The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

Such a hard book to describe, it is I believe a book you can come back to at the end of the series and on re reading it make a lot more sense of what is going on. That does not detract from it being a great read first time around without any prior knowledge, which is where I am at the moment. in my teens I read a bit of Stephen King and really I remember none of his previous books I have tried being anything like this. I found with previous Stephen King books that there tends to be more of a linear plot that you can predict to some degree, that is not the case at all here. I have no idea where this plot is going, but I cannot wait to find out.

This is the first book of The Dark Tower Series

The audio book is very well read and is great as an introduction to the Dark Tower Series. Once you have finished this audio book you will be hooked and downloading the rest of the series

A must for any Stephen King fan !!

This is not the same Gunslinger you will know from the original release of this story. The author has seen fit to go back and "clarify" several bits of the story which ultimately results in a far less mysterious protagonist.

Seek out the original and perhaps even ignore the rest of the series.. The original was a work of brilliance.

Ive started this book four times already and each time have dropped off to sleep

It's a combination of reader and material,

I will try again to read this as I've read good things about it, but I will give it only one more go.

But if your an insomniac looking for a cure.....

Look no more,

This reader is the audible equivalent of donormyl.

From what I have managed to stay awake for, still seems dream like as the book is set in a dimension that crosses ours. As this was written by king when he was very young, you can see where he has returned to the book and tried to correct his faults.

I like king at times but don't love everything about his work

One of his latest books about JFK was utter nonsense with more holes than tea bag.

I do hope the dark tower series isn't in the same vain.

I was gripped by the dark tower the gunslinger listened to it in 2 days.Very well narrated have already bought the next three books in the series.CANT WAIT

I am a massive King fan and although this does feel like a prologue, his brilliant story and plot weaving is, as usual, faultless. The climax is a wonderful mix of cliffhanger and existential poetry.

I loved this audiobook. The Dark Tower novels are my favourite of Stephen King's work. This, the first book in the series, is an understated beginning to Roland's journey toward the Dark Tower, his pursuit of the man in black intercut with tales of his childhood and how he became a Gunslinger. The narrator's pacing and earthy voice really bring the story to life, and I'm already on to the second audiobook in the series. Highly recommended.

The whole book felt like a prologue to a tale yet to be told. Entertaining enough but lacking substance.

Roland is following a man dressed in black. This stranger is always just out of reach, passing through the desolate towns before him. We appear to be in some sort of apocolyptic future. Roland meets a young boy Jake, and regales him with tales of his youth - how he got here and his relationship with the dark man. Will Roland and his nemesis ever meet?

Oh dear. I was looking forward to part one of a good long series but although I like other Stephen Kings I found this to be adolescent drivel. I think it has a lot to do with the over dramatic, over articulated, and rushed delivery. I want the author's words beautifully read, not someone else's hyped-up interpretation. Just out of curiosity I may try part 2 as a print book so I can see if it is the reader who has ruined it for me.