The Dark Tower Books by Stephen King

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

So begins Stephen King's series of novels concerning the Dark Tower.

The Dark Tower is a fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western themed series of novels by the American writer Stephen King. The series has been described as King's magnum opus - besides the seven novels that comprise the series proper, many of his other books are related to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. The series has been recently adapted for a Marvel miniseries spin-off, written by King and illustrated by Jae Lee.

The series was inspired by the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot and in the preface to the 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as inspirations, identifying Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as the genesis of Roland of Gilead.