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'''Suzanne Casale''' better known as '''Lil' Suzy''' (born [[March 1]], [[1979]], [[Brooklyn, New York]]) is a [[Puerto Rican]]-[[American]] [[freestyle music]] [[singer]].
[[Image:The Dark Tower.jpg|thumb|right|"The Dark Tower" painting by Michael Whelan]]'''''The Dark Tower''''' is a [[fantasy fiction]], [[science fantasy]], [[horror fiction|horror]], and [[Western fiction|western]] themed series of [[novel]]s by the American writer [[Stephen King]]. The series has been described as King's [[magnum opus]] - besides the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. As was announced in April 2006, The series will be adapted into a [[comic book]] [[miniseries]] [[spin-off]] to be published by [[Marvel Comics]], written by [[Peter David]] and illustrated by [[Jae Lee]].[http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/003903.html]


Lil' Suzy is highly regarded as one of the top freestyle singers and was popular for the club hits as ''Take Me In Your Arms'' , and ''Memories of Love'' she was named Billboard's Best New Dance Artist in 1992.
The series was inspired by the [[poem]] "[[Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came]]" by [[Robert Browning]], [[The Waste Land]] by [[T.S. Eliot]] and in the preface to the 2003 edition of ''The Gunslinger'', King also identifies ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly]]'' as inspirations, identifying [[Clint Eastwood|Clint Eastwood's]] "[[Man with No Name]]" character as the genesis of [[Roland of Gilead]].


[[Category:American singers]]
The central character, Roland, is the last living member of a [[knight|knightly]] order known as ''gunslingers''. The world he lives in is quite different from our own and yet has freakish similarities. Politically organized along the lines of a [[Feudalism|feudal]] society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the [[American Old West]], as well as [[magic (paranormal)|magical]] powers and relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest, his ''raison d'être'', is to find the ''Dark Tower'', a mythical building said to be the nexus of the universe. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams - mighty nations are being torn apart by [[war]], entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, and even the [[Sun]] sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though events in later installments shed light on these mysteries.
[[Category:Freestyle musicians]]

In many ways, this series can be viewed as King's statement of the world he portrays in many of his other novels. Terminology such as ''Ka-tet'' and the Tower itself appear in other novels (principally ''[[Insomnia (novel)|Insomnia]]''), ''Can-toi'' is mentioned in ''[[Desperation]]'', and the theme of a thin world with outside beings seeking to enter and rule it, is an updated version of a similar theme that [[Lovecraft]] built his mythos upon.


== Characters in the series ==
{{spoiler}}

===Heroes===

==== Roland Deschain ====
{{main|Roland of Gilead}}

Roland Deschain, son of Steven Deschain, was born in the fictional city of Gilead. Roland is the last gunslinger, charged with finding the Dark Tower in hope of reversing the erosion of time and the universe. This quest is obsession, monomania and [[geas]] to Roland: the success of the quest is more important than the life of his loved ones, family and friends.

As the series opens, he is chasing Walter o'Dim, aka the Man in Black, across the seemingly endless Mohaine Desert. He finds Jake Chambers, an 11-year-old boy from 1977 [[New York City]], at a way station and befriends him. Jake was walking down the street one day when someone pushed him under a [[Cadillac]], then he woke up at a way-station in Mid-World and was quickly found by the gunslinger. Roland's relationship with Jake in ''The Gunslinger'' defines his personality: He can be friendly but is usually distant; he is wise and skilled but ignorant of our ways; he has no real sense of [[humor]] and is [[noble]]. However, he fails Jake: when confronted with the choice of saving Jake, who is dangling from a railroad trestle above an abyss, or finally confronting the Man in Black, he lets Jake fall. He catches up with Walter, the Man in Black, who tells Roland's fortune during a very long palaver. Roland falls unconscious, to finally wake up (significantly aged) next to what seems to be Walter's skeleton. He makes his way to a beach, where he is attacked by a swarm of bizarre lobster creatures (called ''lobstrosities'', [[portmanteau]] of ''[[lobster]]'' and ''monstrosity''). The creatures catch Roland sleeping and devour two fingers of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot. These wounds become [[infected]] from the lobstrosities' [[toxic]] [[Venom (poison)|venom]] and Roland falls gravely ill.
{{spoiler}}
He eventually recruits a new ka-tet for himself from a set of doors he finds along the beach, and heals his body as well. By the end of the 7th book, however, his ka-tet is either dead or gone, leaving him to climb the Tower on his own. And at the top, he finds...himself. He walks through that final door (engraved on it is his own name) only to find that it opens up into the Mohaine Desert, sending him back to do his quest all over again. His memory is wiped, he is made young again, and his fingers and guns are returned to him whole. The Tower, however, seeing that Roland has progressed so well from a soulless killer to a man of compassion for those who need him, gives him the Horn of Eld, an heirloom he lost long ago, as a symbol that perhaps things will be different next time he reaches the Tower. And so, "the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

==== Eddie Dean ====
Eddie makes his debut in ''[[The Drawing of the Three]]'', in which Roland encounters three doors that open into [[New York City]] of our world in different times. Through these doors, he draws companions who will join him on his quest, as the Man In Black foretold. The first to be drawn is Eddie Dean, a [[drug addict]] and [[cocaine]] transporter. Eddie lived with his older brother and fellow junkie Henry, who Eddie revered despite the corrupting influence Henry had upon his life. Roland helps Eddie fight off a gang of mobsters for whom he was transporting cocaine, but not before Eddie discovers that Henry has died from an overdose of [[heroin]] in the company of the aforementioned mobsters.

Roland also acquires medicine for his infection during the trip to Eddie's world.

Eddie passes through the door into Roland's world, and faces horrible [[withdrawal]] symptoms, but also shows an affinity for the ways of the gunslinger. Unwillingly at first, and somewhat forcibly, Eddie becomes Roland's companion through Mid-World, and soon falls in love with (and marries, in a way) Susannah, the next member of Roland's ''[[ka-tet]]''. Eddie later dies from a shot in the head by Pimli Prentiss, the head of Algul Siento, and a servant of the Crimson King. He is the first of the ka-tet to die (after Father Callahan).

Roland also notes that Eddie strongly resembles Cuthbert, another gunslinger, in appearance and personality. The character of Cuthbert is mentioned in Browning's poem and is described most fully in ''[[Wizard and Glass]]'', although he is first mentioned in ''[[The Gunslinger]]''.

==== Susannah Dean ====
Also hailing from New York City, Susannah is an African-American woman with two major afflictions: her legs below the knees were severed in a subway accident, and a childhood head injury left her with dual personalities. She is "The Lady of Shadows", the second companion predicted by Walter to be drawn through the mysterious doors.
Initially, her dominant personality is that of Odetta Holmes, a sweet, well-mannered woman active in the [[civil rights]] movement. In dark times, however, she is taken over by Detta Walker, a murderously psychotic but incredibly crafty woman whom neither Eddie nor Roland can control.

The third door leads to New York in the mid-[[1970s]]. Here Roland finds himself inside the mind of "The Pusher", a sadistic psychopath named Jack Mort whose callous acts of random violence have shaped the lives of Roland's companions. When Odetta was five, Mort dropped a brick on her head (which led to the emergence of her [[Dissociative identity disorder|multiple personalities]]); he also pushed Odetta in front of a subway car when she was a teenager (not knowing or caring that she was previously a victim of his cruelty); on this day in question he is planning to shove a young boy (who turns out to be Jake Chambers) into traffic. Unable to let Jake die once again through his inaction, Roland takes control of Mort's body and stops him, then later forces him to throw himself in front of a subway train. In the midst of this struggle, Roland manages to trick Detta into looking through the door, which forces her to acknowledge her dual personalities. The two successfully merge, yielding the true third party member, Susannah Dean.

Susannah, the sole survivor of Roland's second Ka-Tet, leaves his world for an alternate New York where another Eddie and another Jake are waiting for her. Roland continues to the Dark Tower, accompanied only by the billy-bumbler Oy and The Artist, Patrick Danville.

==== Jake Chambers ====
Jake is the symbolic "son" of Roland. He is originally from New York, circa 1977, and is pushed into Roland's world by the [[Randall Flagg|Man in Black]], who Jake sees as Walter but we later found out is Jack Mort. Jake's real name is John, but he prefers to be known by his nickname only.

The eleven-year-old boy Roland left to die reappears in The Wastelands due to a [[paradox]]. Since Roland prevented Mort from shoving Jake into traffic, he never appeared in Mid-World, and was never left to die under the mountains. Jake and Roland, however, can remember both timelines, and the knowledge is slowly driving them insane.

In the first half of ''The Wastelands'', Roland's ka-tet figure out a way to draw Jake into Mid-world where he belongs. Eddie obsessively whittles a key out of wood as they approach another door, this one set into the ground and guarded by an invisible demon. Susannah distracts the demon by allowing it to copulate with her, while Eddie perfects the key and opens the door. On the other side, Jake has been drawn into an abandoned house filled with evil spirits, but fights through it (with a bit of timely assistance from Roland) to reach the door. Once in Mid-World again, Roland's and Jake's memories are corrected and their journey into insanity abated. Unfortunately, Susannah will pay the price for her distraction of the spirit.

While crossing the desolate city of Lud, Roland finds that he may have to sacrifice Jake again to ensure their safe passage. Despite the danger, however, he rescues Jake, reaffirming the father-son bond that has grown between them. Like Eddie and Susannah, Jake eventually becomes a full-fledged gunslinger.

Jake is the second member of the ka-tet to die when he sacrifices himself to save Stephen King (a character in his own series) from certain death by putting himself between King and the van meant to take his life. An alternate version of Jake is encountered later by Susannah Dean.

==== Oy ====
{{main|Oy (Dark Tower)}}
On the road to Lud, the group finds a wounded "billy-bumbler". These animals are described as looking like a cross between a racoon and a dog, with a corkscrew-spiral tail. When Jake first sees the bumbler, he calls "Come here, boy," and the animal mimicks the sound with "Oy". The bumbler is friendly and intelligent -- Roland explains that it used to be common for billy-bumblers to speak and even be able to perform simple math -- and Jake decides to call him Oy, after the first word they heard him say. Seemingly a mere pet at first, Oy proves to be strangely helpful and nearly human at times. Roland concedes that Oy may quite possibly be meant as another member of their ''Ka-Tet''. Oy dies valiantly while fighting Mordred Deschain in the final book, ''The Dark Tower''.

==== Susan Delgado ====
Susan Delgado appears in "Wizard and Glass", the fourth book of the series. When Roland is sent away from Gilead by his father, he meets Susan Delgado. Her father was killed in a horseback riding "accident", and Susan is being forced by her aunt to be the gilly-girl ([[concubine]]) of the mayor of her town. Before she is to sleep with the mayor, she falls in love with Roland and plans to run away with him. Accused of killing the mayor, she is burned at the stake by the townspeople and her aunt. At the time, she is pregnant with Roland's first child. Roland admits that Susan Delgado was (and in many ways, still is) the love of his life.

==== Ted Brautigan ====
Ted Stevens Brautigan (19 letters), was first written of in the Stephen King novella ''[[Low Men in Yellow Coats]]'' from ''[[Hearts in Atlantis]]''. He is a powerful "Breaker", a psychic, whose extraordinary powers as a "facilitator" are sought by the Crimson King so he can hasten the destruction of the beams and Dark Tower. Ted arrived in the [[Devar-Toi]], the prison where the Breakers are held, in [[1955]], and thanks to Roland's old friend from Mejis, [[Sheemie Ruiz]], Ted escapes the Devar-Toi and enters the Connecticut of 1960, which is when the story of LMIYC takes place. After his adventure in [[Connecticut]], the [[low men]] capture and smuggle him via the Dixie Pig and Thunderclap Station and back to the Devar-Toi. He meets Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series, and he, ''[[Everything's Eventual]]'''s [[Dinky Earnshaw]] and the telepath Sheemie, assist the ka-tet in the attack on the Devar-Toi and they ultimately succeed in obliterating the low men and the taheen. After Roland, Jake, and Oy travel to the Maine of 1999 to prevent their [[ka' ska Gan]] Stephen King from dying, Ted and his friends escort Susannah Dean to Fedic Station, and they depart for the Callas, where they hope to return to America via the Doorway Cave.

==== Sheemie Ruiz ====
Sheemie in [[Wizard and Glass]], was a mildly [[retarded]] tavern boy at a saloon in Hambry. Sheemie assisted Roland and his original ka-tet in preventing the followers of [[John Farson]], and more specifically, the Crimson King, from reviving the Great Old Ones' war machines. Sheemie joined Roland's ka-tet briefly and helped the gunslingers ward off the Crimson King's followers until he and his mule Capi mysteriously disappeared. However, while Roland assumes Sheemie is dead, he is not; he had been captured by the low men and taken to the [[Devar-Toi]], the [[Breaker (Stephen King)|Breaker]] prison, because of his telepathic abilities. He reappears in the series' final novel and assists the ka-tet in defeating the low men and the taheen. However, after the battle, he stepped on a piece of glass, causing an infection (accelerated by the "poison air" around Thunderclap). While escorting Susannah to Fedic on the train, he dies.

==== Dinky Earnshaw ====
Richard "Dinky" Earnshaw is the psychic assassin from Stephen King's short story [[Everything's Eventual]]. He was hired by a man named Mr. Sharpton who was the head of a [[North Central Positronics]] subsidiary. However, when Dink discovered what Sharpton was truly using him for, he killed Sharpton. Unfortunately, the low men captured him and transported him to the [[Devar-Toi]], where he later met Ted Brautigan and Sheemie Ruiz. The three joined forces with Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series and they defeated the Devar's warriors.

==== Pere Donald Callahan ====
{{main|Father Callahan}}

Callahan is the "damned" priest who appeared in the novel [['Salem's Lot]]. He makes his first appearance in the Dark Tower series in "Wolves of the Calla", although his character's reappearance was hinted at in the afterword to [[Wizard and Glass]]. After escaping death by vampire, Father Callahan spends time in a homeless shelter that he later runs. His partner in running the shelter, who is also the object of Callahan's love, is given AIDS by a vampire. Callahan has made it his life's work since Jerusalem's Lot to eliminate such vampires. He enters Mid-World, then arrives at the Way Station from the beginning of ''The Gunslinger''. Readers don't find this out until they read the ''Wolves of the Calla''. He assists the ka-tet in the Battle against the Wolves, helps Susannah's rescue mission from 1999 New York, and makes his final stand in ''The Dark Tower VII'' against the can-toi (low men) and vampires.

Callahan kills himself before allowing himself to fall at the hands of the vampires in the Dixie Pig; this diversion allows Jake to escape.

===Villains===

==== The Man in Black ====
{{main|Randall Flagg}}

Also known as the Ageless Stranger, Walter o'Dim, Marten Broadcloak and Randall Flagg; he appears in many books of Stephen King, including ''[[The Eyes of the Dragon]]'' and ''[[The Stand]]'', always as a nearly-demonic sorcerer. He is the [[Crimson King]]'s chief agent, but secretly plots to rule the tower himself. This evil figure knows dark magic and uses it to spread chaos. He has destroyed civilizations, led numerous violent factions, and killed his way to ruling kingdoms, the whole time serving the Crimson King. His true name is Walter Padick, but he has taken many aliases, among them [[Randall Flagg]]. Flagg is a central character in another sprawling King novel, "The Stand." In this tale, he is also called "The Dark Man" or "The Walkin' Dude", and knows much about Roland, his history, and his quest for the Dark Tower. Walter is eaten alive by Mordred Deschain, Roland's bastard, half-spider son. Walter also, in the course of the series, reveals himself to be Marten Broadcloak, Chief advisor to Steven Deschain, Roland's father, and lover to Gabrielle Deschain, Roland's mother. This is significant as Marten Broadcloak is also revealed to be either John Farson (the Good Man) himself, or an ally of his. In goading Roland into his early test of manhood, Walter o'Dim (who actually returns to advise Roland's father under this name, with a slightly altered appearance, after Marten's mysterious disappearance) has sowed the seeds of his own undoing. Not, of course, before wiping out all of the gunslingers except for Roland in a massive civil war against Farson.

Walter's tenacity and slipperiness are inhuman; in ''The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition'' he is exposed to a nuclear explosion but escapes to wreak havoc elsewhere via some sort of magic; in ''The Eyes of the Dragon'' he is shot through the eye with Foe-Hammer, yet escapes and lives. Even under Roland's own gun, he managed to disappear in ''Wizard and Glass''. Though it seems he met his final end between the jaws of Mordred Deschain, it is contested between fans of the series whether or not he is really dead, though the accepted canon is that Mordred saw to his end.

==== The Crimson King ====
{{main|Crimson King}}

The ultimate in evil, this mysterious figure wishes to conquer the Dark Tower and raze it to the ground. Since this will destroy nearly the entire universe, he is naturally cast as the villain in The Dark Tower books. He is also present in another Stephen King book, [[Insomnia (novel)|Insomnia]], and a King-Peter Straub collaboration known as Black House. He is also known as Ram Aballah, and once ruled from his castle in Thunderclap, but now is imprisoned on a balcony on the Dark Tower, which he had run to in a fit of madness that had taken him over. He believes that when the Tower falls, he will rule the Todash darkness that was once the multiverse. He is the one whom Walter/Flagg serves, whom the low men and taheen serve, and has opposed Roland of Gilead from the beginning. Like Roland, he is descended from Arthur Eld, but there is speculation among Tower fans whether or not he and Arthur Eld are the same individual.This is noted in the sixth book, when Susannah enters the Dixie Pig, she is confronted by a room full of low men and Taheen, who are eating roasted babies. As she looks around the room, she is also confronted with a tapestry depicting Arthur Eld eating the leg of a baby at the Round Table.

====Rhea====
{{main|Rhea of the Cöos}}

A decrepit old witch, Rhea Dubativo was the one responsible for the death of Roland's true love, Susan Delgado. She was trusted with the Pink Grapefruit, which slowly drained her and drove her insane, similar to that of [[Gollum]] from ''[[Lord of the Rings]]''. We never find out what happens to her, although Roland does imply that he killed her nothing more is elaborated upon beyond that.

==== Mia ====
An invading spirit who [[possess]]es Susannah Dean's body in ''Wolves of the Calla''. Originally an immortal spirit similar to a [[succubus]], she saw and fell in love with a baby. After a plague ravaged the town of Fedic and the child was taken away, Mia struck a bargain with Walter/Flagg. If she would give up her formless immortality, Walter would give her a baby. Mia's purpose in Walter and the Crimson King's plan is to bear Roland's child; prophecy has foretold that this child will be Roland's doom.

The child Mia called her "chap" was being carried by Susannah, who became pregnant with Roland's seed from the demon she copulated with in "The Waste Lands", during Jake's Drawing. The demon, a hermaphrodite able to change its sex at will, had copulated with Roland as a female in a previous volume while Roland protected Jake and queried it for information. The demon had somehow preserved Roland's seed and impregnated Susannah with it. Mia possessed Susannah in order to take over the birthing of her "chap".

This concept is similar to that of [[IVF]]. Roland's sperm is stored by the demon and "delivered" to Susannah, without either's consent.

Mia is killed and eaten by her child, Mordred, shortly after giving birth.

==== Mordred Deschain ====
{{main|Mordred Deschain}}

Son of two fathers and two mothers, Mordred was born of Susannah's egg fertilized by the seed of both Roland of Gilead and the Crimson King (via the demon encountered while drawing Jake into the world), and carried to term by Mia. Mordred is half-human, half-god, and if his fate is fulfilled, he will both kill Roland (one of his fathers) and topple the Dark Tower itself. He is very powerful, yet he is also extremely arrogant as well. Walter o'Dim died in an attempt to make Mordred his puppet, and the boy still managed to hunt Roland down for numberless miles less than a week after his birth.

However, neither the seers nor fate itself could protect Mordred from the death of magic in Mid-World as the Tower falters. Mordred becomes deathly ill after eating poisoned horse meat, and when he makes a final attempt to kill his White Father, he is attacked by Oy. Oy, dying during the battle, is able to distract Mordred long enough to allow Roland to wake up and prepare his weapon. Roland kills Mordred then, at the threshold of the Dark Tower.

==== The Low Men (Can-toi, Fayen Folken) ====
First introduced in the story "Low Men in Yellow Coats" from [[Hearts in Atlantis]], these soldiers of the Crimson King are half-taheen and half human. Richard P. Sayre is a prominent Low Man in the Dark Tower Series. They appear in the novel [[Black House]] by King and Peter Straub, as well as a speculated appearence in [[ From a Buick 8]] by King.

==== Taheen ====
{{main|Taheen}}
[[Taheen]] resemble humans with the heads of animals. They are in charge of Devar-toi and the Can-toi and are the servants of the Crimson King. The Taheen, much in the same way as humans, have a choice in their destiny, thus they can be good or evil. Their exact origin, however, remains a mystery.

==== Richard Patrick Sayre ====
The leader of the can-toi and the head of the [[Sombra Corporation]], Sayre is the individual who lured Callahan to his death in 1983. He is the one who witnesses Mordred's birth in the Extraction Room at the Arc 16 Experimental Station in Fedic, and he meets his end when he is shot twice in the back of the head (once for Mia, once for Pere Callahan) by Susannah.

==== Jack Andolini ====
Jack Andolini is a New York gangster and affiliate of Enrico Balazar, whom readers first met in ''[[The Drawing of the Three]]'' . In that novel, in 1987, while trying to kill Eddie, he followed Eddie and Roland into Mid-World and met his death by the hands of the lobstrosities. However, he reappears in ''[[Song of Susannah]]'' as a representative of the Sombra Corporation, in 1977. When Roland and Eddie enter the Maine of 1977, Andolini and his gang ambush them at the East Stoneham General Store. This version of Andolini, however, meets a not so horrible fate: in ''The Dark Tower'', he is imprisoned in a Maine county jail.

==Places==
===All-World (Roland's World)===
'''All-World''' is the world/universe (see: [[Parallel universe (fiction)|parallel universe]]) also known as "Keystone Tower". It is the only world/universe in King's multi-verse that contains the Dark Tower in its physical form. All others contain a representative of the Tower (such as a rose, a tiger, or an "ur-dog"), but not the Tower in an accessible form. From All-World, it is possible to actually enter the Dark Tower.

All-World is divided into regions, such as In-World, Mid-World, End-World, Out-World, and Thunderclap. The geography is widely varied. It includes deserts, mountains, rolling plains and vast wastelands. It is said to have "moved on." This seems to mean that where there was once great order there is now little if any order. For example: the sun doesn’t always rise in the right place and sometimes it doesn’t even cross the entire sky. According to [[Blaine the Mono]], his [[Slo-Trans]] engines were supposed to last for millions of years, but were already faltering after a few thousand. However, since time appears to run at different rates all throughout All-World, and given Blaine's dementia, this assessment may not be dependable.

It seems that an extremely advanced civilization once existed in All-World, possibly a parallel [[United States]]. This can be inferred from the high degree of similarity between Old Ones (the name for these ancient people) architecture, automobiles, clothing and the fact that an Old Ones military outpost used an everyday phone modem and [[Microsoft]] products. There was also a cola product called Nozz-a-la whose artwork was identical to that of [[Coca-Cola]]. They might have spoken [[English language|English]].

The civilization of the Old Ones collapsed because of the replacement of [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], which could last forever, with [[technology]], which would disintegrate if left unattended, but which nevertheless was allowed to be responsible for maintaining the Beams of the Dark Tower.

The Beams are six invisible forces connecting the edge of the world/universe to the center. These Beams are the primary sources of force in All-World and they maintain order. Failure of the Beams cause changes in [[physical constant|physical]] and [[astronomical constant|astronomical]] constants, which causes chaos in nature, as well as in civilization. There are six Beams with twelve Guardians, one for each "Portal" (the end of a Beam) arranged like the spokes of a wheel with The Tower at the center. (see also: The Waste Lands). Guardians were based on novels like [[Shardik]] (for the bear) and [[Discworld]] for the turtle (Discworld's turtle was based on the ancient myth [[Akupara]]).

The Old One civilization used technology to maintain the Beams of the Dark Tower instead of magic, and sought to literally control reality. The final blow for the Old One civilization seems to have been [[nuclear war]]s, [[germ warfare]] and [[chemical warfare]]. It is not known when such wars took place, why they took place, or even between which nations or organizations such wars were fought. It is widely hinted the Crimson King was ultimately working behind the scenes, manipulating people and events to bring about civilization's destruction, since such destruction serves his ultimate ends.

The All-World of most of the Dark Tower series seems to be sparsely populated and dangerous, filled with [[mutants]] both human and animal, and vast swaths of land are [[irradiated]]. [[Demons]] and [[robot]]s are to be found, as well as [[Taheen]], who are in the employ of the [[Crimson King]]. [[Government]]s do not extend beyond the town level. Resources are scarce, and relics of the Old Ones technology exist mainly in perverted, deranged, or damaged forms that threaten instead of helping the last remnants of civilization.

===Keystone World and the rose===
The only "unique" world. The only world with Stephen King in it, and the only world where changes made are permanent and can't be unmade. This world is home to the rose, which they say is not merely the representative of the tower here, but might actually be the physical tower itself. At the end of the series it was being protected by the Tet Corporation, which Roland's ka-tet created in [[1977]], using Odetta Holmes' fortune as heiress to the Holmes Dental Corporation.

==Dark Tower Glossary==
===Commala===
In [[Wolves of the Calla]], '''Commala''' is both a celebration of the harvest season and part of Calla-Speak, a dialect used in the Crescent-Callas of the borderlands between Mid-World and the vast wasteland of Thunderclap. It is used in a surprising number of slang terms, many of them sexual in nature.

:''One would reference '(sexual) orgasm,' as in 'Did'ee come commala'? (The hoped-for reply being 'Aye, say thankya, commala big-big.') To wet the commala is to irrigate the rice in a dry time; it is also to masturbate. Commala is the commencement of some big and joyful meal, like a family feast (not the meal itself, do ya, but the moment of beginning to eat). A man who is losing his hair is coming commala. Putting animals out to stud is damp commala. Gelded animals are dry commala, although no one could tell you why. A virgin is green commala, a menstruating woman is red commala, an old man who can no longer make iron before the forge is say sorry sof' commala. To stand commala is to stand belly-to-belly, a slang term meaning "to share secrets." (For that matter, why is a fork sometimes a commala, but never a spoon or a knife?) The Commala is also a dance to the goddess Oriza, to bless the rice.''

(excerpt from [[Wolves of the Calla]])

===Thinny===
A '''thinny''' is a "weak spot" in reality. They are described as looking like large blobs of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] and emit a warbling sound that can set a person's teeth on edge and/or hypnotize the victim. Besides the insanity-inducing buzzing and warbling sound, the thinny plays on a person's thoughts; telling them what they want to hear and promising a fine outcome. Death is more likely. Transportation into other universes is possible by simply walking into a thinny, but this is a rare outcome. Roland encountered a thinny earlier in life, the story of which is recounted in ''Wizard and Glass''. His ka-tet also encounters one just outside [[Topeka, Kansas]], in the reality of ''The Stand''.

===Manni===
The Manni tradition stems from the idea of a [[multiverse]]. The Manni are a group in All-world who consider themselves to be sailors on the winds of ka. They wear dark blue robes and are known for having rather grim views on situations. They also have magical items that allow them to go todash. The dialect of All-world is heavily influenced by the Manni to include words like ka, ka-tet and khef.

The Manni religion could be the descendant or parallel of modern Christianity, showing another similarity that All-World has with this world. There are numerous references to the "Man Jesus" throughout the novels, and the Manni quote certain Bible verses, as shown in ''[[Wolves of the Calla|The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla]]''. However in ''[[The Gunslinger]]'' Revised Version the Manni are somewhat differentiated from followers of the Man Jesus when Roland notes, "He was not a Manni, however, nor a follower of the Man Jesus, and considered himself in no way holy," implying that the two are different even if somehow related religions.

===[[Ka (Dark Tower)|Ka]]===
"It is ka, and ka is destiny." -Ted Brautigan, Hearts in Atlantis: Low Men in Yellow Coats. Ka can be described as destiny or fate, but is more complex than that. It is said to be a wheel that can only be broken by death or by betrayal. But, as Cort put it, those are also spokes on the wheel of ka. The image of ka as a wheel is reminiscent of the philosphy, "what goes around comes around."

Synonyms: [[Fate]], [[Destiny]], [[Karma]], [[Luck]], [[Kismet]], [[Purpose]]

===Ka-tet===
"We are ka-tet. We are one from many." Says Roland of Gilead on the day before the Battle of Algul Siento([[The Dark Tower (2004 novel)|The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower]]). Ka-tet is the belief that a group of people can be tied together by fate, or ka. (This a concept frequently used by King, even in books that do not use the terms "ka" or "ka-tet"; [[It]], [[The Stand]], and [[Dreamcatcher]] are examples; compare with [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s [[Karass]]) It is said that a group has shared "khef" or the water of life. Sometimes the symbol of water is used literally, as in a ritual Roland and his ka-tet performs the night before the battle of Algul Siento. Roland's ka-tet includes himself, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Oy, and Jake Chambers. This tet was broken after the Battle of Blue Heaven. Donald "Pere" Callahan could possibly be considered ka-tet at the end of the series, as could Roland's nemesis, Randall Flagg. Roland's previous ka-tet included himself, Cuthbert Allgood, Jamie DeCurry, and Alain Johns.

===Khef===
Literally the water of life. The idea of ''khef'' seems to be an adaptation of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]’s word ''[[grok]]'' from ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]''. Both ''khef'' and ''grok'' are used in roughly the same context. It is basically the life force of ''ka''. It's where ''ka'' meets the soul. The Manni believe it to be possible to live off this life force.

==Books in the series==
#''[[The Gunslinger|The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger]]'' ([[1982]], originally published as separate short stories; revised edition released in [[2003]])
#''[[The Drawing of the Three|The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three]]'' ([[1987]])
#''[[The Waste Lands|The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands]]'' ([[1991]])
#''[[Wizard and Glass|The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass]]'' ([[1997]])
#''[[Wolves of the Calla|The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla]]'' (title originally announced as ''The Crawling Shadow'') ([[2003]])
#''[[Song of Susannah|The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah]]'' ([[2004]])
#''[[The Dark Tower (2004 novel)|The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower]]'' ([[2004]])
#''Untitled Comic Book'', ([[Marvel Comics]], [[2007]] (?) [http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=a65c002dd2d92b065f234b7c61b1396e&threadid=47647])

===Illustrations===

Each book in the series was originally published in [[hardcover]] format with a number of full-color illustrations spread throughout. Each book contained works by a single illustrator only. Subsequent printings of each book in [[trade paperback]] format usually preserve the illustrations in full, except for books I and IV. Pocket-sized [[paperback]] reprints contain only black-and-white chapter or section header illustrations.

The illustrators who worked on each book are:

# [[Michael Whelan]], multiple award-winning science fiction and fantasy painter. ''The Dark Tower'' is among his early notable works.
# [[Phil Hale]], the only Dark Tower illustrator who created a second set of illustrations for a later printing of the book he illustrated.
# [[Ned Dameron]].
# [[Dave McKean]], graphic designer noted for working in many media, including photography and film. The only Dark Tower illustrator to work in photo[[collage]]s.
# [[Bernie Wrightson]], established illustrator for 1960s and 1970s horror comics.
# [[Darrel Anderson]], the only Dark Tower illustrator who used [[digital illustration]] techniques.
# Michael Whelan, returning more than 20 years later as the only recurring Dark Tower illustrator.

==Connections to other works of King==
The series has become a linchpin that ties much of King's work together. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other various elements from many of King's novels.

The following is a list of specific connections between books. Note that all ''Dark Tower'' books are connected to each other chronologically.{{ref|roadmap}}

*''The Gunslinger''
**''[[Bag of Bones]]''
**''[[The Stand]]''
*''The Drawing of the Three''
**''[[The Eyes of the Dragon]]''
*''The Waste Lands''
**''[[Rose Madder (novel)|Rose Madder]]''
**''[[The Stand]]''
**''Cell'' (via the mentioning of Charlie the Choo Choo)
*''Wizard and Glass''
**''[[Skeleton Crew]]''
**''[[The Stand]]''
*''Wolves of the Calla''
**''[['Salem's Lot]]''
**''[[The Ten O'Clock People]]'' (disputed)
**''[[Bag of Bones]]''
**''[[Black House]]'' (via the term opopanax)
*''Song of Susannah''
**''[[The Eyes of the Dragon]]''
**''[[Black House]]''
***''[[The Talisman (1983)|The Talisman]]''
**''[[The Little Sisters of Eluria]]''
***''[[Desperation]]''
****''[[The Regulators]]''
***''[[Hearts in Atlantis]]''
****''[[From a Buick 8]]'' (via HiA, Dieffenbacker the cop)
****''[[Insomnia (novel)|Insomnia]]''
*****''[[It (novel)|It]]''
******''[[The Shining (novel)|The Shining]]''
*''[[The Dark Tower (2004 novel)|The Dark Tower]]''
**''[[Everything's Eventual]]''
**''[[Hearts in Atlantis]]''
**''[[From a Buick 8]]'' (via HiA, Dieffenbacker the cop)
**''[[Insomnia (novel)|Insomnia]]''
**''[[It (novel)|It]]''

==References==
*{{note|roadmap}} "[http://www.thedarktower.net/connections/roadmap/ Roadmap to The Dark Tower]". ''TheDarkTower.net''. Retrieved October 29, 2005.

==External links==
* [http://www.stephenking.com/DarkTower/ The Dark Tower official website] (requires [[Macromedia Flash]] 6)
* [http://www.stephenking.com/pages/works/list_written.php List of Stephen King's works] - including this series - from his official website
* [http://www.thedarktower.net TheDarkTower.net -- Extensive Fan and Information Site]
* [http://www.thedarktower.net/wiki/ Dark Tower Wiki]
* [http://www.horrorking.com HorrorKing.com]- Site features extensive information about all King's works including the Dark Tower novels
* [http://www.king-stephen.com/ Stephen Kings Dark Tower]

[[Category:Fantasy series|Dark Tower, The]]
[[Category:Novel sequences|Dark Tower, The]]
[[Category:The Dark Tower|*]]

[[da:Det Mørke Tårn]]
[[de:Der Dunkle Turm]]
[[fr:La Tour sombre]]
[[it:La torre nera (serie)]]
[[he:המגדל האפל]]
[[ja:ダーク・タワー]]
[[pl:Mroczna Wieża (cykl)]]
[[fi:Musta torni]]

Revision as of 04:09, 10 May 2006

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