The Gunslinger
Ratings672
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings672
Average rating3.6
[The Dark Tower][1] I
The Gunslinger is a dark-fantasy by American author Stephen King. It is the first volume in the Dark Tower series.
The Gunslinger was first published in 1982 as a fix-up novel, joining five short stories that had been published between 1978 and 1981. King substantially revised the novel in 2003; this version has remained in print ever since, with the subtitle RESUMPTION.
The story centers upon Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who has been chasing his adversary, "the man in black," for many years. The novel fuses Western fiction with fantasy, science fiction, and horror, following Roland's trek through a vast desert and beyond in search of the man in black. Roland meets several people along his journey, including a boy named Jake Chambers, who travels with him part of the way.
"The Gunslinger" (October 1978)
"The Way Station" (April 1980)
"The Oracle and the Mountains" (February 1981)
"The Slow Mutants" (July 1981)
"The Gunslinger and the Dark Man" (November 1981)
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL81600W/The_Dark_Tower_1-7
Reviews with the most likes.
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed... very slowly.
I was really curious about this book. King's attempt for epic fantasy mixed with western? That sounds really interesting.
I have to say, though, that the last chapter saved the book. King said in the foreword that The Dark Tower should be considered one book split into seven volumes (currently nine). So I'm wondering why for Hood's roasted balls was this book released in this state. 240 pages is really not enough for a story like this. The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three should've been released as one book.
Whole book is about following the man in black across a desert and 1/3 of every chapter (except the last one) is dedicated to Roland's back story, which I thought to be boring and dragging.
The last chapter saved this series. Speech of the man in black and all the foreshadowing got me hooked and I'm curious about the Tower now. Story before their meeting wasn't very interesting, though. If King had thrown some of the scenes out and combined this book with the second I think the series would only profit from it. Or maybe this should've been part of some collection like the prequel The Little Sisters of Eluria.
He isn't able to make the story interesting only on 240 pages. The book suffers because it has to go through all five acts on a small space like that. I believe other authors might have handled it better but Stephen is used to writing 1000 pages long novels. I heard this book is the worst in the series, so I expect something better from the sequels.
An enthralling introduction to Roland and the world of the Dark Tower.
I'm very interested in where the story goes. The man in black's commentary on size is fascinating. I really like the raven Zoltan for some reason.
The Dark Tower will see me trying my hand at reading an entire series back-to-back, and I'm excited at the prospect.
A man with a gun chases a necromancer across the desert looking for revenge. The thing is, the necromancer is immortal. For me, that's the whole book. I did not find the plot to be interesting. I did not care for the scenario/people descriptions, which it's what the book really is about. I did not like the main character history.
The author's style is one of showing many things that could be interesting, but they're not. At one point, the gunslinger finds a city in the desert. He suspects it's a trap from the necromancer. It is. Then he continues. This event takes many pages in the book, and it felt utterly pointless, as all of the other events did. But again, it's not about the meaning, its about the scenario/people.
This is enjoyable, but the ending is basically a Matrix speech.
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