Dark Tower, The Vol 1: Gunslinger, The

In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.In his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark Tower, Roland encounters an alluring woman named Alice, begins a friendship with Jake, a kid from New York, and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black. Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, THE GUNSLINGER leaves readers eagerly awaiting the next chapter.And the Tower is closer... Review: 'King's magnificent uberstory is finally complete... King's achievement is startling; his characters fresh... his plot sharply drawn... It is magic.' -- Daily Express on THE DARK TOWER 'Join the quest before it's too late' -- Independent on Sunday on THE SONG OF SUSANNAH Author Biography: 'At the age of 19 Stephen decided he would like to write an epic similar to The Lord of the Rings. The 'spaghetti Westerns' of that time [specifically The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] and a poem written by Robert Browning, 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came', became the inspiration for his magnum opus. The series written and published separately over a period of 22 years consists of seven books and the short story, 'The Little Sisters of Eluria' published in his short story collection, EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL.' From the author's website.