The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy by Bev Vincent Read Free Book Online Page B

titles of the books.
The Waste Lands
, he says, would detail half of their quest to reach the Dark Tower, and
Wizard and Glass
would be mostly about Roland’s past, an enchantment and a seduction. He even raises the possibility that Roland won’t make it to the Tower.
    He doesn’t mention Jake Chambers.
    Characters (in order of mention): Roland Deschain, the man in black, Jake Chambers, Cort, Eddie Dean, Cuthbert Allgood, Henry Dean, Enrico Balazar, Jane Dorning, Paula, William Wilson, Susy Douglas, Captain McDonald, Selina Dean, Deere, Marten, Hax, Colin Vincent, Jack Andolini, Claudio Andolini, Carlocimi Dretto, George Biondi, Tricks Postino, Truman Alexander, Desmond, Jimmy Haspio, Kevin Blake, Farson, Dario, Rudy Vechhio, Mrs. Dean, Detta Walker, Odetta Holmes, Andrew Feeny, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Kennedy, Poppa Doc Duvalier, Fidel Castro, the Diem brothers, Howard, Aunt Sophia, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Alice Holmes, Dan Holmes, Julio Estevez, George Shavers, Miguel Basale, Jimmy Halvorsen, Miss Hathaway, Jack Mort, Dorfman, Carl Delevan, GeorgeO’Mearah, Justin Clements, Fat Johnny Holden, Alain Johns, Flagg, Dennis, Thomas, Mrs. Rathbun, Katz, Ralph Lennox, Andrew Staunton, Norris Weaver, Mr. Framingham, Susannah Dean, Susan Delgado.
    Places: Western Sea; Regency Tower; Nassau; Kennedy International Airport; Aquinas Hotel; Garlan; Co-Op City; the Dark Tower; the Leaning Tower; Tull; Vietnam; Oxford, Mississippi; Manhattan; Greenwich Village; Montgomery, Alabama; Odetta, Arkansas; Greymarl Apartments; Sisters of Mercy Hospital; the Hungry i; Macy’s; Elizabeth, New Jersey; the Pushing Place; Mort’s office; Clements Guns and Sporting Goods; Mort’s apartment; Katz’s Drug Store; Christopher Street Station.
    Things: Lobstrosities, the Honor Stance, David the hawk, popkins, the Grand Featherex, Presentation Ceremonies, Holmes Dental, A train, forspecial plate, Shipmate’s Disease, the Shooter’s Bible, docker’s clutch, devil-weed, jawbone.
    Continuity Errors and Mistakes: When Roland travels north, the sea should be on his left, not his right. Eddie comes from Co-Op City, Brooklyn; however, in our reality, Co-Op City is in the Bronx. Balazar’s first name changes from Emilio to Enrico. The gun shop owner is either Justin or Arnold Clements. Odetta’s mother is Alice here but changes to Sarah in the next book. Patrol officer Norris Weaver is called Norris Wheaton twice. The handgrips on Roland’s guns are said to be ironwood instead of sandalwood.
    Foreshadowing and Spoilers: Though killed in this book, Enrico Balazar, Jack Andolini and the rest of the gang will show up in future adventures once Roland and his
ka-tet
start traveling back to New York via other doorways. Enrico Balazar’s car is the one that killed Jake Chambers. Detta Walker’s fascination with china plates will serve Susannah Dean well when she is introduced to a weapon called an Oriza in
Wolves of the Calla
. The fact that Roland stopped Mort from killing Jake Chambers sets up a paradox in their minds in
The Waste Lands
.

T HE W ASTE L ANDS
: R EDEMPTION

    B y the end of the 1980s, the Dark Tower series was generally available to Stephen King’s fans.
The Gunslinger
was issued in trade paperback in 1988 and
The Drawing of the Three
in 1989. King also recorded audio versions of these two books, the first he had ever narrated. As the years went by, he mentioned his intention to write
The Waste Lands
, but he didn’t finish the book until 1991. In the book’s afterword, he admitted that he had problems getting back to the series, using a metaphor drawn from
The Waste Lands
to explain: the key Eddie shapes to open the doorway between Mid-World and Earth. “It seems to take more and more whittling to make each successive key fit each successive lock.”
    An excerpt from
The Waste Lands
called “The Bear” appeared in the December 1990 issue of
The