Rating: 
Summary: Let King take you into Roland's world.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though I think that The Gunslinger is really an aquired taste. I never had the time to read through all of one of Kings works, and From a Buick 8 lost me in the first couple chapters. I decided to give this one a try since it was shorter and looked more appealing. After reading it through I was very impressed with it. I must say its very outlandish, but at the same time it doesn't lose me. The whole concept and story of Roland the Gunslinger and his quest for the Dark Tower is so deep and well thought out that you want to follow him on his journey, which perhaps was King's intentions. This first installment of the series does an excellent job with character development, and if you read through the first book you will realize why this is important. Roland becomes very real, you almost become intune with his feelings and emotions. By the time you read through to the Dark Tower, it will break your heart to see Roland go. I have not read much of King's work but i have to believe that the Dark Tower series is his most creative and inspiring work. Give the Gunslinger a try and let King take you into Roland's world.
Rating: 
Summary: The Journey for the Tower Begins...
Review: "The Gunslinger," alias "Dark Tower I," is not really what you'd expect from a Stephen King book. Nevertheless, it's a fantasic read and well worth the time. But beware that, like Roland, once you get started, there's no turning back.
"The Gunslinger" takes place in a world that has "moved on," desolate and worn down. We follow the journey of Roland, the last Gunslinger, as he attempts to catch the elusive man in black and complete his quest for the Dark Tower. This chapter of the Tolkien-esque quest is about 300 pages in length, the shortest of all the "Dark Tower" books, and acts as the warm-up before the workout. Like most books, it's a little slow out of the gate, but once the gunslinger hits Tull, the rest of the story takes off.
If you're a fan of King's or of epic journeys, I recommend "The Gunslinger." The entire work is seven books long, so I would only start if you're committed for the long haul. But reading this and all the "Dark Tower" novels are made fun by King's use of language. I could barely finish "Lord of the Rings" because of its language, but I breezed through "Gunslinger," partially because the story became so engrossing that I couldn't put the book down.
So go forth and enjoy. There's a lot to look forward to.
Rating:
Summary: King, but not entirely like King. One of the 10 best
Review: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." For whatever reason, it's the most memorable opening line I've read. This is the first book in King's post-apocalyptic/parallel worlds Dark Tower series. The gunslinger is a character inspired by the Man with No Name that Eastwood played in the cinema. Certainly he is one of King's best characters. This story melds magic and firearms in an unforced, entertaining way. It's written in a dry, dusty style that suits the gunslinger perfectly. Aside from the fact that the book is very entertaining in its own right, King fans simply MUST read the Dark Tower books, because these days, ALL his other books at least make reference to the Tower, if they aren't extremely intertwined, like Hearts in Atlantis and Black House. These references in other books are like big fat Easter Eggs; you're finding unexpected rewards everywhere! This book is one I'd never do without. Go get it!
Rating:
Summary: Imagination to paper takes time
Review: At under 300 pages, "The Gunslinger" - the first book from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series - may seem oddly short, especially when compared to the latest volume from the epic, weighing in at around 700 pages. And still, Constant Reader, there are thousands more to go! According to the afterword from this book, it took King twelve years to complete the writings. He wrote the opening line, "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" while an undergraduate, the middle portions when "'Salem's Lot" was going bad, and was inspired with another concurrent writing: "The Stand." For King to have kept the Gunslinger, the Man in Black, Jake, and the other characters - and really the entire world of the Dark Tower - alive for so long in his mind is a testament to not only the power that this held over the author, but holds over us - his Constant Readers. Moreover, since the first publishing of "The Gunslinger," around twenty years have passed, a number of newer volumes in this series have come and gone - yet with this first, partially inspired by Robert Browning's poem, "Childe Roland," and partially inspired by reams of green paper (read the afterword to the book), you know that this was a very special creation indeed. I am not a fan of King's horror fiction. But when he gets down to writing about "other worlds than these," such as "The Stand," "Insomnia," "The Green Mile," and "The Talisman" (co-authored with Peter Straub) - there is no one better. His is an imagination to be jealous of. There is always a feeling that alternate universes exist, next to our own. King imbues his other worlds with just enough of our own so that we feel a tantalizing connection between our own perceptions of reality, and those that King entertains us (Constant Readers) with. At any rate, "The Gunslinger," at under 300 pages, is just right to introduce us to the world of The Dark Tower, and keep us on course, with a desire to continue (and to wait, ever so patiently for the next volume in the series) the journey the Gunslinger started many years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: Being a huge Stephen King fan, I was eager to read this book once I found out about the Dark Tower series. The book immediately drew me in and I soon read the other 3 books that had already been published. The final, 7th book was a Christmas present that I cannot wait to read. The Gunslinger draws the reader into Roland's life immediately, although if you do not typically read Stephen King styled writers, The Gunslinger may be... wierd.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Review of a Bad Book
Review: For King- this series is his best.Get all the books in this series.For an Average writer- this is his epoch.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You Mr. King!
Review: I really loved the Dark Tower series. The first book was not as good, a bit slow and hard to get into, but King does mention this in his introduction. The rest of this epic adventure was amazing. I loved it...although my husband wasn't happy to have an unresponsive wife for a month (I HAD to read them all!). It was well worth it. I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the illustrations. I wish they had not been included in the hardback editions.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong start but weak finish
Review: I saw somewhere that King wrote the first part of this book when he was still in college. The second part of the book he wrote years later after already establishing himself as a writer. It something I noticed to my regret...
The main character "Gunslinger" in the beginning is mysterious, dark, and cool in a Clint Eastwood Western sort of way. The world he lives in is a puzzle and the man he is after another mystery. This part of the book keeps you turning pages because you can't wait for something else to happen.
Then the second part happens...All of a sudden, the Gunslinger isn't as dark, mysterious, or cool anymore. The Gunslinger character is now more "human" and we now care more about his thoughts or feelings instead of his actions. You sit there and wait for the book at this point to go into page after page about the Gunslinger's past and how it changed him forever. Stuff that happened when he was a kid and BLAH BLAH BLAH.....I was waiting to read that this was taking place in a small town in Maine and that he was a struggling writer a few years past!! Sure I want to learn about the Gunslinger but it could have been done in a similar style as the first part.
Needless to say I gave the next book in the series a try and of course it was more of character development to the point of utter boredom. I stopped half way in as it was just another King snore fest.
Rating:
Summary: Just no comment!
Review: Read it!!! ..and ya`ll get hooked onto Dark Tower for a long-long time! As I was... for 10 years. I read Gunslinger in 1995 being 20 y/o... and yesterday (2.10.2005) I finished the last book!!! What a journey! It was just soooo great!
For those, who are just starting with this first book, my personal favorites are #1, #4 and #5, but that by no way means, that one should skip anything!!!
Rating:
Summary: Re-reads required
Review: Slow and heavy. You will need to re-read it again and again to fully get yourself into the story. Once you finish reading the Tull part, you will begin your journey.
|
