All Things Serve The Beam

Let me start this post by telling you I don't like Stephen King's books. I find them very, very boring. There are 8 exceptions; The Dark Tower Saga. I don't know what drew me to buying the first book, but I remember just picking it up for 50p from a car boot sale. It then sat on my shelf for ages before I eventually picked it up to read and then I was hooked. 4 months and 6 books later my journey to the tower was complete.  Now the mathematicians out there will see I said 8 books earlier and then I only read 7 and I was done, there was an 8th book released about a year ago which takes place between 2 earlier books.

This saga is considered to be King's magnum opus. It has many connections to all his work, from Salem's Lot to IT, there are references everywhere because "All things serve the beam". Yet not many people know of these books, but if the mooted film/TV adaptations ever get made, then a lot probably will. Before that happens I implore you to get out there and read the books because you wont regret it.

I want to tell you what it's about, but I wouldn't do it justice and I'd probably end up giving too much away. So enter wiki to do it for me "The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror, and Western. It describes a "gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical".

Even now years after I've finished the books I still think about Roland (the aforementioned gunslinger) and his Ka-tet. The writing of these characters is so, so good you really get a feel for these people that they end up feeling like close friends.

I will leave you with the first line from "The Gunslinger", the first book. A friend of mine told me that this was "the best opening line of a book ever written". The more I think about it, the more I agree.

"The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed."