Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. It’s like his Lord of the Rings…but more twisted, post apocalyptic and spaghetti Western themed. It’s fucking amazing. They made a horrible movie out of it a few years back, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface. Is anyone else a Dark Tower fan?
HUGE Dark Tower fan. I’m a Calvin (you’ll find out what that means in book 6 or 7 – I think 7). I must have read some of those books, like #3, a dozen times. Been directly through the series twice. The dichotomy between magic and technology in those books makes for amazing world-building.
What part are you up to?
I tried reading the gunslinger… it didnt happen 
I quit during the 3rd book. It just got too silly for me. I have a friend who really loves those books and even he says it goes absolutely batshit towards the end.
I’m reading Schindler’s List.
I’ve read them all multiple times. I don’t recall the Calvin thing. Currently towards the end of book 2 on this go-round. My absolute favorite (probably of any book ever) is book 4 Wizard and Glass where it dips into Roland’s past. Phenomenal. And I agree the mix of magic and tech is incredible. One day someone will get it right and it’ll make an amazing series of films or Netflix series.
That one’s great. Really sets the tone. End of the day, its an epic fantasy series so if you’re not a fantasy dude it might not click. I love fantasy…I’ve done Lord of the Rings several times as well…probably due for another go round.
It is very weird but its really poignant. Weaves together shit from everything he’s done. If you read the book IT it’s equally bizarre.
Calvins are scholars employed by the Tet Corporation to study Stephen King’s books for any and all references to the Dark Tower. They work out of a ranch in Arizona (New Mexico? it’s bad enough I remember this little detail at all). They’re named after the greedy, obsessive bookseller that Jake meets and befriends in Book 3.
I don’t tend to like King but loved the Gunslinger. Then I read the next two and found as the books got longer my interest got smaller.
I like the man when I read interviews with him but something his books just don’t connect for me.
These days in quarantine as in the rest of life, I read a little Hindu mythology/religious material and a whole lot of Japanese Light Novels, which are the novel equivalent of anime and manga. They’re trashy but I love them and finish one to two a week.
Yeah fantasy really isnt my thing. Dont care one bit about the lord of the rings… reading or watching. Never got into game of thrones. Dragons and knights and elves n shit just isnt my thing.
I do like a fair bit of King though. My absolute favorite is the Talisman. Desperation was quite good too. Hearts in Atlantis was ok. The dark half was not too bad. First King novel i ever read was Christine. I’m sure theres a couple more ive read but i cant think of them right now.
I think what holds my attention with king is his imagery is quite good. And its relevant descriptions. Its not just describing the clock on the wall for the sake of putting words on a page. There’s a reason he describes the stuff that he does in the way in which he does. People call him a junkfood writer but i like him. I think he earns his cash
He definitely earns his cash. I just read “Hearts In Atlantis” a few weeks ago – that first story, “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” is Dark Tower-related (as is much of King’s work; the sequel to The Talisman is explicitly Dark Tower related). Desperation is great, and Christine gets a bad rap because everyone thinks it’s a “haunted car” story when it’s really more of a ghost story.
Try Four Past Midnight. It’s got four short novels, two of which (“The Langoliers” and “Secret Window”) became movies. It’s nice because if one of the novels isn’t catching your attention, you can always jump to the next one. 
Theres a sequel to the talisman? I started reading the black house but i dont think i finished it. Thats the one with “the fisherman” that kills kids, right? There was another one i started too that had all the same characters as another one of his novels but the personalities were different and it was the same kinda situations but the different characters experiencing them… i dont remember what book that was though.
I really liked the first story in hearts in atlantis with the little boy and the stolen bike posters on the community boards but when it turned into pan handling vietnam vet that was an exercise in paying attention to get through it!!!
Ill look into four past midnight but i still got 3 books ive only barely started because ive been doing so much cleaning.
Yeah, “Black House” is a sequel to “The Talisman,” but if you haven’t been reading the Dark Tower novels, don’t bother – you’ll just feel left out when the story’s explanation becomes clear. And yes, that’s the one with the Fisherman.
I actually liked the pan-handling story. The way the stories in that book all interlocked was really quite clever, a variation on his “four novellas” books (“Different Seasons,” “Full Dark No Stars,” the aforementioned “Four Past Midnight”).
You should read one of the Bachman Books. Those were dark as fuck and totally devoid of Tower-related material. My favorite was “Roadwork,” but a lot of people don’t like that one. Try “The Long Walk,” it’s agonizing.
I thought talisman was a bachman book, wasnt it? Sorry didnt see your recommends…
Just looked up the long walk on wiki. Jesus, that sounds interesting and horrible.
Nah, The Talisman was actually a collab between Stephen King and Peter Straub (a more literary kind of horror novelist). A couple of pieces of trivia about King/Bachman:
Thinner was a Bachman book. It was the one that led to the exposure of his pen name. A critic reviewing Thinner said it was “like a Stephen King book, if Stephen King knew how to write.”
Misery was going to be a Bachman book, but King got busted before that could happen. He still occasionally writes under the name Bachman (the cover copy reads “Stephen King as Richard Bachman”), and he credits having had a pen name for most of the ideas in “The Dark Half,” which you read.
The Running Man movie was based on a Bachman book, which enrages me because the two are barely alike, and the book was good enough to have been adapted as a great movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger breaking people in half.
The very first Bachman book was called “Rage” and it’s about a school shooting (yet another thing King predicted). After a bunch of school shooters were found to have had copies of the book in their lockers or homes, King decided to let it go out of print. It was a hard decision for him, because he was weighing children’s safety against free speech. “Rage” is one of the darkest novels King ever wrote and can still be found used (in “The Bachman Books” omnibus). Original copies with the Bachman name go for well over $10,000 on the collector’s market.
Still reading? I’m impressed; thanks.
The regulators is the mirror book to desperation. Same characters but in a parallel universe doing different shit. Too confusing when i was already acquainted with the characters in one reality
Of course im still reading your posts… wtf?!
Pretty funny review of bachman…”if stephen king could write.” Lol
I didnt know about that rage book or that school shooters were using it.
Heheheh, I didn’t think you were skipping my posts, just thought I was pulling a TL;dr move.
I just found an old kuba kuba in my cabinet. Probably three years old or more at this point. Im smoking it right now. Forgot all about this brand its really fuckin’ good. still smooth and tasty after being dried out after all these years
2 Likes