The Gunslinger opens up Stephen King’s fantasy epic The Dark Tower, a series in seven parts of which the first four are the most unswerving. Since the entire series is now complete, my plan is to read all of them in more or less rapid succession. This is something you don’t normally do with fantasy novels, since there is usually a few months (or even years in some cases) between the parts.
Stephen King is an old favorite of mine, and being a fantasy geek I particularly enjoyed The Eyes of the Dragon. The series on the Dark Tower has long been on my horizon, mostly because I heard so much good about them, but I’ve also had a trove of other books to plow through. In other words, it was about time I took on King’s fantasy epic.
The book is set in a post-apocalyptic future. Our achievements and technology are almost completely gone barring a few relics here and there. The most advanced piece of technology is the revolver. The world has moved on and left the land barren save for various mutated creatures. It is a dark but magical world that suits the characters well. We are introduced to The Gunslinger in the middle of the desert, and he is searching for the man in black. What follows is mainly about this hunt and the events that push the Gunslinger and his companion forward.
King himself has allegedly claimed that the series is inspired mainly by Tolkien’s books, but there is a very minute amount of classic Tolkienesque fantasy to be found in The Gunslinger. Surprisingly there’s not much of the horror genre either. It is more of an allegorical novel in a style unique even for the multi-faceted King.
Still I’m undecided about The Gunslinger – the story in this first part is somewhat weak. Although narration is first rate the story so far fails to captivate. On the other hand, both its characters and the interesting post-apocalyptic setting are aspects that make me want to keep reading.
Tags: Stephen King, The Dark Tower