The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Homicidal_Squirrel · Mar 2, 2016

horacethegrey said:
A question from a Dark Tower noob. I've never read the series, so I'm no means an expert, but is Roland's race ever described explicitly in the books? All the art of the Dark Tower series that I've seen (book covers, comic books, etc.) have portrayed Roland Deschaine as a white caucasian. But now we have Idris Elba in the role and he's clearly black. So is this a case of casting an actor over his ability rather than his appearance, that they change a fictional character's racial makeup? Or was Roland's race really ambiguous in the first place so they were free to cast any actor in the role?

Now please don't think I'm a some sort of pendant over a fictional character's race. I think Idris Elba is a wonderful actor and I really didn't give a s**t when he was cast as Heimdall (described as the whitest god of the Aesir) in Thor (I know some racist a-holes objected to his casting, but who cares about them?). So I wonder if they same thing happened again here. I guess it speaks volumes of Idris Elba's strengths as an actor that they cast him in such an important role despite the race issue.

Just curious.

King has said that he imagined Roland looking like Clint Eastwood, but he likes Idris in the role because it opens up a whole lot of great background possibilities. King doesn't seem to have a problem with it, and as you've said, Idris Alba is a pretty great actor.

Nytmare · Mar 3, 2016

Homicidal_Squirrel said:
Are the books written in a sort of alternate history style?

Probably less alternate history, and more alternate, overlapping realities.

Mark Hope · Mar 3, 2016

At its best, the Dark Tower series is among the greatest fantasy stories ever told. Its height are that good. At its worst, it's laughable. And it sometimes swings between both extremes within a single book. The early books are generally excellent. The quality becomes more variable as the series progresses, which is something of a tragedy, really, given its promise.

I can't wait to see what Elba does as Roland, despite his lack of bombardier blue eyes

As an aside, if you're going to read the books and aren't familiar with King's work, I'd recommend reading The Stand (don't bother with the tv adaptation). Without spoiling anything, there are two excellent reasons to do so before diving into the Dark Tower sequence. Actual spoilers below. [sblock]Flagg is in both, for one, and, secondly, the sequence where the Dark Tower characters enter the world of The Stand is utterly terrifying once you know what they're risking by doing so...[/sblock]

Homicidal_Squirrel · Mar 3, 2016

Mark Hope said:
As an aside, if you're going to read the books and aren't familiar with King's work, I'd recommend reading The Stand (don't bother with the tv adaptation). Without spoiling anything, there are two excellent reasons to do so before diving into the Dark Tower sequence. Actual spoilers below. [sblock]Flagg is in both, for one, and, secondly, the sequence where the Dark Tower characters enter the world of The Stand is utterly terrifying once you know what they're risking by doing so...[/sblock]

Damn... that makes me want to go read the stand. Looking at Amazon, it seems you can get it in paper back for basically the cost of shipping.

Homicidal_Squirrel · Mar 3, 2016

Nytmare said:
Probably less alternate history, and more alternate, overlapping realities.

That sounds promising. I'll be honest, part of what has stopped me from reading this series is that King wrote it, and my view of his stories has been somewhat colored by the terrible movies that have been made of his works. Sleepwalkers being one of the most damaging. Maybe I'll pick up the Stand and then start on the Dark Tower series.

Mark Hope · Mar 3, 2016

Homicidal_Squirrel said:
Damn... that makes me want to go read the stand. Looking at Amazon, it seems you can get it in paper back for basically the cost of shipping.

Well, at those prices it has to be worth a look

Homicidal_Squirrel · Mar 3, 2016

Mark Hope said:
Well, at those prices it has to be worth a look

Yes it does. It definitely does.

Nytmare · Mar 3, 2016

I read The Stand once about every 3 or 4 years.

Mark Hope · Mar 3, 2016

Nytmare said:
I read The Stand once about every 3 or 4 years.

Oh, come on. It's a long book but it shouldn't take you that long to get through it...

trappedslider · Mar 3, 2016

Homicidal_Squirrel said:
Damn... that makes me want to go read the stand. Looking at Amazon, it seems you can get it in paper back for basically the cost of shipping.

oh, I was gonna say make it's the complete and uncut edition, which goes into more background on some of the characters, along with updating a couple of references.

EDIT: I absolutely love the art work on the Hardcover edition because of how creepy it is

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