I have put off reading the actual Dark Tower books for some time. However, I keep running into it in other King works.

My first experience was after reading The Talisman and Black House. I was intrigued about them and discovered they were based in the Dark Tower universe. I also read the Gunslinger short story in Everything's Eventual. I just finished with the first story in Hearts in Atlantis and low and behold its another Dark Tower based story. I've never seen the movie Low Men in Yellow Coats was based on and I would love to know how it handled the Dark Tower related stuff.

Anyway, I've enjoyed all these stories so its time I started the main Dark Tower books.

My question is, are there any other King stories that are related to the Dark Tower world? I would like to read them all so I can try to tie it all together in my mind.

IIRC, both The Stand and Eyes of the Dragon have Flagg in them. And isn't Flagg the one the Gunslinger is chasing? Or at least mentioned?

Insomnia also mentions the dark tower, and Flagg goes by many names RF, The Man in Black, I think even Needful Things mentions Flagg, but almost all of the books tie in together.

I hate to admit it, but I'm thinking of going back and reading each Stephen King book before reading the Dark Tower series. From my understanding, a lot of books are tied together in some way. Heck, he's only got about 50 books, so I shouldn't have a problem reading them all in, say, 5 years.

Here's an interesting book I just located at cemeterydance.com:


The Stephen King Universe
by Stanley Wiater & Christopher Golden with Hank Wagner

Limited Edition: $75
Lettered Edition: (sold out)

Spanning 50 detailed chapters and more than 130,000 words in length, The Stephen King Universe is an exhaustive look at all of Stephen King's fiction and is accurately subtitled: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King. Complete and updated through Blood and Smoke, this ground-breaking reference work also examines the motion pictures, miniseries, and screen- and teleplays that King has written over the course of his amazing career. Works such as Sleepwalkers, Golden Years and Storm of the Century. Appendices will also be included, covering topics such as Recommended Further Reading and Recommended Web Sites.
The basic thrust of The Stephen King Universe is to tie together -- for the very first time -- the various threads in terms of the characters and settings that have always existed in King's fiction. A few years ago, King himself admitted that all his worlds were truly part of the same universe, and this statement served as the co-authors' inspiration to assemble this critical guide for King's millions of loyal readers. The Stephen King Universe is the single most important non-fiction volume for every Stephen King library!
The Cemetery Dance Publications Limited Edition is bound in leather, with a full-color dustjacket, illustrated endpapers, and lots of other surprises. Plus it is protected inside a hand-crafted slipcase and is signed and numbered by authors Wiater, Golden, and Wagner.
The Deluxe Lettered Edition is also bound in leather, with all the same goodies as the Limited Edition, but it is protected inside a hand-crafted leather traycase and also includes a separate, specially-commissioned Stephen King Art Portfolio, featuring ten full-pages of stunning artwork inspired by King's finest works!

Available in two states:
Slipcased Limited Edition of 1,000 signed and numbered copies
Traycased Lettered Edition of 52 signed and lettered copies

I might buy that book.

I never stopped to think that all the Stephen King books were related in some way and the Flagg thing never crossed my mind.

Something to think about.

I don't think its neccesary to read all of King's books to follow the Dark Tower series. The references are more along the lines of just mentioning something Dark Tower related. Maybe a vague paragraph about a dark tower or a man named Flagg. Its hardly ever essential to the plot and definitely not essential to the overall Dark Tower plot.

Its still fun to see it though. Kind of like having a little extra treat for having read all the books.

Charles, that's exactly why I want to reread all of his books. I think it'll be cool to see vague mentions and throwaway lines regarding Flagg, or the DT universe.

Besides, it's not like most of his books suck. So reading them again won't hurt.

I think It and the Black Tower series are also related with the turtle.

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• Dark Tower [ news and discussion ]
• The Stephen King Dark Tower Series Connections Thread

Amazon has the non-special edition for around 16 bucks.

Mods, can you dvdtalk linkafy?

Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...739077-4257711

This page is pretty interesting as well. It tries to tie the characters in the King universe.

Flagg makes appearances in some form or another in almost each of King's novels. The most memorable are:
The Stand
Eyes of the Dragon
Insomnia
And of course, The Dark Tower I-IV

He seems to be the link between all the worlds of King's books.

Also, the upcoming Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla brings back a major character from

They will be releasing a two-book set, the first half of which is coming this summer detailing all of the history of the Dark Tower universe and the book tie ins.

Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Vol. 1

As for the Hearts in Atlantis movie question, it totally takes out any references to the Dark Tower series, no Low Men In Yellow Coats.