E.S. Raye

Last week, while discussing the books I already own that I’d like to get around to reading, I mentioned that high fantasy has never been one of my favorite genres.

And while that is extremely true, it doesn’t mean I don’t like some fantasy. Case in point, my favorite book series of all time is The Dark Tower by Stephen King.

If you’re not familiar with The Dark Tower, it acts as a sort of central trunk from which many (if not all) of Stephen King’s works branch off from–it is deeply intertwined with books like Salem’s Lot, The Stand, Hearts in Atlantis, Everything’s Eventual, and Insomnia.

But if you only know Stephen King from his horror, you might be surprised to learn that the connective tissue that binds his multiverse together is based more in fantasy than you’d expect.

Setting

Although the settings of The Dark Tower change often, and even include some far more familiar locations, it primarily takes place in a blasted and desolate world that has “moved on,” called Mid-World. In Mid-World distances change, the points of the compass shift, and thin places in reality are becoming more common.

Although we never get the full story on Mid-World, it comes across as a post-apocalyptic world with clear influences of fantasy, westerns, and sci-fi. Ancient technology and even older magic are found and accepted in equal measure.

There are ghosts, demons, crumbling cities, insane artificial intelligences, robots, telepathy, and ancient, evil wizards.

Characters

For those who haven’t read it, I don’t want to give away too much regarding the cast of supporting characters, because their stories and how they come to be a part of the plot are unique and fantastical in their own rights. Suffice it to day, there is some gunplay, some ancient magic, and a couple of deeply unsettling monsters.

Instead, I’ll focus on The Dark Tower’s main protagonist, Roland Deschain.

Roland is a gunslinger, and in Mid-World, that’s more like a knight–King spends a lot of time over the books blurring the line between cowboy and knight errant.

Roland is from a world long gone–a relic of Mid-World’s past. How old he is, and how he’s lasted are valid questions readers may ask. There are answers to be found, but even they might be up for debate. Roland is a character of myth, from a tradition King stitched together from Arthurian legend, the old west, and high fantasy.

Story

If nothing else I’ve said has convinced you The Dark Tower is fantasy, then this ought to: the story is a quest.

Just like the Lord of the Rings, the fellowship found in The Dark Tower (called a “ka-tet” here) are on a grand adventure from one place to another, encountering strife, obstacles, and enemies along the way.

Instead of simply walking into Mordor, these characters are trekking to the titular Dark Tower at the center of creation. The tower hold up (or perhaps is a manifestation of) King’s entire multiverse, where each universe its own level in the tower.

Many characters are lost along the way, some heroically, some tragically. All gut-wrenchingly.

Genre Blending

The Dark Tower is undoubtedly one of the places I get my love of genre mash-ups. As a work of Stephen King, the horror elements are plentiful–and varied; there are classic vampires as well as cosmic order deities a la H.P. Lovecraft.

There are also sci-fi elements aplenty. Besides the aforementioned insane A.I., there is a cyborg bear, cross-universal travel, temporal shifting, and ancient technology said to have been created to take over for the fading magic of the world.

The western motif is abundant, especially in the first and fourth books, The Gunslinger, and Wizard and Glass. Oppressive deserts, horses, and gun fights in sleepy little towns are the order of the day across the series. Not to mention Roland’s extremely “Man With No Name” aura.

And, of course, the fantasy elements are unmistakable. Quests, long forgotten magic, oaths made, kept, and broken, gods, monsters, and the ultimate battle of good versus evil against the Crismon King, who hovers over all yet stays mostly hidden behind the scenes.

—

The Dark Tower is far from the high fantasy of Tolkien, but the fact that it’s not elves and dwarfs and hobbits helped me get deep into it before I even realized I was reading fantasy. Once I made that realization, it redefined the genre for me, and opened my eyes to more fantasy-adjacent reading, like the urban fantasy of The Dresden Files, another personal favorite.

With that said, I’ll close with a request:

What non-traditional fantasy book would you recommend for someone like me?