The Road to the Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King's Magnum Opus

Having read the basic [[[Dark Tower]]] series multiple times now, this was a nice infusion of Ka into my reading life without taking up all the books. It's my second time reading the book, this time in preparation for a more expanded reading of the series with all the related works, of which there are many.

Vincent gives us tower junkies everything we could ever ask of him. First, there is a good bit of background on the early goings in seeing the initial story written and the series launched. All the back story information is so illuminating. Then, he gives us a chapter synopsis on each of the goings-on in each book, which is a nice way to revisit the story and the world. Next, he folds in tons of information about all the related works show more and why/how they're related. I might be more expansive on my choices, but his choices here are impeccable and well documented for their place in the series. Finally, he has a brief discussion on the importance of the total work to King's legacy, and offers some great appendices.

Short of Robin Furth's extensive concordance, this is the best way to get in the weeds in all things [[[Dark Tower]]].

5 bones!!!!!
Highly recommended!!!!! show less

Having finished the Dark Tower books, but not willing to leave Roland and his ka-tet quite yet, I read The Road To The Dark Tower to take one more trip into Roland's world. I wasn't disappointed. The book begins with an overview of the history of the books and there is a chapter for each of the seven books, describing and analyzing the action in each one. The rest of the chapters deal with other Stephen King books that are related to the Dark Tower series; a detailed description of each major character in the books; works that influenced the series; discussion of whether the books are Stephen King's Magnum Opus; two time lines (fact and fictional); a mid-world glossary; Dark Tower on the web; and the poem the influence the dark Tower show more series "Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came".

I bought this book because I recognize Bev Vincent's name from his numerous posts on various Stephen King forums and newsletters and am always impressed with his knowledge. This book is a prefect example, even though I've read all of the Dark Tower books (the early ones several times), I still learned things I hadn't known before. Although the entire book was good, I find the chapters summarizing the books the most interesting, especially where Bev pointed out things that foreshadowed the ending of the last Dark Tower book.

Dark Tower fans will love this book show less

I discovered Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower mere weeks after finishing the final Dark Tower novel. It was catharsis for a concluded series that I was still trying to make sense of. After all, I had followed Roland's Ka-Tet along the Path of the Beam for years and the ending was both heartbreaking and bizarre. To say I had a few questions would have been an understatement. Bev Vincent retread towards the Dark Tower—along with his review of King's related works—helped me find a few answers.

The book contains some interesting information, but as a straight read it can be a bit repetitive. Simultaneously it can be hard to know what you can and cannot safely skip.

A wonderful Dark Tower reference book, it has absolutly everything you need to know about the series, including summaries of each book, characters, a timeline, information from King on how it all came together, connections to his other novels, and more. A must have for any Dark Tower fan!

NF