Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger: (Volume 1)

In the first of Stephen King’s Dark Tower, we meet Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. As he pursues the Man in Black in his quest to the Dark Tower, the Gunslinger meets a young boy, Jake, who accompanies him across the desert.This isn’t the easiest of King’s books to get to grips with and the writing style is less accessible than usual. However, the cowboy/fantasy scenario is a fascinating one and sets the scene for the later books (which I’m told are more interesting). Apparently, much of what the author sets up in this volume makes a lot more sense later, but of course I’ll have to read all the others to confirm that. Though there is some proper gunfighting early on, much of the book is taken up with recounting the memories of Jake and the Gunslinger and building up the backgrounds of the characters.An interesting read that promises much for the rest of the series.

Even King says its not great, himself. It was a fairly hard, fairly boring, confusingly and fairly pretentiously written book... but I’m going to trust everyone and go on to the second in the series, as this book gave just enough intrigue.I can’t see I’d spend 50-60£ on the full series of books unless the next one is MUCH better than this oneParts of this book kind of reminded me of parts of The Stand.. not in its writing as such but in the narrative atmosphere

I read the Dark Tower series a year ago and for this winter's escapism, I am reading a recommended extended reading list built around the Dark Tower epic. (It's at http://thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.in/2012/04/the-dark-tower-suggested-reading-order_2128.html). Yes the Dark Tower and Stephen King are that good.So my second read through the first volume and there's much to discover as there are many references to the future story that on the first read doesn't mean too much. It's a quick read, relatively, and does create a start point for the series and an intro to the second volume, The Drawing of the Three which IMHO is just a riveting tale and probably my favourite of the seven volumes.As a stand-alone first read, there is still much to admire and be gripped by, there are tense moments but this is not horror. As Stephen King writes in his introduction, it's J.R.R. Tolkien meets Sergio Leone.And moving on...

First of all i am a massive fantasy/ sciensfiction/ horror fan and for me the dark tower has it all: action, fantasy, horror, humor (in places) tradgity... etc . I could go on but also haveing read the whoul 7 books i personaly think this is the best series of books i have read. At first although being a fan of Stephen King i was daunted by the 7 books stacking up to more than 3600 pages between all 7 a long read! But once you start reading you get hooked!King throws you into his universe and uses imense imagery that is relevant and flowing. You begin to feel strong emotions for the main charicters in the book and King as always uses excellent charicter build a paints a crystal clear picture for you in your mind. As sad as it may sound this is the only book (having read many fantasy/ scifi series) where to me you feel asthough you are with Roland on his quest for the ellusive dark tower. Thats how good King makes this series!I am not going to spoil the story 2 much but this is an epic quest taken on by Roland the gunslinger the last of his kind who is haunted by his past and his continuous search for the dark tower. Who must face all sorts of trials and obsticals on his epic journey!If you are a fan of Stephen King and are contemplainting starting these books then just do it! This is King at his best with this uber story! calnt recomend these books enough a must read for any fantasy/ horror fan!

That really would have been a disaster, wouldn't it. In spite of its brevity The Gunslinger was hard work and I breathed a sigh of relief when I got to the end. Apart from the overblown prose (too many words by far) a it was also rather cliche-ridden; the desolate landscape, the coming of age ordeal, the pursuit of the dark stranger, the excessive pantomime violence, the involvement of the beautiful boy from another age, the attack of the zombie-like creatures - none of these devices have the ring of originality. Well, I won't be reading any other volumes of The Dark Tower. I can kind of understand why this series has accrued a cult following in some quarters, but to compare it with Tolkien!? They must be 'avin' a larf!