4.0
The Dark Tower I
ByPublisher Description
“An impressive work of mythic magnitude that may turn out to be Stephen King’s greatest literary achievement” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), The Gunslinger is the first volume in the epic Dark Tower Series.
A #1 national bestseller, 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.
Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).
A #1 national bestseller, 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.
Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Dark Tower I Reviews
4.0
““The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
Stephen King was merely 19 years old when he produced one of the most legendary opening lines in all of fiction, a sentence which gave way to a series that would become his magnum opus, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. In this entrance novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, we follow Roland Deschain of Gilead, a lone wolf in hungry pursuit of a character we only know as “the man in black”. This laborious and treacherous journey takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting known as Mid-World, a decayed landscape inhabited by humans, mutants, monsters and machines.
As somebody who has not properly delved into King’s work prior to this, I was taken back by the level of quality he injected into his interactions, world-building and general descriptions in this book. There were multiple conversations and quotes which I loved and remember as if I had recited them. For example, the rhyme “𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬-𝘢-𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦? 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦? 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦” was a wonderful recurring Roland-ism. Also the sentence “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵!” was a retort to a line of questioning which made me smile. There are more examples to include but in summary, it was all mixed together in a way that helped to elevate the immersion and give plenty of personality to the novel.
The book was, as the story would suggest, a bit of a trek to get through, but I didn’t mind this at all. I appreciated the moments spent with the protagonist when he would settle down to eat and sleep under the stars or stop to reflect upon his journey. It brought a sense of realism and individuality to an otherwise cold and often brutal character.
The action was great, the prose was great and the setting and its characters contained enough mystery to give me enough questions to ask. It achieves a lot of what I look for in the opening book of a series and this was a definitively solid entry.”
“Doesn’t look like Fable has the actual last book of this series (titled The Dark Tower, which is confusing since that’s the series name as well).
What a series. Started so rough with the first 2 1/2 books but really pivoted to something enjoyable, and now can look back at the early ones with fondness. Extremely evident King had no idea what he was doing early on and had to cram things in at the end. Really wish he would’ve leaned more heavily into the Stephen King multiverse earlier on. I bet a lot of people do not like the ending but I think it makes sense, don’t know how else he could’ve ended it to make it super satisfying.
Overall turned out to be a solid series. Though might only recommend it to strong King enjoyers”
About Stephen King
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch, the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
Other books by Stephen King
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
