Rating: 
Summary: Great Start for the Series
Review: Right from the start the Gunslinger grabs your interest and doesn't let it go. King gives you a character you know nothing about and has you hooked on him after five pages. In a world very similar to our own, the gunslinger is on a seemingly never ending quest after the Man in Black. In this battle of good and evil, King shows why he is one of the great writers of today.
Roland (the Gunslinger) is the last of a lost group of heroes. The story carries you with him across a desert and through a mountain in pursuit of the Man in Black and in search of the Dark Tower. On his Quest, the Gunslinger befriends an overly sexual bartender named Allie and a young boy named Jake. Roland's speed and sureness with decisions has major effects on his relationships with both. King also mixes in brief stories from Roland's past that fill you in on what and who he really is.
With a very deep final chapter, King finishes the novel with a strength that no one else could. This ending grandly sets up the next book in the series, where one can only hope that King keeps the greatness of this novel alive in the next instalment of the Dark Tower.
Rating: 
Summary: In the Beginning.
Review: Alright, maybe not the best way to start a review not assoiciated with the Bible. But here goes anyway. This is the first book in the long running (and still continuing) series about Roland, a kind of cowboy/knight in a search for the Man in Black, and further more the Dark Tower. This first book is a series of short stories, the most significant being his finding the boy Jake, and his symbolic death. When he finds the Man in Black, he gets some answeres, but more questions. The man in Black has a lot to do with Roland's past in with his royal parents. The book I read is vauge, but that is because subsequent volumes explains the back story. I gave it three stars because it isn't a good stand alone volume. But taken as a whole, it is an excellent beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: Badass book; nuff said
Review: Well, maybe there is more to say cuz this book is one pardon the phrase "badass mofo". It has it all: action, drama, suspense, romance, just everything you think of when you think of a hardcore Clint Eastwood Bonanza movie vibe. Roland is a great main character too, real fresh-faced killer mentality with a hint of compassion at the same time for the less fortunate along the way in the journey, or his love interest Alice who he has to end up killing ironically. To sum this piece up a must read for those hardcore King fans like myself or just if you like a good mysterious plot-twisting tale of dark wizardry and zigzags throughout. Good stuff and I'm not even an avid reader either, imagine that, it's just that easy to get involved, go hed phonics monkeys, join in. lol peace out
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read, but don't start here!
Review: When I first ventured in to the realm of Roland of Gilead, it was thanks to an audiobook I received from my cousin at Christmas time. When I learned the title, I can, without any shame, say that I was less than enthused. That book was, The Drawing of The Three, the second book in this amazing masterpiece of American literature. From just the "Argument" section of DOTD, I was hooked. Upon completing the book, I was desperate to know more about the mysterious Roland: where he came from, what made him so driven? I immediately procured "The Gunslinger" and must say I enjoyed it thoroughly. It does answer many questions, but in typical Stephen King fashion, leaves many more to be answered. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I believe DOTD is the place to start. Begin there, get sucked in to this amazing world, then backtrack and read the Gunslinger. All hale the King!
Rating:
Summary: Second Time was the Charm
Review: my 1st attempt at The Gunslinger was on audio-tape @ work. I promptly began to nod off before the 1st tape was finished. I swore off the book.months went by, and desparation for ANY listening material led me back. i don't proclaim to know what had changed for me, but suddenly I found myself trudging the desert with Roland, eager to see where each step would take us. the entire Dark Tower series is a part of my world. i re-read it as a whole about every 1 1/2 years (and a part of me still thinks that maybe he will catch the boy after all.....). I recommend that king fans (and any avid readers) who may have struggled getting into the story to be patient. Put it away for a few weeks or so & then try it again.
Rating:
Summary: Love at first sight
Review: Well, I have to say I've finished the fourth book a week before and deceided to jump into the revised version of The Gunslinger. And let's just say there was a lot more to tell. The unedited one was as clear as mud sometimes, but the revised one helps out here and there. Roland is the man, and that's all I have to say.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best of the Series, but Still Magnificent
Review: With "The Gunslinger," Stephen King set out on one of the greatest epic journeys of modern literature. Each subsequent novel in The Dark Tower series picks up right where the last one left off, meaning that The Dark Tower is not really a series at all, but one monstrous novel. Upon its completion, with the publication of DT7 in 2004, I think King will have engineered one of the greatest achievements of our time. "The Gunslinger," even in its new, revised form, is the weakest book in the series if you're talking about the style and diction. But keep in mind, he wrote most of the novel when he was 19. Could you have written this well as a teenager? I couldn't have. And the plot of the novel more than makes up for the style. If you are not intrigued by Roland, the last gunslinger of Gilead, you are one seriously unimaginative person. In any case, if you are a little put off by the rough style of this novel, keep on reading. Each book in the series gets better than the one before it, and the excitement and suspense builds as Roland his band of pilgrims draw ever closer to the Tower. Hamlet, Jay Gatsby, Holden Caulfield, Atticus Finch, Aragorn, Hannibal Lecter. They are among the greatest characters in literature, and someday Roland Deschain will rightfully hold a place among them.
Rating:
Summary: Hope it gets better...
Review: Well, I've never read the rest of the books in this series, but if they all read like this book I think I'd rather stab myself repeatedly in the eye with an icepick than continue. This book would be sooo much better if I could figure out just what in God's name King is talking about!! He gives little background to ANYTHING, refers to objects and places casually like you know what they are (when you don't), and drags the plot out way too long. But, King has always had a problem with spending too much time explaining stuff you don't need to know about. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that the other volumes would be better. Thankfully, you other reviewers out there have given me reason to keep hoping. But in comparison with masterpieces like "The Stand" and "Needful Things" this in no way measures up. If "The Drawing of the Three" is this bad, I just might shoot myself in the "heada" with a "gunna". Ugh.
Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite in the series
Review: This is the first book in the Dark Tower series, and my personal least favorite book in the series. I read this when I was in high school, or was that junior high? Either way, I read this book when I was really young. I didn't like the story much then. It seemed like a painstaking process getting through the mundane beginning. Recently, I read the revised version of this book. The Gunslinger is the story of Roland of Gilead. Roland is a gunslinger in a world that is dead (or dying, depending on the reader's point of view). He is chasing the man in black, who Roland believes knows all the secrets of the Dark Tower. He plans on making this ambiguous man tell him what he wants to know about the tower. This story still started off pretty slow for me. I was almost tempted to put it down, but I stuck it out. The action picks up after a few pages though, but it's not consistent. You get a little action, then bits that could bore you to tears, then more action. It's not an awful read by far. This story is essential in introducing you to a desolate world, to Roland, to the man in black, etc. I really love how King can make the despair and desolation of the land so tangible in a reader's mind. I could imagine the land with a vividness. When I first read this, I don't remember feeling as blown away by some of the descriptions as I feel now. I, also, enjoyed how bits and pieces of the hero's life is scattered throughout the book. Though as my friend pointed out the book can be very confusing at parts. Sometimes, King would suddenly shift into a flashback, and at first, you wouldn't even realize it. Then, it could get quite wordy in a couple of places that didn't really need to be. A dictionary is a nice asset to have while reading this book, too. I had no idea what a poultice was until I read this book. Anyhow, I probably won't read this book a third time, but I enjoyed it much more this time. I always thought that King did a good job of mixing different genres (horror, fantasy, western, sci-fi) with this - and the rest of the books in the series. Not a bad revision for a novel that nearly ended up in my grandparents fireplace almost a decade ago.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent improvement!
Review: I have just read the new, expanded edition of The Gunslinger. It was incredible the difference that King was able to make from the original. I used to view the first book as completely seperate from the second, third, and fourth, books. It was my least favorite of the series. Now, however, I find that I cannot make a decision between it and The Waste Lands. Each character seems to have been made more real. The story flows much better than before. Not to mention, the descriptions have grown much more easy to picture. If you have ever read the original version of The Gunslinger, read the new one. You may not see a huge difference, but I do not know how anyone can say that there is no improvement, let alone that it is worse.
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