You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pasta_pardner 's review for:
The Gunslinger
by Stephen King
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(My review is spoiler-free.)
It seems I'm late to the party, reading this for the first time in 2025. I went into "The Gunslinger" pretty blind, and I'm thankful for that. Now that I've finished it, I forsee myself getting sucked into The Dark Tower series... and the rest of Stephen King's extended universe along with it.
This book blew me away! I was hooked from the first sentence and couldn't put it down-- "The Gunslinger" is atmospheric, ominous, poetic, and emotional all at once. The world is colorful, the prose is densely layered... it's stunning. I can't remember the last time I felt so strongly about a novel.
Though, fair warning, this isn't exactly a "smooth" read. I needed to keep a notebook (and a dictionary) handy while I went through it. Jotting down the fantasy nouns in my notebook helped me understand what was happening, but my confusion sometimes pulled me out of the moment-to-moment story experience. I suspect the depth of King's worldbuilding and foreshadowing makes "The Gunslinger" extra rewarding upon rereads... though unfortunately, the complexity of those elements hindered my first-read immersion.
And the ending... yeah, I need to read the next book ASAP before I can feel satisfied.
I almost ranked this book 5 stars, but docked a few points because the pacing does falter (just a bit) in the middle. And-- though perhaps this is shallow of me-- I can't bring myself to 5-star a novel where the ending is (purposefully) unsatisfying and the text is (purposefully) challenging for first-readers... even though I strongly feel that this book was a SUPER worthwhile read.
All that being said, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT!! :D
It seems I'm late to the party, reading this for the first time in 2025. I went into "The Gunslinger" pretty blind, and I'm thankful for that. Now that I've finished it, I forsee myself getting sucked into The Dark Tower series... and the rest of Stephen King's extended universe along with it.
This book blew me away! I was hooked from the first sentence and couldn't put it down-- "The Gunslinger" is atmospheric, ominous, poetic, and emotional all at once. The world is colorful, the prose is densely layered... it's stunning. I can't remember the last time I felt so strongly about a novel.
Though, fair warning, this isn't exactly a "smooth" read. I needed to keep a notebook (and a dictionary) handy while I went through it. Jotting down the fantasy nouns in my notebook helped me understand what was happening, but my confusion sometimes pulled me out of the moment-to-moment story experience. I suspect the depth of King's worldbuilding and foreshadowing makes "The Gunslinger" extra rewarding upon rereads... though unfortunately, the complexity of those elements hindered my first-read immersion.
And the ending... yeah, I need to read the next book ASAP before I can feel satisfied.
I almost ranked this book 5 stars, but docked a few points because the pacing does falter (just a bit) in the middle. And-- though perhaps this is shallow of me-- I can't bring myself to 5-star a novel where the ending is (purposefully) unsatisfying and the text is (purposefully) challenging for first-readers... even though I strongly feel that this book was a SUPER worthwhile read.
All that being said, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT!! :D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol