favourite king novels - The Dark Tower (2017) Discussion

[–] tylerrepotter 8 years ago

The regulators
Eyes of the dragon

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I'm so happy they're doing and updated version of It. I would love to see an updated version of The Stand, next!

One of my unsung faves is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I thought it would be a snore fest, and it probably wouldn't translate to a movie well, but I loved it. I also loved Bag of Bones. Did they do a movie adaptation? If they did, I didn't see it, but I thought it was a great read.

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[–] MaximusGrandimus 8 years ago

The Regulators was great! That could be a great "bottle" movie - done all in one setting as The Mist was, could be low-budget and artsy. I'd love to see that one done.

And they should do Eyes of the Dragon as an offshoot to the Dark Tower films.

I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid

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[–] tylerrepotter 8 years ago

I agree completely

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Well, I guess I know the next book I'm investing in. I went to try and find The Gunslinger last night, but I could only leave with a used copy of Drawing of the Three. So my search continues.

Oh, I think I'm in the minority, but I also loved Insomnia. Again, I don't think it would work well as a movie.

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[–] MaximusGrandimus 8 years ago

I have one of the original 1982 Gunslinger original paperbacks, before the revisions. You should be able to find the Revised version at any B&N - though when I got my copy last week (curious about the differences) it was $16. If you can't find the non-revised or even revised version at a used book shop near you, you might try Amazon. They started as a bookseller so they usually are a good resource for finding hard-to find or out of print books. There may also be a listing on Barnes and Noble.com

I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

I was actually going to brush off my husband's kindle tonight to see if I could find it on there. I wish I had a B&N near me, but maybe I'll chance the drive out to Books A Million this weekend if I can't find an electronic copy.

Thank you for the help! If all else fails, the internet usually provides!

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

ohhh jealous! I have an '88 by Sphere books and she is as haggard as Rhea. Revealing my lack of fandom, i'm actually unaware of the revisions.

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[–] MaximusGrandimus 8 years ago

Just about the time he was doing 5-7 King polished off The Gunslinger and added bits of dialogue and more if the "Mid-World" language may it do ya fine. Kind of to make it feel more 19 with the other books. I have yet to read it but once I'm done with 7 I intend to revisit the first again

I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid

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[–] MatthewKeen 8 years ago

While I enjoy The Regulators, I would much rather see The Shotgunners brought to life. I want to see all of the differences.

But to your original question?

I would like to see The Long Walk, The Talisman, and a better adaptation of Bag of Bones,

--
Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!

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[–] sommdude 8 years ago

The Long Walk - would never work as a movie though

I'm a Gunslinger. I deal in hard calibers.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

Why do you think it wouldn't work? There's a lot of dialogue (as opposed to only internal monologue), and i think if they increased Stebbin's involvement more it could work quite well. Though this is one of my favourites so could be biased... It would be absolutely crucial to have the right Garatty, Stebbins, McVries, etc.

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[–] sommdude 8 years ago

I agree with your points about the characters, but i dont think it would work simply because its too dark.

Even with the recent influx of movies involving killing teenagers for sport (hunger games, mazerunner) I think The Long Walk takes it to another level. An unpalatable level for the majority of the populace.

I'm a Gunslinger. I deal in hard calibers.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

Very true, a scene like Barkovitch (?) ripping his own throat out is maybe a tad too graphic. I also think they wouldn't be able to translate to film the sheer exhaustion of the walkers like the book does. I'd like to see it done but it would be very dark and very indie which would probably = low budget unfortunately.

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[–] tylerrepotter 8 years ago

They already converted it to running man. I agree in today's PC climate though. It would just be another hunger games teen b.s. instead of horror

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[–] casey-75-119610 8 years ago

If they can make a movie about Ryan Reynolds trapped in a box for 90 minutes, they can make a Long Walk movie. I just finished the book and loved it. Frank Darabont I heard has the rights to the story, so maybe he'll get to it eventually.

If they do ever make this a movie, I would want the ending changed a little. I like the ending to the book but I was expecting some sort of confrontation with the major who was this looming figure throughout the whole book. Maybe have Stebbins live a little longer to confront him?

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

The Gunslinger, Drawing of the three (the entire Dark Tower series). Someone should actually try adapt them into films, Frank Darabont would be the ideal director.

The Mist. The film was completely hacked up and the TV show was made for too low a rating. A new faithful film adaption would be good.

The Mist. Great short story (not technically a book) The film of that probably couldn't be improved on with another adaption (most likely to make changes for the sake of it), they even managed to put hints at the Lobstrosities in it.

Cell. One of the best of King's more recent books, definitely could do with a remake film. The one they made was terrible.

Under the Dome. Another very good book that could do with a remake. Film or tv show, as long as it's better than the awful show they cr*pped out already.

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

Damn it, second one was meant to say 'The shining'. Hate typing on a phone.

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Hey, Spidey! Just out of curiosity, which of the Stephen King film adaptations did you like? I know everyone loves Shawshank, but what about the others? The Shining most people love or hate (Stanley Kubrick was a bit too... well, Stanley Kubrick for my sensibilities), but there was the original Stand, It and Carrie that usually go over well. Just curious which ones you enjoyed.

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Ha! I was confused by the double Mist there, now I got it. Oh, and Green Mile! That usually is a fan favorite, too.

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

I realised what happened after I typed it and posted it. I must have thought I was typing in order with The Mist second, but after typing the name I got distracted and put what I meant for the shining. Obviously after that I couldn't see it anymore and the way the app lays it out it's a pain to scroll up and then I couldn't edit it.

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Yeah, trying to do any type of a post or even just an email is a pain on smartphones!

So you didn't answer my question! Are you a Shawshank man? Green Mile? Or maybe you're one of those oddballs (and I mean this in the nicest way - I just found out a few weeks ago there are many) that love Tommyknockers. Honestly, I always liked Creepshow, but I keep dating myself with talk like that. :-)

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

It wouldn't be so bad if you could go back and edit, but the mobile site/app for IMDb is beyond useless at times.

Prefer Shawshank to Green Mile, both good stories but just prefer Shawshank. In both books and films.
Tommyknockers was ok, and Creepshow is a good film. Unlike 'Sometimes they come back' and 'Riding the bullet' which are bloody terrible.

I'd be curious to see how Duma Key would translate to a film but that story might not work as a film.

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

In answer to the ones I missed in first reply. The Stand, Mostly good. Captured a lot of the story but everything seemed rushed and possibly should have been longer.

IT, probably one of the best King adaptions and Tim Curry will be hard to beat as Pennywise.

Carrie, the original, was good. The last remake not so much and the tv remake in the middle of those wasn't great either.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

Frank Darabont would have been ideal. His King adaptations are pretty much unrivalled and he's a stickler for quality, and making sure the budget can uphold his vision. His interviews when he left The Walking Dead were very telling as to his views on this.

I agree with Cell, i have no idea what's happened to King's later works but they seem quite formulaic and Cell was one of the few i was happy to read.

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

The weird thing about that is Darabont wanted to make The Dark Tower, and King said no. Yet didn't say no to this. Maybe he'd been drinking again that day.

Cell is a great book, would have made a great TV show actually (more miniseries). Instead they made that terrible film.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

I was totally unaware of this! I was aware that others previously attached to TDT were intimidated by the project to say the least (JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof were pretty outspoken about it). After a bit of digging i found an old article about why King didn't want Darabont and it makes no sense imo, it almost sounds like King didn't trust him with it... 

However in my quest to find out why, i did find another old article that suggests Darabont may have first dibs on The Long Walk if it ever happens >> http://www.mtv.com/news/1574452/stephen-king-reveals-how-jj-abrams-conquered-the-dark-tower-for-just-19/

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

His reason for refusing to let Darabont make it is nonsense, seems very petty and stupid to prevent the person who has made the most popular King adaptations (and is one of the few to get it right) from making the Dark Tower.
Especially in light of what's happened with this and the dodgy casting, poor director choice and bloody Goldsman involved.

And that article is wrong anyway, it's only recent times when King has been so accepting of adaptions. He used to be highly critical of them when they got it wrong in casting or big story changes, he's just turned into a yes man more recently.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

What exactly were King's reasons to not give it to Darabont if you know? The best i could find was an interview from a CC in '07, but the quotes seem a bit cherry picked and i can't find the full interview/transcript. From what i read it seems that King thought he had given Darabont 'enough' of his work to adapt. Bit of a slap in the face imo especially with Darabont asking for TDT, whereas others seemed scared sh*tless to even take it on. Kind of on par with Daniel Day Lewis giving a blistering audition of Roland just to have it not even looked at.

A lot of your picks are old King, or as i prefer 'classic' King. I personally prefer his older stuff myself, especially the short stories. Are you a fan of them also? These 'Dollar Babies' shorts are driving me nuts as they are impossible to find. Survivor Type is a personal favourite of my mine and the trailer actually looks good. 

* Oh yes, he spat the dummy over The Shining, and then eventually got something closer to the source material. Personally i like both but in different ways - style over substance vs. substance over style imo. It's had 2 cracks at it now, i doubt there would be a 3rd. Something in between the 2 would have worked nicely.

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

That's the thing, the only reason I found that he gave for not giving it Darabont was some quote where he'd said he's had enough of them already (in regards to adaptions of his work). Which seems like a very petty reason not to give someone who he seems to get on with and has made the most acclaimed adaptions of his work the rights to film his biggest series.

I like both old and new King books, I find a lot of my favourites tend to be older but some new ones make it in there. Really like the short story collections, Skeleton Crew is a favourite of his books, if my memory isn't being terrible then that is the one the Mist and the story about the evil toy cymbal monkey are from (which I read had a film as well and I tried to track it down out of curiosity but couldn't find).

I actually agree with his statements on the Shining film, it bugged me that they cut out all back story for Danny and his abilities etc. Changed the ending completely and didn't I feel do a good enough job at showing Jack as anything but crazy from the start. Anyone looking at him as he was in the film and deciding he was a good choice to be isolated with his family for that long is stupid. Plus they made Wendy so annoying she would drive a sane person to kill her after a few days spent trapped alone with her. Yeah it's highly unlikely that will get another adaption now either.

It does show the difference in his level of caring about adaptions, he used to care enough to criticise. But Cell, Under the Dome and this show he will just go along with anything now.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

Which seems like a very petty reason not to give someone who he seems to get on with and has made the most acclaimed adaptions of his work the rights to film his biggest series.

Very odd, especially with the info that Darabont had grabbed one of McCammons books. Surely it couldn't be that petty, though there seems to be bad blood between those 2 authors. I'd love to speculate further but i can't find much info on King regarding McCammon, only vice versa.

Skeleton Crew is a favourite of his books, if my memory isn't being terrible then that is the one the Mist and the story about the evil toy cymbal monkey are from (which I read had a film as well and I tried to track it down out of curiosity but couldn't find).

Skeleton Crew it is indeed 👍 and one of my personal favourites also. Whatever happened to The Monkey? But that collection has at least 10 stories that are brilliant imo.

Plus they made Wendy so annoying she would drive a sane person to kill her after a few days spent trapped alone with her.

  Too funny for words lol!

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[–] Spider198 8 years ago

The reasoning doesn't make sense, there's probably something else he didn't say that made him say no. It's the only thing that would make any sense when as far as I know Darabont and King have kept in touch since his first adaption (I may be wrong on that) but that being the case the reason for saying no makes even less sense.

Oh it's his best collection of short stories for me. I believe 'The breathing method' story from that was being optioned for a film or something at one point as well. Which seems a really odd choice to adapt.
The Monkey film is probably terrible, the fact that it's so hard to find means they didn't even bother to give it a big release or even a small one. But my curiosity makes me want to see just how bad it is.

Would you disagree with that assessment though and be honest? Lol.
I don't blame the actress, she's good in other things. I blame the fact that Kubrick wrote her as an annoying shrill woman who does nothing but scream on and off for 2 hours (I don't think Shelley Duvall has great memories of that film either from what I've read about it either) . Actually one of the things the tv show did better was the portrayal of Wendy, simply because she showed some personality beyond screaming.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

I love a good conspiracy, i may dig around a bit more regarding King and McCammon. What's also interesting in his quotes about not giving TDT to Darabont is that he seems kind of defensive about it and makes a point first as to how far back they go as friends. The plot thickens maybe?

Interesting that you bring up The Breathing Method, King has always been dragged through the mud for 'not being able to end a story'. Whenever i hear that, i always think of this short story. What a cracker of a way to end a story. I can visualise the main female character being totally fleshed out and almost appearing like a somewhat mainstream film (almost Mildred Pierce style), just to end in decapitation while giving birth :O . I thought this was from Night Shift, but wiki is telling me it's Different Seasons. (would love to see it adapted though, the shock value would be priceless)

Ok lol. Wendy... In Kubrick's version she is so wimpy and whiny, this is not at all how she is portrayed in the book, she actually has a lot of strength of character. But Wendy in Kubrick's Shining is a snivelling and weak character adaptation imo. Not to disparage Shelley Duvall, i think she is a fine actress and must have been written this way, and when the screaming and terror was needed she did deliver. I would blame the script writers for changing her, and yep it's notorious for being an exhausting shoot, i also recall her complaining of the strain of shooting it. But Jack Nicholson was already bat sh*t insane from the start, so i can't understand why they thought making Wendy so weak would help this counterpoint to Jack as it seems unnecessary?

As much i like The Shining film, i DO prefer Wendy in the TV series even though i'm not a fan of Rebecca De Mornay, i also prefer how Jack believably went through different arcs and changes as opposed to Nicholson's Jack. But Damn that kids mouth bothered me! Such a silly thing but it constantly distracted me from the movie.

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[–] MatthewKeen 8 years ago

I do not know about any bad blood from McCammon toward King (RRM's dislike of being compared to SK not withstanding), but SK has spoken quite highly of RRM and his work. In 2002, King blurbed Speaks the Nightbird, and, iirc, McCammon offered SK the position of President for the HWA when it was first founded (Dean Koontz, a writer then known more for his Science Fiction, became the first president).

--
Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

It appears you are 100% correct. All 3 of them have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. Other than McCammon saying he didn't like The Tommyknockers, i couldn't find one shred of anything at all to indicate anything amiss with these guys.

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[–] MatthewKeen 8 years ago

“Frank did come to me, and I know Frank from before either one of us had a pot to piss in. Frank said, ‘Gee, I’d like to do Dark Tower.’ I said, ‘Frank, give me a break! You’ve got The Mist, The Monkey. You’ve got the prison stories. … Stop putting so much on your plate!'”

http://www.slashfilm.com/stephen-king-confirms-the-dark-tower-movie/

What this quote doesn't say specifically is that, at the time, Darabont had several other movies he was trying to get made, including an adaptation of Mine by Robert McCammon.
--
Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

Frank Darabont would nail Swan Song. Screw The Stand, Swan Song is brilliant.

*Oops, had an uncontrollable fanboy reaction once McCammon was mentioned.

To reply properly, i find it very interesting that Darabont had a McCammon book when King declined him TDT. I'm sure Frank Darabont knows how much he can handle, he doesn't need King to decide this for him.

Swan Song and The Stand are always compared, and from what i've seen Swan Song generally wins the debate as to which is better. I wonder if this ever bothers King? It seems to bother McCammon! >>

Kyle, I'm very proud of Swan Song, but when it first came out it was blasted by some critics who said I was trying to copy King's The Stand, and much of the heat directed at me over that book was pretty hot. Over time, Swan Song has stood on its own, but I guess it's still a sore spot for me. One of the reasons I wanted to do historical work was that for awhile some of these same critics were saying that everything I was writing was ripping off King. I remember somebody talking on a forum about MINE, saying that they'd heard it was an idea King was going to do and that I must have ripped it off before he could write it. Another person said I'd ripped the Wolf's Hour character off from the werewolf in The Talisman.

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[–] sugrnspyce4 8 years ago

I would love to see The Talisman on the big screen. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I'm surprised filmmakers didn't go for this one before trying to tackle The Dark Tower.

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[–] MaximusGrandimus 8 years ago

Maybe, given how many of King's books are related to The Dark Tower, they are waiting to do it as a sort of shared universe piece? Or maybe there are rights issues with Peter Straub? Who knows...

I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid

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[–] sugrnspyce4 8 years ago

That would be great, but I'd think dealing with the rights issues for his other previously adapted works would be a nightmare. Who knows - maybe they'll actually figure out a way to make it work one of these days.

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[–] MaximusGrandimus 8 years ago

Actually, there was apparently a proposed miniseries as far back as 2004 which didn't pan out...

I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid

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[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Well, look at how many times they had to try to get Dark Tower off the ground. Maybe one day we'll get lucky with Talisman. I'd love to see my favorite man-wolf on the big screen!

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[–] sugrnspyce4 8 years ago

Yeah, I do remember venturing over to the Talisman message boards when I heard about that, but it was pretty much nothing but tumbleweeds for the most part. If not a movie, it would make a pretty good series.

On a related note, does anyone know if they ever made another Talisman graphic novel? I bumped into the first one at a convention some years back, but haven't seen a follow-up.

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

I remember venturing to the Talisman board too once upon a time so i just went over for another squiz, i have no recollection of contributing but wow, i'm still there 9 years later casting Sunshine Gardener http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384580/board/nest/75818611?p=3



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[–] sugrnspyce4 8 years ago

Ha - nice! And Julian Sands...yeah, I could see that. He plays a convincing bad guy. 

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[–] tinasparklesau 8 years ago

lol! i think i had most likely watched something twisted like Boxing Helena around the time of posting that. I haven't followed his career since so unsure if he's slumped by now... Hmm do you think he could pull off Eldred Jonas? That white/blonde hair always stumps me on casting Jonas, but looking at the artwork i do see some similarities!

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[–] sugrnspyce4 8 years ago

lol! i think i had most likely watched something twisted like Boxing Helena around the time of posting that. I haven't followed his career since so unsure if he's slumped by now... Hmm do you think he could pull off Eldred Jonas? That white/blonde hair always stumps me on casting Jonas, but looking at the artwork i do see some similarities!

Wow, I remember that movie and yeah, it was pretty twisted lol. I think I first saw Julian Sands in Warlock, but the most recent thing I remember seeing him in was Gotham, where he played the father of Jonathan Crane (aka - Scarecrow) in a couple of episodes. As for whether he could pull off Jonas? Hmm...not quite sure, but that's probably because I've pictured Jonas as either Sam Elliott or The Quick and the Dead-era Lance Henriksen lol. But it's possible.

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[–] cantwells-1 8 years ago

For those persons looking to re-read, or read for the first time any of the dark Tower series, the audio versions are absolutely spectacular. I know it's a copout, but the narrators doing absolutely great job and they are available at Libraries on a CD or even to download without actually having to go to the library

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[–] sommdude 8 years ago

The audio books are amazing.
Not sure why you consider them a copout, King himself during the prologue of one of the audiobooks states that they are the best way to read any book. He used them to read the older Dark Tower novels while writing the newer ones.

I'm a Gunslinger. I deal in hard calibers.

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[–] williamforrest429 8 years ago

Since I mentioned on a different thread , the talisman and I'm sure people have suggested it here.I will Say Desperation Neveda. I know it was syfy channel movie or mini series and while ok, I thought it ultimately missed the mark.

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