Books And Series
Dark Tower Audiobook Narrators: Who Reads Which Book
Dark Tower audiobook narrators by book: Frank Muller, George Guidall and Stephen King, why the voice changes, and which Gunslinger is the revised one.
Three people narrate the Dark Tower audiobooks. Frank Muller reads books 2, 3 and 4: The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass. George Guidall reads the revised The Gunslinger and books 5, 6 and 7: Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower. Stephen King reads book 8, The Wind Through the Keyhole. So, yes, the voice changes partway through, and it changes twice: Guidall to Muller after book 1, then Muller back to Guidall after book 4.
The credits come from the publisher-side pages on Stephen King's official site and from the Audible US series page, which lists all eight books in order with their narrators. The runtimes below are the Audible US figures as listed on 1 October 2026.
Book by book: narrator, publisher, year and runtime
Each entry gives the book, the narrator, the publisher or production company, the release year and the Audible US runtime. In Audible's series list, the main books are labelled Dark Tower I and onward, which helps when you are scanning a store page and the title alone is not obvious.
- The Gunslinger (revised text): George Guidall, Penguin Audiobooks, 2003, 7 hrs 20 mins.
- The Drawing of the Three: Frank Muller, Penguin Audiobooks, 1991, 12 hrs 47 mins. See the official page.
- The Waste Lands: Frank Muller, Penguin Audiobooks, listed under 2003 (the original audiobook record is dated 1991), 18 hrs 10 mins. See the official page.
- Wizard and Glass: Frank Muller, Penguin Audiobooks and also sold through Simon & Schuster Audio, listed under 2003, 27 hrs 35 mins. See the official page.
- Wolves of the Calla: George Guidall, Simon & Schuster Audio, 2003, 26 hrs 20 mins. See the official page.
- Song of Susannah: George Guidall, Simon & Schuster Audio, 2004, 13 hrs 38 mins. See the official page.
- The Dark Tower: George Guidall, Simon & Schuster Audio, 2004, 28 hrs 49 mins. See the official page.
- The Wind Through the Keyhole: Stephen King, Simon & Schuster Audio, 2012, 10 hrs 21 mins. See the official page.
Audible also lists alternate packages of some of these performances with slightly different runtimes. The Gunslinger shows up at 7 hrs 19 mins, The Drawing of the Three at 12 hrs 45 mins, The Waste Lands at 18 hrs 14 mins, Song of Susannah at 14 hrs 9 mins and The Dark Tower at 28 hrs 50 mins. Those are different product listings of the same performances, so match the narrator, the text edition and the publisher credit before you compare runtimes between two listings.
Why does the narrator change after Wizard and Glass?
Muller was expected to record the remaining books. Stephen King's afterword to Wolves of the Calla, as reported in the Publishers Weekly review of that book, explains that Muller was disabled in a motorcycle accident in 2001 and could not keep recording. Guidall took over books 5 through 7. The change came from the accident, not from a decision to replace Muller.
Guidall has described taking on the series himself in a Publishers Weekly interview, if you want his account of how the job came to him.
Which Gunslinger recording are you buying?
Book 1 has two recordings, because there are two texts. The original text of The Gunslinger was first published in 1982 by Donald M. Grant. Frank Muller recorded it for Penguin Audiobooks in 1997, and the WorldCat library record lists that recording without a runtime. The revised and expanded text of 2003, which adds a new introduction and the essay "On Being Nineteen (And a Few Other Things)," is read by George Guidall for Penguin Audiobooks. Details of the revision are on Stephen King's site, in the Dark Tower books page, the revised Gunslinger page and the announcement of the revised edition.
In short:
- Original text: read by Frank Muller, Penguin Audiobooks, 1997, no runtime given in the library record.
- Revised text: read by George Guidall, Penguin Audiobooks, 2003, 7 hrs 20 mins on Audible US.
Stephen King's audiobook page for The Gunslinger calls the Guidall version the edited edition and says the original Muller recording is no longer in print. The current store listings for book 1 are the Guidall recording. If you are looking at a second-hand copy or a library copy, check the narrator credit and the 1997 Penguin Audiobooks date to tell the Muller original from the revised version.
Books 2 to 4 are Muller's voice
The Muller recordings of books 2, 3 and 4 remain on sale as digital audiobooks. The Audible US series page lists them as Dark Tower II, III and IV with Muller as narrator, the Audible listing for The Waste Lands carries the same credit, and Simon & Schuster lists Wizard and Glass as an unabridged audio download read by Frank Muller. Those listings credit Muller for all three books, so the middle of the series is one voice from start to finish.
Put together, the whole series is three narrators: Guidall at the start, Muller through the middle, Guidall again for the last three main books, and King on the book that sits at the end of the list.
How long is the whole series, and where does book 8 fit?
Add up the eight Audible US runtimes in the list above and the total is 145 hours. Alternate packages can move that figure by a few minutes, as the different runtimes above show.
The Wind Through the Keyhole is book 8 in the audiobook series list, and Stephen King narrates it himself, per his official audiobook page. The order on the Audible series page is the order used here.
If you are weighing the length of another Stephen King audiobook, the 11/22/63 audiobook length page covers that one hour by hour. For a different kind of King listen, there is the On Writing anniversary edition page.
Do the UK and US stores have the same narrators?
Yes. The UK and US stores sell the same principal English performances with the same narrator pattern: Guidall for the revised Gunslinger and books 5 through 7, Muller for books 2 through 4, and King for The Wind Through the Keyhole. What differs is packaging: publisher branding, ISBNs, store release dates, currency, and sometimes the runtime and product ID.
For example, the Hachette UK page lists The Gunslinger as an audiobook download with ISBN 9781444761603, a sale date of 14 June 2012 and a Penguin Audiobooks production credit. The Audible UK listing for Dark Tower I shows the same series relationship. A different date or runtime on the UK side reflects the store listing, not a different narrator or a different text.
Frequently asked questions
Who narrates the audiobooks in the Dark Tower series?
Three narrators read the series. George Guidall reads the revised The Gunslinger and books 5 through 7, Frank Muller reads books 2 through 4, and Stephen King reads book 8, The Wind Through the Keyhole. The Audible US series page lists all eight with their narrators.
Who narrates The Dark Tower books?
By book: The Gunslinger is Guidall in the current recording. The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass are Muller. Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower are Guidall. The Wind Through the Keyhole is King. Muller also recorded the original 1982 text of The Gunslinger in 1997.
Why does book one have two recordings?
Because there are two texts. Frank Muller recorded the original 1982 text for Penguin Audiobooks in 1997. George Guidall recorded the revised and expanded 2003 text, also for Penguin Audiobooks, and that is the version in current store listings. Stephen King's site says the Muller recording is no longer in print, per his Gunslinger audiobook page.
Why did the narrator change after Wizard and Glass?
Frank Muller was disabled in a motorcycle accident in 2001 and could not continue recording. Stephen King's afterword to Wolves of the Calla explains this, as reported in the Publishers Weekly review. George Guidall then narrated books 5 through 7. The change came from the accident, not from a decision to replace Muller.
Who reads The Wind Through the Keyhole?
Stephen King reads it himself. It is book 8 in the Audible series list, released by Simon & Schuster Audio in 2012, and it runs 10 hrs 21 mins on Audible US, per his official audiobook page and the Audible series listing.
Next step
The Audible US series page shows all eight books in order with the narrator on each, so it is the quickest place to confirm a listing before you buy. If you want another long Stephen King listen to size up first, start with the 11/22/63 audiobook length page.
By Cal Hewitt. Published .