The Dark Tower
Created | Updated Sep 30, 2004
The Dark Tower is a series of seven books by Stephen King. The story traverses space and time, combining the mythology of the wild west with visions of some strange, dystopian future world (Oh Discordia - sorry).
The central character is Roland Deschain, of Gilead, in Mid-world. He is the last gunslinger. Gunslingers were men and women who were the guardians of their civilisation. But the world has moved on and left the gunslingers behind, and they have been all but wiped out. Except for Roland - the deadliest of them all (who also bears more than a slight resemblance to Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name persona, in my opinion).
He is on a journey, a quest, to save not just his own world, but all worlds, including ours (and we all say thank ya). He is driven, cold and calculating, and will not let anything stand between him and his goal.
And what he seeks is the Dark Tower; the home of the Crimson King; the sanctuary of the rose; the hub of the beams; the centre of everything. And it draws Roland like a moth to a flame.
On his travels, he meets up with three others (and Oy), drawing them from their own worlds to his.
Eddie Dean (a streetwise ex-junkie), Sussanah Walker (a wheelchair bound black woman), and Jake Chambers (a boy of twelve - I think) - all from New York, and all from different times. All three become gunslingers, trained by Roland, and join him in his quest across the worlds (can you say amen).
I am wary of saying more, just in case I give away some of the labyrinthine plot that should remain a surprise.
I can only advise you - if you made it this far without grimacing, muttering something about "Fantasy" books, and then going to see if you can find pictures of naked people on the net - to read this series. It will draw you in, take a hold of you, and not let go. You will need to see how it ends, as I do.
I'm looking forward to finding out what happens. But I'm dreading it at the same time, because once I reach the end of the journey, the quest is over. No more Roland of Gilead. No more gunslingers. No more Dark Tower. So I'm trying to read it slower than I've ever read anything before - it's not working.
"Go then, there are other worlds than these."
The central character is Roland Deschain, of Gilead, in Mid-world. He is the last gunslinger. Gunslingers were men and women who were the guardians of their civilisation. But the world has moved on and left the gunslingers behind, and they have been all but wiped out. Except for Roland - the deadliest of them all (who also bears more than a slight resemblance to Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name persona, in my opinion).
He is on a journey, a quest, to save not just his own world, but all worlds, including ours (and we all say thank ya). He is driven, cold and calculating, and will not let anything stand between him and his goal.
And what he seeks is the Dark Tower; the home of the Crimson King; the sanctuary of the rose; the hub of the beams; the centre of everything. And it draws Roland like a moth to a flame.
On his travels, he meets up with three others (and Oy), drawing them from their own worlds to his.
Eddie Dean (a streetwise ex-junkie), Sussanah Walker (a wheelchair bound black woman), and Jake Chambers (a boy of twelve - I think) - all from New York, and all from different times. All three become gunslingers, trained by Roland, and join him in his quest across the worlds (can you say amen).
I am wary of saying more, just in case I give away some of the labyrinthine plot that should remain a surprise.
I can only advise you - if you made it this far without grimacing, muttering something about "Fantasy" books, and then going to see if you can find pictures of naked people on the net - to read this series. It will draw you in, take a hold of you, and not let go. You will need to see how it ends, as I do.
I'm looking forward to finding out what happens. But I'm dreading it at the same time, because once I reach the end of the journey, the quest is over. No more Roland of Gilead. No more gunslingers. No more Dark Tower. So I'm trying to read it slower than I've ever read anything before - it's not working.
"Go then, there are other worlds than these."
