American politician from Mississippi. During the American Civil War he held the rank of Major in the Confederate Army. Lowry briefly served in the state senate after the war . Between 1882 and 1890 he was the Democratic governor of Mississippi, serving two four-year terms....
(The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger)
Ease on Down the Road"Ease on Down the Road" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, although it is best known in its 1978 release as a duet between soul singers and Motown alums Diana Ross & Michael Jackson. The song was a #1 disco hit for five weeks by the disco studio group, Consumer Rapport...
by Charlie Smalls (The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger)
Oxford Town"Oxford Town" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan....
by Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
(The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
America
by Simon & Garfunkel(The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
Velcro Fly"Velcro Fly" is the fifth single off ZZ Top's 1985 album Afterburner. The song peaked at #15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986.A 12" version is featured on the box set Chrome, Smoke & BBQ.-Music video:...
by ZZ TopZZ Top is an American rock trio, formed in late 1969 in Houston, Texas, by Billy Gibbons , Dusty Hill , and Frank Beard...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
Paint It Black
by The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
Careless Love"Careless Love" is a traditional song of obscure origins.Blues versions are popular; the lyrics change from version to version, but usually speak of the heartbreak brought on by "careless love." Frequently, the narrator threatens to kill his or her wayward lover.- W. C. Handy's "Loveless Love" :W....
by Janis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist...
(The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
Someone Saved My Life Tonight"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is an Elton John song from his album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. It is written in the key of A-flat, though after having vocal cord surgery in 1987 that resulted in the loss of his falsetto range, John began performing the song in the key of F...
by Elton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE is an English singer-songwriter, composer and pianist.In his four-decade career, John has sold more than 200 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single, Candle in the Wind 1997, has sold over 37 million copies, becoming the...
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
19th Nervous Breakdown"19th Nervous Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones.The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during their 1965 tour of the United States. The song was recorded during the Aftermath sessions between December 3 and 8, 1965 at RCA Recording Studios in...
by The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup...
(The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
Man of Constant Sorrow"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first recorded by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally recorded by Burnett as "Farewell Song" printed in a Richard Burnett songbook, c. 1913...
, traditional (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
Hang on Sloopy"Hang On Sloopy" is a song by the pop group The McCoys which was #1 in America in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University...
by the The McCoysThe McCoys™ were a pop group that started in Union City, Indiana, United States, in 1962.-Career:The original members, all from Union City were guitarist Richard Zehringer , his brother Randy on drums, and bassist Dennis Kelly. This first line-up was known as The Rick Z Combo, and later known as...
(The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. The album version also appears on 1971's Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. Another version of the song appears on the 1976 live album Hard Rain, and was also released as a...
by Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
(The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is an acclaimed song sung by The Tokens and written as Mbube by Solomon Linda.-History:"Mbube" was first recorded by its writer, Solomon Linda, and his group, The Evening Birds, in 1939. Gallo Record Company paid Linda a single fee for the recording and no royalties...
by The TokensThe Tokens are an American male doo-wop vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are best-known for their chart-topping 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Hurt
by Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Bad Company"Bad Company" is a song from the band Bad Company's album Bad Company.It is notable as one of the few songs where the artist, album and song names are the same...
by Bad CompanyBad Company are an English hard rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of band members from Free , Mott the Hoople , and King Crimson . Bad Company was managed by Peter Grant, who had also guided Led Zeppelin to massive success...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Other
Hand in Glove
, a short story by Robert AickmanRobert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his short supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
MaverickMaverick is a comedy-western television series created by Roy Huggins that ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and featured James Garner, Jack Kelly, Roger Moore, and Robert Colbert as the poker-playing traveling Mavericks...
, the television series (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
Christina's WorldChristina's World is a work by U.S. painter Andrew Wyeth, and one of the best-known American paintings of the middle 20th century. It depicts a seemingly young woman lying on the ground in a treeless, mostly tawny field, looking up at and crawling towards a gray house on the horizon; a barn and...
, the painting by Andrew WyethAndrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S...
(The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
The Lottery"The Lottery" is a classic short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker.The magazine and Jackson herself were surprised by the highly negative reader response. Many readers cancelled their subscriptions, and hate mail continued to arrive throughout...
, the short story by Shirley JacksonShirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
(The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
External links
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The Dark Tower Compendium
TheDarkTower.com, unofficial fansite LaTourSombre.fr, encyclopedia