Rating: 
Summary: The best creation of King's imagination takes time ....
Review: At under 300 pages, "The Gunslinger" -- the first book from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series -- may seem oddly short, especially when compared to the latest volume from the epic, weighing in at around 700 pages. And still, Constant Reader, there are thousands more to go!According to the afterword from this volume, it took King twelve years to complete the writings. He wrote the opening line "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" while an undergrad, the middle portions when "'Salem's Lot" was going bad, and was inspired with another concurrent writing: "The Stand." For King to have kept the Gunslinger, the Man in Black, Jake, the other characters -- and really the entire world of the Dark Tower -- alive for so long in his mind is a testament to not only the power that this held over the author, but holds over us -- his Constant Readers. Moreover, since the first publishing of "The Gunslinger," around twenty years have passed, a number of newer volumes in this series have come and gone -- yet with this first, partially inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland," and partially inspired by reams of green paper (read the afterword to the book), you know that it was a very special creation indeed. I am not a fan of King's horror fiction. But when he gets down to writing about "other worlds than these," such as "The Stand," "Insomnia," "The Green Mile," and "The Talisman" (co-authored with Peter Straub) -- there is no one better. His is an imagination to be jealous of. There is always a feeling that alternate universes exist, next to our own (or maybe, ours exists within a molecule in some other reality). King imbues his other worlds with just enough of our own so that we feel a tantalizing connection between our perceptions of reality, and those that he uses to entertain us with. "The Gunslinger," at under 300 pages, is just right to introduce us to the world of The Dark Tower, and keep us on course, with a desire to continue (and to wait, ever so patiently for the next volumes in the series) the journey that the Gunslinger started many years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disappointed, but still willing to give it a chance.
Review: The main problem with this book is that I have no idea what is going on. My best guess is the Gunslinger lives in some world that is half reality half dream. I am thinking King was doing his fair share of hallucinogenic drugs while he was writing this book. But here is what I THINK is going on. Roland, the gunslinger, is in pursuit of the man in black, who can help him to find the Tower, his true goal. Along the way, he meets Jake, a young boy who becomes his travelling companion. And they run into various adventures, misadventures, dream-like sequences, and the reader gets to flashback to Roland's youth. The main problem with this book is I have no idea when or where it is taking place. I am hoping that this becomes clearer in the second installment, although seeing how I didn't like this one too much, it may take me a while to get to "The Drawing of the Three." I have heard that perserverance in this series pays off. If you're looking for a quick, easy read, skip this book. If you want to read the whole series, be prepared for a slow start.
Rating:
Summary: The Begining to A Great Book
Review: The Gunslinger is one very good book. I really like the characters here because I really believe this is a story you will not be able to put down. Many people dont have time to read but when you pick this book up you will not be able to put it down. Make sure you have extra time on your hands or else youll become glued to the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Book To Read Twice
Review: This book is a very good book. I really like it because it's has a compeling story that will keep you wanting to read the next line. If you are doing something important, do not start this book because you will not be ablt to put it down. This book has everything from sex, to viloence, to friendship. The gunslinger is great character, he doesn't really reveal his feelings and is trying to find the man in black. This book is really one of Stephen King's best works. If you ever want to read a good book pick the Gunslinger!
Rating:
Summary: The best creation of King's imagination takes time ....
Review: At under 300 pages, "The Gunslinger" -- the first book from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series -- may seem oddly short, especially when compared to the latest volume from the epic, weighing in at around 700 pages. And still, Constant Reader, there are thousands more to go! According to the afterword from this volume, it took King twelve years to complete the writings. He wrote the opening line "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" while an undergrad, the middle portions when "'Salem's Lot" was going bad, and was inspired with another concurrent writing: "The Stand." For King to have kept the Gunslinger, the Man in Black, Jake, the other characters -- and really the entire world of the Dark Tower -- alive for so long in his mind is a testament to not only the power that this held over the author, but holds over us -- his Constant Readers. Moreover, since the first publishing of "The Gunslinger," around twenty years have passed, a number of newer volumes in this series have come and gone -- yet with this first, partially inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland," and partially inspired by reams of green paper (read the afterword to the book), you know that it was a very special creation indeed. I am not a fan of King's horror fiction. But when he gets down to writing about "other worlds than these," such as "The Stand," "Insomnia," "The Green Mile," and "The Talisman" (co-authored with Peter Straub) -- there is no one better. His is an imagination to be jealous of. There is always a feeling that alternate universes exist, next to our own (or maybe, ours exists within a molecule in some other reality). King imbues his other worlds with just enough of our own so that we feel a tantalizing connection between our perceptions of reality, and those that he uses to entertain us with. "The Gunslinger," at under 300 pages, is just right to introduce us to the world of The Dark Tower, and keep us on course, with a desire to continue (and to wait, ever so patiently for the next volumes in the series) the journey that the Gunslinger started many years ago.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of an amazing journey!!!!!!!
Review: This is the first installment of Stephen King's Amazing Dark Tower series. This book is brilliant from start to finish. If you haven't read it yet, please do. Even if you are not a fan of Stephen King's regular work, you will like this. Trust me.
Rating: 
Summary: well i guess the way it goes is there
Review: This books gets many good reviews but I have to say, the title makes it like it is going to be some wild west fun but it is not. This is the story: A wild west guy is just like Gandalf with guns. He meets a kid who is like Frodo and they go on an adventure. I would have liked this book better if Dr. King had done a better job on it. He is a very nice writer but sometimes things do not work out for the best. In some parts it gets very gross. He describes a man shot in the face with the teeth all out and puss. This is not for kids! All in all this was the best book I ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen King - The Gunslinger
Review: This book is very good. This book is the fist part of a series of books. Stephen King has written forty really goo books. He lives in Maine and Florida with his wife. She has written a couple of books herself. The book I read was, The Gunslinger. At the end of the book he wakes up to be ten years older and his hair is grey. Then he looks over at his fire an it was gone, the fire pit and everything. The he walks out to the ocean and screams out, "Jake, Jake I love you!" The he looks down at his waist and looks at his father guns and starts telling about how he got them from his father. The gunslinger went on a long journey.
"A real gem, a journey to go on..."
Rating:
Summary: Start of the series and writing seminars
Review: I've read a number of reviews of the series and have been told by friends how great it is, so I decided to check it out. Reading and understanding the intro/forward King has written in this revised edition helped a great deal. King wrote this book early in his career with the intention of writing a grand epic. He explains the author of this book at the time had not really found his groove so to speak and had spent a little too much time in writing seminars. One particularly revealing comment King makes about himself was that the seminars taught him to favor ambiguity over clarity and simplicity. He also goes on to mention when he revised the book he found many areas for improvement, but was able to leave the writing alone in places where he was seduced into forgetting the writing seminars by a particulary entrancing piece of story. I find this captures the book well. Reading it, the book shifts from a very interesting tangible plot to the Gunslinger slipping into ambiguous dreaming and past thoughts within the same page. You can almost tell where King has gone back and done revisions as you can see his 30+ years of experience fixing his amateur mistakes. Taken by itself, I didn't find the book that intriguing. Just average. Taken as a series I will definitely trek on to the future volumes as a number of people have told me the first one is sort of one you just have to get through. It's good it is a quick read and sets up alot of what will be revealed later.
Rating: 
Summary: BIG LETDOWN
Review: I purchased this book because of all of its glowing reviews. Imagine my surprise when i began reading it to find it repulsive and not the least bit entertaining. King has had many wonderfull works in his career but this series is deffinatly not one of them. Boreing and not worth the effort.
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