The Dark Tower Boxed Set (Books 1-4)

The first four books in Stephen King’s magnum opus (THE GUNSLINGER, THE DRAWING OF THE THREE, THE WASTELANDS, and WIZARD AND GLASS) are groundbreaking, exciting, and wonderfully written books, easy to get lost in.

THE GUNSLINGER is a short volume, around three-hundred pages, but manages to affect and stay with you in such a short amount of space.

Readers are introduced to Roland Deschain, an antihero that is identifiable and emotionally deep from the start. He’s the last gunslinger, in King’s world: based heavily upon the Old West. Indeed, this first volume feels like something of a cowboy story with a twist of fantasy, and does very well at this.

Roland is following after the man in black, a villain we don’t see for long yet know show more is crucial to the plot and a bad man. Roland follows this man for information on the Dark Tower, although he doesn’t know exactly why, only that he must.

The first half of the book is Roland telling his tale to another man about the town Roland passed through, where we meet lots of new characters and further grow to like Roland. We realize what sort of man the man in black is, and have one gruesome action scene, beautifully written by King.

After he tells his story and moves on, Roland comes to meet Jake, a boy from New York in the “present day” (1970’s). They continue on, Roland becoming a father figure to Jake.

Apparently, King was under a massive trip while writing this. For whatever it’s worth, it doesn’t show all too much; I easily comprehended it in 5th grade. But, this book does have its downfalls, including an odd amount of descriptions in certain parts. For example, the first three pages of this book are filled with lengthy descriptions of how Roland’s dressed. Then, later on, during more important parts (I won’t say what to avoid spoilers) he glazes over them and moves on.

Still, this is a superb start to a revolutionary series, and leaves you hungry for volume two, THE DRAWING OF THE THREE.

Book Two picks up right after Book One. This one gets off to an immediate start, and doesn’t stop from there. The entire book is non-stop action, with a romantic subplot to keep things ever, and will leave you turning the pages deep into the night. The setting bounces between New York City during different decades, and a beach in King’s world. The entire thing comes to a thundering conclusion, which is expertly handled.

With DRAWING, King has clearly improved. His pacing has improved, as well as his overall sense of writing. Everything seems to be on point with this novel, with King explaining just what the hell is going on in these novels, but not too much. This novel isn’t as dark as its predecessor, but is certainly more polished. Once again, this volume leaves the reader full, yet hungry for more.

Next up comes THE WASTELANDS. Another new setting is introduced with this one, and while it isn’t as majestic to me as the Old West, the city of Lud is certainly well done. The final one-hundred pages or so of this novel are the best in the series, which is quite an accomplishment. But, this novel is the most flawed of the first three.

For starters, some of the things in the novel are downright strange, like the overwhelming amount of riddles used, and a villain that uses them. But, based on the other story going on besides this, its possible to get past this flaw.

King has named LORD OF THE RINGS as an inspiration, and it becomes clear in this volume. Before, King had made it difficult to see that this was basically his fantasy background, but here it comes to the front. Most obvious here is the fantasy trope, taken primarily from Tolkien, of a character coming back from the dead and joining the large group. But, it isn’t done in the LORD OF THE RINGS way, and is actually much more exciting. The other similarity I see is the fact that the party is split up in this volume. This happens in many novels to make it more complex, but when they come back together, it’s a bit annoying.

Still, despite this, THE WASTELANDS is a great addition, and its cliffhanger almost demands readers to pick up Book 4.

WIZARD AND GLASS tells a story of past gunslingers in the Old West part of King’s world, and is a story of young romances, corruption, politics, and violence. Epic stuff, expertly written, heart-wrenching, but... is it necessary? This volume doesn’t contribute very much to the overall quality of the saga save background information, and reason for the hunt. Still, its incredibly well-written, and worth reading just for the hell of it.

So, there it is. A brief (close enough) review of the first four volumes of this saga. This is cant-put-down stuff, and will have you lost for days and days. I highly recommend it to anybody in need of a good read, fantasy or not.

Reader beware: it goes downhill from here. show less

Pretty fun. I've only read "The Shining" by King and this is quite different than what you'd expect, started when he was only 19. It's a fantasy Western, with a gunslinger knight errant. Can't wait for the last three to arrive at the library, talk about brain candy!

Pretty fun. I've only read "The Shining" by King and this is quite different than what you'd expect, started when he was only 19. It's a fantasy Western, with a gunslinger knight errant. Can't wait for the last three to arrive at the library, talk about brain candy!

I'm not going to rate these separately as that doesn't make sense to me. I thought this was a wonderful series. I was horrified when he got hit by the car and I thought he may not be able to finish the story. The plot was incredible and the characters were like close friends of mine by the end. His imagery and imagination are an inspiration to those of us who strive to write for a living. His best work by far, IMHO.

Stephan King's best work ever! The only set of books that I have read more than once. Book one: Very dark, very gritty, very western. Book two: My personal favorite of the whole series. This section has so much to say and does it with the shortest journey. Book three: Not really my favorite, but has a good sense of adventure. Warning, story leaves you hanging at end of book. Book four: Second favorite. Helps that King gives a whole book dedicated to main carectures background.

Includes The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, and Wizard and Glass.

"Childe Roland to the dark tower came..."