The main story takes place in a world somewhat similar to the Old West but in an alternate timeframe or parallel universe. The book tells the story of The Gunslinger, Roland of Gilead, and his quest to catch the man in black, the first of many steps toward Roland's ultimate destination, The Dark Tower. Ferman, long-time editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In 2003, the novel was reissued in a revised and expanded version with modified language and added and changed scenes intended to resolve inconsistencies with the later books in the series. Since then, the book has been re-issued in various formats and included in boxed sets with other volumes of the series. In 1988, Plume released it in trade paperback form. This led to another run of ten-thousand copies. The following year, because the Pet Sematary cover noted The Gunslinger among King's previous works, many fans called the offices of King, Grant, and Doubleday wanting more information on the already-out-of-print book. The finished product was first published by Donald M. It took King twelve-and-a-half years to finish the novel. ' The Gunslinger and the Dark Man' (November 1981).' The Oracle and the Mountains' (February 1981).The five stories that constitute the novel were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: King explains that he 'played with the idea of trying a long romantic novel embodying the feel, if not the exact sense, of the Browning poem.' King started writing this novel in 1970 on a ream of bright green paper that he found at the library. The novel was inspired by Robert Browning's poem ' Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came' (1855), which King read as a sophomore at the University of Maine. Roland meets several people along his journey, including a boy named Jake, who travels with him part of the way.

The novel fuses Western fiction with fantasy, science fiction, and horror, following Roland's trek through a vast desert and beyond in search of the man in black. The story centers Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who has been chasing his adversary, 'the man in black,' for many years. King substantially revised the novel in 2003 this version has remained in print ever since, with the subtitle RESUMPTION. The Gunslinger was first published in 1982 as a fix-up novel, joining five short stories that had been published between 19. It is the first volume in the Dark Tower series. The Gunslinger is a dark-fantasy novel by American author Stephen King.

The gunslinger book