The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1) (original 1982; edition 2003)

Well.....where to begin on this one....

I thought it was an interestingly challenging read in that I had no idea what was going on. The gunslinger is on some type of mission to find "The Tower," whatever that is. To find the Tower, he follows some guy in black who is always ahead of him and seems to be able to re-animate the dead.

I enjoyed the relationship between the gunslinger and the boy, Jake. I was surprised how that one worked out though.

The best part, and most intriguing to me, was the last 10 pages or so when the gunslinger finally catches up to the elusive man in black that has some knowledge of this Tower. I loved the explanation of the universe and the complexity of size in things both big and small in comparison to ourselves.

I am definitely intrigued in continuing this series! Perhaps the next one will get more stars? ( )

Liked it, did not love it. Was unsure if I would enjoy a western/ fantasy type of book, which is kind of how I viewed this book without much prior knowledge of the story. It didn't seem like the beginning of a series that I would end up devouring in a few months. However, I did become hooked on the story toward the end and thought I would give the next one a chance. Hoo boy am I glad I did. ( )

sometimes difficult to read, but the world building aspect is fascinating ( )

I think this is the third time I've read this book. The first time was in the mid to late 80s when I was reading everything of King's I could find. The second maybe 10 years later. I've now read it again, because I'm intending to read the whole Dark Tower series now that's it's finished (in the afterword to The Gunslinger, King notes that he doubts he will live long enough to finish it, so I'm very pleased that he has).
It's very different from most of his books and a little bit pretentious maybe, but that's forgivable as King obviously believes in and loves what he is writing. It reads a lot like one of those slightly dreamlike 70s fantasy novels that hark back to the pulps of the 30s, Moorcock's Elric books perhaps. It's a fun ride though, memorable and vivid at times, and feels like it sets things up well for the series. ( )

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. Most of it bored.me but I have to admit the last chapter was very interesting ( )