This series has been on my TBR list since I was a teenager! I own multiple copies of the books in the series: Bound copies on my shelves, Kindle copies, and also audiobooks. Yet, I have never read them! I have finally taken the plunge into the series, and it was not at all what I expected! I was hoping for the "creep factor" that I have experienced in other King novels, but it was missing here. In the first installment of The Dark Tower series, we are introduced to Roland Deschain, a Gunslinger whose sole purpose is to meet up with The Man In Black. In his journey along the way, he meets up with a boy named Jake and takes him under his wing. Parts of the book really dragged for me and, even though I finished book, I still feel a bit lost! I will continue on with the series and hope that I get hooked with the next one. This is definitely my least favourite King book, and I much prefer his horror books to this fantasy series so far. However, I am trying to be optimistic that the series will pick up given its popularity. I like the whole good versus evil vibe, and I am hoping that I won't be disappointed! This is my first narration by George Guidall, and his voice was a nice choice for the book. However, his reading does tend to speed up during the more exciting scenes, and I actually had to put my iPod on ½ speed to follow along at a regular pace. MY RATING: 2 stars!! Meh, it was just "ok".

I was fairly underwhelmed by this entry to the dark tower series. It is an okay introduction, but pales in comparison to it's sequels. If you read this and do not enjoy it I would recommend you go on to read The Drawing of the Three, as it is far superior. The plot was pretty flat in this one, not a lot going on...on the upside the atmosphere was great.

I know that Stephen King can write a better story than what he created in this book! I had to force myself to finish this book because I made the mistake of purchasing it! For me, it was a slow paced boring story that could not grab my attention!

It's a post-apocalytptic sphaghetti western set across several worlds, dreamt up by the most popular writer of horror in the last few decades. In other words, this is far from Stephen King's usual macabre fair, even though there are traces in his tone and savoury details. The plot resembles more of a fantasy quest with a 'Good Bad and the Ugly' aesthetic and that's exactly what makes this first installment SO DAMNED COOL! (The series tends to dip in quality after book four, but there's still plenty of good stuff to be seen thoughout the entire seven book run) The first book is about ninety-percent plot and zero context. We know that the gunslinger, the series' stoic and seemingly emotionless protagonist has been pursuing a wizard in black for a very long time, but we have no idea why. We learn that the man in black is supposed to provide a clue to lead our hero in his quest for the Dark Tower, but we have no idea what that is or why he's looking for it either. The world we find this action in seems more than a little askew. We encounter sexually ravenous oracles without physical forms and cave-crawling 'slow mutants' attacking dilapidated rail cars, and in a dingy dust strewn tavern, a crazy old man plays "Hey Jude" on a honky tonk piano. It's all so marvelously dark and surreal that you can't help but read on and guess at what our gunslinger is searching for and whether this man in black is what he seems to be - assuming our hero ever catches him. Read this. It's among King's best.

First, I should start this review by qualifying it, my ranking system is tough, 4 for ‘would recommend it’, 5 for ‘would recommend and re-read’. Also I am not a King fan, I actually avoid him, but this series was recommended to me by two very different people so I thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the bad for me: The story is slow slow slow and I found it hard to follow and stay engaged. The writing is over stylized and it really felt like King was trying too hard to be deep and obtuse, for instance “a light that was soft yet hard”, what??? How can something be soft yet hard, if anyone can explain that to me feel free. This is only one example of where the writing tripped me up and I paused to contemplate its ridiculousness. The characters aren’t really likeable; I didn’t get invested at all The Good Stuff: Reading this book gets you to book 2, which I found much more engaging and well written, and book 3 is better than 2 There’s also a dialogue that goes on for a few pages at the end that was delightful. And finally I enjoyed the Jake storyline, probably because it’s the first believable character interaction. I’m torn, I disliked this book, and I’m not at a point where I would recommend the series, but I have enjoyed book 2 & 3, so was it worth suffering through 1 to get to those, probably.

A very interesting novel. Did not find it as slow as some people said it might be. Looking forward to reading part two now.

If you ever wondered what lord of the rings would be like if: A) it was a old western B) Instead of a short guy with big feet the main character was Clint Eastwood Than this is the answer, and it's a damn good answer

I read the book in hard cover. Josehf Lloyd Murchison Author of “Tails of a Gay Incubus” sold at chapters.

I got interested in the series after reading Hearts in Atlantis, and I wasn't disappointed. May seem like a slow read to start, but once you get into it, you will find it hard to put it down. Thinking of re-reading the series again :)

My dad got me this book for Christmas one year ago and I'm just getting around to writing the review :) this book was good but hard to get into i found my mind wandered periodically while i read this book because it was bored. i mean for the first couple of chapters absolutely nothing happens he walks through a dessert the climax is meeting the kid and basically sentencing him to death. although this read is worth it only because the rest of the series is fantabulous