The Gunslinger (novella)
Encyclopedia
"The Gunslinger" is a novella by Stephen King
, originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1978
. In 1982
, "The Gunslinger" was collected with four other stories King published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. "The Gunslinger" formed the first chapter of the book, and was slightly revised for the inclusion.
fled across the desert, and the gunslinger
followed." The gunslinger comes across a hut in the desert owned by a man named Brown and his pet raven, Zoltan. The gunslinger stays the night and on Brown's urging tells him the story of what happened to him the last time he came across people.
The previous time the gunslinger, Roland, encountered people was at Tull, the last town before the desert began. In Tull, the man in black had brought a local drunk back to life after he died from eating devil-grass. Roland stayed with a barmaid named Allie, and investigated the town's female preacher, Sylvia, who stirred the town against him. After several days in the town, Sylvia drew the inhabitants into a frenzy and they swarmed the gunslinger en masse, including Allie, who had been driven insane. The gunslinger killed all 58 residents of Tull, and then headed out into the desert.
After telling Brown his story, the gunslinger fills his water skins and heads back into the desert, after his quarry.
Among other minor additions and deletions made by King for the 2003 revised version of the novella, the word "parsecs" in the opening paragraph was changed to "eternity", and the story of Tull is expanded by King to include an additional exchange between Allie and Walter.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1978
1978 in literature
The year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...
. In 1982
1982 in literature
The year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...
, "The Gunslinger" was collected with four other stories King published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. "The Gunslinger" formed the first chapter of the book, and was slightly revised for the inclusion.
Plot
The story begins with the sentence, "The man in blackRandall Flagg
Randall Flagg is a fictional character created by Stephen King. Flagg has appeared in seven novels by King, sometimes as the main antagonist and others in a brief cameo. He often appears under different names; most are abbreviated by the initials R.F. There are exceptions to this rule; in The Dark...
fled across the desert, and the gunslinger
Roland Deschain
Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society...
followed." The gunslinger comes across a hut in the desert owned by a man named Brown and his pet raven, Zoltan. The gunslinger stays the night and on Brown's urging tells him the story of what happened to him the last time he came across people.
The previous time the gunslinger, Roland, encountered people was at Tull, the last town before the desert began. In Tull, the man in black had brought a local drunk back to life after he died from eating devil-grass. Roland stayed with a barmaid named Allie, and investigated the town's female preacher, Sylvia, who stirred the town against him. After several days in the town, Sylvia drew the inhabitants into a frenzy and they swarmed the gunslinger en masse, including Allie, who had been driven insane. The gunslinger killed all 58 residents of Tull, and then headed out into the desert.
After telling Brown his story, the gunslinger fills his water skins and heads back into the desert, after his quarry.
Among other minor additions and deletions made by King for the 2003 revised version of the novella, the word "parsecs" in the opening paragraph was changed to "eternity", and the story of Tull is expanded by King to include an additional exchange between Allie and Walter.
See also
- Short fiction by Stephen KingShort fiction by Stephen KingThis is a list of short fiction by Stephen King. This includes short stories, novelettes, and novellas, as well as poems. It is arranged chronologically by first publication...