The Quest for the Dark Tower: Genre and Interconnection in the Stephen King Series

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A sprawling epic that encompasses many worlds, parallel and alternate timelines, and the echoes between these disconnects, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series spans the entirety of King’s career, from The Gunslinger (limited edition 1982; revised in 2003) to The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012). The series has two distinctive characteristics: its genre hybridity and its interconnection with the larger canon of King’s work. The Dark Tower series engages with a number of distinct and at times dissonant genre traditions, including those of Arthurian legend, fairy tales, the fantasy epic, the Western, and horror. The Dark Tower series is also significant in its cross-references to King’s other works, ranging from overt connections like characters or places to more subtle allusions, like the sigil of the Dark Tower’s Crimson King appearing in the graffiti of other realities. This book examines these connections and genre influences to consider how King negotiates and transforms these elements, why they matter, and the impact they have on one another and on King’s work as a whole.