The Gunslinger
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Is the Dark Tower series worth reading?
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Benjamin
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rated it 5 stars
May 09, 2014 11:49AM
yeah the dark tower books have ruined all other books for me I keep looking for a series of book that will draw me into there world like rolands world did and I can't find it oh well atleast there are books I like but nothing so far has got me obsessed like the dark tower which is probably a good thing
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In my opinion it is some of King's best writing. The series is my personal favorite of his works. The story and characterizations are so rich. I love how the lines of reality are blurred between his other novels and even into reality.
@ Bailey, I am interested to know did you read the series? I am a Stephen King fan, but definitely not a fantasy fan......but I loved the series. When I got to the end (I read each as they were published) I just wanted to start at the beginning again!
Shaun wrote: "I hope he leaves it just the way it is."I am with you Shaun. It is an awesome series.
I love Stephen King's books. I have read 31 to date and he is # 5 on my most read authors list. But I just did not like the Dark Tower books.
did you read them all greg or did you give up on the first?
Not the typical King i am used to reading, but I loved the series.I would agree that the "Gunslinger" can be a little off putting for some people. It took me awhile to get involved in it and then it sparked my interest.
I got involved in the story and really wanted to see how it ended.
I've recommened the series to lots of people and they have all enjoyed it.
I do have 2 words of warning. #1 "Wizard and Glass" is a bit slow and I didnt care for it.
#2. at the end of "The Dark Tower" there is a page that literally says "If you enjoyed this book, stop reading" and if you did, then for the love of gawd stop, close the book, burn it, whatever you have too.
I wonder if there is a single person in all of humanity who has actually honestly followed the advice? Even if you dug through all monasteries and temples you can find you'll be hard pressed to find a monk or master who just closed the book and thought "Thanks for the nice read over the last few decades, I think I'll leave it at this"
@ Nicklas...Probably not. Personally I thought it might be a bit of reverse psychology to make us want to keep reading.
Richard wrote: "Drawing of the 3 and The Wasteland are stunning books, the rest are sadly not. Nothing matches the sheer high of the end of Wasteland, it's breathless and sadly is never paid off.The last 3 books..."
Pretty much exactly how i feel. I loved the first four!
I have the whole series on my re-read list....but I keep finding new books.......need more time.......
Yes, it most certainly is well worth reading! When I got to the final lines in the final book, shivers went up my spine - well creepy!
I know...wasn't it wonderful!
Yes. And then, move on.
Bailey wrote: "Thanks guys :)And Dann are you referring to The Wind Through The Keyhole ending?"
No...wind through the keyhole is a side story between IV and V. This series was amazing.
Benjamin wrote: "yes read the dark tower it's awesome all of them except maybe for wizard and glass but I loved them all even the ending!!! not all stories are suppose to be satisfying but it had to end like that ..."Wizard and Glass had a great story. Did you even read it??? This was one of the greatest love stories I've ever read. Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble reviews would very much say so as well.
yes I read it. I just thought it was the weakest book in the series even though I liked it.
A point I would like to make is that by the very nature of king growing as a writer--and as a human being-- over the two decades of the saga's creation, the series is in many ways exploring the art and craft of writing and storytelling as it is about a gunslinger on a quest. Perhaps that aspect is what turns some readers off from Book 4 and beyond.
Once you get going you'll love them.
Benjamin wrote: "yes I read it. I just thought it was the weakest book in the series even though I liked it."Oh, ok. I'm only on Wolves of the Calla, atm, and finding it the weakest so far, although still good.
I am one of those few people who loved the first book, and find the ending to be highly satisfying after such a long, strange trip, although it was almost physical painful (If you read it you know what I mean). The books get more and more awesome until the fifth book, which, toghter with the sixth, are the weaker of the series (The sixth one being the weakest). Overall the best books in the series are 3,4 and 7. 1 and 2 are awesome. 5 and 6 are weaker in comparison, but still above average. I think what sets this series apart from any other book I've read is the characters. You'll never get so attached with a bunch of characters as you will with Roland and his Ka-tet.
I think that the series as a whole is a masterpiece but it does have a lot of problems. The Gunslinger was good but either that or the sixth one were the worst. I didn't like the sixth one because it was too slow but the Gunslinger was just a bit of a weird book, feels sort of like the odd man out(although it was a long time ago when he wrote it). All the other books are great, the fourth is probably the best, altogether the series is amazing and definitely worth a read.
Lucas wrote: "I am one of those few people who loved the first book, and find the ending to be highly satisfying after such a long, strange trip, although it was almost physical painful (If you read it you know ..."3 and 4 are my favorites so far too.
Agrimorfee wrote: "A point I would like to make is that by the very nature of king growing as a writer--and as a human being-- over the two decades of the saga's creation, the series is in many ways exploring the art..."book four did seem to get a little to far off topic for my taste. but I love the ones that came after it as much as I like the first three!!!
Bailey wrote: "The Gunslinger orders three hamburgers, and the man in black is then mentioned, chasing away a customer then some guy comes in saying he was touched by god and wants to stop smoking the grass."He is recalling an incident that occurred in a town called Hull for the person that lived in the desert who put him up for the night.
I haven't gotten around to reading the last two of the series, but so far its been 3000 pages of HELL YES! The first book will always be my favourite because it leaves you with a vague, eerie idea of Roland's formidable when and where, but I must say that, IMO, Wizard & Glass was incredibly good. Now that I really know what drives Roland, and its hell of a good reason, I too am motivated to reach the Dark Tower and _______ the _______.
I fell in love with the Dark Tower series from the beginning, I was the moron who waited YEARS between books. Then the ending. Don't do it to yourself.
I realize this question is a bit old now, but just saw it. I read the entire series three times over the years. So I think it was good. :)
The series gets worse and worse and book 7 stinks. Very disappointed.
I loved every single book in this series. I HIGHLY recommend these books I love the all the characters and the books are so involved. There is wonderful character development. I have read every book that Stephen King has published.The Dark Tower series in my favorite books that he has ever written! A brilliant masterpiece of writing!
Roland is my favorite character in the series. He is so complex and mysterious.
So you must read these books. You won't be disappointed!
Gunslinger is one of my favorite of his books. It also contains one of the most terrifying scenes, for me, of his entire catalog.
Shaun wrote: "I strongly disagree. Book 4, Wizard & Glass, is the strongest book in the series as far as I'm concerned. The three following are good in their own right. I know some people take issue with the fin..."Thats crazy talk. The Dark Tower Series is one of my favorites. Couldnt get enough of it... Except book #4. It was the only book in the series I disliked. Wizard & Glass was the worst and dont even get me started on the crappy ending...
Shaun wrote: "Honestly, and I say this as a huge Stephen King fan, the Gunslinger is by far the worst of the series. It was also one of his earliest books. I think it started out as something very different (mor..."I think the Gunslinger is my favorite of the series for the exact reasons you feel it's his weakest. It's a solitary book and can stand alone where none of the others in the series really can, except perhaps "The Wind Through the Keyhole". We are introduced to Roland in his raw, unadulterated form before his ka tet begin to effect any kind of change on him. I wanted to get to know that Roland, so I could better appreciate the Roland who I presumed would finally climb the stairs in the tower and try to fathom the power that binds all worlds together. I liked the Roland who held palaver with Walter and woke up alone with a skeleton- the one who let Jake die, in truth- far better in some ways than the one who feels the dry twist for the first time in The Wastelands, or even the Roland in Song of Suzannah who practically gives himself a brain hemorrhage in trying to keep Suzannah and Eddie from splitting at their seams and destroying them all. I understood hat first Roland best and never had to ask myself why he did what he would do, as I had to later in the series. To me, beginnings are what makes any good series of books worth reading- to see the progression, the changes, and the growth of his character stemming from his relationships and experiences on the journey. Without the first, there could be no others, and certainly no last.
All in all, I can find good and bad things to say about each book, but they're just my own feelings and opinions, and won't mean anything to anyone else, when it comes right down to it.
I know that you have all read a series that seemed to go on and on. But then when you finish it you miss the characters and the interaction between yourself and them. That is the Dark Tower series. The first couple of books are a little hard to get through but the next thing you know you are fully involved with their lives and decisions and you cant stop. Definitely a good read in my opinion.
It's worth a read but when you finish you'll have realized that after 7 books it probably could have been done in 3. I liked the 1st book, Wizards & Glass, & loved (despite other's opinions) the ending! My biggest gripe with series (without giving too much away) it King's egotism playing a part in the story & there were too many plotlines/stories going on all at once that didn't seem to correlate with the story too well. But hey that's my opinion.
Stephen King wrote a revised edition of the first book to fix a lot of the problems people have mentioned here. This may have been mentioned before but I didn't see it.
Jonathan wrote: "Stephen King wrote a revised edition of the first book to fix a lot of the problems people have mentioned here. This may have been mentioned before but I didn't see it."Interesting. Might have to look for that book, then.
So have you read any yet? are you a Dark tower lover or hater now ? lol me I loved it, all of it but mostly Roland Deschain. :D <3
I've read them all back to back over the last two months and think the sum is lesser than the parts. King took a neat idea and wrote a few short stories about the gunslinger, which then got edited into a unique post-apocalyptic/ western/fantasy/horror novel. This book is my favorite part of the series. He could have stopped there, like Lucas could have stopped with the original Star Wars, and had a great piece of work.
Instead he wrote a sequel which starts off in a very odd way, but tells a few interesting stories and introduces a couple of fascinating characters. (The first of these stories is my third favorite part of the series.) Then he wrote another sequel in which a character from the first novel is reintroduced and all of them have to survive a Thunderdome-esque city and a psychotic AI-operated monorail.
Then he wrote another sequel in which the psychotic monorail is defeated with playground riddles, after which there is an extended flashback into the gunslinger's past, after which they're off to meet the Wizard of Oz. This book, or more accurately the central flashback story, is the my second favorite part of the series, because it evoked and explored precisely the world of apocalyptic-western-dark fantasy that King had created in the first book. Other readers don't like this story-in-a-story because it doesn't advance the overall narrative arc of the "magnum opus." This makes no sense to me as there is ultimately no overall story arc, other than something King made up as he went along. He lost his outline, as he reveals to us late in the series!
Then the author was almost killed after being hit by a passing vehicle, and subsequently the novels went down the tubes in a rush to complete by what then had evidently become an obsession.
The highlight of the fifth was the introductory framing story, which, again, was set in a weird western-fantasy world; everything else, from the purposeless rambling about 'Salem's Lot to the equally pointless ID'ing of the bad guys as Doombots to the Riddikulusly superfluous Harry Potter font, added nothing to either what was basically the plot of The Magnificent Seven/七人の侍 or the larger "magnum opus." The sixth book was a bridge between books 5 and 7, recycling tropes from the first four books, and introducing more unnecessary characters. I cried a good deal at the end of the first half of book 7, which was my fourth favorite part of the series, and the most painful thus far. I suspect I shall shed more tears as the Fellowship comes apart at the seams. But in some way this is basest sentimentality. What makes the last three books at all interesting is the metafictional stuff, although I suspect it will also prove to be the largest strike against the series too, as King's reach outstrips his grasp, and everything descends into him "processing" his inability to end the friggin' story well. Oh well, if you like Stephen King, you know endings have never been his strong suit. But goddamn, Steve, did you really need to take 4500 pages still to not resolve things?
In sum I would recommend reading the original edition of The Gunslinger, and the first four books if you must, but leave the last three alone. Unless you like Star Wars episodes 1–3 or think The Matrix needed to be expanded intro a trilogy, in which case you might like this extended journey to nowhere.
Richard wrote: "I have to confess book 4 was the one I found to be the worst. I know one mans meat is anothers poison but I'm fascinated with folk who loved book 4 as it really was drivel for me."To me, the strength of book 4 was in the story in the story, the flashback to Roland's world. This is the western-fantasy-horror world I signed on for in book 1. I thought the beginning and end of the book were utter crap, though, say true.
Bobbie wrote: "I fell in love with the Dark Tower series from the beginning, I was the moron who waited YEARS between books. Then the ending. Don't do it to yourself."My condolences. I'm seriously considering never reading Stephen King again; the last two months reading the whole saga have been a slog.
Anyone who doesn't let Roland get into their head at least a little bit has forgotten the face of their father... I've read the first five - having a break before 'Song of Susannah'. Will finish what I've started, if only not to let Roland down.
Troy wrote: "Anyone who doesn't let Roland get into their head at least a little bit has forgotten the face of their father... I've read the first five - having a break before 'Song of Susannah'. Will finish ..."
I'm actually page turning at the speed of light with Song of Susannah, because not only is it short, I find Susannah and Mia very interesting in this book. And the ambush of Eddie and Roland was awesome. Wolves of the Calla was 3/4 boring and 1/4 interesting (Father Callahan's story).
Troy wrote: "Anyone who doesn't let Roland get into their head at least a little bit has forgotten the face of their father... ..."
THAT'S IT! Thank you Troy! you put into words exactly how I feel about Roland...even though I know he'd dump me on my head for that damnable tower.
Wise Cat wrote: "I've only read up to the 4th book so far."Good place to stop. The last three books add nothing, and in fact, detract from the overall story, at least in my opinion. This is one epic that should have been left unfinished.
The first three books are really great, it took so long for the fourth that I stopped reading them and am only now going to try to read Wizard and Glass which isn't supposed to be that good. It's sad that I'm reading the last book is terrible, but I want to finally complete the series especially since it's finally complete.
in the long run I would say yes. It the first half of the series is excellent. Sadly the second half falters. But overall I think it was a great experience.
It started as one of the best fantasy series that I've ever read (and I love fantasy). Wizard and glass probably my favorite. It actually hurts me to think about this series, because after that, it totally took a nose-dive so incredibly horrific that I dont know whether to laugh, cry, or scream. I'm not one of those people who has a problem with it's actual ending. I can see the poetry in it. But a series that started with interesting writing, amazing character development and wonderful storytelling turned into absolute shit. The villains that had been cultivated over the course of multiple books ended up being so inconsequential. {SPOILERS} Stephen King actually writing himself into the series in the way he did was so egotistical and just plain horrible I couldnt get over it. Dont get me wrong, I get the literary commentary. But it was just poorly executed and ridiculous.
That being said, all the books through Wizard and Glass are freakin brilliant, engaging and awesome. Someday I will go back and read them although I still cant stomach it because I know what comes after.
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