the dark tower 2 the drawing of the three

The book, from that point, becomes a 'putting together the band' style narrative, with Roland going to three different times in our world and meeting significant characters. He then wanders in a fever to a beach filled with doors, each of which leads to New York City at various points in its history. Book two begins with another such statement, when Roland is attacked by a giant lobster and loses two of the fingers on his right hand. Book one was hugely tense and bizarrely structured, a three-act tribute to both Sergio Leone and Tolkien filled with tonal statements of intent: dead towns, displaced children (from 'other worlds than these') and a truly evil villain. Roland of Gilead had been chasing the Man In Black across the desert, then they had a little tarot-card reading, Roland fell asleep for 10 years and the Man In Black escaped.

The Drawing of the Three picks up the action where The Gunslinger left off – or as near as dammit, after a section ('Argument') that essentially takes the role of those Previously On. Where every other novel had the lowest barrier for entry possible, the Dark Tower books relied on the reader having read the others. But King didn't, at that point in his career, write sequels – it's taken 36 years for the first to be looming over the hill in the form of Doctor Sleep, the forthcoming follow-up to The Shining – so the Dark Tower series was an anomaly. It wasn't as if The Gunslinger set the world on fire ( sales figures suggest that it was, on release, one of his lesser-selling books) there would likely have been more fervour for a sequel to something like Firestarter or Salem's Lot. The sequel to The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three seems to have been meant for what King referred to as the 'Constant Reader' – those who follow his every published word. And then there was The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three. The Eyes of the Dragon was a young adult fantasy novel Misery was a literary psychological thriller The Tommyknockers was a science fiction horror epic. And then, in 1987, King published four novels within a 10-month period, three of them standalone books with something to offer for nearly every potential reader.

It, The Shining, The Stand, Salem's Lot: these were books that were going to go down in publishing history. In the 13 years and 23 books since Carrie was released, his name had become publishing gold. In 1987, Stephen King was at the height of both his powers, and his popularity.

The dark tower 2 the drawing of the three