UNDERSTANDING THE "DARK TOWER" UNIVERSE (in seven minutes!)

NOTE: This graphic is available to purchase as art at my Etsy shop.
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SUMMARY: Ever wondered how exactly Stephen King's "Dark Tower" universe fits together? Great news! Here's a video that shows how the story of Roland's ka-tet grew over time and crashed into the worlds of "Salem's Lot," "The Stand," "11/22/63," and countless more. Click play and watch the world bloom like a rose made up of nerd-ass circles and lines.
MUSIC:
Axletree
"Reservoir Sunset," "Goldfinch: Flight to the North"
/ axletreemusic
REFERENCE:
BirthMoviesDeath
"The Stephen King Multiverse"
• The Stephen King Multi...
CRITERIA AND CAVEATS:
1. Core locations (Derry, Castle Rock, 'salem's Lot, and Mid-World) are included only if they're present in a story; being mentioned is not enough.
2. Core characters can be included if they're mentioned, as with Flagg in "Hearts in Atlantis" and the Crimson King in "Black House."
3. I deliberately limited myself to 12 connecting elements so the graphic would be legible and appealing to the eyes.
4. Some seemingly-absent connections are due to technicalities (the car's owner in "From a Buick 8" is theorized but not verified to be a Low Man, and the Ritual of Chud in "IT" and "Later" is a psychic battle, not a todash one). But at least one ("Gwendy's Final Task") is a consequence of me learning about it when I was 99% done with the video. Oh, well.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

A few details for Stephen King nerdos: - The choice of 13 differently-colored elements is a reference to the Bends of the Rainbow, the crystal balls from the Tower universe. - It's deliberate that Flagg and Roland are in opposition on the circle, as are the Crimson King and Maturin. I also tried to evoke opposition in Derry and Mid-World (two Tower-centric locations) and Callahan and Low Men (there's a memorable clash with them in the opening of the seventh book). - My original hope was that every line would be continuous; that wasn't achievable due to friggin' Castle Rock, but "Needful Things" being its own little cul-de-sac worked out since that book was originally supposed to be the Last Castle Rock Story.

[@n0tk0sher]

I have a theory about King and his stories. Everybody and their brother were hounding him to finish The Dark Tower. So very annoyed, he finished Song of Susannah and book seven, and in those last two books he mentions things from so many of his books just so he could sell more. I don't know if I'm remembering things right, it's been about 17 years since I finished the series. But it just struck me that he was annoyed to the point that he was gonna finish that thing up in a hurry, and sell as many books as he could, because he had had it with his fans.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

@@n0tk0sher What I do know is that, per King, his car accident in '99 galvanized him into finishing the Tower series out of fear that he might die before finishing the series (if he'd continued the pace he was on beforehand, finishing a book every 3-6 years). But the intertextuality of the series was already on track before the accident in '99, as "Drawing of the Three" cites Denny and Thomas from "Eyes of the Dragon," "The Wastelands" brought in Randall Flagg, and "Wizard and Glass" name-checks the Crimson King, and Stephen King was already planning to include Father Callahan for the fifth book. I think what's most likely is that the car accident *accelerated* an intertextuality that was already in progress. To your point, though, the publisher actually went back and added Dark Tower "keyhole" symbols to Tower-related books. So, while I don't think the intertextuality was included cynically (I personally think King was using it as self-therapy while his health improved, creating a buried organization to his life's work), it was ultimately taken advantage of to move more books. Which is fair. Publishing is a business. They also update the paperback covers whenever there's a tie-in movie.

[@n0tk0sher]

@@JamesWVanFleet Yeah, that all tracks as well. I just remember feeling bombarded by references to so many other characters, locations and even book titles toward then end. I felt like he was trolling us, to use current vernacular. Let's not forget that he even made himself a character in the story. But don't get me wrong, I've always been a huge fan of his, and The Dark Tower is up there as my favorite series ever (tied with Dune). I think they should make it an animated series, in the vein of Castlevania. Nice chatting with you.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

@@n0tk0sher 100% agreed on the animated series idea.

[@archaedemos]

What an awesome wrapup video dude! I read some of those books but not nearly all. Eyes of the dragon was the best for me.

[@vickiamundsen2933]

"See the turtle of enormous girth; on his shell he holds the earth. His thoughts are slow but always kind; he holds us all within his mind."

[@leecorrigan8394]

The turtle couldn't help

[@MasterOrona]

Imagine if Pennywise was in NYC and the ninja turtles ran into him. He would run screaming. Lol.

[@____________838]

@@MasterOrona that’s a great thought

[@randomenbyuploads8925]

See the turtle, ain’t he keen, all things serve the fuckin beam

[@leecorrigan8394]

@@randomenbyuploads8925 beep beep Eddie

[@Ryans_tryin]

That last shot of the map made me smile bigger than anything. Ka is a wheel, after all

[@keiththorpe9571]

That was a great analysis, however one connection which you may have missed involves "Pet Sematary" and "Insomnia". In "Insomnia", the bad little bald doctor, Atropos, would collect little trinkets from those who he "killed". Once such trinket was a shoe belonging to little Gage Creed, the son of Louis Creed. It is a "blink and you'll miss it" reference, and may not even qualify as a thru-connection to The Dark Tower, but I thought I'd mention it.

[@selalewow]

Insomnia has a reference to It which ties to the Dark Tower through the Turtle. Also he does mention Insomnia.

[@Parietal-Polymath]

Insomia itself was a "blink and you miss it reference". I was so excited at the start, and so underwhelmed by the end.

[@nicoleross356]

The little boy who is saved in insomnia also has a talent for drawing and draws Roland.

[@charliekowittmusic]

@@Parietal-Polymath *SPOILERS* It was underwhelming. For me, the disappointment came halfway through the novel. Ralph hasn’t slept in ages, things are getting strange and tense. Now he sees bald doctors with scissors across the street? Oh boy he’s losing it and things are going off the rails now! Oh wait, no. Turns out he’s perfectly sane and the little bald doctors are friendly underlings from another level of reality 😒 Everything after that lacked any kind of suspense and momentum.

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

@@charliekowittmusic get over yourself

[@robbellomy]

One of the coolest things as a huge SK fan was when reading 11/22/63 when two kids from IT showed up as he went through Derry. I had no idea it was going to happen and was so excited.

[@taylor943]

Same in Tommyknockers

[@jeffreyboone2406]

I was fresh off reading "IT" and then moved on to "11/22/63". The vibe that Stu Epping said existed in the town of Derry is what I found most disturbing. The townspeople didnt want to talk about it, but everyone knew that it the evil presence "Pennywise" existed.

[@sunekoo]

IT itself was also in that novel, trying to tempt the protagonist into an abandoned something or other

[@LeadingSol]

I loved that too!!

[@TomFromMars]

I like your point that there is no master plan but rather the connections grew organically from King's whims of imagination. It was a big part of my enjoyement of the Dark Tower serie since i felt rewarded for catching a reference but didn't felt like i was missing on something when seeing what was clearly a reference to a book i hadn't read. And later i didn't felt obligated to pick up other King's book just for the sake of having them connect to the dark tower. Instead i keep reading old King's books at random and i'm delighted to stumble upon an unexpected name that throw me back into the adventures of Roland in mid-world.

[@yabbayabbayabbawubawubawub5437]

I was going to ask about a timeline to read his stories, but your comment answered it perfectly

[@TomFromMars]

@@yabbayabbayabbawubawubawub5437 yes, read any and just as much stephen King book you fancy (i personnaly prefer his older stuff which i'm far from having exhausted). And read the dark tower whenever you are ready cause it's à lot to digest and i wouldn't advise spreading it too long cause the story is so intricate you might lost the thread. I know the Last two books where kind of hard to finish, just like the last part of Return of the King. Also you might identify some stories that are more closely related to the dark tower while others are more like easter eggs.

[@dongately2817]

@@TomFromMars - In all honesty the last 2 books of The Dark Tower were a disappointment. The first 4 are great, with the 4th being my personal favorite, but you can sense King losing steam in the 5th book and then meandering along thru the last 2, although I did enjoy the final ending.

[@TomFromMars]

@@dongately2817 i didn't find them bad but they were too long. The story keeps stretching when it should be tying loose ends.

[@thomasfplm]

I'm a bit sad that I'm bad at remembering names, so I probably missed a lot of references.

[@nathanarmstrong7636]

For me the best part was coming across these connections and feeling like an old fashioned detective putting the clues together. The dark tower series is truly a treat to read.

[@capivara23]

This was a fantastic way to illustrate the universe through digital info-graphics. We done my man!

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@007kingifrit]

yea can we DL that image?

[@HMan2828]

@@JamesWVanFleet You should get the full graph printed on a t-shirt or poster and sell it as merch!

[@Sarah-said]

​@@HMan2828he has an Etsy store with the poster

[@jacksonvilla6621]

What a perfect description of the universe with absolutely no spoilers! Good job

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@soundone1502]

I’m sure people have already commented on this but both the shining and Dr Sleep have some major connections with the dark tower as well . Dick Hallorann in mentioned in the book IT .And the psychic vampires can since Black 13’s presence under the Twin Towers . Also the ability to Shine and the Touch I think are different words for the same power.

[@jte5783]

And jack reads about the crimson king in the journals in the boiler room of the overlook.

[@joshuaoglesby292]

The Shining was mentioned in The Drawing of the Three as a movie in Eddie's world.

[@d3nza482]

Billy Summers also connects to The Shining while Later features the Ritual of Chud and dead lights. Also, the part where Gwendy's Button Box connects to The Stand... Richard Farris is clearly a different version of Randal Flagg as he works on the same side as the Tet Corporation and against the low men in yellow coats and the Sombra Corporation. Basically, character changed sides on King during the story to the point that though he wrote him as Flagg in the beginning - King doesn't consider him to be Flagg by the end.

[@DeadheadYates]

Additionally, during Mother Abigail's backstory chapter in The Stand reference is made to "The Shine"

[@Sarah-said]

Everybody is writing about all the different novels and short stories that are also connected to the Dark Tower that I feel that it would be much more difficult to find a SK novel that's not connected. Hell, many of SK's short stories also have connections to the Dark Tower.

[@steventhrasher3608]

Fun connection I realized a while back. Towards the end of Insomnia a character being influenced by the Crimson King attempts a terrorist attack. It's partially thwarted by the protagonist and is mentioned the important person being saved is a young boy who years later will save the life of a man very important to existence. That boy is who is found captured in the house of Dandelo in The Dark Tower and who uses his ability to draw things into existence to erase the Crimson King from it.

[@Jenko1_]

Read insomnia right after the final dark tower book was a brilliant connection

[@MachoManAndySavage125]

@@Jenko1_ I’m a 3rd of the way through insomnia after fininshing the dark tower series. I can hardly put this book down. Which I knew which books I should read next

[@fifedogg511]

​@@MachoManAndySavage125you don't really have to read in a certain order other than the actual dark tower series books just pick a king novel and see if you notice the Dark Tower references

[@fifedogg511]

​@@MachoManAndySavage125Have you read The Tailsman or The Black House

[@MachoManAndySavage125]

@@fifedogg511 I loved both of those, two of my favorite actually. I’ve finished another 6-8 books since my comment. Currently on needful things which is just so so for me. I enjoyed the bill Hodges trilogy

[@thomascollette6322]

"Wind Through the Keyhole" further cements the kingdom of Delain from "The Eyes of the Dragon" being in Mid-World, and gives some insight into how long Flagg has been up to shenanigans in two universes. And one of the characters may well be the creator of the Wizard's Rainbow.

[@revmo37]

When I came to the comment section, I was going to mention "wind through the keyhole" read by Steven King. Fantastic

[@Abonanno24601]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@harleymarshall6929]

Flagg legit kills the king of Delain who is called Roland and he has no obvious reason to kill him bc he is an old and borderline insane man; I think Flagg killed him simply because he was named Roland and it made him angry and spiteful

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

Wind in the Keyhole also takes place in a future iteration of Roland’s story separate from what we read about in the main books as he has the horn in it. Also wasn’t there a Charlie the Choo Choo book published as well?

[@rachel_v_k]

The Dark Tower universe grew organically, rather than being planned. It's not an artificial construct, but a very real world which one can believe actually exist. I'm convinced. Right now, I'm in the process of reading The Dark Tower VII. Finding this video is either a synchronicity, or the algorithm seeing what I'm reading, and what I'm searching for online. I read Song of Susanna several years ago, so I had some questions catching up.

[@jameskirts2825]

King def can go Todash him self...he's literally just writing the things hes seen! At least that's how I read his books

[@nadavegan]

A year later, how much were you disappointed by the ending?

[@fifedogg511]

​@@nadaveganthe ending is great in my opinion and there's one major difference from the end and the beginning if you know the story you know what I'm referring to

[@nadavegan]

@@fifedogg511 I hear you, it wasn't enough for me. Glad you enjoyed it though.

[@fifedogg511]

@@nadavegan I get it, i think reading is very subjective someone can like something but someone else doesn't like the same thing doesn't mean it's bad or good it's just what that reader likes at a giving time that's just my opionion anyway

[@Abergsma54]

I like it how technically almost every Stephen King book is apart of the Dark Tower universe it’s like a whole comic book

[@bobbykidd7003]

Interesting how your plot path creates the beams that anchor the worlds together. Which anyone that has read the Dark Tower saga will recognize. It's also interesting that your diagram also makes a native American turtle shell design.

[@tonypine3434]

I like turtles

[@railhunk]

I loved the way King tied his stories together.

[@Super-Amigo]

I loved the way James tied all of King's stories together in this video. 👏👏👏

[@titusmccarthy]

Not very clever and not even unique. I AM MAKING A REFERENCE TO MY OTHER NOVEL is pretty lame actually. It's especially cringe-worthy in his later novels when he makes a reference to something he wrote in his 20s.

[@nunya1120]

I have never read these books. My dad liked the dark tower series. This video lived up to they hype in the comments. Even as someone who hasn't read any of the books I can tell that this is a very concise well made video. My compliments.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@KingTurok]

I would love to see more videos tackling the lore and complexities of the dark tower books

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Noted-- if I can think of a good angle for that kind of thing, I may make another vid.

[@gooberclese]

I agree.

[@smof1]

Just wanted to add something. You can tie in Cat's Eye to this too because General the cat is chased by Cujo at one point. This would also allow for a tie in to Quitters Inc and The Ledge since general passes through those stories. I realize this is the TV version which differs from the short stories but still King was behind it all and Cat's Eye is often forgotten.

[@sierrahefner6343]

I so enjoyed that you put "Everything's Eventual" in the story line, as it does tie in. But there is another story in the novellas of same titled book called "Little Sisters of Eluria" that is in "The Dark Tower" universe. I was wondering where its part in this was cause from the time I first read it to now, I always felt like if King's world's connected, that novella would have a place.

[@dane8802]

Pretty sure it's set before the gunslinger kind of a Roland prelude.

[@DarlingMissDarling]

Oh man, this was SO COOL! What an amazing use of infographics/animation. I was fully immersed and as a constant reader, this was such a treat. THANK YOU

[@JamesWVanFleet]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@AndyPlaysGames]

When you hear the song of the turtle, you must listen.

[@OccultDemonCassette]

I didn't know the turtle sang the Imaginationland song!

[@joshuamcdaniel6530]

See the Turtle of enormous girth, on His back he holds the Earth...

[@senorpepper3405]

@@joshuamcdaniel6530 on his back he holds my mom, she's a fatty.

[@Stevenirons]

Mayhap you can hear the cry of the Bear, do ya kennit?

[@mzlww]

I love how there’s gaps likely to be filled. Thanks for this.

[@hexogramd8430]

Even this misses little details like how in Salem’s lot chamberlain is directly referenced when Ben is thinking of bailing going back to Jerusalem’s lot at the beginning of the book. He thinks to himself that perhaps he should just go to chamberlain for some gas. Salem’s lot takes place in 1975 while Carrie takes place in 1979. Making Carrie apart of the dark tower also. You could probably do that with all his books with the little bit references here and there. Although this video is a good visualization for new comers, it helped some friends of mine.

[@GodzillaKyru]

I was wondering where Carrie was on here because I'm pretty sure She got the Shine, though with hers, it manifested into telekinesis and whatnot while Danny's into telepathy...I think anyways and if I'm remembering correctly.

[@elmermedina1713]

I noticed that. When I read Salems Lot for the first time I saw the words Chamberlain and thought of Carrie.

[@michaelploskina1681]

The dark tower is unlike anything else Stephen King is ever written it is by far his magnumopus and I love every book and every character in this series

[@aallerton]

Fantastic! You connected all the dots perfectly. It might all sound like gibberish for most people, but for me, who read all those books and short stories, everything is crystal clear. Thank you.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

You're welcome, glad you dug it!

[@jasonplum4150]

Masterfully done. I’ve been wondering about Kings Dark Tower. Thanks for talking about the Paths of the Beam that way.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@tehphoebus]

How the hell do you have less than a thousand subscribers? Great work. Would love to see more like this.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thanks!

[@ryanhudson5824]

What a beautiful, economical and effective model you made. The video is subtle and let’s the model largely do the talking, sprinkled with clips and humor. This isn’t merely informative, my friend; you have created high craft. Really something wonderful here.

[@justinlutz513]

This is late but whatever. The Gunslinger is my favorite book of all time. All of these are great but that book made me a dear and constant reader!

[@sirsplintfastthepungent1373]

Also worth noting his screenplays, Kingdom Hospital, which explored parallel dimensions after an artist gets hit by a blue van while jogging, and Storm of the Century, which features a "lowman" with yellow gloves, bent on kidnapping a special child... which ties in Doctor Sleep, which makes the Shining part of the Dark Tower story as well.

[@hussainqureshi9933]

"after an artist gets hit by a blue van while jogging" Bruh! Lol, that's really on the nose.

[@sirsplintfastthepungent1373]

@@hussainqureshi9933 because Stephen King was hit by a blue van while jogging. When he recovered, he bought the van and destroyed it with a sledgehammer.

[@hussainqureshi9933]

@@sirsplintfastthepungent1373 I know, that's why I quoted the whole "hit by van while jogging" bit. Although I have to admit, I never knew he bought the van and destroyed it. That's hilarious, and glad to see that his spirits were mostly good after recovery, lol!

[@seanmcdonald1111]

My favorite King short story is Low Men in Yellow Coats. It expertly nails the dread within the calm before the storm.

[@garyreid6165]

I have read that Stephen King was inspired by Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales before writing The Dark Tower series. I have read the first Gunslinger book and thought it was a genre blending story. What a great storyteller!

[@davidlane8811]

Don’t stop at the first one, sai

[@rcschmidt668]

Don’t forget the poem by Robert Browning either. “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.”

[@danithefoot633]

Thank you for not spoiling anything got most of the way through the dark tower series and need to pick it back up again might just start over

[@tamara5229]

This was incredibly well done, thankee sai!

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@antonmilyutin4489]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHfUlZ2Qhreso5o

[@ryanofottawa]

Wow, it's awesome to see all the connections laid out this way. It's so cool to me how he stitched it all together.

[@ryebread7224]

Love your visual mapping here! Really helps to see how all of these stories are linked in various ways!

[@thomaspriest6177]

Thank you for creating a cool video that encompasses kings work without spoiling any of the books

[@JamesWVanFleet]

You're welcome, thanks for the compliment!

[@smithvr5007]

Sheemie was my favorite hero. A handful of good hearted simple people is what keeps the cycle of existence going.

[@gibbson68]

The song at the end ... perfect..

[@Movierebel3]

Cycle of the Werewolf takes place in Tarker's Mill, which along with Chester's Mill, are referred to as the Twin Mills. Chester's Mill is where Under the Dome happens. Danny Torrence's ability to Shine is also referenced in the Dark Tower novels. Danny also uses the same phrase as Jake Chambers. Jack Sawyer from the Talisman is also connected to Jake Chambers from The Gunslinger. There are many more if you go looking.

[@squfucs]

The way you did the visuals and connected the whole web together was really cool. I know this is an odd meta sort of comment to make, about the video production instead of the content, but it's just so neat!

[@witz]

“other worlds” and “wheres” and “whens” feel so incredibly organic and true to the original dark tower novel while introducing some major sci fi elements. just finished the 6th book and it reminds me so much of the film Adaptation. definitely check it out if u love the king writing about himself antics

[@adamrasmusson6976]

You sir, have a memory like a steel trap. Thanks for breaking it down for us.

[@willsmith7114]

It's been nearly a decade since I've read it so my mind has very likely blended things together but I remember high school me; after marathoning through most of King's books; theorizing the "demon" from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon being or being somewhat related to Tak. With it being up to interpretation if there was even a demon or the girl hallucinating I thought it'd be a cool possible connection.

[@josebro352]

Great analysis! Also Jack Sawyer from The Talisman made a brief appearance in The Tommyknockers where he mentions that his mother was killed by a drunk driver after everything he went through to save her.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thanks!

[@jeffgallego1602]

Bro please do a series, following each characters journey. Love the content and wish you the success you deserve 🙌. Clearly a passion project and handled with care, my compliments

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thanks! NGL, it was tough as hell to make, so I definitely appreciate you taking the time to say so.

[@robertruiz98]

This is a very lofty title and goals trying to understand Stephen King's story world

[@saturniin3]

And of course there’s now Gwendy’s Magic Feather and Gwendy’s Final Task to add to the list! This is absolutely brilliant though, thanks for creating it. :)

[@jayybangahmusic187]

What about the Raft?

[@007kingifrit]

those were some pretty terrible books but they sure do fit on this graph

[@beepboop4103]

I also like that you can read all of these stories without needing to read any of the others. Connected but not reliant on each other.

[@kittenburger_prime]

I’m a fan of using visualizations to augment learning like you did here. Nice!

[@LeadingSol]

Incredible video!!! So well articulated!😁

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@kellybraille]

What an incredible mapping! Bravo!!!

[@erco9167]

Love this visualization, one of the best DT videos I’ve seen on here. Great pace and clarity for such dense info. Well done.

[@KaneMartin1]

I'm currently working my way through Fairy Tale, which rekindled my appreciation for King's fantasy novels (having read the Tower series and the Talisman). Picked up Eyes of the Dragon and Black House to read next, and watching this just makes me that much more excited to dig into them.

[@DanielGenis5000]

I was surprised to enjoy Fairytale quite a bit!

[@KaneMartin1]

Came back to this as I'm wrapping up Black House. Looks like Insomnia is next on my list.

[@DarlingMissDarling]

Yo, I just got to the end and after nostalgia rode me through the graph, your singing halted me head-on through my earbud and burst forth a cackle much louder than I should have allowed escape while waiting in a check-out line. 10/10 would embarrass myself again 😆👍

[@AnaMV]

Great, amazing job. I've read some things of Stephen. Loved the short stories, but what blows my mind are the kind of stories like The DT. I've read the DT like 10 years ago... But I really don't know why, I stopped after the sixth book. This year I began again. After 2 months I've juist (literally) finish the 6th book. I have some trouble to find the last one. Apparently they have stopped to print it in Spanish. But I have it second hand. I can't wait to begin. I think that e next one will be salem's lot. You did an amazing job explaining all this universe, and of course, Stephen is some kind of amazing crazy nerd-freak who has created it.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Muchas gracias! Y lo siento, todos los libros necesitan ser in Español!

[@Adultishgambino42069]

Love this video. Id love to see this in long form, like a full hour or longer video.

[@StohKnee]

This was a really good description of the connections between King stories and so concise. I've tried explaining to friends and most are not constant readers. But when I do, the connections meander because I've always tried to be linear rather than this nice web. My only complaint is that you didn't make it 6 beams.

[@knaz7468]

Dude. This was incredible. What a great birds eye view of the SKU. Thanks for the effort!

[@JamesWVanFleet]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@rellikpd]

"Making connections as he found them" is a beautiful idea... because King has alluded to (in real life, and of course in the Dark Tower books) that he's less a writer... and more of chronicler... That he didn't write the stories... merely was a conduit for them.

[@mrflibble3226]

Gan's Ribbon.

[@efxnews4776]

Yep, the fact that he is a very important character in his own story, makes even more sense once you get all this clues.

[@rellikpd]

@@efxnews4776 he actually hated the fact that he put himself in the stories.... Or that the Universe told him to.... He considered rewriting/re'releasing the books without him in them but decided to leave them as be as that's how we know them..

[@zakari7-one-1]

He walked the same path we all did, he just blazed the trail behind Roland

[@anthonychristianson411]

I always thought the dark tower series was kings magnum opus for the reasons youve listed here, fantastic vid

[@alxxz]

So, the most recurring character in all of King's stories is Randall Flagg then! I really liked his version in the 1994 film.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Yeah, Sheridan's my favorite Flagg too, mullet and all.

[@DarlingMissDarling]

@@JamesWVanFleet SAME! he was terrifying even when smiling. Perhaps especially so!

[@nickmason7920]

First time I've ever subbed a channel on the effort alone.

[@zombi3lif3]

Nice job! Wouldn't mind some more Dark Tower videos!

[@DaveTexas]

Nice summary! I admit that I lost the trail for this interwoven narrative a couple of decades ago, when my eyesight deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t read books anymore. I was a devoted King fanatic from the late-‘70s on through around the turn of the millennium and I LOVED how everything was becoming more and more bound together. I’d devour each new novel and short story, looking for those connections. I bought each of the Dark Tower novels in their hardback first editions. Then my eyesight started to go and reading got to be more of a chore than a pleasure. I tried audiobooks, but I found that my mind tended to wander due to the slow pace of the spoken word; I could always read very quickly, so having to wait for the information to enter my ears at a slower rate made it harder for me to concentrate. I’ve listened to some of his post-2000 books, but probably fewer than half of them. I gave up my purchases of each new book, too. I’ve got first-edition hardcover copies of everything from ‘Salem’s Lot up through Dark Tower VII, but almost none since then. All that’s to say I’m glad to hear your description of how everything has continued to connect up over the past two decades. Someday I’ll have to delve deeper into it all, but only after I go through and listen to more of the books I’ve missed. I just wish Audible’s sound quality wasn’t so awful. I hate low-bit-rate audio, even for spoken-word audio…

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you for the kind words, and so sorry about the loss of vision! I don't have Audible, but the bit rate issue sounds like a bummer. Instead, I use the Libby app that can connect to public library digital archives, and they have a way to alter the speed of the audiobooks with a little dial icon at the top. Is that something Audible has that you can play with?

[@DaveTexas]

@@JamesWVanFleet Audible does have speed control, but people start to sound weird when you speed them up too much. Then you get unnaturally fast speech at the same poor audio quality… I’m too picky, I know, but audiobooks are something I find hard to commit to for hours on end, especially when the speaking voice doesn’t sound natural…

[@mike-li2kc]

"The Regulators" and "Desperation" are connected as well

[@georgebeasley377]

Great video. I couldn't hear you that well on my phone so I will try at home. The last image reminded me of Final Fantasy X's sphere grid.

[@rustygray5058]

It's so strange to see these in order, because I kinda just read them as I bumped into them. So I had this idea that Insomnia was much more recent than Wizard and Glass. Or that Eyes of the Dragon was published after Roland's tale was complete.

[@alfredchan4373]

Your outro music is sublime, bravo.

[@onepunch9203]

At our July 4 picnic my nephew and I were talking about this very topic! We were noting the connective tissue which holds much of Stephen's work together and (much like the beams) works together in service of the Tower. And here, not even 12 hours later, I stumble across your video. Ka. I love the imagery in your vid. I see the 13 colors of the wizard's rainbow. I see the shape of the wheel that is Ka. Great stuff! Without re-watching this, I'm unsure if you mentioned "The Wind Through the Keyhole". I might have just missed it.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you! For sake of time/expediency, I didn't mention "Wind," "Little Sisters of Eluria," or the King-sanctioned comic narrative that covers the fall of Gilead.

[@jamesmayle3787]

Jesus Christ is lord. Please take your salvation seriously. Read three books of the Bible. The first book of each testament and one you chose yourself. Please be genuine enough to go that far. Please

[@stevenswapp4768]

Dude, that friggin KILLED ME!! End the video with the imagination song! LOL!!!!! (...no it goes up there. Imaaaginaaatiiiooon...)

[@noveltycrusade]

A story so good, it could never be made into a proper film 😢

[@MojoPup]

Great Video! I'm a visual person, so this was incredibly helpful! Nice Graphic work too.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@israelperez6277]

Well damn it… now I have to read alllll of his books now…..

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Praying for you rn

[@veryhuman7472]

wow - fantastically illustrated.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@sk8mafia214]

Stephen King’s Later has some IT references as well relating the Deadlights.

[@GriffinGolf]

Randy at the end GOT ME 😂😂😂😂😂

[@southernstacker7315]

I love the Dark Tower series. I thought THE WIZARD AND THE GLASS was never going to release. HBO should make a series around the novels.

[@Mako7eyes]

Apparently Amazon is pickint it up again, same director who done Dr Sleep, Geralds Game and The Haunting of Hill House. My issue is that he tends to work a lot with the same cast, i feel like that could be detrimental... i just want Vigo Mortensen as Roland. Also Detta/Odetta/Susannah/Mia is going to be incredibly hard to do right, the woman who can pull that off will go down in history

[@jasongallagher5464]

I read I1/22/63 and when he bumps into the two kids from It was amazing

[@jasonpatterson8091]

I'd suggest that The Institute is at least peripherally tied in as well, possibly as a current day origin story for the breakers. (Psychic kids are kidnapped and abused in order for an organization to use their powers, all in the woods of Maine.)

[@JamesWVanFleet]

I still need to read that one-- pretty good?

[@jasonpatterson8091]

@@JamesWVanFleet More scifi than horror, but yeah, it's pretty good. Kind of cheesy in the way that a good King novel often is, but at the same time, there is enough subtlety and unexpected happenings that it's worth a read. I didn't spoil more than the first 5 pages or so, just FYI. Though you might not have guessed that it happened in Maine!!!

[@yourcheapdate4564]

This was really great! I got some of the connections over the years of reading King, but this was A LOT! I always did wonder why Roland wasn't showing up in some of the other stories as a kind of passing-through character. I think it would have been so great if the characters in The Mist looked out and saw a cowboy with a kid, a paraplegic, and a junkie/rockabilly ( I know he's not really a rockabilly, but I always kind of made him one in my mind) wander by killing monsters with ease and walking on down the street.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

It would be funny if "The Mist" had ended with Roland's ka-tet plowing through the grocery store monsters, like, "We got it, nbd."

[@dont.beknown5622]

Wasn't "From a Buick 8" part of the "Hearts in Atlantis" story? I thought they were linked. "Rose Madder" was also linked to "Delores Claiborne" via one of the Dark Tower books (i forget which it was - it was a descriptive of them looking through at each other that you didn't get in each book unless you caught the reference).

[@JamesWVanFleet]

If I remember right, "Dolores Claiborne" and "Gerald's Game" are the ones where they see each other; linked by the eclipse.

[@josebro352]

@@JamesWVanFleet You're correct. Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game are both linked by the same eclipse. When Dolores kills Joe Jessie is being molested by her father at the same time. There's also a tiny 'blink and you'll miss it' reference to ''Salem's Lot in Dolores Claiborne. The island gets eerily quiet and deserted during the eclipse and Dolores says it reminds her of that "little town in the southern part of the state where they say nobody lives."

[@22695750]

Well done sir! Huge DT junkie! Loved the graphic showing all the connections.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Thank you!

[@DeepSeaToasterFighting]

Cool how you got Lorde to sing at the end there for your video.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

We'd been looking for a project to collaborate on.

[@samlio325]

Its cool that the final picture kinda represents de Dark Tower and the Beams that hold it

[@hollywoodguy70]

Was it an oversight missing the Shiners, Danny Torrance, Carrie White, and Charlie McGee connecting Hearts in Atlantis, The Green Mile and Dead Zone?

[@JamesWVanFleet]

It was a deliberate omission. I explain in the video that I focus on 12 core connecting elements; limiting myself was the only way to create a graphic that could be comprehensible and appealing. Focusing on Breakers-- folks who have the Shine but are specifically weaponized against the Tower-- was IMO the best way to handle what you're discussing. There are a lot of elements I didn't worry about including, like how "1922" connects to "The Stand" through Hemingford Home, or how "IT" says that Dick Hallorann was involved with the Black Spot in Derry (my excuse on that was that "The Shining" itself doesn't invoke Derry at any point).

[@ggabriel.sm05]

@@JamesWVanFleet when 1922 connects with The Stand?

[@JamesWVanFleet]

@@ggabriel.sm05 "1922" is set at or near Hemingford Home, which is where Mother Abigail lived in "The Stand."

[@CollectRecords732]

Great job! Reading the majority of those books as they were published I LOVED coming across something that tied (or at the time, I thought maybe tied) to the Tower! So much fun.

[@rcschmidt668]

A fascinating list of connections. Did you know that the series Castle Rock also added Misery and Shawshank Redemption to the related books? But then by the end of the video, it sounded like you were already in misery. 🤓

[@JamesWVanFleet]

Trust me, it's fun to *have made* this graphic, but making it added some gray hairs.

[@Anthony-mt7qr]

Misery connects to IT via The Shining.

[@Jindychick]

Every once and awhile the algorithm throws me an absolute gem of a video like this one. Well done - informative, original and extremely entertaining!!:)

[@Rjh995]

In a world with cinematic universes, people seem to forget SK got there first

[@Extraversal.Gunslinger]

You absolutly right

[@sakkoyaba4482]

First this a book universe second dc marvel did it way before

[@michaeltilley8708]

Great video, and the ‘Imagination’ song really brought it together!

[@bellosardo84]

00:00 00:14 where are those drawings from?

[@JamesWVanFleet]

The hardback editions of the "Dark Tower" series had full-page illustrations by a variety of artists. You can see some of them here: stephenking.com/darktower/book/

[@bellosardo84]

@@JamesWVanFleet thanks!

[@damonteufel]

Excellent presentation and a very understandable and aesthetic chart.

[@shadowhenge7118]

Heh your diagram looks like a dreamcatcher

[@askmisspatience]

This is a fantastic weaving of the details. Thank you SO much

[@joelcraig9803]

0:15 No Spider man? Screw it, I'm out.

[@JamesWVanFleet]

I get it.

[@collincratty8777]

Currently ready the Dark Tower series for the 3rd time. It’s gets better everytime!

[@JoseMolina-ij3xx]

In the 7th book, The Dark Tower calls to Roland, just like how The Talisman is calling to Jack Sawyer. Almost as if both character are gunslingers, even when Jack Sawyer isn't explicitly one. Also in the 3rd book, Roland takes a journey on a train through the Wastelands that seems vaguely familiar to Jack Sawyer's train trip through the Blasted Lands. Taheen were also visible long before we really got to know them from the Dark Tower, except Jack Sawyer didn't know much about them. Dark Tower is actually linked to The Talisman, rather than the other way around.

[@rcschmidt668]

Would you say the same for the fragile rose, struggling to grow in the city?

[@robdeskrd]

No, all these stories link to the Dark Tower and so does the Jewel of Infinity as the Jewel is like the rose and immortal tigers and the Ur-dog Rover- they representative of the Tower. I didn't really like the Talisman but I like Jack Sawyer in Black House but equating Jack with Roland is just silly, Parkus told him plainly "The Crimson King would snuff you out like a candle"

[@JoseMolina-ij3xx]

@@robdeskrd When I read The Talisman, it was a time before the 7th book and 3rd book in the Dark Tower series. When I read Dark Tower series, I immediately thought of The Talisman's storyline. Word for word, with the exception of the name, The Talisman called out to Jack in the same manner as Roland. There was no deviation between the two experiences. The Blasted Lands were also created before The Wastelands and they both involved Trains. To be honest, The Crimson King would have also snuffed Roland out like a candle, too, and almost did.

[@rlg8088]

Great presentation. There are definitely some books I need to revisit. This is a great work of art and the amount of work you put into this is outstanding