by Vincent, Bev
Yet half I seemed to recognise some trick
Of mischief happened to me, God knows when—
In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then,
Progress this way. When, in the very nick
Of giving up, one time more, came a click
As when a trap shuts—you’re inside the den!
XXX.
Burningly it came on me all at once,
This was the place! those two hills on the right,
Crouched like two bulls locked horn in horn in fight;
While to the left, a tall scalped mountain . . . Dunce,
Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce,
After a life spent training for the sight!
XXXI.
What in the midst lay but the Tower itself?
The round squat turret, blind as the fool’s heart
Built of brown stone, without a counterpart
In the whole world. The tempest’s mocking elf
Points to the shipman thus the unseen shelf
He strikes on, only when the timbers start.
XXXII.
Not see? because of night perhaps?—why, day
Came back again for that! before it left,
The dying sunset kindled through a cleft:
The hills, like giants at a hunting, lay
Chin upon hand, to see the game at bay,—
“Now stab and end the creature—to the heft!”
XXXIII.
Not hear? when noise was everywhere! it tolled
Increasing like a bell. Names in my ears
Of all the lost adventurers my peers,—
How such a one was strong, and such was bold,
And such was fortunate, yet each of old
Lost, lost! one moment knelled the woe of years.
XXXIV.
There they stood, ranged along the hillsides, met
To view the last of me, a living frame
For one more picture! in a sheet of flame
I saw them and I knew them all. And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,
And blew. “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.”
REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One person alone rarely produces a book. Each of the following people’s fingerprints appears on these pages, and I would like to acknowledge their assistance and support.
Stephen King’s generosity in allowing me access to the final three Dark Tower books before they were published turned my vague notion of a book that I might write one day into something imminent and vital. It seems trite to say that without him this project wouldn’t have happened, for that is self-evident, but his contribution goes far beyond the thirty years of creative energy that went into creating the Dark Tower mythos.
Marsha DeFilippo always graciously and patiently answered what must have seemed to her like a steady stream of questions.
Ron Martirano took the stack of chapters I first sent him and showed me how to turn it into a book. He’s the first editor I’ve ever worked with who understood the big picture of the project, who had his own vision of what the book should look like while respecting mine. He’s also the only person I could discuss Dark Tower philosophy with for nearly a year, and our correspondence concerning some of the more profound implications of the final books helped me to solidify my own thinking on the subject. Ron also braved a cold, snowy winter day to take the photographs that grace this volume.
Michael Psaltis not only saw the promise in this project, but has become steadfastly interested in my future as a writer, which is music to any author’s ears.
Rich Chizmar was the first person to tell me he thought the idea for this book was sound, and encouraged me to take it on. Rich has been a great friend for several years, and I’m one of only a few people who can claim to have seen him wearing a tuxedo. He cleans up good.
Thanks to Peter Straub and Edward Bryant for allowing me to quote from their essays, interviews and reviews in this work.
Susan Moldow at Scribner encouraged me to pursue this project, which helped boost my confidence in the early stages of the process.
There’s a group of people whom I’ve taken to calling the triumvirate of Stephen King webmasters. It’s composed of Hans-Ake Lilja (Lilja’s Library), Rosandra Montequin (Needful Things) and Kev Quigley (Charnel House). If you’re looking for all the news that’s fit to e-print, check out one of these sites. See appendix IV for links.
Robin Furth’s Concordance was an invaluable reference tool while I worked on this book, as were our e-mail exchanges as we delved into esoteric details of Roland’s world. Thanks also to Chuck Verrill, who answered my questions when I tried to spread them around so as to not be too much of a pest to any one person.
Rocky Wood, David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn are the authors of the CD-ROM encyclopedia The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King. There will never be a more exhaustive and thorough tool for anyone working on a project related to Stephen King’s fiction. When I needed to track down some detail for my research, this is where I turned first.
For the better part of a year, I watched discussions of the series at The Dark Tower dot Net and on SKEMERs, as well as on my own message board. Comments made in these forums inspired me to think about some Dark Tower concepts that I might not have considered otherwise. I’ve especially enjoyed watching fans of the series guess what might happen in the as-yet-unpublished books, and it’s been hard to keep from confirming or denying their speculations.
Finally, my wife and daughter have had to deal with the crazy schedule of a writer who also has a day job during this whole process since I started The Road to the Dark Tower in late 2002. They’ve both been incredibly supportive and put up with me when I was less than available, especially during deadline periods. To Mary Anne, thank you for encouraging me to reach higher when I might otherwise have let opportunity pass me by. I love you and I promise to always love you! To Ginny, I love you, and I’m very proud of the young woman you’ve become. The world, your quest, still lies before you.
I would like to thank Stephen King for giving permission to quote from his published works in this book. The following abbreviations are used in the text to identify the source of quoted material, all of which are copyright Stephen King. Quotes from Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower come from prerelease manuscripts and may be different from what appears in the final versions.
DT1: The Gunslinger, Donald M. Grant, 1982. Revised and expanded version, Viking, 2003. Individual stories originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction between 1978 and 1981.
DT2: The Drawing of the Three, Donald M. Grant, 1987.
DT3: The Waste Lands, Donald M. Grant, 1991.
DT4: Wizard and Glass, Donald M. Grant, 1997.
DT5: Wolves of the Calla, Donald M. Grant and Scribner, 2003.
DT6: Song of Susannah, Donald M. Grant and Scribner, 2004.
DT7: The Dark Tower, Donald M. Grant and Scribner, 2004.
SL: ’Salem’s Lot, Doubleday, 1975.
TS: The Stand, Doubleday, 1978. Revised and expanded edition, Doubleday, 1990.
DS: Different Seasons, Viking, 1982.
TT: The Talisman, with Peter Straub, Viking, 1984.
ED: The Eyes of the Dragon, Philtrum Press, 1984. Revised edition, Viking, 1987.
TK: The Tommyknockers, G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1987.
INS: Insomnia, Viking, 1994.
RM: Rose Madder, Viking, 1995.
LS: “The Little Sisters of Eluria,” in Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy, edited by Robert Silverberg, Tor, 1998. Collected in Everything’s Eventual, Scribner, 2002.
HA: Hearts in Atlantis, Scribner, 1999.
OW: On Writing, Scribner, 2000.
BH: Black House, with Peter Straub, Random House, 2001.
EE: Everything’s Eventual, Scribner, 2002. The novella of the same name first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1997.
FB8: From a Buick 8, Scri
bner, 2002.
Bev Vincent is the author of more than two dozen short stories and the Stephen King column “News from the Dead Zone,” featured in Cemetery Dance magazine. He lives in Texas with his wife and teenage daughter. Photo by Tom Richardson, SouthernExposure.Biz
* Note: These URLs were valid as of March 2004.
CONTENTS
KEY TO REFERENCED WORKS
INTRODUCTION: MORE WORLDS THAN THESE
CHAPTER 1: THE LONG JOURNEY TO THE TOWER
CHAPTER 2: THE GUNSLINGER (RESUMPTION)
CHAPTER 3: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE (RENEWAL)
CHAPTER 4: THE WASTE LANDS (REDEMPTION)
CHAPTER 5: WIZARD AND GLASS (REGARD)
CHAPTER 6: WOLVES OF THE CALLA (RESISTANCE)
CHAPTER 7: SONG OF SUSANNAH (REPRODUCTION)
CHAPTER 8: THE DARK TOWER (RESUMPTION)
CHAPTER 9: RELATED WORKS
CHAPTER 10: DRAMATIS PERSONAE
CHAPTER 11: EPICS, INFLUENCES AND KA
CHAPTER 12: ART AND THE ART OF CREATION
ARGUMENT: MAGNUM OPUS?
APPENDIX I: TIMELINE (FACT)
APPENDIX II: TIMELINE (FICTION)
APPENDIX III: MID-WORLD GLOSSARY
APPENDIX IV: THE DARK TOWER ON THE WEB
APPENDIX V: SYNOPSES AND NOTES FROM THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION
APPENDIX VI: “CHILDE ROWLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME”
REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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