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knightzach's review against another edition
The plot was somewhat interesting, but I could not ignore that extreme abundance of anti-Christian imagery and themes. The book seems to appeal to the lowest base instincts of fallen man--plenty of senseless gore, sex, and "religious weirdos" tropes. The grit and crudeness could be excused if it was done so in a higher narrative purpose, but it didn't deliver. After finishing half of the book, it simply wasn't worth it to finish.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Religious bigotry
zakcebulski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
52! This is it! My fifty-second book of the year! That is super thrilling to me. It is also my first step into the world of Stephen King's far reaching saga the Dark Tower. And I found it.... fine.
Let me explain.
Now, I have a bit of a storied history with King's works. I find myself gravitating more toward his "less" popular books, and finding less enjoyment out of the titans for which he is known so fucking well.
That is to say, I prefer 'Salem's Lot to Pet Sematary and I prefer the Green Mile to something like It - I am fully aware that these are not totally equivalent comparisons, but, damn, I just like his comparatively less popular books.
But, as a largely new fan of King, I felt like it was time for me to embark on this story which has its hands in so many different King stories.
The story of this book follows the titular gunslinger- Roland Deschain as he tracks with feverish dedication the man in black toward the Dark Tower. I have to say that from the start, the book is set up amazingly with such a concise sentence that tells us everything that we need to know as a foundation. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed". I truly think that this has to be one of the best opening lines which I have ever read- it immediately hooks the reader in, and informs us that the main character has his goal.
I thought that this was exemplary, to be completely honest.
The rest of the book follows the gunslinger (as he is referred to, and as I will refer to him here) as he continues pursuing the man in black. Throughout the story we learn tidbits about the gunslinger's back story and how he came to be the last remaining gunslinger.
I thought that this was interesting to a point, though I admittedly did find this book to drag on here and there. I found instances in the past to not be as interesting to me as reading through the current goal of the gunslinger.
One big thing which I have to commend King for is how the backstory of the gunslinger is illustrated in flashbacks, however, the personality of the gunslinger is written in a way that I love. He is shown to be cold and calculating, and possessing a "by any means necessary" mindset, which I think makes him so fucking interesting. When he meets a boy in his travels-Jake- who is already dead, and who is the "key" to the man in black, and thus to the Tower, we learn that the gunslinger will kill the boy as a means to justify the end- which is exactly what happens. We also learn in a flashback how he willingly sacrificed a bird who he befriended as a means to pass a trial. I thought that this illustration of his personality was fantastic and it truly makes me more interested in reading how his character develops in the future.
I have always liked the man in black as a villain- who we all know as different names. I love the feeling of evil omnipotence that he exudes puts him at a level above the gunslinger. I love that this shows the disparity between the gunslinger and the man in black wherein we question if the gunslinger is on a fool's errand in trying to complete his goal.
I did find most of the characters not totally memorable, in my view. I didn't really care about the characters from the gunslinger's past, and I didn't even much care for the boy, Jake. He truly just seemed like a character who was introduced to die and show what a stone cold bastard Roland is.
I am hopeful that the rest of the books in this series are more fleshed out, as I am sure that they will be, because, as of now, I don't have much of an investment in learning more about any of the characters which were mentioned.
I am fully aware that this book is commonly listed as one of the weakest entries into the Dark Tower series. I don't think that that gives a pass to any of the issues which I felt I encountered while reading. But, I will return to the Dark Tower series. I feel like if I had no knowledge about the rest of this series, and the promise that it was going to get better and more interesting, then I would have viewed this as a fine albeit forgettable book in King's canon. I am mainly interested to read how this series plays in to so many other books by King- I am a person who fucking loves some goddamn fan service or cross book references.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, and Gun violence
iljb111203's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Gore
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Body horror
draven_deathcrush's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Drug use
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
bruinrocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
The Gunslinger is a wonderful Western Sci-Fi novel. A lone Gunslinger walks a vast desert in search of his nemesis. On his journey he encounters a unique cast of characters, from his friends in what appears to be a Medieval type walled city, to a ragtag group of individuals in a western town, to a young boy named Jake. His relationship with Jake is very interesting, he starts off a little cold but warms up to the boy very quickly, becoming a sort of father figure to Jake and learning his past and sharing his. The novel ends in a fantastic set up for the future series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Drug use
nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Miscarriage, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
directorpurry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
sharebear431's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Misogyny
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I am not the biggest Stephen King fan. He’s definitely a good writer, but I’m not very into the horror genre and that’s what he’s famous for. I didn’t know what this book was about going in or even if it was horror or not, but one of my friends has been going on and on about how awesome this series is and I figured I might as well give it a shot.
I have yet to see a description for this book that actually says much about what the book is about, instead of something like “the first volume in King’s magnum opus” or some other such praise that tells me nothing about the story. The story is about the gunslinger, whose name we later learn is Roland, tracking the mysterious “man in black” across a desert wasteland. Along the way he reflects on his past and tells some of his story to people he meets, so you slowly put together some of his backstory, what this world is, and why he’s chasing the man in black, although the book ends before the puzzle is anywhere close to complete.
That’s really all there is to the plot. Roland is traveling across the desert wasteland and we the reader get stories and flashbacks to orient ourselves to the world (and the characters, to a point) as we go. Even the mysterious Dark Tower that gives the series its name doesn’t get mentioned until the end and I have no idea why Roland wants to find it so bad. I actually have very little idea about Roland himself – the book contains a lot of things that he did or that happened to him, but very little about who he is as a person. He kept his thoughts and feelings tightly under wraps and that prevented me from connecting with him as a character. I didn’t dislike him, but I didn’t know enough about him to like him, either.
The Gunslinger grabbed me right out of the gate with questions: who this gunslinger is (he doesn’t get a name until quite a ways in), why he’s chasing the man in black, who the man in black is, and whether the gunslinger is just traveling through a desert or if the whole world is some apocalyptic desert wasteland. But then it doesn’t make much of an attempt to answer the questions. Even though it’s long enough to be a complete novel, the whole book feels like the first bit of a longer story – the part where the protagonist may have a goal but everything is relatively normal, and the reader is getting oriented to the world before everything goes sideways and the plot starts. I have to imagine this was intentional and Stephen wanted to make the whole series feel like a single story split into multiple volumes, but it was absolutely bizarre to read a whole book that felt like a beginning. It technically is a self-contained story, but the whole book had a feeling of waiting for the plot to start.
If I was just reading on my own, I probably wouldn’t continue the series. This book was reasonably interesting, but it wasn’t enough to grab me and leave me begging for book two. But I had a great time discussing this book with my friend, and my library has the whole series on audiobook. So I’ll probably read book two eventually, if for no other reason than discussing it with my friend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, and Gun violence
Moderate: Gore, Excrement, and Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny and Infidelity
chaptereleven's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content