There are people who likeStephen Kingbooks, and then there are his hardcore Constant Readers, but there are certain books you must read to be considered part of the latter group and truly get him as an author. King’soeuvreis extensive; as one of the most prolific modern authors - truly, one of the most prolific authors, period -Stephen King’s booksand stories are ubiquitous, whether on the page or on the screen.
Stephen King has been writing books for decades, one of those writers who has been around for so long and who has been so influential that he’s a permanent, load-bearing fixture of pop culture. Like Shakespeare, virtually everyone has at least some sort of passing familiarity with the King of Horror, and, as such, it’s easy for even those casually acquainted with his work to believe they know what he’s all about.
Yet, it’s precisely because King’s bibliography is so vast and varied that it’s not possible to understand him on a fundamental level from reading a mere handful of his books. There’s a reason entire college courses have been built around his work; there’s just that much of it to explore. To truly gain an in-depth understanding of the author, none of his works are more important thanThe Dark Towerseries, the central pillar upon which everything else rests.
It’s Usually Not The Other Way Around
When you ask a person what Stephen King books they’ve read, more casual to moderate readers usually name the obvious ones:Carrie,Misery,Cujo,It,The Stand, and other classics tend to be at the top of the list. Others have branched out a little more, while more recent newcomers may have hopped into the Stephen King river in his true crime era, starting with King’s Holly Gibney and Bill Hodges books.
The Holly Gibney universe is Stephen King’s second-biggest universe afterThe Dark Tower.
With us being in a bit of a Stephen King renaissance, thanks to Hollywood mining his stories for movie and TV adaptations, brand-new audiences are also checking out his books for the first time. This year alone,The Monkey,The Life of Chuck,The Running Man, andThe Long Walkare all getting or have gotten movie adaptations, while on TV,The InstituteandWelcome to Derryare also in the pipeline for later this year.
More people than ever are picking up their first Stephen King book after watching those adaptations, which is fantastic. Yet, with a career that spans six decades, almost 70 books, and hundreds of short stories, it can be intimidating to know where to begin with King. So, most people gravitate toward his standalone classics mentioned above, but steer clear ofThe Dark Tower.
With a career that spans six decades, almost 70 books, and hundreds of short stories, it can be intimidating to know where to begin with King.
While the standalones are fine, they don’t give the full impact of King’s writing or his world. That requires readingThe Dark Towerseries. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly rare for someone to have readThe Dark Towerseries but not King’s other books, rather than the other way around.
The Dark Tower Ties Together Stephen King’s Multiverse
The Central Hub Holds Everything Together
Of course, this is simply my personal experience, but I can’t count the times I’ve curiously asked someone what King books they’ve read, and they say they “love” his stories - and they do - but they’ve never touchedThe Dark Tower. It pains me a bit each time for a few reasons.
First, it’s just a fantastic series. It’s a true epic in every sense of the word and unlike anything else out there, a blend of Western, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, metaphysics, fate, destiny, Arthurian legend, and more. Even if you’re not trying to become steeped in Stephen King lore, you owe it to yourself to read simply for how great it is on its own. It’s that unique in its characters and worldbuilding.
But it also disappoints me every time I hear it, because if you don’t readThe Dark Towerbooks, you’re missing out on the very core of what binds together Stephen King’s ethos as an author. Longtime King fans know this, and even some of his more casual readers, but plenty of people still don’t: his work always flows back to theDark Towerseries, the linchpin of his literary universe.
In the world ofThe Dark Tower, it is the titular title that is the focal hub of the multiverse. Each floor is a different universe, and the tower itself is held up by beams of energy. Primordial villain, the Crimson King, seeks to destroy the tower and throw the multiverse into chaos, aided by Stephen King’s ultimate villain, Randall Flagg. Meanwhile, Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger and a force for the White, seeks to find and protect the Dark Tower, aided by his allies.
You Can’t Truly Understand Stephen King If You Don’t Understand The Dark Tower
It’s His Magnum Opus
It’s more than just the fact that the Dark Tower holds King’s literary universe together, in the lore of his world. It’s also that more than half of the author’s career has been tied to its story in some way, his mind constantly returning to it again and again. That much is proven by the fact thatdozens of King’s short stories and novels tie intoThe Dark Tower. Even when he wasn’t writing aDark Towerstory, it often turned into one.
Even when he wasn’t writing aDark Towerstory, it often turned into one.
The way King has been so immersed in the world of the tower over the decades shows it’s been more than a desire to expand the world, driving King; it’s been an obsession. Over the years, it became not just a story, but an extension of himself as an author. After all, there’s a reason he wrote himself into the final few books in the main series as a character in an act that was both metacommentary and also a manifestation of just how intertwined he’d become with the world.
The Dark Toweris, unquestionably, Stephen King’s magnum opus, his life’s work. Because of this, how much of himself he put into the world - a world he may never leave, judging by King’s announcement ofThe Talisman 3- it’s literally impossible to fully understand his world or his philosophy as an author without readingThe Dark Tower. It begins and ends there forStephen King, and it should be no different for any reader who really wants to get what he’s all about.
