📚 Stephen King Multiverse Reading Order Checker
Check how deep into the King multiverse you are — track books read, connections discovered, and estimated reading time remaining
| Book Title | Tier | Avg Pages | Key Connection | Recommended Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Gunslinger (DT1) | Tier 1 | 224 | Dark Tower hub | Start here |
| The Drawing of the Three (DT2) | Tier 1 | 400 | Dark Tower hub | 2nd |
| The Waste Lands (DT3) | Tier 1 | 512 | Dark Tower hub | 3rd |
| Wizard and Glass (DT4) | Tier 1 | 672 | Dark Tower hub | 4th |
| IT | Tier 1 | 1138 | Pennywise / Deadlights | Before DT7 |
| The Stand | Tier 1 | 1153 | Randall Flagg = DT villain | Before DT5 |
| Insomnia | Tier 1 | 787 | Direct DT tie-in | Before DT6 |
| Black House | Tier 1 | 640 | Direct DT tie-in | After The Talisman |
| The Talisman | Tier 1 | 646 | Multiverse travel | Before Black House |
| Salem's Lot | Tier 2 | 439 | Referenced in DT3 | Flexible |
| Pet Sematary | Tier 2 | 374 | Castle Rock links | Flexible |
| Needful Things | Tier 2 | 690 | Castle Rock / Leland Gaunt | Flexible |
| The Dead Zone | Tier 2 | 426 | Castle Rock / Flagg ref | Flexible |
| Cujo | Tier 2 | 319 | Castle Rock | Flexible |
| Dreamcatcher | Tier 2 | 620 | Derry / IT reference | After IT |
| 11/22/63 | Tier 2 | 849 | Derry / IT cameo | After IT |
| Firestarter | Tier 3 | 426 | Psychic multiverse thread | Flexible |
| The Shining | Tier 3 | 447 | Overlook / psychic net | Flexible |
| Doctor Sleep | Tier 2 | 531 | Shining sequel / True Knot | After The Shining |
| Bag of Bones | Tier 3 | 529 | Castle Rock adjacent | Flexible |
| Reading Pace | Pages/Day | Days/500pg Book | Days for Tier 1 (12 books) | Days for Full (50 books) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | 20 | 25 days | ~360 days | ~1,500 days |
| Medium | 40 | 12.5 days | ~180 days | ~750 days |
| Fast | 70 | 7 days | ~103 days | ~428 days |
| Binge | 100 | 5 days | ~72 days | ~300 days |
| Location | Books Set There | Tier | Anchor Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Rock, Maine | 9 books | Tier 1/2 | Needful Things |
| Derry, Maine | 6 books | Tier 1 | IT |
| Mid-World (Dark Tower) | 8+ books | Tier 1 | The Gunslinger |
| The Territories (Talisman) | 2 books | Tier 1 | The Talisman |
| Overlook Hotel | 2 books | Tier 3 | The Shining |
| Jerusalem's Lot, Maine | 3 books | Tier 2 | Salem's Lot |
Stephen King is an American writer that writes about horror, suspense, science fiction and magic. His books sold more than 400 million copies, and many of them were adapted to movies, TV shows and comics. He released 67 novels and stories, between that seven under the fake name Richard Bachman, together with five nonfiction books.
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Reading his whole list of books is a truly huge task. His novels are not simple books of standard size, they are thick, and commonly go past a thousand pages. He also wrote many short stories.
How to Read Stephen King Books
A good starting point is Carrie, his first book from 1974. Going in order is a truly good plan. After Carrie the plan is simply work through his books one after the other.
The official website of Stephen King has a section about his works, where one can list everything from the latest to the earliest, which works well as a Reading Order. The release order helps to see how King grew as an author during the years.
There is no strict sequence for most of his books. Most of his stories stand alone. Even so, direct sequles deserve to be read in the right sequence.
The Shining and its follow-up Doctor Sleep best go in that order, best after one reads the first. The series about Mister Mercedes is another case, where the order matters. Also the books about Castle Rock should be read in sequence: The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Dark Half and then Needful Things.
The series about The Dark Tower has its own Reading Order, marked directly on the covers. Useful advice is read Salem’s Lot before you reach Wolves of the Calla, witch is the fifth book of the Dark Tower. All other ties between his books are only Easter eggs.
The Regulators are meant as a mirror to Desperation, a different version of similar themes. So after one the other is a natural follow-up.
The comics of The Dark Tower are official and part of the canon, although King himself did not write them. They were designed by Robin Furth, who is the research assistant of King, and he acts as creative and executive director. Those comics work as a backstory to the main series.
The first, The Gunslinger Born, retells memories from the fourth novel, Wizard and Glass. The other comics continue from that first one and do not adapt directly from the books. Reading them before the main series is apersonal choice.
On Writing belongs to the nonfiction part and is for anyone that wants to go further from the fiction. Another way is to choose some of the standalone books, read their summaries and jump into the one that seems cool. Between the brilliant picks is It and The Stand.
