This is arguably M r. King's one shot at literary greatness, and if the other five or six volumes arfe anything like this one, that bid for fame will fail. King already has his immortal stories, though in THE STAND and THE SHINING. Foget screwups such as Jake talking about his mother and then using "he" to describe her actior. Where writers such as C. S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and Barre create whole other universes, King has chosen to keep us nailed to the cross with the planet Earthj. Better King should leave earth alone. What's wrong with N arnia, the Rabbit Hole, or Never Never La nd? Nothing! I think Steve either doesn't know why he's been so p-opular or he has forgotten it, It is the CHILD inside that King brings us to, the Dudits, the Danny Torrence, and big loveable chidren like "M-O-O-N. That spells Moon and that's my name." Jess is this first book is not a child, at least he doesn't act like one. He knows his death will come if he is with the Gunslinger, yet he goes blithely onwarfds. Sure, he is scared now and then, but this child knowing the above would simply disappear. ( )

I'm not normally a Stephen King fan, but evidently I enjoy his horror style more when it's set in a world not our own. Since this is the first in a 7 book series, it is largely an introduction to the character, but by the end of the book I was totally sucked into the world. There are plenty of King-like scares in the meantime to keep your interest piqued. This is definitely a gritty, wild-west type book, which happens to be a style I enjoy.

For my extended review, check out my blog: http://wp.me/pp7vL-40 ( )

The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed...

'The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger' is the first volume in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, the story follows the Gunslinger's pursuit of the Man in Black across the desert.

Although the story is not actually one-hundred per cent clear about what it is telling, I thoroughly enjoyed it for some mysterious reason, it had just a certain aspect about it that I couldn't quite grasp. The book felt as though I was sleeping and watching a dream, it was that smooth a read. Yeah, okay fair enough nothing actually did happen in the Gunslinger but King's writing seemed to keep me drawn in, the actual title itself (Dark Tower) didn't appear to be related to a Gunslinger apart from Roland's mentioning of the tower drawing closer every now and then...

In this book, we see the appearance of Randall Flagg as the Man in Black, a sorcerer who has appeared in several other King novel's (Eyes of the Dragon, etc). This is what i love about Stephen King, he manages to connect his fantasy world to all of his other novels that are set on the Earth's plane.

The Gunslinger was the first King novel I had ever read, I plan to read the other six volumes of Dark Tower very soon, I will review them too. ( )

One of King's best. I love the ending of this book, it's is absolutely amazing. ( )

I finished it, but did not like it. There is no real story, just a stream of conscience and the endless quest theme that I have never liked. It was barely good enough to finish, but not good enough to draw me into the rest of the series. ( )

The first in the Gunslinger series. While the Gunslinger is named Roland, after the paladin companion of Charlemagne, the gunslinger in this book is an amoral killer, a refugee from a lost island of civilization on a dying world. Its possible that the world is actually some kind of purgatory, and the Gunslinger is trying to rescue himself, and others, its hard to tell. As is usual for King this is at times weird and perverted, though that does not completely detract from the story. As King himself says, this is only the beginning of a much longer story, so don't expect any endings. ( )

What is the big hoo-hah over this book? Sure, it's Stephen King but, really, isn't something supposed to happen during the course of a novel?

The entire book has little vignettes of history, snippets that are supposed to lead the reader into having some clue what's going on. But nothing actually goes on.

Guy wanders across the countryside, meets a boy, tells tidbits of his history, a few gory gross scenes to make it fit in the horror genre and that's about it. ( )

Read: Sept 15-25, 2009

Synopsis: The first book in King's self-described epic The Dark Tower series begins with the titular character Roland chasing the mysterious stranger known as The Man in Black across the barren desert of his dying land. Throughout the pursuit, Roland in various stages of consciousness recalls periods of his life. He meets and forms a relationship with Allie in the town of Tull, a memory that causes the gunslinger great pain. Another traveling companion Roland meets is Jake, a boy from a world like ours, that is sent to Roland's land by The Man in Black. Throughout the book, Roland's mission is to get The Man in Black and to make it to the Dark Tower. He finally gets the chance to speak to his foe at the end of the book.

Pros and Cons: I really do not know how to describe this book. As I mentioned before, it is not like any of King's horror books. However, this tale is not lacking. It is full of adventure, fantasy, and there is an "epic" feeling to it. There are qualities of our world (the outlaws of the old west, the song "Hey Jude," remnants of trains), but there is also fantasy aspects (magic, space/time travel, "Slow Muties") that get tied together in an interesting fit. In the introduction, King says he spent over 30 years on this series, only finishing it after his near-death accident. I became interested in this series because I am a huge fan of the tv show LOST and this book is referenced in the show's theme. I can see parallels in the show that are similar to The Gunslinger. Overall, I am excited to continue on with the series.
Recommended for those who are fans of LOTR, King Arthur, LOST, etc ( )

Quick read. Nice and vague and poetic. Typical King fare. ( )

Pre09:

Well, it starts off darn odd and piecemeal.

Characters: The boy is meh. The lead guy is Clint Eastwood. The bad guy is kinda mysterious.
Plot: Crappy. But with a good opening.
Style: Here's where he makes it. Post-Apocalyptic Wild West. It just hits it solid. ( )

Verrry intriguing story. Yes the story line is somewhat vague but I knew to accept the story as it was written because future books would answer my questions. This edition also had great artwork. It was a quick read which surprised me. I suggest you read the foreword after finishing the book. I'm taking home book 2 tomorrow.

"The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." (wow I remembered that!) Now that's the way you begin a story.

King only added a few scenes to his classic that started The Dark Tower series, but the effect is worthwhile. He has not changed the plot at all, but he’s cleared up some ambiguities, foreshadowed later events, and brought in the Crimson King early on. Well worth rereading. ( )

Stephen King is a strange beast. His wild deviation between quality and crap is a matter of public record. Here is a man who can produce brilliant novels such as "The Stand" or "The Mist," mediocre novels such as "Cujo" and terrible novels such as "Rose Madder." I'll admit that I haven't actually read much of his canon, but the rule of thumb I've picked up from others is that his works start to decline around the 1990s. Since The Dark Tower series, his self-professed magnum opus, begins in the early stages of his career and progresses into the 2000s, I was wary of reading it.

That sounds pretty harsh. I actually like Stephen King quite a lot - when he writes well, he writes really well, and from reading his various forewords, non-fiction pieces and his EW blog he seems like a pretty cool guy. And while his writing may not always be top-notch, there's a certain quiet wisdom in it that elevates it above typical popular fiction; something that goes beyond an entertaining story and embeds itself in the zeitgest. If I had to pick a 20th century writer who best represents American culture, I would name Stephen King in a heartbeat.

Rambling. Anyway, I figured it was about time to give the Dark Tower series a chance, so I read the first book, "The Gunslinger." It traces the journey of the eponymous gunslinger (only named as "Roland" in flashbacks to his youth) as he pursues a mysterious man in black across a desert, into mountains and through a massive cave and tunnel system. Roland faces various challenges along the way, such as a town of people enchanted by the dark man to destroy him, a young boy who died in New York and found himself in Roland's world, and a strange oracle spirit in the mountains.

This book is fantasy, a term which has come to mean "Tolkien-derived rubbish." "The Gunslinger" is the good kind of fantasy, a fable that creates its own worlds and cultures and creatures. More fascinating by far than Roland or any of his friends and enemies is the land he moves through - a strange place, similar to the American West, yet entirely different. There are suggestions it is post-apocalyptic; "the world has moved on," as the characters say. Roland is clearly a cowboy figure, yet the clan and culture he hails from is unmistakably Arthurian. The people he meets in the desert towns sing "Hey Jude" and worship God. When travelling through the mountain caves, he comes upon an abandoned railway network, where long-dead station attendents crumble to dust at his touch, victims of chemical weapons in a forgotten war. This world, it seems, it both an alternate universe and a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

King describes "The Gunslinger" as "almost (but not quite!) complete in itself," and I agree. At the end of the book there are far too many unanswered questions, Roland's story is clearly not over, and it is obvious that this is merely the first book in a larger series. That's fine by me. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, because I expect it to be pretty good. "The Gunslinger" isn't a particularly great book on its own - plotwise it's quite sparse, it suffers from a lack of characters, and as King himelf said it's not a stand-alone book. But it's very readable, and enjoyable, particularly when King reaches near-poetic heights of storytelling, which I've never seen him do before.

"The Gunslinger" is clearly a set-up. It exists to lay a foundation stone for a larger epic story, and is only worth reading if you plan to read the rest of that story. So is the Dark Tower series as a whole worth reading? I suppose I'll have to wait and see. ( )

I just finished this book and I'm not sure just how I feel about it. It's a good read, as is most all of Kings books. He has a style of writing that pulls you in and makes you want more. The characters are engrossing. That being said, The Gunslinger is the first book of the Dark Tower series. Many of the books build one upon another. In order to fully understand that one you have to read this one. And so on. This is a tale that is completely readable on it's own, but but the story line and characters transverse.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the book ( )

I first picked this up back in the day--Junior high, maybe? I'm not even sure if I finished it then, but I remember thinking it was very cool. Picked it up again a few years back and was hooked. Great timing as King decided to finish the series at around the same time. ( )

The first book in the Dark Tower series. Very different in feel and style than the rest of its sequels, since it was King's second published book and something of an experiment for him. Dark and surreal. ( )

Not my favorite book. I particularly disliked how all of the women were nothing more than sex objects. However, I've heard many rave reviews for this series, so I might continue on to the next book. Hard to say, though. ( )

This book is always the hardest for me to read in the series. A great intro to the hero of the series (Roland, the gunslinger), but sometimes dry and slow. Don't let this book stop you from reading the series. ( )

I quit reading this book about half way through. It's not a bad story, but it's not the story for me. I loved the poetic images in the beginning, but it took such a dark turn with much detailed gore and ugly sentiments that I found myself not wanting to pick it up to read. When that happens, it is time to stop and move on. I'm really not even concerned with how the story ends. ( )

The search for the tower begins. The opening book of the series introduces us to Roland, the gunslinger. He spends most of the book pursuing the dark man and at the end has a long palaver in which he learns clues about the tower and the being inside.

"The universe (he said) is the Great All, and offers a paradox too great for the finite mind to grasp. As the living brain cannot conceive of a nonliving brain-although it may think it can-the finite mind cannot grasp the infinite."

"The Gunslinger" by Stephen King ( )

A bit disjointed and assumed that the reader was following along and filling in the gaps as it went along. Clearly very imaginative and visual, it almost read more like someone dictated a movie rather than wrote down a novel. It was very easy to picture the action and what was going on throughout this book. Amazing to think of how young Stephen King was when he wrote it! That being said, this did not entice me to follow up with the rest of the series though. ( )

It wasn't one of my favorite Stephen King books..but I have a lot of favorites of his lol. It's still worth the read but I wasn't into it enough to read through the rest of the series yet. ( )

This is the revised and expanded edition with illustrations. It had been a very long time since I read the original version, as you can tell from my previous review of "The Dark Tower 1". The 5 color illustrations evoke a sense of nostalgic magic, but for the one in the town of Tull. The townspeople are laid out in a straight line, as if they had stood in polite turn to attack the Gunslinger. At least the woman with the dress is true to print.

I had forgotten altogether that there was a peyote trip in the book--quite a haunting portrait in the chapter "The Oracle in the Mountains". "The Slow Mutants" was an intriguing chapter as well. A Passage under the mountains, railway cars, mutants, an apocalyptic subway station scene with mummified authorities... I was a bit disappointed at the abrupt end to Jake, though the bone-place with the Man in Black made up for it.

I believe the expansion came at the very end of the story--a teaser for "The Drawing of the Three", a bit of quantum philosophy, and a clue as to what the tower is. I plan to continue the series after my refresher, though I most likely will surf a few genres before coming back. ( )

Cautious thumbs up. It's weird, but I'm starting to get into the story. ( )

[Amy] This is not my first time reading this book. I'm not actually entirely sure it's only my second time, either, though I'm less certain about that. I read the first four Dark Tower books around the time Wizard and Glass came out, and I was blown away. The ensuing Very Long Gap rather dulled my enthusiasm, though, and when the subsequent books came out in quick succession a few years ago, I duly purchased them, but have never quite got around to reading them.

Well, the obvious way to tackle the new installments to a long-dormant story is by leading in with a Giant Re-Read (I am also currently implementing this policy on the Wheel of Time series), and so here we are, back at the beginning.

It's interesting, really, examining my diverse reactions to this book. I should probably say, before getting much further in to this, that I am NOT a horror fan. I've read a handful of other King books, of which I enjoyed only Eyes of the Dragon and The Stand. That said, I really like the Dark Tower books. I confess I prefer the fantastic elements thereof to the horrific ones, but there's nothing sufficiently far outside my genre-comfort zone to throw me out of the story, and, really, that's all I ask.

I think part of what I found particularly appealing about this particular book was the leisurely unfolding of plot hidden amongst a series of moments. It's a stylistic choice not to everyone's taste, I'm sure, but it suited me just fine.

Now, if I could just remember what to expect from The Drawing of the Three, though I suppose having forgotten most of it is one of the best ways to approach a re-read...
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