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99th out of 101 books
—
10 voters
The Road to the Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King's Magnum Opus
by
Bev Vincent
In 1970, Stephen King embarked on what would become the crowning achievement in his literary career-the Dark Tower. The seven-volume series, written and published over a period of 30 years, was inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone.
With the ful...more
With the ful...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
September 28th 2004
by NAL Trade
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This is what you do, Steve King, turning readers into Tower junkies. Well, I was ready to dive back into the series the moment I turned the last page of The Wind Through the Keyhole, holding back was just too hard. I also knew that one could miss many details while reading such an epic story, so I picked this book, and guess what? There were a lot of pieces in the puzzle I have never noticed or haven't been able to put in place while reading. Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower helped me fi...more
I read this in pretty much a sitting on the way back from the World Horror Convention in Texas, where I picked up a copy from the author. I'm a huge fan of King's epic seven part series, my main reason for picking the book up, but really didn't know what to expect from this. I was disappointed, in the end. Though well written, the book is more summary than exploration. I suppose if you hadn't understood the books in the first place, the chapter long synopses of each novel might be useful, but ot...more
Indispensable for anyone who has just finished the series, this companion piece answers most questions and fills in any gaps you might have upon completion. Especially important for me are the connections of Dark Tower elements to other King works I was unfamiliar with. There are explanations of each of his other books having relations to DT, so I was able to get the whole picture of "Hearts in Atlantis" and "Insomnia," since I haven't read those but feature characters who appear in DT. I skippe...more
I enjoyed this book. Certainly easier to read than the Dark Tower concordances. Well written and well researched, the author does an excellent job of summarizing and highlighting the parts of the Dark Tower series (seven books) while illuminating key facts one might miss while reading this opus. Helps tie things together and even mentions some concepts not everyone will pick-up during a first read-through. I found some of the sections repetative but still interesting and useful as a whole.
I was expecting a lot more scholarship out of this book than I was given. Instead of analysis of the books, readers are given huge chunks of summary, which would be more bearable if the summary occasionally offered insight. As it stands, I can't think of any reason to recommend this book.
Overall, this is an excellent companion, probably most helpful after one has read the Dark Tower series. The strengths of the book are its demonstrations of ways the series (inter-)connects with King's other writings and its character studies near the end. The weak part is that some of the book is merely a streamlined retelling of the series, although I do admit it's helpful to get a bird's view and the author makes keen observations in the process.
This book would probably only be valuable to th...more
This book would probably only be valuable to th...more
Had to read this after reading the series and was not disappointed. The author saved me from rereading all the books (I am actually reading "The Gunslinger" again) and taking a lot of notes.... A lot of things became much clearer, some things surprised me.
I think this is a great supplement to read after (!!!!) the series, again thanks Tiffany!
I think this is a great supplement to read after (!!!!) the series, again thanks Tiffany!
A good read for us DT/King fans. Vincent has put a lot of work into this. The novel summaries were a bit lengthy and not as interesting as the other chapters, but they did provide some insightful observations. Overall It was worth it. I just wish I could erase DT from my mind and read it for the first time again.
One of the first purchases I made on my kindle. Love King. Love The Dark Tower books. This is a fabulous read, which I recommend highly if you are a fan.
It's a good reference book if nothing else. I did pick up a few theories (none I can remember off the top of my head) that didn't occur to me while reading the series originally. But I'm still disappointed with the series overall.
This is an amazing analysis of Stephen King's epic series.
Not much to say here, as this book speaks for itself. This is a solid overview and exploration of The Dark Tower as a whole, and it was nice to revisit the series in cliff note form. Highly recommended to any fan of DT, though any self respecting fan would already know that.
Lots of great insight into the Dark Tower series.
Some excellent analysis of books, characters, and themes. A must for DT diehards, may it do ya.
Looking for a way to revisit Roland and his ka-tet without reading the entire 4000 pages of The Dark Tower series?
Read The Wind Through the Keyhole.
Then here is the place to go. It's a great overview to the characters and story of King's masterpiece.
Do not read this book unless you have finished all8 7 Dark Tower books. It will spoil it, otherwise.
Then here is the place to go. It's a great overview to the characters and story of King's masterpiece.
Do not read this book unless you have finished all
1 like · like · see review
Before Stephen King published Carrie, he had started work on 'The Dark Tower' and then put it to one side. This book tells us the story of The Dark Tower and how it influenced the other stories of Stephen King. An enjoyable read for fans of Stephen King.
As a precursor to Vincent's newer Dark Tower Companion this book offer tons of great information for fans of the DT saga. A great reference tool and is a quick read in and of itself. No King library should go without it.
I found this to be very well written, much more so than Robin Furth's Concordance. It enhanced my enjoyment for the series, and BV provided many insights to the DT series as well as King's related works.
A fascinating and exhaustive reference for any fan of the Dark Tower series. I really enjoyed all the endnotes that led to a richer understanding of all of the DT novels.
Sep 16, 2007
Gina
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those who truly loved and appreciated the Dark Tower series
This is the book I wish I'd written. Actually, I really think I could have if I was more motivated and not such a scatterbrain.
A must read for any one who is interested in learning all there is to know about The Dark Tower series.
I read that comic & now I got a Dark Tower jones. What can I say?
Jan 11, 2012
Maria
marked it as to-read
Can't wait to read this one.
May 21, 2013
Mike Logsdon
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2013
Yvonne
marked it as to-read
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Aug 09, 2011 04:29pm