Monday, February 25, 2013

The Dark Tower Companion is Coming

THE DARK TOWER COMPANION, A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy, Bev Vincent, New American Library, $16, 560 pages, ISBN: 9780451237996, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

This is an an edition of all new material to update King’s additions to the canon of Roland, The Gunslinger. Bev Vincent is the author of THE ROAD TO THE DARK TOWER which Stephen King called "Wonderful". This new edition includes everything up to THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE and the graphic novels from Marvel which may or may not be the last volume of the saga. King can’t even say if there are any more stories tucked away before they pop out someday.

Each book has its’ own section and gives a brief synopsis of the book along with listing characters, places, things and crossovers from other titles. Following that is a listing of other books written by King that have ties to The Dark Tower Canon. There is also a listing of the artwork in each volume as well as information on the contributors of the Marvel comics.

There are also interviews with Robin Furth, Brian Stark, Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman. The listings of places and people in our world and mid-world as well as how things change along the timelines help the reader to understand some of the happenings that may not be clear without re-reading the series as each new one comes along.

Vincent has done a terrific job in putting this together and it fills a need for each “Constant Reader”. It demands a place on the shelf next to The Dark Tower Canon where it can be easily found when a question comes up.

Don’t wait for the April 2, 2013 release date, reserve it at your local bookseller to make sure that it doesn’t slip away.

No comments:

Post a Comment