What books should I read before The Dark Tower?

Cafe Society
1

I’ve recently started reading The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I know he decided (between books 2 and 3, I believe) that all of his novels occur in the same universe, but are there particular books that I should read first in order to understand what’s going on in The Dark Tower.

I just finished reading Wizard and Glass, which has several references to The Stand, although maybe not enough that reading The Stand is absolutely necessary. I did see the miniseries several years ago, which I think gave me enough information.

Now I’m reading Wolves of Calla, which I believe has ties to Salem’s Lot or possibly the short story Jerusalem’s Lot. Is the novel a fleshing out of the short story, or are they completely unrelated. Is King throwing in the reference to be clever, or would reading (Jeru)Salem’s Lot give me any insight into what’s going on in this book?

What other books have substantial ties to The Dark Tower series, and which should be read before and which should be read after?

Also, don’t tell me how disappointing the ending of the series is. I want to be surprised. :wink:

2

You can read the entire Dark Tower books, and you’ll be fine, but if you want, Insomnia is a good read, as well as the Talisman and Black House (which are themselves a book and it’s sequel) do give a bit of background stuff.

3

I think the most important ones are Salem’s Lot, Insomnia, and Hearts in Atlantis because they all contain characters who play significant roles in the Dark Tower. They’re more important than The Talisman and Black House, even, because those two primarily are a connection of place rather than character. I may be biased though because I think Black House is a pitiful excuse for a sequel to one of the most interesting horror-fantasy books written in the past 40 years.

4

[QUOTE=elfkin477]
I may be biased though because I think Black House is a pitiful excuse for a sequel to one of the most interesting horror-fantasy books written in the past 40 years.
[/QUOTE]

I’ll second that. The Tailsman rocked. Black House, eh.

About the ending of the Dark Tower series, I am in the minority in that I think it is a perfect ending. It took me a bit to come around to that conclusion but after re-reading the series I think the ending fit well.

Slee

5

Coincidentally I just bought The Gunslinger a couple days ago and am also taking the first stab at the Dark Tower myself.

I’ve read The Stand (one of my favorite books of all time) and Salem’s Lot so I’ll be interested to see the overlap.

Hopefully the stories translate well enough without reading the others.

6

20+ year DT fan here. I’ll second the books the others have mentioned already, but here’s the thing. Storywise, plotwise, the Dark Tower books stand mostly on their own when compared to King’s other works. But I find a similarity here between him and my other favorite author, one professor JRR Tolkien, in that pretty much EVERYTHING has some connection to the DT world. It’s not really essential to read all (or any) of his other books to enjoy the DT story, but if you do choose to read it all, then you’ll “get” the picture much sharper and clearer. It and Eyes of the Dragon are two very different books with different feels to them, much like the Hobbit and the Silmarillion are different from each other, and different from the LOTR. (Before anyone Pits me, I’m not in the least comparing the literary greatness of these two fine writers, merely their love and devotion to the “big picture” of their respective works.)

7

I’m re-listening to DT as an audiobook right now; in fact, I’m starting Wizard and Glass today (probably my least favorite of the series).

I don’t think you need bother with any of the other books, but if you haven’t read Salem’s Lot or The Stand, you’d probably enjoy them on their own merits. The Stand in particular is one of Steve’s most highly regarded books.

The ending of DT is the only possible and righteous ending.

8

[QUOTE=Dung Beetle]
I’m re-listening to DT as an audiobook right now; in fact, I’m starting Wizard and Glass today (probably my least favorite of the series).

I don’t think you need bother with any of the other books, but if you haven’t read Salem’s Lot or The Stand, you’d probably enjoy them on their own merits. The Stand in particular is one of Steve’s most highly regarded books.

The ending of DT is the only possible and righteous ending.
[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I’m partway through Wolves of the Calla (you know, I’m mostly okay with the change of readers, with the main exception that I hate Oy’s new voice). The Dark Tower series is one of my very favorites. I’ve listened to the audio books probably half a dozen times.

You don’t really need to read either Insomnia or Hearts in Atlantis–I read SK’s stuff voraciously through high school and haven’t read much he’s published in the last eight or ten years except the DT books. I get a lot of the more subtle connections, the one-phrase cameos, but didn’t know anything about the background of the Insomnia or Hearts characters that end up playing actual roles when I read the DT books. I did read Insomnia when it first came out, but hated it so much I completely erased it from my memory and refused to go back and read it again, even with the DT connection.

Salem’s Lot isn’t a necessary read with the Tower series, unless you like the connected character and want to know more about where he came from. I’m trying to decide how to phrase this without spoilers and the best I can do is that you’d learn a little, but nothing that’s in any way necessary to your understanding of the Tower books in and of themselves. If you’re the sort of reader that loves the fleshing out of characters it might add to your enjoyment, but it’s not like there’s a bunch of information purposely missing from the DT books to be found in Salem’s Lot–does that make sense?

Also, I’m with Dung Beetle in regards to the ending. Dung Beetle–I hated the lead-up to it (elaboration below)

I felt like I’d spent months with friends, only to have the climax of the journey be about a bunch of one-dimensional small-role cartoon characters. See also: Dandelo. WTF? I hated that the Crimson King was nothing more than a videogame miniboss defeated by that stupid no-tongue pencil kid while Roland pew-pew-pew’ed the Sneeches.
Also, I really, really detest the whole Mia/Mordred thing and have actually trimmed her entire story arc out of the MP3s so that my audio version goes complete through the end of Wolves of the Calla, then book 6 is like: “Mia’s pregnant” “Entire rest of the book” “Mia gives birth” because that’s pretty much all I need to know on that subject. However, the interactions with John in Maine are some of my very favorite moments in the entire series.
But as far as the actual ending itself goes, I’m with you. I’ve listened to it half a dozen times and it still gets me every time.

Oh! And I was actually thinking about starting a DT fan-nerd thread the other day because I have a question about something Roland said towards the end of Wizard and Glass.

When they watch the scene of Roland’s matricide, he tells them about the bloodstained belt with his initials. He goes on to say that he wore the belt for many years, and that the story of how he lost it has a great bearing on his quest for the tower. Does he ever actually tell this story? I don’t think he does but figure I might have missed a connection somewhere.

9

Naja, I don’t know the belt story and I’ve read all the King available. It’s been a while since I’ve gone through the Tower books though. I’m interested to see what Guidall does when I get to the next book (I’ve read them but never heard them). It’s a shame to lose Frank Muller’s Oy!

My favorite is Drawing of the Three; from time to time I read that one on its own. As for your spoilered points about the lead-up…yeah, I can’t agree more. One of my reasons for listening to the series this time instead of reading it is to get a slightly different experience, which will hopefully help me come to grips with some of the stuff I just didn’t like, though I see it hasn’t worked for you! :slight_smile:

10

Wow, I’m working through the Dark Tower audiobooks as we speak too. I’m on the very last book.

I agree it’s a shame to lose Frank Muller. :frowning: I was miffed at having to listen to Guidall, who’s not bad but he can’t do Eddie’s accent like Muller could, but there’s an author’s note at the end of Wolves regarding the changeover from King himself. It wasn’t a voluntary choice to switch to Guidall. :frowning:

I’ve been utterly entranced by the series so far, and I’ve never been interested in King’s work before. I don’t like horror, and I was surprised at how little horror is really in the Tower series.

My friend, who’s a King fanatic, had me listen to Talisman and Black House between Wizard and Glass and Wolves. She also wanted me to read Hearts in Atlantis, but I didn’t get the chance. I’m glad she pushed me to do so, the Talisman was extremely good.

11

[QUOTE=Bosstone]
I agree it’s a shame to lose Frank Muller. :frowning: I was miffed at having to listen to Guidall, who’s not bad but he can’t do Eddie’s accent like Muller could,
[/QUOTE]

Ha! You know, I knew that Eddie was from New York, but it had somehow never occurred to me that he would have that accent! I was surprised as could be when he first spoke.

I love Guidall, but I don’t think he does female voices all that well. They all turn out sounding whiny, IMO.

12

[QUOTE=Dung Beetle]
Ha! You know, I knew that Eddie was from New York, but it had somehow never occurred to me that he would have that accent! I was surprised as could be when he first spoke.

I love Guidall, but I don’t think he does female voices all that well. They all turn out sounding whiny, IMO.
[/QUOTE]

Or a little mannish. I like his Roland very much but dislike his Susannah, and of course Oy–low and gruff in Muller’s as the book describes, high and squeaky for Guidall. I liked Muller’s Eddie very much, but thought many of the minor characters sounded suspiciously like they’d grown up on the same street as Eddie. :wink:
The spoilered bit about the parts I most enjoy from book 6, a huge part of that is Guidall’s voice acting. That character is perfect for my mental image. :slight_smile:

13

Yeah, **Insomnia ** has a lot of DT cross-pollination, but it is a terrible, painful read. Bottom 5 for King, for sure. **Hearts in Atlantis ** on the other hand is a very good read and I highly recommend it.

Both **The Stand ** and **'Salem’s Lot ** are excellent. Especially The Stand, which is one of the best things I’ve ever read.

But none of these is *essential * for enjoying the **Dark Tower ** series.

If you are really interested there is a large tome put out by Cemetary Dance called the **Stephen King Universe ** that documents and explains all the references or potential references to the world that is the “Dark Tower” in all of King’s works.

And the series ending is perfect. Better than somthing like, “Oh, the ultimate evil is a giant spider that can be thwarted by child sex!” :rolleyes:

14

Thanks for all the responses. Actually, the reason I started the Dark Tower series was because I was about to read Insomnia and I heard it was tied in. One more question: is it better to read Insomnia and Hearts of Atlantis first to get a better idea of what’s going on in The Dark Tower or to read Dark Tower first to get a better idea of what’s going on in the other two books. I’m going to read them all regardless.

[QUOTE=Omniscient]
Coincidentally I just bought The Gunslinger a couple days ago and am also taking the first stab at the Dark Tower myself.
[/QUOTE]

Don’t give up if you don’t like The Gunslinger. I didn’t really like it and didn’t see that the story had any point (ymmv). I kept going anyway, and the next few books seemed to have more of a plot. I’m enjoying it now.

15

[QUOTE=Nuveena]
Don’t give up if you don’t like The Gunslinger. I didn’t really like it and didn’t see that the story had any point (ymmv). I kept going anyway, and the next few books seemed to have more of a plot. I’m enjoying it now.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I read King’s introduction to the book and he basically said the same thing, that The Gunslinger wasn’t his best work and it was written when he was 19 and he had to go back and make a lot of edits to improve the flow in this version of the book. Thankfully it’s a short book, and so far I’ve found it to be fairly tolerable, though sometimes unnecessarily oblique.

16

[QUOTE=Nuveena]
Thanks for all the responses. Actually, the reason I started the Dark Tower series was because I was about to read Insomnia and I heard it was tied in. One more question: is it better to read Insomnia and Hearts of Atlantis first to get a better idea of what’s going on in The Dark Tower or to read Dark Tower first to get a better idea of what’s going on in the other two books. I’m going to read them all regardless.
[/QUOTE]
If you’re going to read all the books regardless, I recommend you read Insomnia and Hearts In Atlantis (and Salem’s Lot, if you ever plan to pick it up) before you read the last three dark tower books. IMHO you’re better off knowing the characters from those books before you encounter them in the dark tower because they all appear in DT after their stories in the other novels.

17

[QUOTE=Nuveena]
Don’t give up if you don’t like The Gunslinger. I didn’t really like it and didn’t see that the story had any point (ymmv). I kept going anyway, and the next few books seemed to have more of a plot. I’m enjoying it now.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I think of the first book as something of a “prequel” to the rest. It’s an intro to Roland and his quest, but doesn’t have what you’d call a really compelling plot, or anything.

18

[QUOTE=elfkin477]
IMHO you’re better off knowing the characters from those books before you encounter them in the dark tower because they all appear in DT after their stories in the other novels.
[/QUOTE]

Agreed.

19

I guess I should probably get whatever books come after Wolves of Calla since that’s all I’m up to.

Much like freekalette, I started reading them 20+ years ago. The weird thing about reading a series of books over that long a period of time is that you remember the first book as a middle schooler differently as you might remember the last book as an adult.

20

Forgot to mention another thing that surprised me about the audiobook version of The Gunslinger: It’s different from the paper copy I own. As far as I can tell the revision consisted of

going back and sticking in a bunch of references to the number nineteen, which doesn’t seem to me to be much of an improvement.