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The Dark Tower (series)

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For other uses of The Dark Tower, see The Dark Tower (disambiguation).

"The Dark Tower" painting by Michael Whelan
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"The Dark Tower" painting by Michael Whelan
The Dark Tower is a fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western themed series of novels by the American writer Stephen King. The series has been described as King's magnum opus - besides the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. As was announced in April 2006, the series will be adapted into a comic book miniseries spin-off to be published by Marvel Comics, scripted by Peter David, colored by Richard Isanove, written by Robin Furth and illustrated by Jae Lee.[link]

The series was inspired by the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning and The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. In the preface to the 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as inspirations, identifying Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as one of the geneses of Roland of Gilead.

The central character, Roland, is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own and yet bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing the magical powers and relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest, his raison d'être, is to find the Dark Tower, a mythical building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though events in later installments shed light on these mysteries.

In many ways, this series can be viewed as King's statement of the world he portrays in many of his other novels. Terminology such as Ka-tet and the Tower itself appear in other novels (principally Insomnia), Can-toi is mentioned in Desperation, and the theme of a thin world with outside beings seeking to enter and rule it, is an updated version of a similar theme that Lovecraft built his mythos upon. The mention of the two evil corporations, the Sombra Corporation and North Central Positronics, could be viewed as a statement about our world's need to 'ruin' the world with our focus on materialism.

King himself has also stated in the revised version of The Gunslinger that an inspiration for the saga was The Lord of the Rings. This can be seen in the naming of the locations, such as the name Mid-World taking inspiration from Middle-Earth, the all seeing grandiose eye of the main antagonist always looming over the horizon much like the eye of Sauron, and the creation of a unique culture and language much like Tolkien did with the Elvish language in his saga. Some, however, would say that this is ignoring the literary and collective-unconscious's grip on those archetypes.

Contents

Characters in the series

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Protagonists

Roland Deschain

Roland Deschain by Phil Hale for Dark Tower II: Drawing of The Three
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Roland Deschain by Phil Hale for Dark Tower II: Drawing of The Three

Roland Deschain, son of Steven Deschain, was born in the fictional Land of Gilead. Roland is the last gunslinger, charged with finding the Dark Tower (it is unclear if the hope of reversing the erosion of time and the universe that may be solved upon finding it is actually a goal of Roland's or if it is simply finding the Tower he cares about). This quest is obsession, monomania and geas to Roland: the success of the quest is more important than the life of his loved ones, family and friends. He is a man who lacks much imagination, and this is one of the stated reasons for his survival against all odds: He can't imagine anything other then surviving to find the Tower.

As the series opens, he is chasing Walter o'Dim, aka the Man in Black, across the seemingly endless Mohaine Desert. He finds Jake Chambers, an 11-year-old boy from 1977 New York City, at a way station and befriends him. Jake was walking down the street one day when someone pushed him under a Cadillac, then he woke up at a way-station in Mid-World and was found soon after by the gunslinger. Roland's relationship with Jake in The Gunslinger defines his personality: He can be friendly but is usually distant; he is wise and skilled but ignorant of our ways; he has no real sense of humor and is noble. However, he fails Jake: when confronted with the choice of saving Jake, who is dangling from a railroad trestle above an abyss, or finally confronting the Man in Black, he lets Jake fall. He catches up with Walter, the Man in Black, who tells Roland's fortune using some sort of Tarot cards during a very long palaver. Roland falls unconscious, to finally wake up (seemingly significantly aged) next to what seems to be Walter's skeleton. He makes his way to a beach, where he is attacked by a swarm of bizarre lobster creatures (called lobstrosities, portmanteau of lobster and monstrosity). One of these creatures catchs an exhausted Roland sleeping and devours the top two fingers (the index & middle finger) of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot. These wounds become infected from the lobstrosities' toxic venom and Roland begins to fall gravely ill.

He eventually recruits a new ka-tet for himself from a set of doors he finds along the beach, and heals his body as well with medicines from the other side. By the end of the 7th book, however, his ka-tet is either dead or gone, leaving him to climb the Tower on his own. And at the top, he finds...himself. Siguls or signs of his past life are scattered in various rooms. He walks through that final door (engraved on it is his own name) only to find to his horror that it opens up into the Mohaine Desert, sending him back to do his quest all over again like countless times before. His memory is wiped, he is made young again, and his fingers and guns are returned to him whole. The Tower, however, seeing that Roland has progressed so well from a soulless killer to a man of compassion for those who need him, gives him the Horn of Eld, an heirloom he lost long ago, as a symbol that perhaps things will be different next time he reaches the Tower. And so, "the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

Eddie Dean

Eddie makes his debut in The Drawing of the Three, in which Roland encounters three doors that open into New York City of our world in different times. Through these doors, Roland draws companions who will join him on his quest, as the Man In Black foretold. The first to be drawn is Eddie Dean, a drug addict and a first-time cocaine transporter. Eddie lived with his older brother and fellow junkie Henry, whom Eddie revered despite the corrupting influence Henry had upon his life. Roland helps Eddie fight off a gang of mobsters for whom he was transporting the cocaine, but not before Eddie discovers that Henry has died from an overdose of heroin in the company of the aforementioned mobsters (after which the mobsters decide to chop off Henry's head). It is because of Eddie's heroin addiction that he is termed 'The Prisoner', and that is what is written upon the door from which Roland draws him.

Roland also acquires medicine for his infection during the trip to Eddie's world, but this only temporarily quells the fever.

Eddie passes through the door into Roland's world, and faces the typically horrible withdrawal symptoms, but also shows an affinity for the ways of the gunslinger. Unwillingly at first, and somewhat forcibly, Eddie becomes Roland's companion through Mid-World, and soon falls in love with (and marries, in a way) Susannah, the next member of Roland's ka-tet.

Eddie later dies from a shot in the head by Pimli Prentiss, the head of Algul Siento, and a servant of the Crimson King. He is the first of the ka-tet to die (if you do not count Father Callahan, who was not a full member of their Ka-Tet according to most). However, at the end of the story Susannah crosses over into a world where an Eddie who strongly resembles "her" Eddie is alive and well and living in New York, along with his brother Jake (both now named Toren).

Roland also notes that Eddie's character strongly resembles that of Cuthbert's, a gunslinger of Roland's past, and one of Roland's greatest friends. The character of Cuthbert is mentioned in Browning's poem and is described most fully in Wizard and Glass, although he is first mentioned in The Gunslinger.

Susannah Dean

Also hailing from New York City, Susannah is an African-American (although owing to the fact that she is from a New York of 1964, she prefers the term, "Negro" [see top of article where it states that Negro was preferred prior to the 1970's] over the appropriate term of Eddie's when, "Black") woman with two major afflictions: her legs below the knees were severed in a subway accident (although not really an accident), and a childhood head injury (again, not really an accident) left her with schizophrenia. She is "The Lady of Shadows", the second companion predicted by Walter to be drawn through to Roland's world via the mysterious doors.

Initially, her dominant personality is that of Odetta Susannah Holmes, a sweet, well-mannered woman active in the civil rights movement. At times, however, she is taken over by Detta Susannah Walker, a murderously psychotic but incredibly crafty and strong willed woman whom neither Eddie nor Roland can control. After an incident at the beach with the lobstrosities, where Roland forces her two selves to see each other for the first time, her personalities are melded into one, and she becomes Susannah (later Susannah Dean, wife of Eddie).

During the drawing of Jake, she seduces the demon of the doorway in order to distract it and afterwards, she falls partially pregnant. Susannah shares the experience of her pregnancy with a character named Mia. Susannah is taken by Mia, who takes over her body (and melds with it, giving her legs for a short while), to NYC circa 1999 to help give birth to the demon child.

Susannah is the last of the Humans of his Ka-Tet to leave Roland (and the only one to survive in a Keystone world), having been given the chance to return to Eddie and Jake in a parallel world.

Jake Chambers

Jake is the symbolic (and later adopted) son of Roland. He is originally from New York, circa 1977, and is pushed initially into Roland's world by (who we are lead to believe is) the Man in Black, who Jake sees as Walter (but whom we later find out is Jack Mort). Jake's given name is John, but he prefers to be known by Jake, and is called " 'Bama" by his house-keeper only.

The eleven-year-old boy Roland left to die reappears in The Wastelands due to a paradox. Since Roland prevented Mort from shoving Jake into traffic, he never died, to appeared in Mid-World, and was never left to die under the mountains. Jake and Roland, however, can remember both timelines, and the knowledge is slowly driving them insane.

In the first half of The Wastelands, Roland's ka-tet figure out a way to draw Jake into Mid-world where he belongs (and thus finishes the real Drawing of the Three). Eddie is driven to whittle a key out of wood as they approach a Speaking Ring, where Eddie draws another door into the ground, this one guarded by an invisible demon. Susannah distracts the demon by allowing it to copulate with her, while Eddie perfects the key and opens the door. On the other side, Jake has been led to an abandoned house (by a past-version of Eddie himself) filled with evil spirits and a horrendous gate-keeper, but fights through them (with a bit of timely assistance from Roland) to reach the door. Once in Mid-World again, Roland's and Jake's memories are merged and their descent into insanity abated. Unfortunately, Susannah will pay the price for her distraction of the spirit.

While crossing the desolate city of Lud, Roland promises to come for Jake, despite it appearing that he may have to sacrifice Jake again to ensure their safe passage. Despite the danger, he rescues Jake, reaffirming the father-son bond that has grown between them. Like Eddie and Susannah, Jake shows amazing apptitude to the way of a gunslinger.

Jake is the second member of the ka-tet to die when he sacrifices himself to save Stephen King (a character in his own series) from certain death by putting himself between King and the van meant to take his life. An alternate version of Jake is encountered later by Susannah Dean.

Roland also notes that Jake strongly resembles Alain, another gunslinger, in using a psychic skill referred to as the "touch". Alain is described mostly as his time with Roland as a teen in Wizard and Glass.

Oy

On the road to Lud, Jake finds a wounded "billy-bumbler". These animals are described as looking like a cross between a raccoon and a dog, with a corkscrew-spiral tail. When Jake first sees the bumbler, he calls "Come here, boy," and the animal mimics the sound with "Oy". The bumbler is friendly and intelligent -- Roland explains that it used to be common for billy-bumblers to speak and even be able to perform simple math -- and Jake decides to call him Oy, after the first word they heard him say. Seemingly a mere pet at first, Oy proves to be strangely helpful in times of need and nearly human at times in both intelligence, and compassion.

At the time of their meeting, Roland concedes that Oy may quite possibly be meant as another member of their Ka-Tet. Later, in the 6th book, this is confirmed when the Tet Corporation forms as the association of "Deschain, Dean, Dean, Chambers, and Oy." Oy dies with honor defending Roland from Mordred.

Susan Delgado

Susan Delgado appears in "Wizard and Glass", the fourth book of the series. When Roland is sent away for a mission from Gilead by his father, he meets Susan Delgado. Her father was killed in a horseback riding "accident", and Susan is being forced by her aunt to be the gilly-girl (concubine) of the mayor of her town. Before she is to sleep with the mayor, she falls in love with Roland and plans to run away with him. She saves Roland's group from impisonment and possible execution. Accused of killing the mayor, she is burned at the stake by the townspeople and her aunt. At the time, she is pregnant with Roland's first child. Roland admits that Susan Delgado was (and in many ways, still is) the love of his life.

Ted Brautigan

Ted Stevens Brautigan (19 letters), was first written of in the Stephen King novella Low Men in Yellow Coats from Hearts in Atlantis. He is a powerful "Breaker", a psychic, whose extraordinary powers as a "facilitator" are sought by the Crimson King so he can hasten the destruction of the beams and Dark Tower. Ted arrived in the Devar-Toi, the prison where the Breakers are held, in 1955, and thanks to Roland's old friend from Mejis, Sheemie Ruiz, Ted escapes the Devar-Toi and enters the Connecticut of 1960, which is when the story of Low Men in Yellow Coats takes place. After his adventure in Connecticut, the low men capture and smuggle him via the Dixie Pig and Thunderclap Station and back to the Devar-Toi. He meets Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series, and he, Everything's Eventual's Dinky Earnshaw and the a revealed psychic Sheemie, assist the ka-tet in the attack on the Devar-Toi and ultimately succeed in obliterating the low men and the taheen. After Roland, Jake, and Oy travel to the Maine of 1999 to prevent Stephen King from dying, Ted and his friends escort Susannah Dean (Eddie having died at Devar-Toi) to Fedic Station, and Ted, along with a handful of the other psychic Breakers depart for the Callas, where they hope to return to America via the Doorway Cave.

Sheemie Ruiz

Sheemie, in Wizard and Glass, was a mildly retarded tavern boy at a saloon in Hambry. Sheemie assisted Roland and his first ka-tet in preventing the followers of John Farson, and more specifically, the Crimson King, from reviving the Great Old Ones' war machines. Sheemie joined Roland's ka-tet briefly and helped the gunslingers ward off the Crimson King's followers until he and his mule Capi mysteriously disappeared. However, while Roland assumes Sheemie is dead, he is not; he had been captured by the low men and taken to the Devar-Toi, the Breaker prison, because of his telepathic abilities, while still keeping this teleportation powers secret.. He reappears in the series' final novel and assists the ka-tet in defeating the low men and the taheen. However, after the battle, he stepped on a piece of glass, causing an infection (accelerated by the "poison air" around Thunderclap). While escorting Susannah to Fedic on the train, he dies.

Dinky Earnshaw

Richard "Dinky" Earnshaw is the psychic assassin from Stephen King's short story "Everything's Eventual." He was hired by a man named Mr. Sharpton who was the head of a North Central Positronics subsidiary. However, when Dink discovered what Sharpton was truly using him for, he killed Sharpton. Unfortunately, the low men captured him and transported him to the Devar-Toi, where he later met Ted Brautigan and Sheemie Ruiz. The three joined forces with Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series and they helped to defeat the Devar-Toi's guards.

Pere Donald Callahan

Callahan is the "damned" priest who appeared in the novel Salem's Lot. He makes his first appearance in the Dark Tower series in Wolves of the Calla, although his character's reappearance was hinted at in the afterword to Wizard and Glass. After being infected by the vampire Barlow, Father Callahan spends time in a homeless shelter that he later runs. A male partner in running the shelter, who is also the object of Callahan's love (it is too much to say that his is a Gay priest, only that he was in love with this man. It is stated many times that the Father still has an eye for the ladies, and shows no other interest in any other men (save the Man Jesus)), is given AIDS by a vampire. Callahan made it a goal to get even with the vampires for what they did to his partner. He is aided in this due to his ability to spot the vampires; since Jerusalem's Lot (and the forced taking of some of the vampire Barlow's blood) he has been able to tell who is a vampire. He enters Mid-World after jumping from a window escaping the agents of the Red King, then arrives at the Way Station from the The Gunslinger (right after Jake & Roland left), although this is not revealed until Wolves of the Calla. He assists the ka-tet (becoming a partial member) in the Battle against the Wolves, helps Susannah's rescue mission from 1999 New York, sacrificing himself so that Jake may live making his final stand in The Dark Tower VII against the can-toi (low men) and vampires: Thus he is redeemed from his fall in ’Salem’s Lot. Callahan kills himself before allowing himself to fall at the hands of the vampires in the Dixie Pig.

Patrick Danville

Patrick appears at the end of the series, and in Insomnia first as a promising artist, then as an artist with enough talent to shape the real world as he sees fit. As a young boy, he was prophesized to save two men in the future (Roland and Eddie). He drew pictures of Roland and the roses as well. In the Dark Tower series, he was kept imprisoned for an unknown amount of time and was rescued by Susannah and Roland. Patrick draws the door that allows Susannah to enter a parallel world, and erases the Red King from the tower, allowing Roland to proceed.

Villains

The Man in Black

Also known as the Ageless Stranger, Walter o'Dim, Marten Broadcloak and Randall Flagg; he appears in many books of Stephen King, most notably in The Eyes of the Dragon and in The Stand, always as a nearly-demonic sorcerer. He is the Crimson King's chief agent, but secretly plots to rule the tower himself. This evil figure knows dark magic and uses it to spread chaos. He has destroyed civilizations, led numerous violent factions, and killed his way to ruling kingdoms, the whole time serving the Crimson King. His true name is Walter Padick, but he has taken many aliases, among them Randall Flagg. Flagg is a central character in another sprawling King novel, "The Stand." In this tale, he is also called "The Dark Man" or "The Walkin' Dude", and knows much about Roland, his history, and his quest for the Dark Tower. Walter is eaten alive by Mordred Deschain, Roland's bastard, half-spider son. Walter also, in the course of the series, reveals himself to be Marten Broadcloak, Chief adviser to Steven Deschain, Roland's father, and lover to Gabrielle Deschain, Roland's mother. This is significant as Marten Broadcloak is also revealed to be either John Farson (the Good Man) himself, or an ally of his. In goading Roland into his early test of manhood, Walter o'Dim (who actually returns to advise Roland's father under this name, with a slightly altered appearance, after Marten's mysterious disappearance) has sowed the seeds of his own undoing. Not, of course, before wiping out all of the gunslingers except for Roland in a massive civil war against Farson.

Walter's tenacity and slipperiness are inhuman; in The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition he is exposed to a nuclear explosion but escapes to wreak havoc elsewhere via some sort of magic; in The Eyes of the Dragon he is shot through the eye with Foe-Hammer, yet escapes and lives. Even under Roland's own gun, he managed to disappear in Wizard and Glass. Though it seems he met his final end between the jaws of Mordred Deschain, it is contested between fans of the series whether or not he is really dead, though the accepted canon is that Mordred saw to his end when, in hybrid spider form, he telepathically forced Walter to rip out his own eyes and tongue to drop into Mordred's gaping mouth for food ("appetizers"), after which Mordred devoured the rest of Walter's body.

The Crimson King

The ultimate in evil, this mysterious figure wishes to conquer the Dark Tower and raze it to the ground. Since this will destroy nearly the entire universe, he is naturally cast as the villain in The Dark Tower books. He is also present in another Stephen King book, Insomnia, and the second King-Peter Straub collaboration, Black House. He is also known as Ram Aballah, and once ruled from his castle in Thunderclap, but now is imprisoned on a balcony on the Dark Tower, which he had run to in a fit of madness that had taken him over. He believes that when the Tower falls, he will rule the Todash darkness that was once the multiverse. He is the one whom Walter/Flagg serves, whom the low men and taheen serve, and has opposed Roland of Gilead from the beginning. Like Roland, he is descended from Arthur Eld, but there is speculation among Tower fans whether or not he and Arthur Eld are the same individual. This is noted in the sixth book; when Susannah enters the Dixie Pig, she is confronted by a room full of low men and Taheen, who are eating roasted babies. As she looks around the room, she is also confronted with a tapestry depicting Arthur Eld eating the leg of a baby at the Round Table.

However, in the seventh book Roland notes that the tapestry is a 'blasphemous parody of Eld's Last Fellowship.' Presumably, the tapestry in question is a play on The Last Supper. If so, the depiction in the Dixie Pig is likely a perversion, and not a clue to the identity of the Crimson King.

Jack Mort

Jack Mort is a character that makes a brief appearance in the first novel, and a more detailed appearance in the second novel. The third door leads to New York in the mid-1970s. Here Roland finds himself inside the mind of "The Pusher", a sadistic psychopath named Jack Mort whose callous acts of random violence have shaped the lives of Roland's companions. He acts as a linking point between Susannah (both Odetta & Detta), Jake, and ultimately Roland. When Odetta was five, Mort dropped a brick on her head (which led to the emergence of her multiple personalities); he also pushed Odetta in front of a subway car when she was a teenager (not knowing or caring that she was previously a victim of his cruelty); on this day in question he is planning to shove a young boy (who turns out to be Jake Chambers) into traffic. Unable to let Jake die once again through his inaction, Roland takes control of Mort's body and stops him, then later forces him to throw himself in front of a subway train. In the midst of this struggle, Roland manages to trick Detta into looking through the door, which forces both Odetta & Detta to acknowledge their dual personalities.

Rhea

A decrepit old witch, Rhea Dubativo was the one responsible for the death of Roland's true love, Susan Delgado. She was trusted with the pink Wizard's Glass, which slowly drained her and drove her insane, similar to the deterioration of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. We never find out what happens to her, although Roland does imply that he killed her, nothing more is elaborated upon beyond that.

Mia

An invading spirit who possesses Susannah Dean's body in Wolves of the Calla. Originally an immortal spirit similar to a succubus, she saw and fell in love with a baby and longed to have one of her own (a force keeping her from coming too close to the child and taking it for herself). Long after a plague ravaged the town of Fedic and the child was taken away, Mia struck a bargain with Walter/Flagg. If she would give up her formless immortality, Walter would give her a baby. Mia's purpose in Walter and the Crimson King's plan is to bear Roland's child; prophecy has foretold that this child will be Roland's doom.

Mia called the child her "chap" was being carried by both Susannah and Mia. Susannah had became pregnant with Roland's seed from the demon she copulated with in "The Waste Lands", during Jake's Drawing. The demon, a hermaphrodite able to change its sex, had copulated previously with Roland as a female in The Gunslinger while Roland protected Jake and queried it for information. The demon had somehow preserved Roland's seed (and allowed it to be somehow mixed with that of the Red King's seed) and impregnated Susannah with it while male. Mia possessed Susannah in order to take over the birthing of her "chap".

This concept is similar to that of IVF. Roland's sperm is stored by the demon and "delivered" to Susannah, without either's consent.

Mia is killed and eaten by her child, Mordred, shortly after giving birth.

Mordred Deschain

Son of two fathers and two mothers, Mordred was born of Susannah's egg fertilized by the seed of both Roland of Gilead and the Crimson King (via the demon encountered while drawing Jake into the world), and carried to term by Mia. Mordred is half-human, half-god, and if his fate is fulfilled, he will both kill Roland (one of his fathers) and topple the Dark Tower itself. He is very powerful, yet he is also extremely arrogant as well (embodying all youth). His abilities include (but may not be limited to): the ability to change between human form and spider form at will, although it taxes his energy greatly; the ability to exert his will over others (both animal & human) & machines, even overcoming protective devices (such as Walter's "thinking cap"), as well as reading another's mind; and absorb one's knowledge and experience by devouring them. Walter o'Dim was devoured alive helplessly in an attempt to make Mordred his puppet when he was just a baby, and the boy still managed to pursue Roland for numberless miles less than a week after his birth.

However, neither the seers nor fate itself could protect Mordred from the death of magic in Mid-World as the Tower falters. Mordred becomes deathly ill after eating poisoned "horse" meat, and when he makes a final attempt to kill his White Father, he is attacked by Oy. Oy, dying during the battle, is able to distract Mordred long enough to allow Roland to wake up kill his son, at the threshold of the Dark Tower.

The Low Men (Can-toi, Fayen Folken)

First introduced in the story "Low Men in Yellow Coats" from Hearts in Atlantis, these soldiers of the Crimson King are half-taheen and half human. Richard P. Sayre is a prominent Low Man in the Dark Tower Series. They appear in the novel Black House by King and Peter Straub, as well as a speculated appearance in From a Buick 8 by King.

Taheen

Taheen resemble humans with the heads and hands of animals. They are mostly considered the servants of the Crimson King. The Taheen, much in the same way as humans, have a choice in their destiny, thus they can be good or evil. Their exact origin, however, remains a mystery.

Richard Patrick Sayre

The leader of the can-toi and the head of the Sombra Corporation, Sayre is the individual who lured Callahan to his death in 1983. He is the one who witnesses Mordred's birth in the Extraction Room at the Arc 16 Experimental Station in Fedic, and he meets his end when he is shot twice in the back of the head (once for Mia, once for Pere Callahan) by Susannah.

Jack Andolini

Jack Andolini is a New York gangster and affiliate of Enrico Balazar, whom readers first met in The Drawing of the Three . In that novel, in 1987, while trying to kill Eddie, he followed Eddie and Roland into Mid-World and met his death by the hands of the lobstrosities (after Roland caused this arm & face to be blown off by shooting Andolini's gun at the moment that he was firing himself). However, he reappears in Song of Susannah as a representative of the Sombra Corporation, in a parallel 1977. When Roland and Eddie enter the Maine of 1977, Andolini and his gang ambush them at the East Stoneham General Store. This version of Andolini, however, meets a not so horrible fate: in The Dark Tower, he is imprisoned in a Maine county jail.

Places

All-World (Roland's World)

All-World is the world/universe (see: parallel universe) also known as "Keystone Tower". It is the only world/universe in King's multi-verse that contains the Dark Tower in its physical form. All others contain a representative of the Tower (such as a rose, a tiger, or an "ur-dog"), but not the Tower in an accessible form. From All-World, it is possible to actually enter the Dark Tower.

All-World is divided into regions, such as In-World, Mid-World, End-World, Out-World, and Thunderclap. The geography is widely varied. It includes deserts, mountains, rolling plains and vast wastelands. It is said to have "moved on." This seems to mean that where there was once great order there is now little if any order. For example: the sun doesn’t always rise in the right place and sometimes it doesn’t even cross the sky in a whole day; also, the compasses directions themselves are at drift: What is East today, might be South-East next week, and next year might be full on South. According to Blaine the Mono, his Slo-Trans engines were supposed to last for millions of years, but were already faltering after a few thousand. However, since time appears to run at different rates all throughout All-World, and given Blaine's dementia, this assessment may not be dependable.

It seems that an extremely advanced civilization once existed in All-World, possibly a parallel United States. This can be inferred from the high degree of similarity between Old Ones (the name for these ancient people) architecture, automobiles, clothing and the fact that an Old Ones military outpost used an everyday phone modem and Microsoft products. There was also a cola product called Nozz-a-la whose artwork was identical to that of Coca-Cola. They might have spoken English.

The civilization of the Old Ones collapsed because of the replacement of magic, which could last forever, with technology, which would disintegrate if left unattended, but which nevertheless was allowed to be responsible for maintaining the Beams of the Dark Tower.

The Beams are six invisible forces connecting the edge of the world/universe to the center. These Beams are the primary sources of force in All-World and they maintain order. Failure of the Beams cause changes in physical and astronomical constants, which causes chaos in nature, as well as in civilization. There were six Beams with twelve Guardians, one for each "Portal" (the end of a Beam) arranged like the spokes of a wheel with The Tower at the center. (see also: The Waste Lands). Guardians were based on novels like Shardik (for the bear) and Discworld for the turtle (Discworld's turtle was based on the ancient myth Akupara). (Some feel that the Hindu Chukwa [or something similar] have a better claim to origin for the turtle then the Discworld mythos)

The Old One civilization used technology to maintain the Beams of the Dark Tower instead of magic, and sought to literally control reality. The final blow for the Old One civilization seems to have been nuclear war, germ warfare, chemical warfare, and something "else" something that is hinted to be more horrible/powerful then those three. It is not known when such wars took place (but long ago enough that it is in the ancient past, and that the gene lines are finally starting to breed true, or "threaded"), why they took place, or even between which nations or organizations such wars were fought. It is widely hinted the Crimson King was ultimately working behind the scenes, manipulating people and events to bring about civilization's destruction, since such destruction serves his ultimate ends.

The All-World of most of the Dark Tower series seems to be sparsely populated and dangerous, filled with mutants both human and animal, and vast swaths of land are irradiated. Demons and robots are to be found, as well as Taheen, who are in the employ of the Crimson King. Governments do not extend beyond the town/local level. Resources are scarce, and relics of the Old Ones technology exist mainly in perverted, deranged, or damaged forms that threaten instead of helping the last remnants of civilization.

Keystone Earth and the rose

One of only two "unique" worlds (the other being All-world). The only world with Stephen King in it, and, like All-world, the only worlds where changes made are permanent and can't be unmade (time flows in only one direction on both). This world is home to the rose, which they say is not merely the representative of the tower here, but is elsewhere referred to as the guardian of the Bear-Turtle Beam. At the end of the series it was being protected by the Tet Corporation, which Roland's ka-tet created in 1977, using Odetta Holmes' fortune as heiress to the Holmes Dental Corporation.

Dark Tower Glossary

Char (root word)

"Char" means death in the high speech and is a common root word for death in several dialects. Some examples are the name "Charlie," a suicidal monorail, and "Charyou Tree," a word relating to human sacrifice (in farming communities) in exchange for good crops.

Commala

In Wolves of the Calla, Commala is both a celebration of the harvest season and part of Calla-Speak, a dialect used in the Crescent-Callas of the borderlands between Mid-World and the vast wasteland of Thunderclap. It is used in a surprising number of slang terms, many of them sexual in nature.

One would reference '(sexual) orgasm,' as in 'Did'ee come commala'? (The hoped-for reply being 'Aye, say thankya, commala big-big.') To wet the commala is to irrigate the rice in a dry time; it is also to masturbate. Commala is the commencement of some big and joyful meal, like a family feast (not the meal itself, do ya, but the moment of beginning to eat). A man who is losing his hair is coming commala. Putting animals out to stud is damp commala. Gelded animals are dry commala, although no one could tell you why. A virgin is green commala, a menstruating woman is red commala, an old man who can no longer make iron before the forge is say sorry sof' commala. To stand commala is to stand belly-to-belly, a slang term meaning "to share secrets." (For that matter, why is a fork sometimes a commala, but never a spoon or a knife?) The Commala is also a dance to the goddess Oriza, to bless the rice.
(excerpt from Wolves of the Calla)

Thinny

A thinny is a "weak spot" in reality. They are described as looking like large blobs of mercury and emit a warbling sound similar to a musical saw. This sound can set a person's teeth on edge and/or hypnotize the victim. Besides the insanity-inducing buzzing and warbling sound, the thinny plays on a person's thoughts; telling them what they want to hear and promising a fine outcome. Death is more likely. Transportation into other universes is possible by simply walking into a thinny, but this is a rare outcome. Roland encountered a thinny earlier in life, the story of which is recounted in Wizard and Glass. His ka-tet also encounters one just outside Topeka, Kansas, in the reality of The Stand.

Manni

The Manni tradition stems from the idea of a multiverse. The Manni are a religious group of ascetics, who, among other things, apparently believe in polygyny, travel between worlds, and the worship of something which they call "The Over" and "The Force". They wear dark blue robes (at other times are referred to being similar in appearance to Quaker and the Amish)and are known for having rather grim/pragmatic views on situations. They also have magical items that allow them to go todash. Though Henchick once notes that they are "sailors on the wind of ka" he had in fact earlier noted that the words "ka" and "ka-tet" were not Manni words, and seemed a little offended when Roland applies these phrases to the Manni situation.

The Manni religion could be the descendant or parallel of modern Christianity, showing another similarity that All-World has with this world. There are numerous references to the "Man Jesus" throughout the novels, and the Manni quote certain Bible verses, as shown in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla. However in The Gunslinger Revised Version the Manni are somewhat differentiated from followers of the Man Jesus when Roland notes, "He was not a Manni, however, nor a follower of the Man Jesus, and considered himself in no way holy," implying that the two are different even if somehow related religions.

Ka

"It is ka, and ka is destiny." -Ted Brautigan, Hearts in Atlantis: Low Men in Yellow Coats. Ka can be described as destiny or fate, but is more complex than that. It is said to be a wheel that can only be broken by death or by betrayal. But, as Cort put it, those are also spokes on the wheel of ka. The image of ka as a wheel is reminiscent of the philosophy, "what goes around comes around."

Synonyms: Fate, Destiny, Karma, Luck, Kismet, Purpose, chi, and similar to "the force" in Star Wars

Ka-tet

"We are ka-tet. We are one from many." Says Roland of Gilead on the day before the Battle of Algul Siento (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower). Ka-tet is the belief that a group of people can be tied together by fate, or ka. (This a concept frequently used by King, even in books that do not use the terms "ka" or "ka-tet"; It, The Stand, and Dreamcatcher are examples; compare with Kurt Vonnegut's Karass) It is said that a group has shared "khef" or the water of life. Sometimes the symbol of water is used literally, as in a ritual Roland and his ka-tet performs the night before the battle of Algul Siento. Roland's ka-tet includes himself, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Oy, and Jake Chambers. This tet was broken after the Battle of Blue Heaven. Donald "Pere" Callahan could possibly be considered ka-tet (or partially ka-tet) at the end of the series. Roland's previous ka-tet included himself, Cuthbert Allgood, Jamie DeCurry, and Alain Johns.

Khef

Literally the water of life. The idea of khef seems to be an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s word grok from Stranger in a Strange Land. Both khef and grok are used in roughly the same context. It is basically the life force of ka. It's where ka meets the soul. The Manni believe it to be possible to live off this life force.

Roont

"Term used by the Folken of the Callas to refer to individuals who have been carried by the Wolves into Thunderclap and had a portion of their brain removed. This removed cerebral tissue was fed to the Breakers to further fortify their mental abilities. This term was first seen in Wolves of the Calla. [link] Roont children come back severely mentally handicapped, experience excruciating growing pains that cause them to grow into giants, then die young."

Books in the series

  1. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982, originally published as separate short stories; revised edition released in 2003)
  2. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  3. The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
  4. The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
  5. The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (title originally announced as The Crawling Shadow) (2003)
  6. The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
  7. The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)
  8. The Dark Tower (2007 comic series), (Marvel Comics, February 2007 (7 issues) [link])
  9. '' (a collection of short stories) contains two Dark Tower links. A story of Roland's travels through the desert: "The Little Sisters of Eluria" and Dinky Earnshaw's history: "Everything's Eventual"

Illustrations

Each book in the series was originally published in hardcover format with a number of full-color illustrations spread throughout. Each book contained works by a single illustrator only. Subsequent printings of each book in trade paperback format usually preserve the illustrations in full, except for books I and IV. Pocket-sized paperback reprints contain only black-and-white chapter or section header illustrations.

The illustrators who worked on each book are:

  1. Michael Whelan, multiple award-winning science fiction and fantasy painter. The Dark Tower is among his early notable works.
  2. Phil Hale, the only Dark Tower illustrator who created a second set of illustrations for a later printing of the book he illustrated.
  3. Ned Dameron.
  4. Dave McKean, graphic designer noted for working in many media, including photography and film. The only Dark Tower illustrator to work in photocollages.
  5. Bernie Wrightson, established illustrator for 1960s and 1970s horror comics.
  6. Darrel Anderson, the only Dark Tower illustrator who used digital illustration techniques.
  7. Michael Whelan, returning more than 20 years later as the only recurring Dark Tower illustrator.

Connections to other works of King

The series has become a linchpin that ties much of King's work together. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other various elements from many of King's novels.

The following is a list of specific connections between books. Note that all Dark Tower books are connected to each other chronologically.[#endnote_roadmap]

References

External links

 

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