The Gunslinger

by Stephen King

Paperback, 224 pages

English language

Published Sept. 14, 1988 by New American Library.

ISBN:: 978-0-452-26134-1
OCLC Number:: 781900910

(31 reviews)

Since the publication of THE GUNSLINGER in an exclusive limited edition, this extraordinary novel has gained near-legendary renown. Now finally, this Plume edition, complete with the Michael Whelan illustrations, brings the work to the author's millions of fans.

This heroic fantasy is set in a world of ominous landscape and macabre menace that is a dark mirror of our own. A spellbinding tale of good versus evil, it features one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations—The Gunslinger, a haunting figure who embodies the qualities of the lone hero through the ages, from ancient myth to frontier western legend. His pursuit of The Man in Black, his liaison with the sexually ravenous Alice, his friendship with the kid from Earth called Jake, are part of a drama that is both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, an alchemy of storytelling sorcery.

Complete in itself, THE GUNSLINGER is the first novel in an …

Complete in itself, THE GUNSLINGER is the first novel in an epic series, THE DARK TOWER, that promises to be Stephen King's crowning achievement. (back cover)

63 editions

Anthony Burgess reviewed The Dark Tower by Stephen King

I don't get why people like this

2 stars

People say this is a good book and series but I can't agree to that. It's just chaotic and doesn't make any sense, the writing seems overly dramatic and "flowery", meaning he describes things so weird, with weird details and weird metaphors. I couldn't even read it to the end and stopped at like 80 or 90%. I have no interest in reading the other novels in the series, it's just not my type of writing I guess. I never liked any Stephen King books until this one and I read a bunch now. It's not getting any better, maybe I should just give up on trying to like his writing.

PaperbackReader reviewed The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Review of 'The Gunslinger' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book, and the series it starts, have been a part of the public consciousness for a while now. I've never read any of them before, though, so with this being my first time through, I'm aware of how highly it's regarded by some whose opinions matter to me. All of which has led to a certain degree of expectation...and I'm not sure if this book met it.

To be clear: There's a strong sense from this book that there's SO MUCH MORE to come, and you don't (or I didn't) come away feeling ambivalent about the journey. I'm excited, I'm in. I'm just...nervous, maybe? No, more likely cautious.