This is an awesome collectible for any fan of the Dark Tower Series. Wear this with pride. It is a great conversation piece. For all those minions of the Crimson King, this is for you! Get one for yourself and one for your friend.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dark Tower is a series of seven books by American writer Stephen King that tells the tale of lead character Roland Deschain's quest for the "Dark Tower." The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements. King has described the series as his magnum opus; beside the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses.
The series was mostly inspired by the epic poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, the full text of which was included in an appendix to the final volume. In the preface to the revised 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings, the Arthurian Legend, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as inspirations. He identifies Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as one of the major inspirations for Roland. King's style of location names in the series, such as Mid-World, and his development of a unique language abstract to our own, are also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's work.
Overview
Plot summary
In the story, Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on," and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.
Language
King created a language for his characters, known as the High Speech. Examples of this language include the phrase Thankee, Sai ("Thank you, Sir/Ma'am."), Dan-Tete ("Little Saviour") and Can-Toi ("Low man/men"). In addition King introduced the unique term Ka, which is the approximate equivalent of destiny, or fate, in the fictional language High Speech.
Series
- The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982)
- The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
- The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
- The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
- The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
- The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
- The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)
Connections to King's other works
The series has become a linchpin that ties much of King's work together. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other various elements from many of King's novels.
The following is a list of specific connections between books. Note that all Dark Tower books are connected to each other chronologically.
- The Gunslinger
- Bag of Bones
- The Stand
- The Eyes of the Dragon
- The Drawing of the Three
- The Waste Lands
- Rose Madder
- The Stand (via Randall Flagg and superflu reference)'
- Cell (via the mentioning of Charlie the Choo Choo)
- It
- Insomnia
- Wizard and Glass
- "The Mist" (from Skeleton Crew)
- The Stand
- The Eyes of the Dragon
- Lisey's Story
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- Wolves of the Calla
- Salem's Lot
- Bag of Bones
- Black House (via the term opopanax)
- The Stand (via Randall Flagg)
- Song of Susannah
- The Eyes of the Dragon
- Black House
- The Talisman
- The Little Sisters of Eluria
- Desperation
- The Regulators
- Hearts in Atlantis
- From a Buick 8 (via HiA; Officer Dieffenbacker)
- Insomnia
- It
- The Shining
- The Dark Tower
- The Dead Zone
- Everything's Eventual
- Hearts in Atlantis
- From a Buick 8 (via HiA; Officer Dieffenbacker)
- Insomnia
- It
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Crimson King
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the similarly-named progressive rock band, see King Crimson.
According to his chief adviser, Rando Thoughtful, the Crimson King is an insane aspect, or fragment, of Gan itself.
Character history
The Crimson King is an immortal being existing on most (if not all) levels of the Dark Tower, which is the linchpin that holds Stephen King's multiverse together. This insane creature's only raison d'être is to destroy the foundations of the Dark Tower so that it will fall, destroying the entire multiverse in the process, even though he is not sure that he will be able to survive the destruction and remake/rule the universe afterwards. (In the cosmology of Stephen King novels, the realization of his goal would also result in the destruction of the real world where the real Stephen King writes books and the readers read them).
"Insomnia"
The Crimson King first appears as a mysterious, malevolent force controlling the mind of a citizen of Derry in order to commit an act of terrorism. This incarnation is wounded by protagonist Ralph Roberts.
"Black House"
At the climax of the book, the Crimson King's forge, the Great Combination, is destroyed by a future breaker -- a human with psychic powers.
"The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower"
In End-World in which the physical manifestation of the Dark Tower exists, the Crimson King resides in an abandoned castle of men left behind from the Old Ones' war. He and his servants have access to a wealth of technology there, including travel between alternate dimensions and weaponry far beyond any in practical use throughout the rest of the world -- however they do not fully understand it and are unable to replace or repair it.
He kills nearly all of his subjects and commits suicide by swallowing a razor-edged spoon (to thwart Roland and his guns as the gunslinger drew ever nearer; the King reasoned that if he were already dead, even Roland's guns would not be able to kill him). His now-undead form races ahead of protagonist Roland Deschain to the Dark Tower to try and enter it first and bring the multiverse down by his own hand.
"The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born"
In issue #2 of this series it is revealed that the Abbalah is the offspring of King Arthur Eld of All-World and the oldest of the Great Ones, red, spider-like creatures created from the Prim. After being presented 13 magical spheres by the treacherous Maerlyn (a Great One as well) and the monsters of the Prim in human disguise, Arthur and his court are changed by their chaotic magic. Sir Kay Deschain, the king's most trusted advisor, is the only one left unaffected. When he goes to spy on Maerlyn and his party, Sir Kay sees the Great Ones shed their human forms. Worst of all, the red spider is having her way with Arthur. Sir Kay injures the creature and drives off the Great Ones at the cost of his own life, but the damage is already done. The creature has conceived and will give birth to a son. Maerlyn prophesies that this red prince would be a ruler of chaos but would fall to a human descendant of Arthur Eld named Roland.
Death
The Crimson King was partially erased from existence by Patrick Danville leaving only his floating red eyes behind, forever trapped on the balcony to gaze over the Scarlet Field. The Artist then required Roland's blood (mixed with crushed petals of a Rose) to make the paint he used to draw the Crimson King. This procedure resulted in the loss of another of the Gunslinger's right hand fingers, completely preventing him from using this hand effectively from then on.
Trivia
- The power metal band Demons & Wizards released Touched by the Crimson King in June of 2005, which referenced the character. The album featured Dark Tower related songs such as "Crimson King", "The Gunslinger", and "Terror Train". The cover art does not represent the king himself but does include an image of a rose which is a recurring element in the Dark Tower series. The limited edition release bore the Crimson King's "Eye" insignia.
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