Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'

[raphael_is_cool]

Now I've been hearing good things about it and was just looking to see if its for me.

Now I like Westerns, I liked Lord of the Rings and I liked Star Wars - which the series is apparently a mix of. Correct? :P

I don't like books to get too lost in fantasy as opposed to story-telling (eg. Tom Bombadill in LOTR) and I love lots of long-ish story arcs. I've heard there are a few books to the series itself and I'd imagine the whole plot was planned out in advance of putting fingers to keyboard.

It's also interesting to see the comic book series coming out soon and, as that seems to set the scene before the first book even starts, maybe it is worth getting that first. Although, it is not written by King himself and may not be entirely consistent.

So any input is appreciated. Recommendations and such. Cheers.

[discordiatookie]

The books are, without a doubt, my favourite book series ever. And i'm not worried one bit about the comics not being inconsistent to the books, as King himself is putting forward the basic premise, Robin Furth (who King employed to write the Dark Tower Concordance, which is basically like an encylopedia of the DT. She probably knows the world more inside out than King himself ;) ) The concordance was originally for King's personal use for writing the the final 3 books in the series, but was actually published as King thought it was too good not to. Sorry for going off there, but Furth is responsible for the individual story arcs and the issue plotting. Then Jae Lee and Richard Isanove do the art, then both plot and art go to Peter David who does the dialogue. Then, I believe it all goes back to Stephen King who goes over it all, changing whatever he feels doesn't fit in, or whatever. So like I said, its in very safe hands...

There's a Marvel Spotlight special just released, which sheds alot of light on the project, but its very spoiler heavy if you haven't read the books (and I mean, it goes through EVERYTHING!) But I think that you can get the comics and start on them, kind of an introduction to the gunslinger's world. It also has a preview of the first 7 pages of the comic, and interviews with all the good folks working on it...

And if you dont know, there are 7 books, plus one short story (which is kinda long!) in the series. These are:

DT 1 : The Gunslinger
DT 2 : The Drawing of the Three
DT 3 : The Waste Lands
DT 4 : Wizard and Glass
DT 5 : Wolves of the Calla
DT 6 : Song of Susannah
DT 7 : The Dark Tower

and The Little Sisters of Eluria, which can be found in Everything's Eventual (a compilation of short stories).

I won't put up what the books are about, to save from spoilers, plus you can read about them on the back of the books at your local book store:D

Plus, the majority of King's work is linked to the DT, be it through characters, places or even just a little mention. Like they are all part of a bigger plot (hehe the DT!) Here's a few which are directly linked: Hearts in Atlantis, Insomnia, Everything's Eventual (the short story which shares the same name as the title of the book), Salem's Lot, Eyes of the Dragon, The Talisman and Black House (both of which were co-written with Peter Straub.) Most of his other works are too, but not quite as majorly...

[raphael_is_cool]

Cool. Thanks; that was very informative. I'll have to check it out then.