Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.
Now available for the first time as an Encore CD!
A #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger introduces audiences to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.
Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).Thirty-three years, a horrific and life-altering accident, and thousands of desperately rabid fans in the making, Stephen King’s quest to complete his magnum opus rivals the quest of Roland and his band of gunslingers who inhabit the Dark Tower series. Loyal DT fans and new readers alike will appreciate this revised edition of The Gunslinger, which breathes new life into Roland of Gilead, and offers readers a “clearer start and slightly easier entry into Roland’s world.”
King writes both a new introduction and foreword to this revised edition, and the ever-patient, ever-loyal “constant reader” is rewarded with secrets to the series’s inception. That a “magic” ream of green paper and a Robert Browning poem, came together to reveal to King his “ka” is no real surprise (this is King after all), but who would have thought that the squinty-eyed trio of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach would set the author on his true path to the Tower? While King credits Tolkien for inspiring the “quest and magic” that pervades the series, it was Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that helped create the epic proportions and “almost absurdly majestic western backdrop” of Roland’s world.
To King, The Gunslinger demanded revision because once the series was complete it became obvious that “the beginning was out of sync with the ending.” While the revision adds only 35 pages, Dark Tower purists will notice the changes to Allie’s fate and Roland’s interaction with Cort, Jake, and the Man in Black–all stellar scenes that will reignite the hunger for the rest of the series. Newcomers will appreciate the details and insight into Roland’s life. The revised Roland of Gilead (nee Deschain) is embodied with more humanity–he loves, he pities, he regrets. What DT fans might miss is the same ambiguity and mystery of the original that gave the original its pulpy underground feel (back when King himself awaited word from Roland’s world). –Daphne Durham
True Imagination It’s quite a big deal when one of the most renowned authors of our time is influenced by the greatest artisan of fantasy writing. Stephen King was enamored by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series of books and thus they became the inspiration that motivated him into creating what he considers his magnum opus: The Dark Tower series. King wanted to write a fantasy journey that he felt was just as epic and large in scope as the Fellowship’s quest to destroy the Ring of Power atop Mount Doom. Though…
Loved it, 4th or 5th reading, not sure Anyone who loves westerns, the hardness of many Clint Eastwood characters​, and the world of magic, will dive willingly into this adventure over and over.
The gunslinger An interesting start to a great series. I picked this up in anticipation of the movie that will be released in August. I have been a huge fan of Stephen King for many years but have always steered clear from the Dark Tower series. I had heard it was a mix between the western genre and some sci fi/fantasy. Two genres I tend to avoid. But since I know I can usually count on Kings’ books to satisfy, I finally ‘bit the bullet’ and picked up book one. While I know it’s been revised since originally…