The Dark Tower has to be one of the strangest and most mystifying series I’ve read, I think, probably ever. And this review is coming months late—I’ve already read the full series—so I know. In it’s entire, the book is completely different in style, totally unpredictable in plot, and simply put, just a mesmerizing story.

n  The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. n

Roland Deschain of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger.

What

a

character!

After reading the series, he’s maybe become one of my favourites in fantasy. And it’s funny because I actually had a huge problem with him in The Gunslinger. He’s one of the most, if not the most, driven characters I’ve ever come across, but he’s so focused and so determined that he often came across as an unfeeling robot towards anything that wasn’t his goal. And I could NOT understand him while reading this.

Nevertheless, he is a desperate man on a demanding mission, across a desolate world and I was here for his story.

And looking back at this book today, I just have to laugh, because I completely love him now. So, I guess it just took time to get to know him, he’s amazing!

But who is Roland exactly? In the beginning, all we got was that he was a Gunslinger, but what is that specifically? I got the sense that it was more than just someone who carried guns, but I couldn’t be sure. And that’s something about this book, everything is extremely vague!

Who is the man in black? Is he the bad guy? Is there even a bad guy? How long has Roland been after him? WHY is Roland after him? And what’s this about a Dark Tower Roland keeps mentioning? What’s that?!

We just don’t know. The author is tremendously stingy with ANY details and we only ever get fragmentary answers to work with.

BUT I think I loved it! Slowing figuring things out as the story progressed was so much fun. Every time I thought I got an answer, the questions changed, stressing me out but at the same time creating an intensely fascinating story where I absolutely could not get enough, causing me to gobble this book up in under a day.

It takes place in what Roland calls the Mid-World, which is not our Earth, but not too unlike our Earth either. It’s strange and a little confusing, because the setting feels like something from a Western, yet there are implications that the story might be taking place in the future, in a world that has apparently “moved on”, which of course, isn’t something that’s explained to us AT ALL.

So yeah, expect a lot of head scratching with this one. But I don’t know, there was something here that was just so incredibly interesting that I was okay with the haziness of it all. It’s strange, and I know I’m using that word a lot, but I don’t know how else to describe this book!

My only true complaint is that the book felt very … episodic? There are only five chapters, but each sort of have their own conflict and their own resolution, even as this dramatic chase is being played out. It’s also, I don’t know . . . told backwards? It’s definitely nonlinear and we start out with being thrown right in the middle, with it backtracking to Roland’s past and then backtracking way to Roland’s childhood. I guess I’m not a very big fan of this style.

The flashbacks served the very good purpose of explaining some of the reasons why Roland is the way he is, but I think I got so caught up with the present-day narrative that going to stories about little Roland sort of threw me off, you know?

But overall, I really enjoyed reading my first Stephen King book! This cyclone of a story really captivated me. It blends many genres together and brought in certain elements at the ending that completely excited me and really made me look forward to all the possibilities of where this series would take me next.

I was right in feeling excited because this series is OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD CRAZY. The word insane comes to mind. Also: unbelievable, quirky, and most of all, unique. It’s mesmeric in the way it’s really unlike anything I’ve read before.

So, if this book sounds interesting to you, maybe you should give it a try? I didn’t enjoy the entire series—I’m looking at you Wizard and Glass—but I regret nothing. And you really wouldn’t want to miss it’s 5-star ending. You REALLY don’t want to miss that! It’s made this series one that I will never forget.

But beware, the movie is trash.

7/10 Would maybe recommend.

The Dark Tower series was one of the great joys of my reading life. However, it also frustrated me to the point where I often wanted to bludgeon Stephen King with a hardback copy of It.

I was baffled by The Gunslinger when I first read it way back in my high school days. It had been an unobtainable limited edition that had popped up in the title card of King’s other books, and when it finally went into wide release I couldn’t wait to snatch it up. But then I couldn’t make sense of it. There was a cowboy in an almost apocalyptic landscape where magic existed, but everyone knew the lyrics to Hey Jude. After scratching my head over it for a while, I decided that King must have hit the bottle a little extra hard that day, and then I forgot all about it.

I was so unimpressed that I didn’t even make an effort to get The Drawing of the Three when it first released. When I finally read it, I got an inkling of what King was doing, and it seemed cool as hell. And since I had delayed reading the second book for so long, I didn’t have a long wait for the third one. By the early ‘90s I had gone from Dark Tower skeptic to hardcore convert. (Little did I know the frustrations that awaited.)

The gunslinger is Roland Deschain, a kind of knight with two six guns instead of a sword and shield. Roland is chasing a mysterious ‘man in black’ across a seemingly endless desert. We don’t know exactly where they are, but the place seems to be in a state of decay. There are occasional remnants of very advanced technology, but things have devolved to the point where Roland’s revolvers are the most high tech thing around. Magic, demons and mutants are also common place in this world.

Over the course of the book, we learn that Roland has been chasing this man for years, and he’s never been closer. He eventually comes across Jake, a young boy whose last memory is of being pushed into the street and killed by the man in black in what seems to be our New York of the 1970s. Roland knows that Jake has been left as a trap to force him into a choice that will further damn his soul (Which is seeming kind of ragged around the edges anyhow.), but he is committed to catching the man in black so he can find the Dark Tower.

After the other books in the series had come out, I would occasionally go back through The Gunslinger and what came later completely changed my mind about this. It went from being a strange book that I didn’t understand or care about to the surreal prologue to a series I was more than a little obsessed with. I started to enjoy the cryptic vagueness and lack of information in the story. It was our introduction to the obsessed Roland, and once we got a bigger look at that world I came to love this book.

However, when King started the series, he had no idea what came next or how it would end, and he never felt obligated to stick strictly to the hints and clues that he littered in earlier books like this one or even his other books that contained bits of the Dark Tower. So there were continuity errors and predicted events that never came to pass. After finishing the series, King decided to update and revise The Gunslinger to get it in line with what he wrote later.

If he would have just stuck to cleaning up some of the continuity errors and revising the prophecy bits to match, I could have lived with that. Unfortunately, King couldn’t resist seeding the entire revised edition with more history and foreshadowing of coming events than in the original version. I liked it more when he stuck to just throwing us in the deep end with this strange world and morally compromised main character. I still prefer my original copy, flaws and all.

However, there’s another factor in play when it comes to this revised edition, but I can’t talk about it without spoiling the ending. My official recommendation for newbies is to read the original version first, then the series and then come back to this revised edition if you feel like it. Call me old school, but I think it plays better that way.

Here’s a bit more about why King gets a bit of a pass for essentially pulling a George Lucas and having Han not shoot first. Do NOT read this if you don’t want to know how the series ends.

King gave himself a Get-Out-of-Jail free card with the ending to DT. Since we know that Roland is trapped in loops where he keeps getting to the tower but going back to the beginning of The Gunslinger, King could present an almost infinite number of versions of the story with variations and say that they’re all different cycles. When I think of this updated version like that, as slightly altered because it’s a different cycle than the first time I read it, I like it a lot more.

Thinking about this, King could actually rewrite all the books as many times as he pleases using this idea of it being just another cycle where Roland does things differently. If he wanted to really get the DT fans excited, he could even re-do the series as a ‘final’ cycle where Roland goes back but has the Horn this time, maybe doesn’t let Jake fall and finally walks away from the trap in the Tower at the end.

I really, really, really did not enjoy this.

Reading this book was like having a one sided conversation with a relative who just won't shut up about something. They waffle on, they go on tangents, and you really want to get up and get a drink, make dinner, do some laundry.... Anything except continue to listen to the madness inducing dribble that they keep spouting. But for the sake of manners and propriety you have to endure the endless tirade even though you'd rather stab yourself in the face than have to listen to one more sentence.

The prose was trying way too hard. I've described some novels as purple before but FUCK this one was the darkest shade of purple yet, and not in a good way at all.

Pretty sure Stephen King is not the author for me because reading this felt like homework and I had to force myself to finish it. I'm so happy it is over and I will not be continuing this series.

I'm sorry our first buddy read adventure wasn't a more pleasant experience, Anthony! Still keen to see the movie, though.

(B-) 68% | Satisfactory
Notes: A discordant blend of flowery, terse and vulgar prose, difficult to follow and insufficient in explaining new concepts.

What I learned from this book:
The gunslinger is the gunslinger. The gunslinger slings guns. The gunslinger loves to shoot people. The gunslinger does this thingie with his fingers to load his guns. The gunslinger fucks women when they ask him nicely. The gunslinger rolls his own cigarettes. The gunslinger takes LSD, not because he likes it, but because he has to. The gunslinger needs to get to The Man In Black. DARK TOWER DARK TOWER DARK TOWER DARK TOWER

BATWING!


The Gunslinger almost dies. The gunslinger doesn't die. The gunslinger rolls a cigarette.

Oh god, this was so bad. After the awesomeness that was The Stand, this first Dark Tower book is a massive disappointment. I didn't like anything about it. The characters are flat and boring and get virtually no development throughout the book, the world-building is extremely vague, the plot is minimal and what there is of it is dry and unexciting, but worst of all, this book is borderline unreadable because of how it's written. Stephen King even admits that himself in the foreword:

The Gunslinger did not even sound like the later books—it was, frankly, rather difficult to read. ... That young man [who wrote this book] had been exposed to far too many writing seminars, and had grown far too used to the ideas those seminars promulgate: that one is writing for other people rather than one’s self; that language is more important than story; that ambiguity is to be preferred over clarity and simplicity, which are usually signs of a thick and literal mind. As a result, I was not surprised to find a high degree of pretension in Roland’s debut appearance (not to mention what seemed like thousands of unnecessary adverbs). I removed as much of this hollow blather as I could, and do not regret a single cut made in that regard.

This is all still relevant to this revised edition. Yes, Stephen King, you didn't remove nearly enough.

So yeah, even though everybody says that the next book is much better, I think I'll take a break before reading it. The Gunslinger was a terrible start for the series, and even if I eventually become a huge fan of The Dark Tower, I can not see myself ever wanting to read this particular instalment ever again.

P.S. The movie trailer makes a much better impression than this book, and contains roughly the same amount of story. GO ON, DARK TOWER FANS! RIP ME TO SHREDS!

n  n    The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.n  n

And our BR gang followed the gunslinger as he tracked the devil, and when he paused to relax and make camp, he told stories of his latest gunfight, his old world, his childhood training and the tests he went through to become a gunslinger... and we just followed him, you know, like these flamingos!



King has masterfully created a unique world that integrates fantasy genre with American old west: A mysterious world that poses layers of questions like: Is it a world decedent from our own world? Or is it a post-apocalyptic western wasteland? Or is it a new world altogether? And moreover, Where did the burgers come from? Do they also serve French fries? What is the tax situation over there?

Ummm, Sreyas, you are not making any sense.

I am not making any sense?



Have you read this book?

For example, My man Roland the gunslinger walks into a township straight out of 19th century, steps into a bar with no electricity nor any modern amenities and asks for a..... wait for it..... burger. There are machines that can talk, there are sex deprived oracles and ghosts the haunt basements, and there are dialogues that made me question myself: Am I too sober to read this story? Should I eat a large quantity of sugar before reading this?

I have to admit that this is a peculiar book. This is very different from the usual King stories and writing styles. The prose are unique (Read: Odd) and the slang is weird at times. I had fun while reading this book, but when I did pause to take a breath, the only thought I had was n  "What the hell am I reading?!"n. And the moment I resumed reading the story, those thoughts simply faded away.

That, my friend, must be magic!

On the top of that, I am not sure what's more intriguing: The world of gunslinger or gunslinger himself!

When I finished the book, I found that there was no mention of Crimson King, the primary antagonist of the series! That was when I found out that my edition is old! King revised the book in 2003 and added around 35 pages of new content to the story.

So I borrowed my friend's Kindle and read the 2003 version too. I'm not sure which one is weirder! The revised Roland is less cold-blooded, I think.

In the end, It all reminded me of the new Mad Max movie for some reason. You know, Apocalyptic wasteland, unreal locations, mad people, weird slang. To be exact, take Clint Eastwood and place him in Mad Max world (Minus the automobiles), then pick some supernatural elements and cook it up in a cauldron full of LSD, You get Gunslinger.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. This installment acts as an introduction to characters and their world(s) but preserves most of the answers for later installments.
---------------------------------------
n  Afterthoughtn

One of the coolest lines from the book is

n  n    “Go then, there are other worlds than these.”n  n

And Y'all remember how critics slammed the new Dark Tower movie adaptation? This was the official critic's consensus published in Rotten Tomatoes website.



Well played, RT, well played.
--------------------------------------------
n  Bonus: BR Reportn

Shout out to Anish, Avinash, and Izzy for a rather turbulent Buddy Read. My fellow gunslingers were united in confusion, but divided by our ratings.

As you can see, I gave the book Four stars.

Anish AKA Kraken gave Three stars ------> You can read his review here. Dean from supernatural makes a cameo apperence in his review!

Avinash (AKA uh... wait... still working on an AKA for him) gave Two stars -------> You can find his review here. Also, Avinash has abandoned the series after this traumatizing read :p

Izzy AKA Ninja AKA little Dragon AKA Piggyback rider pulled a DNF on us after reading three dozen pages and gave a One star rating. There was a cat involved. It's a long story. :p

As you can see, Gunslinger is a gamble. You might like it, you might hate it, but you will be confused for sure!

All I could think throughout this book was… what the hell am I reading?!

This western fantasy has to be the most confusing book I’ve read in a long time. Some parts were more interesting than others but overall I was very disappointed.

After hearing everyone rave about this series I have a hard time understanding why. I don’t believe it would be this popular if it wasn’t for Stephen King’s name on it. There I said it!

I didn’t like the story very much nor the writing.

I had been warned that the first book wasn’t as great as the others but I’m currently not in a rush to continue.

Fantasy-A-Thon: Start a new series or continue a series

I did it!

I was scared to read this book because EVERYONE I know hated it. Most didn't even finish it and they warned me not to read it.

So I was terrified!

Guys I'm shocked to say I actually liked it. I don't know why though. I was confused nearly the entire time I was reading it and nothing happens plot wise. I would normally find a book like this boring and 1 star it but The Gunslinger somehow kept me reading.

I would like to give you a synopsis of the book but I can't really explain it because I'm not really sure what happened. If forced to explain it I would say that: A man named Roland(the gunslinger) is on a solitary quest to find the elusive "Man in Black" who he blames for killing everyone he's ever loved and destroying his homeland.

But who knows!

So Why 3 Stars?

1) I never thought of DNFing it
2) I really want to know what happens next
3) The writing is phenomenal

The Gunslinger is book 1 in a epic fantasy series that Uncle Stevie has been working on since college. I'm pretty sure the series is complete but you never really know with Uncle Stevie. I do own the next two books in the series, so I will read those but I'm undecided on reading the series to completion.

No rec because this book is super polarizing.

Re-read

The first time I read this I found it very confusing. A few years ago I read the first 4 books in the dark tower series so this time around the book made much more sense.

I really enjoyed this and I'm now about to finally begin The Dark Tower series (all 8 books in the series and every book connected).

i made a kinda-sorta readalike list for the dark tower series here:

https://www.rifflebooks.com/list/236304

childe harold, get your gun!

I’m just going to be completely honest: Stephen King’s writing just isn’t for me. I have read two different novels of his now, and I just get bored by his writing. The stories are legit and he is a great story teller, but his writing just isn’t for me.

I am excited for the movie though. I am a fan of Stephen King’s stories and the film adaption. Have you seen that beautiful trailer?



Like my word I can’t even. I am so pumped for that.



---

50% King and I are just not suppose to get along. I hate his writing style. I can't force myself to get through this like I did IT.

RTC.

The fastest way to get me to start a series is by making a Hollywood movie of it, and subsequently come up with a trailer just packed with cool, slow-motion-like action scenes.



Now keep in mind that I did say fastest, not surefire. In the case of Mortal Instruments for example, I was perfectly content to giggle over its cheesiness at the movies, without any further attempts at self-flagellation. Then again, which idiot in its right mind would put Stephen King and Cassandra Clare in the same sentence? No need to answer that.

The entire world-building, coupled with Roland and Jake's character development were brilliant. Their thought process in a brutally unforgiving dystopian universe, where nothing sacred remains, left me speechless. Jake's scornful desperation upon realizing Roland's plans for him was unexpectedly deep, and haunting, and riveting... and just insert any dramatic epithet that you can think of.



But - yes there is a but - no dystopian world is complete without an ample description of its desolation, and Stephen King's brand of descriptive sequences just don't do it for me. I actually had the same issue with Salem's Lot: having to repeatedly reread several paragraphs, because my mind just kept drifting away.

Maybe there is something wrong with my sense of aesthetics, but I find passages like these utterly boring:

n
The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.
n

...*yawn*

Score: 3.3/5 stars

I have since watched the movie, and realized that other than mentions of the world moving on, and a mysterious dark tower, reading the book didn't really help.

That said, the characterization and the world building are exciting enough to make me want to keep reading... and in hindsight, the book itself was actually not that bad quite good. Hopefully the rewrite has improved the descriptions in the following book.

===================
Review of book 2: The Drawing of Three
Review of book 3: The Waste Lands