Who has read Stephen King's "Gunslinger" books?
 

I've always avoided those books in the bookstores because they just didn't appeal to me at the time. And the next thing I knew, there were several volumes out there and I was way behind.

Lately, I've been thinking about starting the whole series and reading it from beginning to end.

What's the word from those of you who have read some/all of them? Is it worth the investment of time?

Great writing, some of King's best.

Don't expect it to be horror, like Christine, Cujo or any of his other stuff.

It's a great storyline. If you start now, you might be done by the time he comes out with book 5.

I read somewhere that he rewrote the original gunslinger novel to fit in better with the storyline. Is that true?

I always thought the original wasn't nearly as good as the other 3 and didn't seem to click with the overall plot.

Don't expect typical Stephen King writing, but keep your mind open. They really are a good set of books and I'm looking forward to the new one in November.

These are some of my favorite works of king. Its got so many weird elements to it that makes it very enjoyable. First book was kind of unintresting for me to read I thought personaly. But I really enjoyed Drawing of the Three and Wastelands. I'd say its definately worth your time.

I'll agree with <B>The Atomic Boy</B>. I love the Gunslinger series, I don't think it will be truely appreciated until the story is done, King is dead, and we are all old and grey. It really is a classic in the making. If you like King and you want a taste of the Gunlsinger w/o commiting to a whole novel, pick up "Everything's Eventual" which contains a short story about Roland (the Gunslinger) and will give you a good taste.

It's awesome, read it.

Is it fantasy, sci-fi, or both? I am always disappointed with King's endings. I want to read these stories but fear the disappointment.

It's a little bit of both, diergray.

It's really hard to nutshell the gunslinger series. It's kind of an old fashioned western wrapped with a "day the world went away" feeling to it. It has zombies, vampires, witches and warlocks (those are all very loose terms I using). There some good character work in the Drawing of the Three. Some interesting background stuff in The Wastelands and even a gritty western/ love story in Wizard and Glass.

If you've read a Stephen King book from his last 10 years or so you've had glimpses of the Dark Tower series. Travellin' Jack gets a taste in The Talisman and The Black House; there's a mention of it in Insomnia; I'm sure there's more I just can't remember.

I realize I'm babbling so I'll stop; I'm just a big fan of The Dark Tower books :)

Ive read all 4 books twice now... it is truly an amazing work. The first of the books is a little tough to get through, but its the shortest of them, and the other books make it worth your while to read the first one. As, guthmund said, the Dark Tower is in so much of King's writing its almost a little strange. The Talisman and Black house are pretty obvious ones, and Hearts in Atlantis is a little more subtle about its connections with the Dark Tower series. Rose Madder may have had a litle DT influence, but its arguable. Overall, its definately worth the time, since not only is it an amazing story, but you realize how completely the story has taken over King's mind in the past years.

the previous two posters have it just about right. If youve been interested in -Steven King- from Carrie,Salems Lot, The Shining-Then you will be interested in the "gunslinger-dark tower" stuff.

Actually, almost everything that king has written recently has tied in to the Dark Tower series recently. Not to mention that he's bringing several characters into Roland's world from other novels (i.e. the priest from Salem's Lot).

Someone mentioned that they don't really like King's endings... Not to worry, there's only going to be one, and we're still like 3 books away from it.

It really is the culmination of his life's work. Not really horror, not really fantasy, but a good read every page of the way.

the Dark Tower series is one of two series (or books in general) that I loved so much I reread them.

The Gunslinger is really good and the whole series is great. I looked a few months ago at when the series would finish. book 5 comes out this Nov. six next year around april or november. I am unsure if there will be a book 7 or not.


honestly, most of King's books bore the hell out of me, altho his book "It" is the only book i've ever been creeped out by.

TDTS is kind of every genre together. heavy american west influences gone sci post apocalyptic gones fantasy with a lot of gore.

the characters are awesome and the story is great and it gets very, very gritty at times. Roland is such a hard ass, he fucking rules.:)

oooooohhhhhh and there are many guest apperances from King's other books including my favorite bad guy of all time :D

The thing to keep in mind with the release dates for the upcoming Dark Tower books is that King keeps pusing em back. You'd think it was Star Wars Glaxies or something. So I guess don't trust the release dates till it goes gold...or something of equal merit.

I myself can't wait for the next book to come out. "Wizard & Glass" was very good, but it didn't really advance the story much; just gave the background of Roland.

There has been lots of criticism of the recent Stephen King books as being nothing new with recycled ideas (even though I liked Bag of Bones myself). I think the Dark Tower series probably gives him a chance to go wild in exploring this whole other world, where everything is as fresh and exciting to him as it is to us. With that said, I think this series so far is his best stuff.

Let's just hope they don't turn it into a TV mini-series, starring the guy from "Wings."

amen to that




the "world" of the Dark Tower series is actually a multiverse which contains all of the other worlds that exist in all of the rest of King's work. He said as much in the preface to one of them (W&G, I think). When its done, I fully expect it to stand as his best work, surpassing even The Stand in my estimation as the best he's ever written.

I think people give the ABC version of The Shining a bad rap because they try to compare it to Kubrick's. I personaly think that Stephen Webber did a very good job of protraying Jack's slow decline from man with a bad past to lunatic with a mallet. The thing about Kubrick's Shining is Jack seems to just go from crazy to crazier. Though I admit any form adapting Dark Tower to tv would just be a silly idea.

I loved the first three but haven't been able to get into Wizard and Glass. Too bad too since I know that we get to read more about Roland's past.

I'll get around to re-reading the series after I finish re-reading the Lord of the Rings.

Yeah, you're talking about The Little Sisters of Eluria. That's what got me started on this whole thing. Like I said, I'd always avoided the Gunslinger books (for whatever dumb reason), but this little short-story is what got me thinking about reconsidering.

Chronologically, when does Little Sisters of Eluria take place in Roland's quest?

Lobstrosities... those are my favorites!

I think King kind of considers the Dark Tower stuff his "penultimate" work. Ties everything together and I'll bet the last Dark Tower book will be his last book.

He retired, remember?

:)

So he did announce that the last Dark Tower book is his last too? I had kinda figured as much with how he said he only had a few more novels before he was quitting anyways. As far as Sisters I've never read it but I think I heard that it falls before the first book. I know for a fact its before the second.

I saw King on TODAY with Matt Lauer last week, and he said several interesting things. First, he has finished all 7 Gunslinger books and they will be released piecemeal beginning this November with #5. Second, he said that he attempted to work on another novel at the same time he was working on the last Gunslinger, when he told his wife Tabitha that he "broke something." He said it was the only way he could think to describe what he felt. But he strongly advised that he might never write again based on that feeling.

Bag of Bones IMHO was some of the best new non Dark Tower stuff in a long time. Reading his On Writing I can that he may be getting to the point where he just doesn't have anything worth writing about anymore.

The gunslinger series is really good. I just wish that it didn't take him such a long time to continue the series (after reading the first 2 it was years before the next book in the series came out). It is good to know that the rest of the series has been finished and is being readied for release.

Same for me. I tore through the first three at an accelerating pace, and I felt The Wastelands was one of his best books, but Wizard and Glass just about bored me to tears. I only made it 25% of the way through before putting it away indefinitely. Some of my friends are into the connection between the Dark Tower and the other books, such as Insomnia and the Straub books, but I tend to dismiss that and just judge the book or series on its own. Regardless, the first three cannot be oversold. They are masterfully written.

I hope he has finished them all... I loved the first few, and my biggest fear was that it would end up being an unfinished series, with king pulling a weak, early ending, or dying before he could finish them. In my opinion, they definitely are his best works. Something about that world just appealed to me for some reason, I'm not quite sure why.