Stephen King is the master of literary horror and his The Dark Tower book series include some of his most popular stories to date, but how do they rank against each other? The series is composed of eight installments, each detailing the characters' adventures through parallel universes and various worlds as well as bizarre run-ins with the author himself. While they all feature fantastical tales of adventure, there are some books in the series that are certainly better than others.
The first installment in The Dark Tower series released in 1982, following the success of King's earlier novels such as Carrie, The Shining, and Cujo. Its final story, The Wind Through The Key Hole, concluded the series in 2012. Much like his other novels, The Dark Tower was adapted into a feature-length movie starring Idris Elba as the gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as Walter Padick. Despite the series' incredibly captivating storyline, the movie received poor reviews. At its core, The Dark Tower serves as a means of connecting the Stephen King multiverse and all of its fictional characters, towns, and monsters. It is intertwined with Insomnia, 'Salem's Lot, IT, and several other novels.
With over 200 short stories and 61 full-length novels, with number 62 set to release in 2021, The Dark Tower series takes up a decent portion of the author's bibliography. It is also the only true series that he has in his repertoire. King created a complex storyline that connects his entire book universe, and while this was welcomed, some of the installments suffered as a result on making by this facet a focal point. Without further ado, here's each novel in The Dark Tower series ranked from worst to best.
8. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
While The Gunslinger was the first installment in the series, it's also the worst. The Gunslinger introduces all of the major characters that will appear throughout its entirety, but lingers too long on the fact that it's an introduction. This is not entirely necessary and, as a result, offers a somewhat boring story about Roland Deschain and the Men in Black. If it had been a fluid introduction with far more adventure and moments of the fantastical, it is likely that it would be much better when compared to other installments.
7. The Dark Tower VI: Song Of Susannah
Most of The Dark Tower novels are lengthy, but Song Of Susannah is relatively short in comparison. While this is not necessarily a contributing factor to its ranking, it does impact how the story developed or, rather, attempted to develop. As it shifts from character to character, there is very little fluidity, which leads to a rather confusing storyline. Song Of Susannah could've been better had it not been written as if it were intended to bridge the fifth and seventh novels in the series.
6. The Wind Through The Keyhole
The Wind Through The Keyhole is the eighth book in the series, but its events fall between the fourth and the fifth chronologically. It's unlike the other installments, as it is more similar to an anthology with a framing story about Roland and Ka-tet waiting out a storm. The gunslinger goes on to tell several tales of adventure and wonder to his travel companion. The short stories are impeccable, but it suffers from being an unnecessary addition to The Dark Tower series.
5. The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
The final novel in The Dark Tower series chronology offers an underwhelming conclusion to an otherwise incredible story. It falls in the middle of this ranking due to how divisive it is. While some fans and critics found that it concluded the series eloquently, others consider its ending a bit unnecessary and disappointing. The end of The Dark Tower series features its characters having to save the life of their creator, Stephen King, who appears as himself throughout its entirety. While King is known for including characters who represent him in his stories, The Dark Tower has him as an actual character, which is a bit bizarre, especially considering his importance to the ending.
4. The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
The Waste Lands is one of the more bizarre books in The Dark Tower series. It features several influences from other literary works and introduces the portals of the Dark Tower. It is an enthralling addition with fantastical elements, firm development of what the actual Dark Tower represents, and even a cyborg bear. There is very little wrong with the third novel, but it is still not the best one in the bunch.
3. The Dark Tower IV: Wizard And Glass
Every major book series' main character needs an origin story, and Roland finally gets his in the fourth installment. Wizard And Glass takes place in Topeka, Kansas, and features several elements familiar to the iconic story, Wizard Of Oz. The lore of The Dark Tower was relatively mundane up until this book, where it fully embraces an entire mythos that assists in the future installment's character, location, and story building. It is one of the more exciting stories out of all eight books, which immediately sets it among the top three entries.
2. The Dark Tower V: Wolves Of The Calla
As The Dark Tower reached its mid-point, the stories and adventures became the most bizarre. Wolves Of The Calla features wolves that are actually robots, and includes references to major movie franchises such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. It is also the book with the most memorable appearance of Stephen King. Wolves Of The Calla ranks as the second best novel in the series because of how the author chose to embrace the bizarre and utterly strange. The earlier installments have an air of King holding back, whereas the fifth novel showcases his creativity entirely unleashed to great effect.
1. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing Of The Three
Every way that the first book failed, the second installment took the time to remedy. The Drawing Of The Three proved that The Dark Tower series was worth reading through, as some readers abandoned it entirely after The Gunslinger. While the first installment focused on introducing Roland, the second takes the time to expand on his personality, goals, and drive. It gives the gunslinger a purpose by mixing in an exciting adventure through numerous doors that transport him across time and space.
Introductory novels traditionally provide readers with what they can expect from future installments, but The Dark Tower's failed to do so. Instead, The Drawing Of The Three gave the core elements of the series the introduction they deserved and needed in order to make the book series what it is today. Not only does it connect every Stephen King novel, The Dark Tower series also showcases how not all first installments are the best and, sometimes, a sequel can do better than the original.