The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy

BOOK: The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy
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P
RAISE FOR

The Road to the Dark Tower

“Vincent proves himself a master of the Dark Tower world.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“There's much…literature on Stephen King's work, but most of it can be skipped. Not so with Vincent's
The Road to the Dark Tower
, the first full-length study of King's thirty-year opus, a book-by-book summary with explanations and commentary.”

—Charles N. Brown,
Locus

“Vincent has done yeoman's work here. While
The Road to the Dark Tower
will not be the last word on Roland's quest and the Stephen King Universe, it will undoubtedly be the standard by which all future works on the subject will be judged.”

—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com

“An excellent and maybe even vital guide to King's grand opus.”

—Faren C. Miller,
Locus

The

D
ARK
T
OWER

C
OMPANION

A Guide to Stephen King's Epic Fantasy

BEV VINCENT

N
EW
A
MERICAN
L
IBRARY

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

USA / Canada / UK / Ireland / Australia / New Zealand / India / South Africa / China

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

For more information about the Penguin Group visit penguin.com.

First published by New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Copyright © Bev Vincent, 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Vincent, Bev.

    The Dark Tower companion: a guide to Stephen King's epic fantasy/Bev Vincent.

        p. cm.

    ISBN: 978-1-101-61510-2

    1.  King, Stephen, 1947– Dark tower.   2.  Fantasy fiction, American—History and criticism.   3.  Roland (Fictitious character: King)   I.  Title.

    PS3561.I483D3757 2013

    813'.54—dc23        2012036847

Designed by Spring Hoteling

P
UBLISHER'S
N
OTE

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

For Virginia

T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS

I
NTRODUCTION

W
HAT'S
I
T
A
LL
A
BOUT?

I
NSPIRATION AND
I
NFLUENCES

“T
HE
L
ITTLE
S
ISTERS OF
E
LURIA”

T
HE
G
UNSLINGER
: R
ESUMPTION

T
HE
D
RAWING OF THE
T
HREE
: R
ENEWAL

T
HE
W
ASTE
L
ANDS
: R
EDEMPTION

W
IZARD AND
G
LASS
: R
EGARD

T
HE
W
IND
T
HROUGH THE
K
EYHOLE

W
OLVES OF THE
C
ALLA
: R
ESISTANCE

S
ONG OF
S
USANNAH
: R
EPRODUCTION

T
HE
D
ARK
T
OWER
: R
ESUMPTION

B
OOKS AND
S
TORIES
R
ELATED TO THE
D
ARK
T
OWER

'Salem's Lot

The Stand

The Talisman

Skeleton Crew

It

The Eyes of the Dragon

Insomnia

Rose Madder

Desperation

The Regulators

Bag of Bones

Hearts in Atlantis

The Plant

Black House

From a Buick 8

Everything's Eventual

The Colorado Kid

Ur

Mile 81

11/22/63

A
N
I
NTERVIEW WITH
S
TEPHEN
K
ING

D
ISCORDIA

An Interview with Brian Stark

A Few Words with Robin Furth

T
HE
D
ARK
T
OWER
: T
HE
M
OVIE

An Interview with Ron Howard

An Interview with Akiva Goldsman

T
HE
A
RTWORK OF THE
D
ARK
T
OWER

The Gunslinger

“The Little Sisters of Eluria”

The Drawing of the Three

The Waste Lands

Wizard and Glass

The Wind Through the Keyhole

Wolves of the Calla

Song of Susannah

The Dark Tower

Other Artists

M
ARVEL
G
RAPHIC NOVELS
: T
HE
G
UNSLINGER
B
ORN

Introduction

The Gunslinger Born

The Long Road Home

Treachery

The Sorcerer

Fall of Gilead

Battle of Jericho Hill

M
ARVEL
G
RAPHIC
N
OVELS
: T
HE
G
UNSLINGER

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