I received Stephen King's book Song of Susannah as a gift. I noticed it is part of his Dark Tower Series.

Question

Will I need to read the previous five to understand the story or can the book be read on its own merit?

Answer 1

Few books in series will explain themselves in context of the rest of the series. The first few books of this series are very in detail about the character of the Gunslinger and the man in black, but toward the end of the series, the books start to reexplain everything, so you may be able to read this alone. I'm sure it is good, but I have heard that it is boring for people who have read the books leading up to it, because it is so repetitive.

Answer 2

I think it is more enjoyable to read them in order

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 & Glass (1997)
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of The Calla (2003)
The Dark Tower VI: Songs of Susannah (2004)
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

I think you are missing something unless you read them all and it is better in order...just my opinion.

Answer 3

If you think the story looks good, start reading it. If you run into too many questions, you could look into reading the other books. OR you could pick up one of the volumes of the Concordance that Robin Furth authored. She worked with Stephen King to create the two volumes and they are a great reference.

Answer 4

NO, it won't explain itself! You need to read the others first, it is an epic tale that spans a number of years, that book you have is the FINAL book. I would wait!

Answer 5

You can read it all by itself but I't would be more enjoyable if you read the previous one.

I stated with the Wizard And The Glass

Answer 6

You will better understand it if you read all of the books.