Nerds That Geek Book Review - 'The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​We often find ourselves searching for stories that instantly speak to our souls. That kind of tale where from the first word to the last, your mind is set ablaze, and where the world is as real as it can get, so much in fact that you can smell the air, feel the breeze as if it is there because it truly transports you. The wonder of that story only becomes all the more magical when you realize that there is more of it to be told. That you have started the beginning of an incredible journey that will take you places you never expected to go and for me the series that consumed so many years of my youth and transported my imagination to places unknown was the first book in The Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger. 

There is a world where better times have gone by. It is hard in this world, the air is dry, the ground is not fertile but people are getting by. In this world there is a man, the last of the gunslingers, Roland Deschain. He is the last survivor of Gilead, a grand kingdom that fell to evil and he is also the last in the line of Eld and he is on a quest. He is headed for the mysterious Dark Tower, a place that serves as a nexus for all of time and space. But before he can reach it, he must face off with his nemesis, the Man in Black, and the hunt for this villainous man, will change Roland’s life forever…

The opening line of this book, ‘The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.’ speaks to how quickly this book pulls you in, for so many reasons. For starters, I grew up reading plenty of Stephen King. Between the monsters he made jump off of the page, or the psychopaths that made you check under the bed, this was the first story I had ever read from him that to me, truly showcased his talents as a writer.  

For The Gunslinger paints an incredible world that completely immersed me. Roland in and of himself was the first character to accomplish this because at this point in time, we don't understand his quest one hundred percent. We know the Tower is his ultimate destination, and the conviction and drive he has to get there immediately left me wanting more. Because that kind of dedication is rare and to see a man hold himself to something that powerful means the Tower must be special indeed.  

Yet it is the world itself that King creates that is equally as fascinating. This world that resembles our own but seems so foreign at the same time is quite frankly, beautiful and haunting all at once. It's clear bad things have happened here, yet the people manage to get by. They survive, they live and there's something noble in that. But what matters most in this book is the Man in Black himself. In the later revised versions of this book we meet a man that in many ways ties so much together and his brief appearance sets the stage for the incredible opus we are about to enjoy. 

For The Dark Tower is King's finest work, and the story that truly connects anything and everything he has ever done and The Gunslinger is the bare beginning of one of the greatest journeys in literature I have ever taken.

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