The Gunslinger question

I also found the first book to be a bit boring, but it's important to the series as a whole. The second book is better by leaps and bounds, so even if you don't finish the first I would definitely recommend starting the second. You might even go back to the first book after reading some of the others.

I love this series, but my general view is that there is always another book out there and each person will like some more than others. Give a book a fair chance, but after that, if you don't like it, there's no real reason to force yourself through it.

Not to make serious fans of James Joyce angry (I loved Dubliners!), but read, oh - about 7 pages of "Ulysses" and come back to "The Gunslinger". It will not seem boring then. :p Also, I have noticed that some people's comments are able to be replied to while others are not. Can anyone tell me why? Thank you.

I only made it halfway through this book when I had to put it away. There was no flow to the book, it jumped around in a choppy manner that made it hard to follow. The characters were shallow and forgettable, so forgettable that every time a character went away for a few chapters and then was brought up again I'd have to search back through the book and refresh my memory of who they were.

One of the few books I wasn't able to make it through. Just did not engage me at all.

It's okay to dislike a book people usually find good.

I liked the first three but the fourth book was a real pain.

If you don't like it, it's okay, just stop reading. There are too many books out there to lose your time on things you don't like.

I just finished the whole series (first time) a couple months ago. It was recommended by a friend, and I did find the first book to be... underwhelming. I couldn't say I disliked it, but didn't really like it at all, but I was warned that I should give it 2 books before I decide to stop the series. Yeah, I kept going, it picks up a lot better after the first book (but the first is important to the story).

So that's my help, the same advice I was given, give it until the 2nd book and if you still don't like it after that then move on to another book/series.

If I had read this book first, I doubt I would've continued the series. Luckily for me, I started with The Drawing of Three. But then again, I knew most of the story before I picked up The Gunslinger.

I think the first book varies greatly from the rest of the series. However, it's important in establishing Roland's and Jake's characters, so try to plow through if you're finding the book difficult to read.

That being said, if you've decided to put the book aside, give Wizard and Glass a try. It stands alone out of the series and is a fantastic novel. It's my favorite of the Dark Tower books, by far.

Paperadventures wrote: "I'm on page 20-50 (can't remember which exact page). Many rave about how good the other books in the series are. Is it worth it to read the first book, or could I skip it/read a summary? Should I r..."

You could start reading the graphic novel called The gunslinger born, which is a prequel to the first book, and it helps you visualize every character and the world. Also, you can read The Battle of Tull another graphic novel to the dark tower.

I think if you don't have any concept of what the world of The Dark Tower will end up looking like (the accordion kaleidoscope of King's lore) this first book would just seem like a tepid fantasy cowboy story. I knew what was coming next when I started this series (a abridged version by has an intro by King which helps contextualize the world and the breadth of the story) , and that this story only scratched at the surface of the whole only served to intrigue me. Also, compared to many other things King has written this just isn't as verbose and overloaded with words and descriptions. I appreciated the stark direct approach and maybe at a different time he considered these for release under his alternate name Bachman.

I liked it, but I was `13 at the time I read this book. If I recall correctly books 2 and 3 are much better. Book 4 didn't exist at the time.

It's been over 15 years since I've read the first 4 books in the series. I enjoyed books 1-3, with book 2 being the highlight. Book 4, Wizard and Glass, made me lose interest in the series.

I would say that your enjoyment of this series probably depends on how big a Stephen King fan you are.....taken as a whole this series defines and explains the backdrop to many characters and themes to numerous King novels....it is truly remarkable from a literary perspective that such an overarching theme would be developed through so many novels written at vastly different times. There is homage paid to westerns, there is fantasy.....there is no true war or battle except by reference unless you count the personal struggle for the Tower to be a battle. I initially couldn't get into these novels when I first tried to read them but came back to them later and loved them. It is hard to judge what people like but I disagree with those who think the first book is sub-par....it is foundational to the whole series. You meet and understand so many of the characters. Good luck in your journey.

Paperadventures, it's possible it's just not your type of book. It's also possible you are just reading it at the wrong point in your life.

When I read Mary Shelly's Frankenstein in late middle school or early high school, I HATED it since Victor "whined" way too much. Was required to read it again for senior year (dreading the task the entire time) and was fascinated by how his self-torment and resulting actions of the monster may have been entirely avoided.

It's entirely possible that King's The Gunslinger might awaken your curiosity and interest a few years down the road. But then again, maybe not.

I first started with King's The Wind Through the Keyhole (a Dark Tower novel) and found it much more compelling. I have not finished the Dark Tower novels yet, but I found it a reasonable stand-alone. It may have even helped me subconsciously adjust to his more relaxed plot-progression pace.

I had to force myself to read 100 pages a day to get through the book. I actually enjoyed it after I finished it. It was great once you look back on it. I just started The Drawing of the Three. It is way better.

I love Steven King but had a hard time getting through these as well. If you do manage to slog through them at the end of the day you'll not feel like you wasted your time because they do all start to come together and it's neat how they tie into his other books.

You're not the only one who found The Gunslinger boring. As much as I love Stephen King, I am afraid I just couldn't get into this book at all.



Paperadventures wrote: "I'm on page 20-50 (can't remember which exact page). Many rave about how good the other books in the series are. Is it worth it to read the first book, or could I skip it/read a summary? Should I r..."

Really? Twenty pages in and you're winging? Didn't they make you read "Lord of the Flies" in school? This is a much easier read with tons of awesomeness to follow.

Twenty pages... good grief.

I find this book deadly dull too. I read it once in High School and again in October or so, and snoozed through it both times. I had to rely on an audiobook to actually get to the end this time.

Not every book is for every person. But I certainly wouldn't read any of the others in the series based on how dull I found this book.

That said, i loved "Ulysses", so what do I know?

I just finished reading book 1 of the Gunslinger series. My husband assured me that I would love it and the series was second only to Lord of the Rings. I found the book disjointed and a little explanation of what's going on in this universe would be helpful. I will keep reading the series since it's in my TBR pile. Personally, Tolkien has nothing to worry about.

I am a huge King fan but had a hard time getting rolling on this series too. I did it as an audiobook until the later volumes.

I found it incredibly slow. I had never read King before and since I'm a fan of westerns a buddy recommended this one. I thought it was painfully boring, but due to the writing style and extreme way he describes characters. In that regard he reminded me of Melville. I really actually liked the book to an extent but it could have gotten to the same place with 100 fewer pages. Sad to say I may never read King again.

Paperadventures wrote: "I'm on page 20-50 (can't remember which exact page). Many rave about how good the other books in the series are. Is it worth it to read the first book, or could I skip it/read a summary? Should I r..."
if youre struggling with book 1, youre not gonna like the rest of the series. the books get steadily bigger and deeper as you go on. Its an epic saga with a lot of conversations between characters, some violent confrontations and quite a bit of gunplay. In book 1, Roland goes on a rampage through a town and it doesnt end well for anybody there. Theres a lot of time-travel and movement through worlds. Very well written but youve gotta be invested in the whole concept. I read Book 1 around the time it was first released( early 80s) and I waited years for the next books to be written. But Ive always felt it was worth waiting for. A huge number of SK books are linked back into the Dark Tower books. So, if you`re gonna read his work, you`ll constantly find references in his other books that connect a character or a plotline into the Dark Tower and to Roland`s quest. Hope you enjoy it.

Not to bash Stephen King too much, particularly since I can't write so who am I to judge. But I find SK's writing to contain a lot of page filler paragraphs and unnecessary detail. I don't know if he does this to distract the reader from a simple story line or to just make his books fatter or if he is always thinking of providing a script for the movie. No matter what the reason I find his writing tedious to read even though I find many of his stories to be very good/entertaining. I also think that the more famous you become the less an editor is willing to cut and there is something to be said for a good editor.

The Dark Tower is my favorite series of all time, but admittedly, the books are presented in a strange order. Keep in mind, the first chapter of the first book, "The Gunslinger," was written as a novella for a fantasy magazine, and then reworked a bit to be able to fit into the greater story. I've recommended this series to many people, and they typically fall into two groups: those who just couldn't get into and those who adored it. The former were often readers who couldn't really get past this first novel. I get it. Here's how the series kind of reads (minimal spoilers, I suppose, but nothing really gives anything away--just shapes the story a little better, I think).

Prequel (novella found in "Everything's Eventual") - "The Little Sisters of Eluria" - This is more of a side story and not really essential to the overarching story. A fun read, though, especially after you've read the series.

Book 1 - "The Gunslingers" - Thrusts you into Roland's conflict, with him chasing the Man in Black. The challenge with this book, I think, is the stakes. King tells you very little about Roland or the Man in Black or why he's chasing him. I don't think it's boring, but I understand why people think so, and I think it has to do with the stakes not properly being established.

Book 2 - "The Drawing of the Three" - While this book still doesn't tell you much about Roland's backstory, I think it's a more appropriate beginning to the series. Think of the Gunslinger as a precursor to this one. This is where he pulls in his fellowship, if you will, and King does a MUCH better job of making you care for these characters at this point.

Book 3 - "The Wastelands" - Continues Roland and his fellowship's (his "ka") adventures. More action packed and suspenseful. I really liked this one.

Book 4 - "Wizard and Glass" - Everyone has their own opinion, but this one is my favorite. Roland and his fellowship (ka-tet) stop to rest and the novel is basically Roland telling them HIS story (finally). This is when you finally get to really sympathize with Roland, IMO.

Book 4.5 - "The Wind Through the Keyhole" - This came out after the series was finished. Basically, the group is stranded for a day or so, and so Roland tells them two fictional stories from his world. Both are entertaining.

Book 5 - "The Wolves of the Calla" - Their adventure continues. I've heard some say this one felt most like a true high fantasy novel.

Book 6 - "Song of Susannah" - is a shorter book than the ones around it. Kind of sets things up for the final push to the Dark Tower.

Book 7 - "The Dark Tower" - The finale, of course.

And then you have a gazillion other King novels that feed into this series.

I will say, this is not the most entertaining book, but it is a very good story.

To each their own, Mitch.

Admittedly, it does take some investment to get into it because of how it was written and came together.

The first book really is a drag, which is weird cause it's so short. I usually tell people to try it but if they don't like it then I summarize it for them and send them onto book 2. The second one is AMAZING, one of my favorite books of all time. If you don't like that one then, yeah, step away. But don't judge the whole series by book 1 :)

Yeah, Tyler Wise, I totally get why people feel that way. He wrote it in installments to a sci-fi magazine, or something like that, and wasn't sure he would even continue it. The second book he wrote more than a decade later. I liked the first one, but it's confusing and doesn't explain much.

I was also bored when I first read the Gunslinger as a teenager, as a standalone book. First time King ever disappointed me. Few years later I read "The Drawings of the three" and loved it, so pursued the entire saga with passion, even eagerness. That's when I felt I should read The Gunslinger again. Rather than Volume 1, I would consider it as a long introduction to the series. And any new reader to the 'Gunslinger" saga shouldn't skip it, as later on in the story there will be lots of references to it.

I read the whole series. Sometimes interesting, mostly boring and difficult to read. Many people really liked the series but I would like that time back

I did not like The Gunslinger at all. I read it, and decided the series wasn't for me. Fast forward to the publishing of Wizard and Glass. My well meaning mother, knowing I was a big King fan bought me Wizard for my birthday. So I went back and reread Gunslinger. And disliked it again. But the next three or four books in the series were fantastic. I didn't love the last couple of the series. King did something that really turned me off. (I won't say what and give a spoiler, but I think it began in Song of Susannah) Also I felt he rushed the end of the series.
Anyway, I think you have to read the Gunslinger to really understand the rest of the series.

I found this book and all of the Dark Tower books to be extremely entertaining and loved them all. In fact, I found myself purposely slowing down my reading so I wouldn't get through them too fast. I don't know what to say but your statement that "I usually don't like high fantasy, but I loved reading the Hobbit. I also don't like western. I don't like novels that have war as the main subject" might preclude you from enjoying these books. You just might want to move onto something else that is more interesting to you.

If you think it's boring, I suggest you find a different book to read. I personally didn't find it boring, but I have found other highly recommended books boring, but I wanted to finish them to see what people liked so much. I didn't enjoy it.

If you're not a fan of the first book it is doubtful that you'll like the rest of them. With the possible exception of Wizard and Glass because it varies quite heavily from the others.

The fantasy elements are not important. The western is a backdrop more than a setting.

You could finish out the first book and start the second to see if you like it after the introduction of more characters, I guess.

You have to read a little further, once you go from gunslinger world to our world, there is a big difference. If you don't like this collection. Try to read The Talisman and then Black house, same principle of duel worlds.

If you don't like a western setting, this might not be the right series for you. Many of the other books have the same feel to them as The Gunslinger, with a rural or wilderness environment, though some parts of the series take place in an urban setting. I still have two more books to read in this series, myself, but from what I've read of it so far, I can say that there are battles and confrontations, but some of the battles are those fought by the characters from within themselves. This is a slow moving series with bursts of action after many pages devoted to what amounts to traveling on an epic journey as part of a quest. If you're still undecided after whatever advice you get here, why not finish the book which does pick up, and maybe read the next book which is completely different from the first and one of the best books in the series in my opinion. But just as a warning, this series does require much patience.

I wasn't a huge fan of The Gunslinger when I first read it. I loved Drawing of the Three though and count the series amongst my favourite of all time. Stick with it. The book does get better and it gives a lot of information that you'll need for the rest to make sense.

i do agree that the first book does take while to get in to but it really does pick up and i was straight on to the next one! loved it! stick with it dude ....its gets better.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first but somewhere toward the middle, it grabbed me. Then I tore through the next couple of books in the series... up until Wizard & Glass. Hard time with that one too.

I read the first 4 books when they were first published about 30 years ago, but never read the last 3 when they came out many years later. When I was moving out of a large house to a small apartment recently I got rid of a lot of stuff, but I couldn't toss my copies of The Dark Tower series. Roland has stuck with me all these years even though I only read them once. I have recently reread the first 2 books and enjoyed them just as much as I did back then, and I will finally finished the series after all these years.

My advice to you is continue reading. The beginning is a bit slow, but as Roland continues further on his quest the story draws you in and things that happened before he became a Gunslinger play into his future.

It's funny that you mention not wanting to read it if there are lots of "battle and war scenes". If I were describing the story I would never use those words. My description would be.....A lone man on a quest to defeat a perceived evil and save the world. It is kind of a western/fantasy mix. If you are reading the new revised edition and read the forward by Stephen King he explains that some of his inspiration for Roland came from watching Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly movie (and the subsequent ones in that series). And that may be why I connect with Roland because I grew up watching and loving those same movies.
So try to finish and I'll bet you will be anxious to see what happens next to Roland (and his companions).

wizard and glass was by far the most boring but like janese said once I got to the middle of the gunslinger it grabbed me

The first book is very forgettable. When I finished it I was like: I have no idea of what I've just read. Years later I gave Drawing of the Three a shot. I had to look for a summary of the first book to get familiarized with the setting before starting. And yes it was much better. The third one is the best I've read so far. I had to start Wizard and Glass right away, because the third one ends in a cliffhanger (I don't usually read two books from the same series one after another). Unfortunately the fourth one get's boring at the second part, and I gave it up. I'm willing to grab it up when I feel like reading fantasy again.

So, in my humble opinion, yes, I think you could just skip the first one. Just read the wikipedia summary, and then go with The Drawing of the Three

By the way, good to see other people saying that Wizard & Glass is really hard to follow. I thought it was just me. But I think I need to read like 10 other books before returning where I left it.

The first book isn't that gripping, and it isn't easy to identify with Roland, who's a bit of an enigma. I also found it pretty misogynistic, which isn't King's usual style.

King wrote this when he was 19, and to me, it feels like it. I preferred the other books in the series. If you keep reading, you may get hooked like I did. It does have important background information for the rest of the series.

Most of the rest of the series has an adventure element rather than a battle element, and like King's best work, they focus on the emotion and the characters.

I absolutely love The Gunslinger. I had finished reading all of King's older books years ago, and his newer work just seemed to lack the poetic cadence and empathy of his earlier work. So, I finally decided to read The Gunslinger (though I, too, was put off by the western theme), and I am so glad that I did. It was a return to the old King, with lyrical writing that speaks like an old friend. Roland may be difficult to identify with in the beginning, but as the series continues, he becomes one of King's most powerful and unforgettable characters. The last few books do have a rushed feel about them, but overall, I have to say this is one of the best series I have ever read (and definitely contains the best ending King has ever written).

I didn't really care for the first book, but I loved all of the others. The first one just seemed to drag, at least for me I do agree with some of the above posts, that it picks up about the middle and gets better as it continues.

i dont blame the folks who found this boring. i found it intolerable. did not matter what page i was on- though at last count i crossed 180- ev erything seemed static. Hated this- maybe the folks who loved this book have a bent of intellect that defies definition.Wish i had that too.