Series · epic fantasy
The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King has 8 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Gunslinger (1982).
- Books
- 8 books
- First published
- 1982
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: The Gunslinger (1982) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Gunslinger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Gunslinger - Book 2:
The Drawing of the Three
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Drawing of the Three - Book 3:
The Waste Lands
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Waste Lands - Book 4:
Wizard and Glass
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wizard and Glass - Book 5:
Wolves of the Calla
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wolves of the Calla - Book 6:
Song of Susannah
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Song of Susannah - Book 7:
The Dark Tower
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Dark Tower - Book 8:
The Wind Through the Keyhole
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Wind Through the Keyhole
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
The Gunslinger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Gunslinger - Book 2:
The Drawing of the Three
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Drawing of the Three - Book 3:
The Waste Lands
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Waste Lands - Book 4:
Wizard and Glass
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wizard and Glass - Book 5:
The Wind Through the Keyhole
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Wind Through the Keyhole - Book 6:
Wolves of the Calla
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wolves of the Calla - Book 7:
Song of Susannah
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Song of Susannah - Book 8:
The Dark Tower
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Dark Tower
About The Dark Tower
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Roland Deschain is the last of a fallen order of knight-gunslingers, chasing a sorcerous man in black across a post-apocalyptic, time-slipped wasteland in a single-minded quest for the Dark Tower — the nexus point that holds every world, including our own, together. Along the way he draws three unlikely companions out of 20th-century New York, forming a ka-tet bound by fate as much as choice, and the series widens from a spare, Sergio Leone-inflected Western into a genre-blending epic that pulls in horror, science fiction and quest fantasy in roughly equal measure.
Stephen King wrote the series across more than three decades — starting the first story in 1970 and not finishing the saga until 2004 — and treated it as the structural key to his entire body of work: characters, places and objects from The Stand, It, Insomnia, Hearts in Atlantis and other King novels all connect back to Roland's quest and the Tower it's built around. It's dense, genre-promiscuous, occasionally self-referential (King himself becomes a character), and unlike almost anything else in epic fantasy — essential reading for anyone who wants to see how the rest of the King multiverse fits together.
How to read this series
Read the seven core novels in publication order, starting with The Gunslinger. Be warned that the original 1982 text of The Gunslinger is slower and more elliptical than the rest of the series; King revised it in 2003 to read more smoothly and to better match the tone of the later books, and most editions in print today use that revised text.
The Wind Through the Keyhole, written in 2012 after the main series ended, is set chronologically between Wizard and Glass (book 4) and Wolves of the Calla (book 5) — insert it there if you want story order, or read it last as King intended when he wrote it, since it doesn't affect the main plot either way. The short story "The Little Sisters of Eluria," published in the 1998 anthology Legends, is set before The Gunslinger and is optional prequel material, not required to follow the main story.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in The Dark Tower series?
Seven core novels, from The Gunslinger (1982) to The Dark Tower (2004), plus one later interstitial novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012), for eight books total.
What order should I read The Dark Tower in?
Publication order: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, The Dark Tower. Insert The Wind Through the Keyhole after Wizard and Glass if you prefer strict story chronology; it was written later but is set in that gap.
Is The Dark Tower finished?
Yes. Stephen King completed the core seven-book saga in 2004 and added the interstitial novel The Wind Through the Keyhole in 2012. No further Dark Tower novels have been announced.
Do I need to have read other Stephen King books first?
No, but The Dark Tower connects to much of King's other work — The Stand, It, Insomnia, Hearts in Atlantis and others all tie back into Roland's story. You can start cold with The Gunslinger; the connections add depth for existing King readers but aren't required to follow the plot.
Which edition of The Gunslinger should I read?
Most editions printed today use Stephen King's 2003 revised text, which he reworked to flow better and align more closely with the tone of the later books. Either version works as a starting point, and most readers won't need to seek out the original 1982 text specifically.
Reading order last verified .