Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

18 reviews

joshkiba13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"Time's the thief of memory . . ."

And so begins my journey to the Dark Tower. I've been waiting to start this series for a looong time, so this was an exciting read accomplished in just a few sittings.

A lot of people aren't huge fans of this one, so it was nice having the advantage of knowing going in that it was mysterious and left a lot unexplained. Knowing that, I just buckled up and went along with the ride.

The Gunslinger is full of allusions both to Roland's past and his future. Stephen King explains in the foreword that he revised The Gunslinger in 2003 after completing the series so that the foreshadowing in the prophecies and visions would encompass where the series eventually led him---decades after starting it. So it was cool to get so many hints and seeds laid down, while simultaneously knowing that the bulk of what I read was written by a very young college-age Stephen King.

I found much of the prose alluring, and much of his figurative language unique. The style of narration and simplistic dialogue to be very reminiscent of works by Cormac McCarthy; King is a big fan of McCarthy so it is possible. And actually, though it was written many years later, if reminded me heavily of McCarthy's The Road; a gunslinging man trudging through a dying world with a young boy. 

People say this series really kicks off in the next book, The Drawing of the Three, and the ending of this first book left me perfectly ready to continue.  I'm excited to keep going, and I'm excited to return to The Gunslinger after completing The Dark Tower to see all of the foreshadowing anew. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Gun violence

Minor: Cursing and Sexual content

barefootsierra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Death, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Addiction, Incest, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, and Violence

meraru's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

kstacy91's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

raginsagein's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

First real foray into Stephen King, and I wasn’t terribly impressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Torture, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

axeltheredpanda's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Overall a very good book! I found it a little challenging to read (very flowery text) but that’s likely due to me only reading one book in the last ten years and only just coming back to reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Car accident, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gun violence, Addiction, Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Cursing

prinsessenora4's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very interesting and well written. Quite slow paced (in my opinion). I liked the complexity of the characters and setting, and the deterministic feel of the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide

malebrina's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual content

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Blood, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Stalking, Animal death, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

My spouse is going to hate when I tell him I didn’t love this book. He thinks The Dark Tower is the greatest series of books ever written, but book one didn’t do anything for me. 

Was it well written? Debatable. Stephen King is a great author and I’ve loved many of his other books, but The Gunslinger isn’t one of them. You jump around a lot between the present and the past, and it was all very confusing for me. It felt like the book had absolutely no flow. Maybe the series gets better as you go but I don’t know if I’m interested enough to read 7 more—and most of them very long—books to find out. 

Dystopian and apocalyptic, everyone and everything is dying. A very hard existence in an unsavoury world filled with violence and death. 

I also didn’t like a single character. 

And literally every character you meet dies, except for Roland, so don’t grow attached to anyone.

Jake, the boy, was a confusing addition. Where did he come from? Our time?  How did he get there? Why is he there?

And Roland’s love for and eventual betrayal of Jake was just the worst. 

Alice was needy and clingy and portrayed to be ugly due to a facial scar and her age. (40s???)

Sylvia was just a horrible excuse of a human. 

The people of Tull all sucked. 

But the battle of Tull was hands down my favourite part to read.

The Man in Black… I don’t even know what my thoughts are on him. He was very cryptic and I felt like because he only starts to speak at the end of the book I didn’t get to know him. 

I’ve read it. I can say I’ve read it. It wasn’t for me. Might be an unpopular opinion, but there it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Pregnancy