Dec 10, 2003 03:06 PM
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(Updated Dec 10, 2003 03:08 PM)
''The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed''. So begins the first line of the first part of one of the greatest fantasy series ever. The Gunslinger is more like a typical western classic with all the elements needed to make it an instant classic.
Stephen King begins his self declared and yet unfinished masterpiece, The Dark Tower series with The Gunslinger. In the introduction to this book, he mentions his desire to follow the footsteps of JRR tolkien and create a new world which no one has ever seen before. And in the process he has created one of the extremely rare fantasy series that has been able to rival Tolkien's Arda series (ie, Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales).
In this book, the first volume of The Dark Tower, we find Roland Deschain of Gilead in his search for the Man in Black and ultimately his main quest, to reach the Dark Tower. In his quest, he is forced to kill many people and he never hesitates for he believes it to be his destiny. He is united with Jake Chambers of New York City as well who's inclusion bears a major part in the following parts. The story ends with him finding the Man in Black (who isn't actually human enough to be called a man) who reveals to him much about his quest. However, not even few of the questions the reader might have in his mind are answered by the end of the book. Yet this helps preserve the mystery which leads on to the next three books by which time most of these questions are answered.
Robert Browning's poem Childe Roland To The dark Tower Came formed the basis of this series in which Roland of Gilead, the last of the Gunslingers is forced to undertake a journey with great perils to reach the Dark Tower, the nexus of all worlds which controls every happening in all the worlds.
Stephen King begins his self declared masterpiece by throwing on us a character of whom we get to know very little for a long time. And yet we begin to understand a lot about him. He lives in a separate world from ours. Many things are different in Roland's world but some are same as well. Glimpses of his childhood are also thrown which reveal many interesting things. The fact that he belongs to a noble house before something terrible happened in his land which forced him to seek out the Dark Tower is easily understandable. And though the series as a whole is quite magnificent, it would be fair to say that this book may not be the best of the series.
The Gunslinger is a bit confusing to follow at times. One of the features about this book is that we really have very little detail about this new world until almost the very end. And even then we don't know much until the next 2 parts.
When I read this book, I found it a bit weird to begin with but as it went on I found myself liking it more and more with every page. And after completing all the parts of the series available in India I have come to like it even more. It is typical of a book which grows on you. And if you didn't like this book, I would suggest you to also read the next two parts by which time you'll get more used to the unusual language of the gunslinger and have cleared most of your doubts. This is quite unlike most Stephen King horror stories you may have read earlier, but it must not be missed by anyone and especially those who love fantasy stories.
