The The Dark Tower is a Horror / Thriller series by Stephen King, made up of 8 books published between 1982 and 2012. It begins with The Gunslinger (1982), and is best read in publication order. The most recent entry is The Dark Tower (2004), spanning 30 years of storytelling.
| # | Title | Year | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | |||
| 1 | The Gunslinger ★ NYT 4w · peaked #5 | 1982 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 2 | The Drawing of the Three | 1987 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 1990s | |||
| 3 | The Waste Lands | 1991 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 4 | Wizard and Glass ★ NYT 1w · peaked #12 | 1997 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 2010s | |||
| 5 | The Wind Through the KeyholeLatest ★ NYT 8w · #1 🏆 Goodreads Choice Award 2012Full award history → | 2012 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 2000s | |||
| 6 | Wolves of the Calla | 2003 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 7 | Song of Susannah ★ NYT 10w · #1 Locus Award 2005Full award history → | 2004 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
| 8 | The Dark Tower ★ NYT 9w · peaked #2 🏆 British Fantasy Award 2005Full award history → 🎬 Adapted for film/TV → | 2004 | Buy from Amazon U.S / Intl. Buy from Amazon Australia |
The Dark Tower series: frequently asked questions
What order should I read the The Dark Tower series?
Start with The Gunslinger (1982), the first book in the The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Follow the books in publication order for the best reading experience.
How many books are in the The Dark Tower series?
There are 8 books in the The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, published between 1982 and 2012.
What is the first book in the The Dark Tower series?
The first book in the The Dark Tower series is The Gunslinger, published in 1982 by Stephen King.
What is the latest book in the The Dark Tower series?
The most recent book in the The Dark Tower series is The Dark Tower (2004) by Stephen King.
About the Dark Tower series
Stephen King's Dark Tower is the strange, sprawling magnum opus that ties much of his fiction together. Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, pursues the elusive Man in Black across a decaying, time-slipped world in quest of the Dark Tower — the nexus that holds all realities together.
Genre-blending is the point: it fuses spaghetti-western, dark fantasy, horror and science fiction, and gradually pulls in characters and connections from across King's wider universe. It is King at his most ambitious and most personal.
Start with "The Gunslinger" — though be warned it is the most divisive, austere entry; the series opens up considerably from book two, "The Drawing of the Three." Read in order, and watch for the threads linking back to King's other novels.