The Gunslinger, Stephen King

The Gunslinger is the first book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. It’s a bit of a departure from his usual genre of mundane and alien horror, but carries his signature writing style. It spans entire worlds, from a post-apocalyptic Wild West to different times on our own planet. Roland, the last of the gunslingers, is pursuing a sorcerer across a seemingly endless desert. Along the way, he meets Jake, a boy plucked from Earth by the sorcerer, as well as several others he meets through dimensional doors on a beach. His main quest is to find the Dark Tower, the multi-plane object that used to hold the universe together. Now it’s decaying, and Roland is trying to save it before the worlds collapse.

At its heart, The Gunslinger is more of a fantasy novel than a horror novel, although it does have some nightmarish elements. It’s the promising beginning of a series about nine books long. Personally, I found it interesting how King describes the gunslinger as less of a cowboy and more of a martial artist. He’s trained with his giant revolvers since his childhood and has shooting down to an art. In terms of the rest of the character, I liked the Eddie character a lot, but the split-personality Susannah character just seemed a little off to me. Still, I would definitely recommend The Gunslinger. 

Reviewed by Adrian G., grade 12
Grandview Library