The
Gunslinger which tells of Roland Deschain’s quest for the Dark Tower was first published in 1982. Subsequent books in
the series includes The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah and the Dark Tower. A collection of graphic novels published together with Marvel has also been released, expanding on the events in the books and on Roland’s past.
At the start of the book, Roland is finally catching up to the Man in Black after countless years of pursuit. As he crosses a desert, Roland dreams of the town of Tull where Roland had ruthlessly massacred the inhabitants when they sought to end his quest. Later, Roland arrives at an abandoned way-station in the desert. There he meets John “Jake” Chambers, a boy who had died in our world and ended up in Roland’s. Roland brings Jake along when he leaves. And when given a choice between ending his quest and saving Jake, whom Roland has grown to love, Roland unhesitatingly sacrifices Jake. After an endless night of parley with Walter, the Man in Black, Roland awakens 10 years older with Walter dead. Though Roland remembers little of his conversation with Walter on the Dark Tower, he knows that he must now draw the three, and form his ka-tet for the next step in his quest.