The Sword and Laser discussion
Reading the Dark Tower without reading any other King books
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Hey, Brandon if you go to the Stephen King group here on Goodreads, there is a thread in there that connects all the Dark Towers books to other Stephen King books, but I got to warn you there are spoilers.
I've read the whole Dark Tower series and some of the other books and while connected they are not needed to enjoy the Dark Tower series. Read the Dark Tower and enjoy it then go back and read the other books if you want. I enjoyed The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon very much and had read them before picking up the Dark Tower but had not found I needed them in any way.
Its not a matter of missing things or not understanding characters in the core 7 (8 soon) books. King worked hard to make sure you got what you needed there. Its a matter of realizing a theme or idea or person briefly mentioned in a book you read 10-15-20 years ago has become relevant again as King makes a reference to it. I believe one of the biggies in Wolves is that a character we came to love and were very worried about at the end of Salems Lot is a major player in the Calla. If you are the kind of reader who cares how many other rings there were besides the One Ring, read them all, check the by the author page in your book, everything in bold ties in somehow. The fact is, if you enjoy King enough to travel this far with Roland and the gang, you will probably enjoy these books as well, and can read them looking for the easter eggs King buried along his whole career.
Right, when he said callahan of the lot, i knew it was the same character. That is a big tie in, and to an excellent book, but as Tom mentioned in the podcast, he struggled through a book he didn't like for very little reward in dark tower means.Does the guide on the King group include how much of a tie in the book is? For example i know at some point there is a creature that is the same type as IT, and that is the only cross over between worlds. They are not the same character, only the same species.
So as a dark tower fan, but not necessarily a big King fan, i wouldn't read "IT" for that.
See you just ruled out reading what i consider King's best book. Amazing story with extraordinary world building, great insight on childhood. Can you give me hint where the It creature is, i didnt remember that at all. While shapeshifters are not uncommon in King land i thought It was unique. Its been a few years since i read the last three books, i might go through them again and would like to look out for that. You should look up the RF initials as well to understand the significance of those... Tom may not have liked Salem's Lot but its a fast fun read and King's homage to Stoker so maybe just grab it from the library some day, you might like if u like things that go slurp in the night
I think the Dark Tower series can be enjoyed without the 'side books', although obviously you'd get more references if you're a King completist. I'm not, myself; I've read most of his early output but went off him in his mid period when I thought his books got way too long, self referential and sometimes self-indulgent (a charge which can be fairly made of the DT series occasionally). The Callahan reference is one of the few i got (along with the turtle). I'm with Halbot; I'd recommend It regardless. My favourite King book by far.
Halbot42 wrote: "See you just ruled out reading what i consider King's best book. Amazing story with extraordinary world building, great insight on childhood. Can you give me hint where the It creature is, i didn..."Dandelo in book 7.
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Just to be clear, I liked Salem's Lot fine. It was insomnia that made me go mad with impatience at times.
Im frankly stunned i missed that It reference in book 7. Just reread the section in question and of course the stuttering bill refenece was there too just in case i was totally oblivious. I guess the first time i was just reading so fast to find out what the end held that i assumed he was another spidery shapeshifter like Mordred and missed the clown thing too, thanks for mentioning that Brandon, i still recommend It
Plus IT contains the most information we ever get about the Turtle (which still isn't much). It's also one of the reasons I'm so disappointed with the later Dark Tower books -- Pennywise and the Turtle are so cosmic in IT, downright Lovecraftian, while the Dark Tower novels make them more prosaic. It's like the way the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game codifies all the monsters of Lovecraft, defines hierarchies and relationships, and in the process completely strips the mystery that makes the mythos so much fun.
Sean wrote: "Codifies all the monsters of Lovecraft, defines hierarchies and relationships, and in the process completely strips the mystery that makes the mythos so much fun."Like science.
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
The Eyes of the Dragon (other topics)The Stand (other topics)
Tom mentioned the crimson king in the podcast, and there has barely been a mention of that up to now. It seems like a small thing to gain in exchange for reading 10 more books to an already massive series.
If someone has read all the tie-ins it would be nice to know if there is a bigger cross-over...