The Dark Tower is a series of eight novels written by American author Stephen King, which incorporate multiple genres including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. Below are The Dark Tower characters that come into play as the series progresses.
Roland Deschain, son of Steven Deschain, was born in the Barony of Gilead, in In-World. Roland is the last surviving gunslinger, a man whose goal is finding and climbing to the top of the Dark Tower, purported to be the very center of existence, so that he may right the wrongs in his land. This quest is his obsession, monomania and geas to Roland: In the beginning the success of the quest is more important than the lives of his family and friends. He is a man who lacks imagination, and this is one of the stated reasons for his survival against all odds: he can not imagine anything other than surviving to find the Tower.
Edward Cantor "Eddie" Dean first appears in The Drawing of the Three, in which Roland encounters three doors that open into the New York City of our world in different times. Through these doors, Roland draws companions who will join him on his quest, as the Man In Black foretold. The first to be drawn is Eddie Dean, a drug addict and a first-time cocaine mule. Eddie lives with his older brother and fellow junkie Henry, whom Eddie reveres despite the corrupting influence Henry has had upon his life. Roland helps Eddie fight off a gang of mobsters for whom he was transporting the cocaine, but not before Eddie discovers that Henry has died from an overdose of heroin in the company of the aforementioned mobsters (after which the mobsters decide to chop off Henry's head). It is because of Eddie's heroin addiction that he is termed 'The Prisoner', and that is what is written upon the door from which Roland draws him.
Gan (Dhivehi: (ގަން) is one of the inhabited islands of Haddhunmathi Atoll, administrative code Laamu and the proposed capital for the Mathi-Dhekunu Province of the Maldives. Gan is the longest island of the Maldives. It is divided in wards, the northernmost of which is called Thundi in middle Mathimadhu and at the end Mukurimagu. Gan is connected with Maandhoo, the uninhabited island at its south. Maandhoo is linked with the regional domestic airport at Kadhdhoo by a short causeway. Kadhdhoo adjoins at its south with Fonadhoo, the capital of the atoll. The causeway which links between Kadhdhoo and Fonadhoo has almost one kilometer. The four islands Gan, Maandhoo, Kadhdhoo and Fonadhoo where it is linked with causeways stretches up to about 18 kilometers in length making up the longest lengthen of dry land in the Maldives.
This island should not be confused with other Maldive islands called 'Gan' in Addu Atoll and Huvadhu Atoll.
Gan is the most developed island in the Laamu Atoll. After the 2004 Tsunami the French Red Cross and other foreign governments built new buildings, including a new School, a Multi-Purpose building, a new Hospital, Bank, Primary and Secondary School, Water Plant, Police Station and Power Houses. Tourism has started growing and is going ahead successfully.
Gans is a Dutch and German noun meaning "goose".
It is also a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Arabic phrase ʿalayhi as-salām (عليه السلام), which translates as "peace be upon him" is a conventionally complimentary phrase or durood attached to the names of the prophets in Islam. The English phrase is also given the abbreviation pbuh in writing. An extended variant of the phrase reads salla llāhu ʿalayhi wa-alehe wa-sallam (Arabic: صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) [lit.] "prayer of God be upon him and his family and peace", and it is often abbreviated SAWS in writing in an English-language context. The Arabic phrase is given the name ṣalawāt. The phrase is encoded as a ligature at Unicode codepoint U+FDFA ﷺ ARABIC LIGATURE SALLALLAHOU ALAYHE WASALLAM
Some Islamic scholars have voiced disagreement with the practice of abbreviating these phrases, arguing that it demonstrates laziness and a lack of respect.
Saw is a 2004 American psychological thriller horror film directed by James Wan. It is Wan's feature film directorial debut. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell as two men who awake to find themselves chained in a large dilapidated bathroom, with one being ordered to kill the other or his family will die. It is the first installment of the seven-part Saw franchise.
The debut of Wan and Whannell, the screenplay was written in 2001, but after failed attempts to get the script produced in Wan and Whannell's home country of Australia, they were urged to travel to Los Angeles. In order to help attract producers they shot a low-budget short film of the same name from a scene out of the script. This proved successful in 2003 as producers from Evolution Entertainment were immediately attached and also formed a horror genre production label Twisted Pictures. The film was given a small budget and shot for 18 days.
Saw II is a 2005 American horror film, a sequel to 2004's Saw and the second installment in the seven-part Saw franchise, directed and co-written by Darren Lynn Bousman. Co-written with series creator Leigh Whannell, it stars Donnie Wahlberg, Franky G, Dina Meyer, Erik Knudsen with Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell.
The film features Jigsaw being apprehended by the police, but trapping the arresting officer in one of his own games while showing another game of eight people — including the officer's son — in progress on TV monitors at another location. It also explores some of John Kramer's backstory, providing a partial explanation of his reason for becoming Jigsaw.
After the financial success of Saw, a sequel was immediately green-lit. Leigh Whannell and James Wan were busy preparing for their next film and were unable to write or direct. Bousman wrote a script called "The Desperate" before Saw was released and was looking for a producer but many studios rejected it. Hoffman received the script and showed it to his partners Mark Burg and Oren Koules. It was decided that, with some changes, it could be made into Saw II. Whannell became available to provide rewrites of the script. The film was given a larger budget and was shot from May to June 2005 in Toronto.
Spirit is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Leona Lewis, released by Syco Music in November 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, followed by a worldwide release during early 2008. After winning the third series of reality singing contest The X Factor in December 2006, Lewis began recording the album in Sweden, the United Kingdom and United States, working with a variety of writers and producers. Critics praised the album for creating a contemporary album using such a variety of producers, and for showcasing Lewis's voice, though criticised her "lack of personality". The release of the album marked Lewis as the first winner of a major television talent show in both the UK and US to be given a major global launch with a debut album.
The album debuted at number one in nine countries, including the United Kingdom, United States and Germany, and peaked in the top five in a further eight countries. It held the record for the biggest digital album sales in a week ever for a new artist. The album was the sixth biggest selling of 2008 in the world, as according to the IFPI. It has gone on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide, and was the fourth best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK, where it has since sold over 3.12 million copies and remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist.