Roland Deschain is the last gunslinger in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world. Roland’s relentless pursuit of the enigmatic “Man in Black” leads him through a desolate landscape filled with dangers and echoes of his past. As he travels, he faces various challenges and encounters various characters, some of whom he has to battle and kill. While crossig a desert, he almost dies of thirst, but is rescued by Jake, a young boy born in our world, but thrust into this world just as he was about to die.
They continue the journey together, encountering creatures such as a succubus, and subterranean creatures called “slow mutants”. They travel through a tunnel in a railway handcar, over a collapsing bridge. Roland is forced to choose to either save Jake, or continue his quest, and chooses to let Jake die.
When he finally catches up with the Man in Black, he identifies him as someone from his own past; the man tells Roland his fate from Tarot cards, and dies. Fast paced and intense, and set in a bleak unforgiving world, the book is an enjoyable and short read.