“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed” (11). With these iconic words, Stephen King begins his magisterial dark fantasy epic, The Dark Tower.

After hearing that King was working on a final volume for his Talisman and Black House books, which overlap the world of The Dark Tower, I decided to listen through the series for a second time. This time there would be no waiting for books to be published. I’d listen through all seven books as a whole. I’m currently finishing book three and can tell you that this story stands up well to repeated readings (or hearings).

This first volume was originally penned in 1982. The 2003 edition that I listened to this time is a revised version, changed to make this early work more consistent with the rest of the sprawling series.

The world King created is a ridiculous mash-up that somehow works. Roland of Gilead is a gunslinger. Think part cowboy and part knight of the round table. And then there’s the zombie-like mutants. Oh yeah, and for some reason they know the song, “Hey Jude” in Midworld. Did I mention it’s also post-apocalyptic. Buckle up.

The Dark Tower is the narrative that connects the Stephen King universe. By the end of the first and shortest volume of the series, you’ll know whether or not it’s for you.

King, Stephen. The Gunslinger. Narrated by George Guidall. Audiobook ed., unabridged, Penguin Audiobooks, 2003. The Dark Tower 1.