The Dark Tower
#1854.11 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 8 books Status Complete 1982–2012 Reading commitment High Stephen King Last reviewed 2026-08-07
Overview
Stephen King's The Dark Tower follows gunslinger Roland Deschain across Mid-World and beyond in a quest for the Dark Tower, the nexus point of all realities: a dark fantasy–Western–horror–science-fiction hybrid widely regarded as King's magnum opus and the connective tissue linking much of his wider bibliography.
Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (8 works) counts toward ranking
The Dark Tower Stephen King
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Gunslinger | 1982 | 1 | core | 3.90 (678,426 ratings) |
 | The Drawing of the Three | 1987 | 2 | core | 4.24 (298,937 ratings) |
 | The Waste Lands | 1991 | 3 | core | 4.25 (253,030 ratings) |
 | Wizard and Glass | 1997 | 4 | core | 4.27 (225,040 ratings) |
 | Wolves of the Calla | 2003 | 5 | core | 4.20 (204,000 ratings) |
 | Song of Susannah | 2004 | 6 | core | 4.00 (179,386 ratings) |
 | The Dark Tower | 2004 | 7 | core | 4.29 (193,479 ratings) |
 | The Wind Through the Keyhole | 2012 | 4.5 | core | 4.13 (96,397 ratings) |
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.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Dark Tower? The Dark Tower's Core Canon is 8 books.
- What is the reading order for The Dark Tower? Publication order, starting with The Gunslinger. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Dark Tower finished? Complete (1982–2012).
- How much reading does The Dark Tower take? High reading commitment (estimated from 8 Core Canon books · ~4,819 pages).
- How is The Dark Tower ranked? #185 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 2,128,695 reader ratings across 8 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #185?
Ranked #185 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.11 across 8 core books.
- Backed by 2.1M reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #184, Moribito (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 8 books · Complete · 2.1M ratings · Ranks #185 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (8 Core Canon books)
- The Gunslinger (1982)
- The Drawing of the Three (1987)
- The Waste Lands (1991)
- Wizard and Glass (1997)
- Wolves of the Calla (2003)
- Song of Susannah (2004)
- The Dark Tower (2004)
- The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
Documented internal/story order
- The Gunslinger (1982)
- The Drawing of the Three (1987)
- The Waste Lands (1991)
- Wizard and Glass (1997)
- The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
- Wolves of the Calla (2003)
- Song of Susannah (2004)
- The Dark Tower (2004)
Awards (verified)
- British Fantasy Award (Best Novel (August Derleth Award)), 2005: won: The Dark Tower; Corroborated by two independent sfadb pages (author-specific and full-category); the awarding body's own site could not be reached to fetch this specific year directly.
- Bram Stoker Award (Best Novel (nominee)), 2004: nominated: The Dark Tower; Confirmed via thebramstokerawards.com's own nominee list for Stephen King.
- Bram Stoker Award (Best Novel (nominee)), 2003: nominated: Wolves of the Calla; Confirmed via thebramstokerawards.com.
- Bram Stoker Award (Best Novel (nominee)), 1991: nominated: The Waste Lands; Confirmed via thebramstokerawards.com.
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 1988: finalist: The Drawing of the Three; 16th place in the 1988 Locus poll.
- Locus Award (Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 1992: finalist: The Waste Lands; 3rd place in the 1992 Locus poll.
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 1998: finalist: Wizard and Glass; 4th place in the 1998 Locus poll.
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 2005: finalist: Song of Susannah; 4th place in the 2005 Locus poll.
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Suggestions computed from what The Dark Tower and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Witcher Dark fantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.16
- The Nightside Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.02
- Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.00
- The Locked Tomb Dark fantasy / New Weird · Ongoing · Medium commitment · 4.23
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.11 across 2,128,695 ratings on 8 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Dark Tower admitted as a single-author universe; genre-boundary case accepted 2026-08-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
Rule: Core = the 8 main-sequence novels, including the interstitial The Wind Through the Keyhole. Genre-boundary case: admitted as fantasy per critical/marketing consensus, with the boundary explicitly flagged, the same transparency pattern as Dragonriders of Pern, The Book of the New Sun, and The Locked Tomb.