2015 Reading Challenge Book 052 The Gunslinger original edition

TITLE-The Dark Tower Volume 1 The Gunslinger
AUTHOR-Stephen King
FORMAT-Trade Paperback with color inserts
FIRST TIME READING-LOL nah
COST-$9

There is a handful of books I love so much I read them once a year. The Gunslinger is one of them.And one of the few books I own in more than one format. Of the original edition I got the above pictured trade paperback,the normal sized paperback that is missing the art inserts and finally the limited hardcover.And if a new version of this edition came out with new cover art that I liked I would buy it.

So what is the book about. Our hero,if you can call him that,is Roland. The last of the gunslingers. In this world the gunslingers are their version of the military and cops combined. He is on a mission to track down and capture the man in black. No not Johnny Cash.

In this book,the first of 9 books in the series yeah I said 9,we get introduced to Roland and his world. Which appears to be very similar to our world. With stuff that we share. But also very different. Roland comes to the town of Tull. Which appears to be an old western town. We find out that a big war happened that changed this world. And that Roland is the last of a long line of gunslingers.

Also in this book Roland saves a boy from our world. Jake,who it seems came to this world after being killed in ours.While chasing the Man in Black. Who has taken a tunnel through a mountain,Roland has to make a what seems to be hard decision. And his choice lets us know so much about how dedicated Roland is to his final mission.

For the people that haven't read this book,honestly it is a hard read. Firstly it is nothing like any of the other books in Mr King's history. It reads like you are in chapter 10 of a 50 part series.And lots of stuff is left up to the reader to figure out. That is why when ever someone tells me they are going to read the Dark Tower series,I always tell them. "Do not give up on it until you finish book 2." Hell I see lots of people saying to skip the first book. But you shouldn't do that. All the stuff in this book that makes no sense is explained later on.

As for why this is one of my favorite books? There are many reasons. There is the way King blends so many genres into the age old quest storyline. This volume of the series is a blend of western,science fiction,fantasy,horror and psychological suspense genres.

Now you might have noticed I call this the original edition. That is because back before the 7th and final volume in the series was published,King went and revised The Gunslinger. At the time he said it was to make the book fit better with the later books in the series and to correct a few nagging mistakes.And it does do that. But I also have a theory on why we now have two versions of this book. Which I can't talk about because they majorly spoil later volumes in the series and the end of the series. I think to highly of this series to spoil it for anyone that hasn't read it. But if you want to hear my theory on why we have two versions of The Gunslinger track me down and I will be happy to tell you.

The Dark Tower volume 1 The Gunslinger original edition gets a 4.98 outta 5.