Possible New DT Book from Kings Message Board

[pathoftheturtle]

Couldn't he just ret-con the numbering of all later-set volumes upward?

[ola]

I'm hoping that it will be during the Wizard and Glass/Jericho Hill timeline, just because I'm a broken record and would enjoy more prequel type stuff, set around the tail end of Gilead. (I'm guessing this won't be the case because I know Roland won't be in it. Unless King is reading my mind and finds a way to work Cuthbert into a new book...does he count as a main character?)

Will resist another jab at Furth though.

[Jean]

I'm hoping that it will be during the Wizard and Glass/Jericho Hill timeline <...>

I so hope it won't be! I want me the ka-tet!

[ola]

I'm hoping that it will be during the Wizard and Glass/Jericho Hill timeline <...>

I so hope it won't be! I want me the ka-tet!

I know, I know. We live in a divided forum..

[Brainslinger]

Couldn't he just ret-con the numbering of all later-set volumes upward?

He could but I don't think he should.

I think he should just leave it unnumbered. Besides, the Dark Tower books are more known for their individual titles rather than their numbers anyway*. The only time people seem to refer to the book by number is in reference to the last book The Dark Tower, probably to make specific that it's DT7 they're referring to rather than the whole saga.

*The exception seems to be when the new books first came out. Mainly because we hadn't seen any for a while I guess, and we didn't know what the titles would be in the early days.

[Jean]

Couldn't he just ret-con the numbering of all later-set volumes upward?

He could but I don't think he should.

Hear, hear.

The book is over, and it consists of the 7 volumes we know. The saga, the series, the lore, the mythos, whatever, may go on forever (yes, I do wish - and hope! - Sai King would live forever), but there's only one Captain Blood: His Odyssey. The rest is The Chronicles of Captain Blood.

[TetCorp]

Couldn't he just ret-con the numbering of all later-set volumes upward?

He could but I don't think he should.

I think he should just leave it unnumbered.

+1

As far as the timeline goes, it can be any. Just as most events in WoG fall in the long ago, shortly after Roland won his guns, alot takes place in the here and now. When times wonky, and you are dealing with multiple worlds, anything's possible. Which time around the wheel is it anyway? Perhaps this takes place between WoG and WotC, but perhaps this time around Roland has the horn? Who knows how many other differences there might be as well? That could be interesting.

At some point, though, I'd love to see King write more about the Tet Corporation.

[Merlin1958]

Couldn't he just ret-con the numbering of all later-set volumes upward?

He could but I don't think he should.

I think he should just leave it unnumbered. Besides, the Dark Tower books are more known for their individual titles rather than their numbers anyway*. The only time people seem to refer to the book by number is in reference to the last book The Dark Tower, probably to make specific that it's DT7 they're referring to rather than the whole saga.

*The exception seems to be when the new books first came out. Mainly because we hadn't seen any for a while I guess, and we didn't know what the titles would be in the early days.

You know, you and Jean make some execellent points however, I think (if memory serves, I'll have to check) that 5 thru 7 are actually numbered. So it does present somewhat of a dilemma. Having said that though, 1-7 do represent the original "Roland" story and should'nt slight future DT junkies if #8 wasn't read in true chronological in order (of course I'm ASSUMING based on published reports). My personal take is something along the lines of LOTR and "the Silmarrillon" etc. You can read 1-7 without any loss and if you want to go back to Mid-world for "more", then you read #8. Of course from a collecting standpoint this does present problems (and cost mucho $$$) if he does re-number them.

And of course LSOE kinda got farmed in as a "true DT story" anyway. Sooooo, maybe in the long run it doesn't really mean a whole lot. As long as we get the friggin' book!!!! Am I right?

[TheCrisisKing]

Am I the only one worried about this?

[Brainslinger]

Am I the only one worried about this?

In what way?

The numbering?
The book won't live up to your expectations?
Or do you think King should just leave the books alone now he has finished 7?

I think the second is always an issue with a new book. I generally seem to like most of the Stephen King books I've read, although I'm sometimes disappointed by some outcomes. (Some of book 7 for example I wish had happened differently. Not the very end though.) It's not an altogether bad feeling though just all part of the expectation.

As for the last question, I think I would have more concerns if it were set after 7.

Spoiler:

In a new loop for example...

although I'm curious and I'd probably read it too. The fact that it is set between two of the books and appears to be centred around other characters alleviates those concerns somewhat though. The seven books are done. They're set in stone (unless they're revised anyhoo.), but there are plenty of gaps that could be filled in.

[TheCrisisKing]

I mean, i think The Tower is done

[Sam]

I disagree with you, flaggwalkstheline, that Charlie is a breaker. I imagine she's something similar to a breaker, but I believe her power works differently.

[John Blaze]

But Sam, if you remember our friend Ted didn't just have the ability to break, he could also form a power with his mind to hurt people, as well as being able to read peoples minds. It is very possible, IMO, for charlie to have become a breaker.

[BeDaN]

I believe there's a part when the ka-tet asks whatever happened to Rhea and how he lost the belt his mother gave him. The gunslinger said something about catching up to Rhea later on, but "that's a story for another time" I'd actually like to hear how that went.

[Jean]

Am I the only one worried about this?

In what way?

The numbering?
The book won't live up to your expectations?
Or do you think King should just leave the books alone now he has finished 7?

I am mostly afraid it will be about all the wrong things, like W&G was...

[John Blaze]

Am I the only one worried about this?

In what way?

Or do you think King should just leave the books alone now he has finished 7?

Mostly that. At this point I feel like the only way this could be a good thing is if he does a dt only version of Hearts in Atlantis. Even that way, the prospect is scary, and I'm starting to feel like the cash cow that Sk keeps trying to milk. I lost a little bit of my (love?/respect?/confidence in?/trust in?) SK when they announced this. Now I'm just hoping it's good.

[Randall Flagg]

I merged these threads. Since it isn't official yet-and there is lots of storyline speculation, it should be discussed here in Gilead.

[flaggwalkstheline]

Am I the only one worried about this?

In what way?

Or do you think King should just leave the books alone now he has finished 7?

Mostly that. At this point I feel like the only way this could be a good thing is if he does a dt only version of Hearts in Atlantis. Even that way, the prospect is scary, and I'm starting to feel like the cash cow that Sk keeps trying to milk. I lost a little bit of my (love?/respect?/confidence in?/trust in?) SK when they announced this. Now I'm just hoping it's good.

I doon't feel like a cashcow, the darktower stories have never been stephen king's most popular stories and a new one (which I find very exciting) is not going to sell anywhere near as much as something like under the dome, a new darktower book isn't milking a cashcow, its a gift to the hardcore fans like us

[John Blaze]

Well, that's a different perspective, and it's something to think about. Still though, idk, call me stupid or whatever, but when someone tells you there's gonna be seven, and you buy all seven, and then he says 8, it makes me feel like I'm being led on. Why not just say it was an open thing. Jean Auel started her Earth's Children series as a trilogy, but later said it was too big a story, and left it open ended. That's fine. Maybe I'm just being too picky. I can't help how I feel, though, and it leaves a dirty taste in my mouth, is all I'm saying.

[gsvec]

It may have been mentioned upthread, but I'm too lazy right now to go back and look.

In Sarasota last night, SK said there WILL be another DT book called "Wind Through the Keyhole" (maybe not "Wind"??), and that it would fall between Wastelands and W&G. Thinking we'd call it DT 3.5?

[pathoftheturtle]

Well, that's a different perspective, and it's something to think about. Still though, idk, call me stupid or whatever, but when someone tells you there's gonna be seven, and you buy all seven, and then he says 8, it makes me feel like I'm being led on. Why not just say it was an open thing. Jean Auel started her Earth's Children series as a trilogy, but later said it was too big a story, and left it open ended. That's fine. Maybe I'm just being too picky. I can't help how I feel, though, and it leaves a dirty taste in my mouth, is all I'm saying.

Ah, but I recall King often writing specifically that it would be "seven or eight volumes"!

[Brice]

True! He did say that at one point at least. He has also just said seven at other times. Either way I'm cool with it.

[Aki]

I am both scared and excited. I wouldn't want the book concerning the main characters too much (or at all), but stories revolving around the sidecharacters may seem VERY cheap and easy - "the story of Callahan before he met the ka-tet" for example, that could never make a novel!

Hum. No, seriously, these are good news, if the novel isn't forced, if he is inspired, if he hears Ves-ka Gan. I both hope for one longer, bigger story and several shorter (like a short story collection), but I don't know which I want the most. I wouldn't mind one set long before the fall of Gilead (and Roland's birth), maybe concerning his ancestors and so on.

[Merlin1958]

I mean, i think The Tower is done

All due respect, the Tower is done when Stephen King says it is!!! And not before, whatever folks may think. He is the creator, therefore the last word.

Whether we (or you) like it or not that's just the way it is. Of course everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and can choose whether or not to read it or accept it as canon but, that will nevertheless be a "choice" and therefore not an absolute.

Does that make sense?

[Merlin1958]

Well, that's a different perspective, and it's something to think about. Still though, idk, call me stupid or whatever, but when someone tells you there's gonna be seven, and you buy all seven, and then he says 8, it makes me feel like I'm being led on. Why not just say it was an open thing. Jean Auel started her Earth's Children series as a trilogy, but later said it was too big a story, and left it open ended. That's fine. Maybe I'm just being too picky. I can't help how I feel, though, and it leaves a dirty taste in my mouth, is all I'm saying.

Ah, but I recall King often writing specifically that it would be "seven or eight volumes"!

Actually, and I cannot swear to this, but I very distinctly remember reading an early version of books 1 or 2. where King said it was gonna be a 10 book story. Now I was reading him as he came out at the time and this memory is firmly imbedded (and frequently rebuted) but, I can not get it out. Somewhere, I recall SK stating that the DT was 10 books long and then later shortened but, as I said it could be the declining mind of the aged responsible for this memory. I just can't shake the memory that 10 books seemed a monumental undertaking, as well as daunting to a writer, even of SK's caliber
at the time but, i could obviously be very wrong.