The Dark Tower

Goodwill

Goodwill

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I have forstalled the creation of this thread long enough.

I was, at first, hesitant to pick up a Steven King book. First of all, I had pegged him as a simple "horror" writer. The kind that was only famous for writing the "popcorn movie" book that would only entertain me for the 300 pages it came with... That and the fact that, when I first picked up "Carrie", I was in fifth grade. The opening scene, keep in mind, was not appropriate for someone that age or maturity.

Anyway.

I picked up "The Gunslinger" to see what Steven King was made of. I had heard that these seven books were his magnum opus, or his most proud work. I wasn't three chapters in when I figured out why. The story is so compelling and so symbolic that it is so hard to ignore it's potency.

I am now on the "Wastelands". Just finishing, actually... What I can tell you is this - if these books were made into movies, they would be bigger than Star Wars. Man, are they good.
 
JJ Abrams is doing a Dark Tower movie, I believe.

I picked up The Gunslinger a few months back, got over halfway through and forgot about it. Right now I'm reading The Shining, and afterwards I plan on reading It, The Stand or The Gunslinger again.
 
I want to read the Dark Tower books, but my obsessiveness would require me to read all the other books that tie into the DT series, which, I think, is over twenty.

One day, maybe.
 
Im almost half-way through The Gunslinger. It's damn good story, if the writing is a little weak here and there.
 
I read the Gunslinger a long time ago, then decided I should probably read all of the tie-in books first..I wasn't ready.

I now only have Black House left to read, then I can start the Dark Tower series again.
 
Compared to the other two books in the series that I've read, the Gunslinger is the most boring. That said, there's a pay-off at the end. You get the idea of the Tower and why it would be so important to find. It's awesome.

The concept of the whole series is great... And each character is well developed and entertaining to read. Eddie is my favorite, I keep thinking of Charlie from Lost whenever I read about him. Very cool.
 
Goodwill said:
Compared to the other two books in the series that I've read, the Gunslinger is the most boring. That said, there's a pay-off at the end. You get the idea of the Tower and why it would be so important to find. It's awesome.

The concept of the whole series is great... And each character is well developed and entertaining to read. Eddie is my favorite, I keep thinking of Charlie from Lost whenever I read about him. Very cool.
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Charlie makes me think of Eddie.
I hear there are a lot of Dark Tower references in LOST, for those who are fans of both:wink:

The Gunslinger is in no way the most boring of the books- if you could call any of them boring, that is. It's still my favorite, and by far the best of the series when read alone.

But that may only be due to having already finished the entire series.
I've seen a huge amount of people finding, and loving, The Dark Tower in the past few months. It warms my heart to see this story gain much-needed notoriety that it has lacked in the past few years.
 
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Dr.Strangefate said:
What are the Tie-In books, that you crazies are talking about?
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*Deep Breath*

Salem's Lot, The Stand, Talisman, It, Eyes of the Dragon, Insomnia, Rose Madder, Desperation, The Regulators, Bag of Bones, Black House, From a Buick 8, Skeleton Crew, Heart's in Atlantis, Everything's Eventual, Danse Macabre, Kingdom Hospital, and Storm of the Century.
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
What are the Tie-In books, that you crazies are talking about?
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and don't forget the rest... i'm too lazy to list but the complete set of references (and which DT books they're referenced in) but the list is right here.

i started the series again, because i had read the available ones before the last three came out and then became LAZY.

they are quite good, and they keep getting better.

this series is one of those things i like to bring up when people try to argue that stephen king is a bad writer. also a good thing to bring up: pop writer does not equal bad writer. stupid people who don't even bother to read his good stuff. GRABBLERABBLEandsuch.
 
I am operating on having read NONE of those other books.. Hope that doesnt detract from the read.
 
A note from (to my knowledge) the most experienced/presumptous TowerJunkie on this site:

On the subject of DT tie-in novels:
Black House, the first story of Hearts in Atlantis (Low Men in Yellow Coats), Insomnia, and 'Salem's Lot are the big four in terms of YOU REALLY SHOULD READ.

Naturally, the series itself reads beautifully without reading any tie-ins, but not reading at least 'Salem's Lot and LMYC will produce a feeling similar to being shunned from an exclusive club. Two pivitol characters in the last DT novels initially hail from 'Salem's Lot and LMYC, and the latter actually discusses the Tower and the Rose by name.
A character from Insomnia appears in The Dark Tower, but his existence in relation to his life in Insomnia is...different, to say the least, in a way one cannot understand prior to reading books six and seven.

Black House and Insomnia deal with The Crimson King. Black House is among King's finest novels (co-written with Peter Straub, sequel to The Talisman, for those unaware). BH also deals with the Tower by name, as does Insomnia. These two are not quite as important as 'S'L and LMYC.

Anything that isn't those four does not tie directly into The Dark Tower. Bag of Bones involves a similar location (a twinner to one featured in DT, for those familiar with The Talisman) and the number 19 (a number, as King would say, of some import).

Though reading the other books and discovering the connections on one's own is well worth the effort, those who are too lazy can find a outdated list of connections at my old home, The Dark Tower.net.
http://www.thedarktower.net/connections/

I wrote the wiki entries for Eddie Dean and Jake Chambers three years ago. Go me!
The above URL has not been updated for the last three books, nor any published King since then (which means that Cell and Lisey's Story references are not included).

Cool.

this series is one of those things i like to bring up when people try to argue that stephen king is a bad writer. also a good thing to bring up: pop writer does not equal bad writer. stupid people who don't even bother to read his good stuff. GRABBLERABBLEandsuch.
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Stephen King isn't a great writer, merely mediocre. But his storytelling skills are unparalled, which makes all the difference in his perfession and in the minds of readers. You can King me any day.
 
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FilmIck said:
For All Your Dark Tower Needs

An anonymous tell-tale is promising us a whole lot over their new blog. Excitingly, this is somebody contracted to be involved with the entire Dark Tower series of films, the first of which (they say) begins shooting on 22nd June under director JJ Abrams. If the blogger is good to their promise, they should be an incredibly good source for inside info on the film - and eventual sequels.

I'll give you a taster, but there's more on the blog, so do pop over - and tell them who sent you.

Recently, I was signed in a very secretive project after an obscure audition... this has turned out to be so immensely HUGE, I am absolutely floored by it.

Stephen King's Dark Tower series begins filming on June 22nd at Paramount studios in Hollywood. There are so many details that I do NOT know at this point, but I do know that I am contracted for all of the books/films and it is by far the largest budget film series ever to be produced by Hollywood.

I look forward to sharing the experience as well as tidbits of information with those who may read this.
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Interesting. Wonder who's playing who...

Here is the blog by the apparent insider: http://darktowermovie.blogspot.com/
 
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I'm skeptical, but hopeful that J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof are really going to make the best damn movie ever.
 
Reading the books, I am always reminded of Lost. The structure of the show and the novels are much the same, with the characters bouncing back to their past to relate to what is going on now... And the fact that everything is virtually shrowded in subtle veil of mystery that ALWAYS has a huge pay-off by the end of the novel (in Lost's case, an episode). I have faith in Abrams and Lindelof to bring in an awesome interpretation of this series.
 
Just finishing Wastelands, and will probably move on to Wizard & Glass tomorrow...

I'm in a bit of a quandary about whether I should maybe get through at least one or two of the BIG FOUR mentioned by S&P in terms of Tie-Ins before I move from Wizard & Glass to Wolves of Calla.

I think that once I finish the Dark Tower series, I'm going to work through the best of King's work, especially the tie-ins to The Dark Tower... Then in a few years I'll look through the DT series again and it will have more meaning...

We'll See.
 
Finally finished The Shining this morning. It took ****ing forever.

Now back onto The Gunslinger.
 
I'm about in the middle of Wizard and Glass... It's probably my favorite so far as it goes back into Roland's past and explains a lot about his character. You don't get much of that when he interacts with the other characters because he's stoical in a lot of ways... I'm just trying to finish it before the Deathly Hallows is released. Here's hoping. :-D
 
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