Do You Agree?

Few things are more annoying than reading a book series and discovering partway through that you’ve missed a novel or read some of the books in the wrong order.

The annoyance festers when you think the series is complete, and then you find another book that belongs somewhere in the middle.

And what about the series that would be more enjoyable or understandable if you were to read other books that relate to it and that could be considered part of the storyline?

Enter Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Series

This post will help you sort through any confusion you might encounter on your dark journey with the gunslinger and The Dark Man — who came to life in the dark recesses of Mr. King’s mind.

The books listed in the next section are available at most online retailers (hardcover, paperback, eBook, audio), including:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.ca
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.com.au
• Amazon.in
• Apple Books
• Barnes & Noble
• Chapters/Indigo
• Google Play
• Kobo
• Smashwords
• Target
• Walmart

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

The titles preceded by Roman numerals are available in The Dark Tower 8-Book Boxed Set. However, other novels by Stephen King complement the series. You’ll pick them out easily, because they’re underlined.

Book blurbs come from Stephen King’s website.

Suggested Reading Order for The Dark Tower Series

• Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Concordance: Although this book is in the boxed set, I recommend that you purchase the concordance separately. It’s easier to find what you need with a paperback concordance, even if you read the main series as eBooks.
• Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales: This anthology contains “The Little Sisters of Eluria,” available as a short story. I suggest you read the other thirteen stories and save Little Sisters until last, before continuing with the following books. Alternatively, it could be read after The Gunslinger.
• I The Gunslinger: The opening chapter in the epic Dark Tower series. Roland, the last gunslinger, in a world where time has moved on, pursues his nemesis, The Man in Black, across a desert. Roland’s ultimate goal is the Dark Tower, the nexus of all universes. This mysterious icon’s power is failing, threatening everything in existence.
• II The Drawing of the Three: Part II of an epic saga. Roland, the last gunslinger, encounters three mysterious doorways on the beach. Each one enters into a different person living in New York. Through these doorways, Roland draws the companions who will assist him on his quest to save the Dark Tower.
• III The Waste Lands: Part III of an epic saga. Roland and his companions, Eddie and Susannah Dean, find the Path of the Beam that will lead them to the Dark Tower. Along the way, Roland adds two new members to his ka-tet (a group united for a specific purpose). In the decaying city of Lud, they encounter new dangers, including a sentient train that has gone insane.
• The Stand: One man escapes from a biological weapon facility after an accident, carrying with him the deadly virus known as Captain Tripps, a rapidly mutating flu that — in the ensuing weeks — wipes out most of the world’s population. In the aftermath, survivors choose between following an elderly black woman to Boulder or the dark man, Randall Flagg, who has set up his command post in Las Vegas. The two factions prepare for a confrontation between the forces of good and evil.
• IV Wizard and Glass: Part IV of an epic quest. Roland the Gunslinger and his followers have to contend with a sentient monorail intent on killing itself and taking them with it. While seeking to return to the Path of the Beam that will lead them to the Dark Tower, Roland tells his friends a story about the tragic loss of his first love, Susan Delgado.
• IV-1/2 The Wind Through the Keyhole: We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two — and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past.
• ’Salem’s Lot: Author Ben Mears returns to ’Salem’s Lot to write a book about a house that has haunted him since childhood only to find his isolated hometown infested with vampires. While the vampires claim more victims, Mears convinces a small group of believers to combat the undead.
• V Wolves of the Calla: After escaping the perilous wreckage of Blaine the insane Mono and eluding the evil clutches of the vindictive sorcerer Randall Flagg, Roland and his ka-tet find themselves back on the southeasterly path of the Beam. Here, in the borderlands that lie between Mid-World and End-World, Roland and his friends are approached by a frightened band of representatives from the nearby town of Calla Bryn Sturgis.
• VI Song of Susannah: Susannah, now pregnant, has yet another taking control of her. The demon-mother, Mia, uses Susannah and Black Thirteen to transport to New York City of 1999. Jake, Oy, and Pere Callahan must rescue Susannah while Eddie and Roland transport to the Maine of 1977. A vacant lot in New York is the prize that must be saved and ties these together.
• Insomnia: Since his wife died, Ralph Roberts has been having trouble sleeping. Each night he awakens a little earlier until he’s barely sleeping at all. During his late night vigils and walks, he observes some strange things going on in Derry, Maine. He sees colored ribbons streaming from people’s heads. He witnesses two strange little men wandering the city under cover of night. He begins to suspect that these visions are something more than hallucinations brought about by sleep deprivation. Ralph and his friend, widow Lois Chasse, become enmeshed in events of cosmic significance.
• VII The Dark Tower: Roland’s ka-tet is reunited, but not without cost. The last episode of the story takes them on the final stretch of their journey to The Dark Tower. Though they have rescued Susannah, there are still enemies who must be dealt with along the way and who could be their ultimate destruction. Constant readers will recognize characters from past books, who like the ka-tet, have found themselves caught in the spider’s web spun by the Crimson King? Gan? Questions are answered and others asked. The journey is long and ka is but a wheel.

Stephen King Is a Prolific Writer

He has published more than 60 novels.

If The Dark Tower series is your first exposure to his writing, it should stimulate your appetite for more immersive tales by The King of Horror.