The Gunslinger
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: July 10, 2017 7:06 PM | Last Updated: July 19, 2017
Stephen King
The first book in Stephen King's bestselling Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger introduces readers 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.(From Scribner)
The Dark Tower, a film adaptation of the series, stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey.
From the book
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.
From The Gunslinger by Stephen King ©2016. Published by Scribner.