I have just finished the sequel to Talisman, Dark House. These are connected to the Dark Towers series right? If so, did I start out of order? How many of the dark tower are there? I only see sporatic books of the dark tower but I'm not sure how many I should be looking for.

thanks

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

It's not part of the Dark Tower Series. King made a habit of referring to The Gunslinger Roland in several books (Insomnia is another). The Dark Tower series is stand alone.

(with the help of my kids Daddy)

MoniGram said:

I kept reading about gunslinger and towers and breakers and stuff and thought I totally skipped all the books and became very agitated

Ask baby daddy how many books there are and if they are any good. I'm sure they are cuz I love King but ya never know

I believe the 1st book is called "The Gunslinger".

I gave up in the middle of book 6. King kept us waiting too long.

Correction: I gave up in book 4.
[Edited 4/16/08 18:11pm]

Almost apropos of nothing, I saw Stephen King at one of Springsteen's Beacon Theater shows, in NYC, in '95.

there are seven books in the series:
I - The Gunslinger
II - The Drawing of the Three
III - The Wastelands
IV - Wizard and Glass
V - Wolves of the Calla
VI - Song of Susannah
VII - The Dark Tower

besides a few other books these are like the only things he's written that i haven't read yet

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Protege answered about how many books...but Denis said he LOVED the books!

I got tired of the gunslinger series..stopped at 4, but have 5..but his other books, I really have liked.

Including new one Duma Key.

And his book, On Writing. That was wonderful.

OK, for those who didn't really enjoy the books. Was it because you had to wait so long between the next book? If I read them all at once, will I be more into it or will that not help either?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Read them one after another. Those of us who read them when they were originally released had to wait so long between books some damn near forgot where the story ended on the last book. King, though, did provide a brief "here's what happened up to this point" at the beginning of most books. He had to!!

I haven't read the last Dark Tower book, but the 6th Song of Susannah, was by far the worst. It made me want to wait before reading the last one.

They're all very different books, so they hit the reader differently. Book 1 & 2 take place in different world, and they have completely different styles. It's not like Lord of the Rings where they're like different parts of the same book.

He makes references to his other books in the Dark Tower series, as well. And he may just cross the line for me with the way he does it.
[Edited 4/17/08 11:58am]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You can read them one after another, but I personally need a little break between authors. I have read them over the course of the last 3 or 4 years.

And as I said, they're very different. You might like one so much that the next will be very disappointing, or vice versa.

The Dark Tower is a series of seven books by American writer Stephen King that tells the tale of lead character Roland Deschain's quest for the "Dark Tower." The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements. King has described the series as his magnum opus; besides the seven novels that compose 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.

In the story, Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. 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 feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either 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 from the face of the earth without a trace, 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, his age and even the color of his shirt are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.

The Dark Tower I: 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)
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

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 various 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.[9]

The Gunslinger (Revised Edition)
Bag of Bones
The Stand
The Eyes of the Dragon
Storm of the Century (TV Mini Series)
The Drawing of the Three
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Shining (film)
The Stand
The Waste Lands
Rose Madder
The Stand
Cell
IT
Insomnia
Wizard and Glass
The Mist (from Skeleton Crew)
The Stand
The Eyes of the Dragon
Lisey's Story
Wolves of the Calla
'Salem's Lot
Black House
The Talisman
The Stand
Song of Susannah
The Eyes of the Dragon
Black House
The Talisman
The Little Sisters of Eluria (from Everything's Eventual)
Desperation
The Regulators
Low Men in Yellow Coats (from Hearts in Atlantis)
From a Buick 8
IT
Insomnia
The Shining
The Dark Tower
Insomnia
'Salem's Lot
Everything's Eventual (from Everything's Eventual)
Low Men in Yellow Coats (from Hearts in Atlantis)
From a Buick 8
It

Film adaptation
IGN Movies has reported that a film adaptation is in the works; whether it is for a movie or a television series is unknown. J. J. Abrams, who has been behind shows such as Lost and Alias, is supposedly attached to produce and direct.[5] Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, also affiliated with Lost and J. J. Abrams, have optioned the Dark Tower series from King for a reported nineteen dollars, which of course, is the infamous number from the Dark Tower series of novels.[6] According to issue #923 of Entertainment Weekly, 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."[7]
[Edited 4/17/08 13:44pm]

The only Stephen King novels I haven't read are "Rage" and "The Running Man"- and they're Richard Bachman.

There are so many books in which there are Dark Tower references. In the front of most of the books, they are in bold print in the list. Even The Stand and 'Salem's Lot are related to it. Another interesting connection is Eyes of the Dragon.

I think the hardest wait was between IV & V. I remember reading Bag of Bones right after it, but being when I got to that last page in IV.