The Waste Lands
core novel 1991 The Dark Tower
Record
| First published | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.25 (255,790 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 422 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780937986172 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
Roland and his new companions journey east from the beach where they were gathered, following one of the mystical Beams that support the structure of Mid-World toward the Dark Tower. After a dangerous encounter with a giant cyborg bear guarding the Beam's path, the group forms a fragile new family as they travel inland. Their progress is complicated by a mental paradox affecting both Roland and Jake Chambers, a rift caused by events that pulled Jake between worlds, which the group must work through even as they push forward. The travelers eventually reach the decaying, half-ruined city of Lud, torn apart by an endless feud between two rival factions, and encounter a strange, intelligent creature named Oy along the way. The city's dangers and a sentient, unstable monorail called Blaine the Mono threaten to derail the company's journey toward the Tower.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dark Tower
- Series: The Dark Tower core; position 3 of 8 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Stephen King
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 1992: finalist; 3rd place in the 1992 Locus poll.
- Bram Stoker Award (Best Novel (nominee)), 1991: nominated; Confirmed via thebramstokerawards.com.
Notes
- From the series record (The Dark Tower): A dark fantasy/Western/horror/science-fiction blend, admitted as fantasy per critical/marketing consensus, the same transparency pattern applied to Dragonriders of Pern, The Book of the New Sun, and The Locked Tomb. The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012) is an interstitial 'Dark Tower IV.5' set between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla -- registered Core (not Expanded) since King himself numbers it as part of the 8-book main sequence, unlike ACOTAR's interstitial novella.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Dark Tower: position 3 of 8: previous The Drawing of the Three (1987) · next Wizard and Glass (1997)
Sources
- Wikipedia - The Dark Tower (series)
- StephenKing.com - The Dark Tower
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Lands
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_III:_The_Waste_Lands
- The Bram Stoker Awards - Stephen King
- sfadb - Stephen King Awards
← The Dark Tower dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.