Book Reviews | The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

An Epic Tale To Save a Dying World

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King — Book Details (image designed by the author using Canva)

A desolate world — barren landscapes, and ruined people. Roland Deschain is the last gunslinger. The only survivor from a once thriving and ancient society. He’s on a quest, and nothing will stop him.

Now that everything else is gone, he wants to reach the Dark Tower. But before getting there, he must cross the desert and catch the man in black.

The Gunslinger is the first book in King’s epic series The Dark Tower. The shortest book in the series, it introduces the protagonist Roland of Gilead and his pursuit of the Dark Tower.

This first instalment is the weakest book in the series. It starts quite slowly and doesn’t deliver as much as the other books in this series do. But don’t be dismayed, it’s still a great read.

King’s prose is masterful, though. It’s pretty satisfying to enter this new world, disquietingly similar to our own. We don’t know much about Roland’s world, why it seems destroyed, or what happened. And The Gunslinger won’t give us answers about that. The answers will come later.

There aren’t too many characters in The Gunslinger, but in true King style, they’re very well-written. It’s impossible not to feel something for Allie or Jake. King has a way of creating…