The Dark Tower books in order

Complete list of all 8 Dark Tower books in order by Stephen King. Full reading order from The Gunslinger to The Wind Through the Keyhole.

Chronological order

Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
The Gunslinger 1982 Stephen King Buy
The Drawing of the Three 1987 Stephen King Buy
The Waste Lands 1991 Stephen King Buy
Wizard and Glass 1997 Stephen King Buy
Wolves of the Calla 2003 Stephen King Buy
Song of Susannah 2004 Stephen King Buy
The Dark Tower 2004 Stephen King Buy
The Wind Through the Keyhole 2012 Stephen King Buy

The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s magnum opus, a genre-blending epic that took over 30 years to complete. It combines fantasy, westerns, horror, and science fiction into something that doesn’t fit neatly into any category.

Roland Deschain is the last gunslinger in a dying world. He pursues the Man in Black across a desert, seeking the Dark Tower, a building at the center of all realities. The journey takes eight books and connects to dozens of King’s other novels. Characters from The Stand, It, and Salem’s Lot all exist in the Tower’s shadow.

King started writing The Gunslinger in 1970, publishing it as a limited edition in 1982. He returned to the series intermittently over the following decades. A near-fatal car accident in 1999 prompted him to finish. He didn’t want to die leaving Roland’s story incomplete. The final three novels appeared in quick succession between 2003 and 2004.

The Wind Through the Keyhole, published in 2012, slots between books four and five. It’s a standalone adventure that can be read after the main series or in its chronological position.

The 2017 film adaptation, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, disappointed fans and critics alike. Amazon announced a television adaptation, then quietly shelved it. The Dark Tower remains, for now, primarily a reading experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What order should I read The Dark Tower series?

The best way to read The Dark Tower is in publication order, starting with ‘The Gunslinger’. You can also include ‘The Wind Through the Keyhole’ between books 4 and 5, though many recommend reading it after the main series.

How many books are in The Dark Tower series?

There are 8 books in the main Dark Tower series, including the ‘mid-quel’ ‘The Wind Through the Keyhole’.

Where does 'The Wind Through the Keyhole' fit in the order?

Chronologically, ‘The Wind Through the Keyhole’ fits between Book 4 (‘Wizard and Glass’) and Book 5 (‘Wolves of the Calla’).

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