Thirty-three years, a horrific and life-altering accident, and thousands of desperately rabid fans in the making, Stephen King's quest to complete his magnum opus rivals the quest of Roland and his band of gunslingers who inhabit the Dark Tower series. Loyal DT fans and new readers alike will appreciate this revised edition of The Gunslinger, which breathes new life into Roland of Gilead, and offers readers a "clearer start and slightly easier entry into Roland's world."

King writes both a new introduction and foreword to this revised edition, and the ever-patient, ever-loyal "constant reader" is rewarded with secrets to the series's inception. That a "magic" ream of green paper and a Robert Browning poem, came together to reveal to King his "ka" is no real surprise (this is King after all), but who would have thought that the squinty-eyed trio of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach would set the author on his true path to the Tower? While King credits Tolkien for inspiring the "quest and magic" that pervades the series, it was Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that helped create the epic proportions and "almost absurdly majestic western backdrop" of Roland's world.

Hummm..

I must admit I was a little skeptical at first. After finishing the book, I think it is wonderful and very intricate. Its pretty much a Sci-Fi Western....but its sooo good!

Great Storytelling...

...Poor story. Stephen King is one of the better story tellers of our time. His plots, however, are often times lacking. He can take you to the end of a book without a clear story line, entertaining you all the way, but then drops you off wondering where you are and what just happened.

I would recommend getting through this book (and it does have its moments) so that you can get into the middle of the series, where most of the meat of The Dark Tower is. If you have a lot of time to devote and don't mind reading 300+ pages (especially later on) with absolutely no advancement in plot but enjoyable story telling, then go for it. Otherwise you may want to stick with something more solid or less lengthy.

King is the king!

this book's language is so completely different from King's other books, that i wasn't even sure whether he really wrote this. his prose here is very threadbare (as opposed to his other books, where he tends to fill every space on the page). the books is quite short compared to other King books, but is immensely readable. it's a bit cryptic at first, but it gains on you slowly.