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    Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
    Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
    Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
    Audiobook7 hours

    Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

    Written by Stephen King

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “An impressive work of mythic magnitude that may turn out to be Stephen King’s greatest literary achievement” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), The Gunslinger is the first volume in the epic Dark Tower Series.

    A #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger introduces readers to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

    Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).

    Editor's Note

    King’s magnum opus…

    This first book in Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower series has so much going on. Some fantasy, a little sci-fi, and a lot of Western. A fun read and essential read to prepare for the movie and TV series adaptations.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2016
    ISBN9781508217411
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Dark Tower I

    4/5

    7,980 ratings291 reviews

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    • 5/5
      loved reading it..loved listening to it. Great story, and series.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Well this is not the type of Stephen King book I have ever read before. The writing style is not all that different from the other books he has written, but the fantasy backdrop is certainly different. I have gotten more into the fantasy genre in recent years, and this (like the description and foreword say) is more of a Western set in a fantasy world.

      I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more. Rating this book is kind of difficult. I enjoyed it, but felt like it was simply the opening chapters to a longer book. King admits that the entire series should be viewed as one novel, but since it was published as its own novel, I have to go with the 3 stars. My guess is that I will rate the series higher when I get through it, and this is a promising start.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is the 2nd time reading The Gunslinger and I think I enjoyed it more the 2nd time as I had read 5 or 6 of The Dark Tower series and it seemed to make more sense to me having some knowledge of what's to come. I took my time reading it this time. I listened to the audio and read along with the book and took notes in order to be able to refer back as I am reading this as a group read. I am looking forward to reading The Drawing of the Three in June and following with the rest of the series. I would recommend this to those who have read some of King's other works as there are references to some of his other writings and this is considered his masterpiece.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This book has been on my to read list for a very long time. I went and saw the movie version and figured it was time to give the book a shot. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Watching the movie gave me a basis to imagine the setting and the gunslinger himself. The book was way more metaphysical than I had anticipated. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I've been putting off reading Stephen king for years expecting 'scary' but this was more a strange, deep, and especially literary read than i was expecting. Now i am looking forward to many a good read as he has written so many.... hope they are all this good!
    • 5/5

      Bull Dogs


      velvet ottoman bed
      floor bed
      hall runner rugs
      white corner desk
      large white mirror
      small office desk
      living room tables
      solar wall lights
      white plant pots
      inside doors
      bed with desk
      over the door shoe rack
    • 5/5
      great book. like most that come fr9m the dark mind of the king.
    • 5/5
      My favorite series (though it's really only one story) of All time
    • 3/5
      Book was a little slow and I really didn’t like the reader. Im looking for a version with a different narrator but if they don’t have one it’s honestly not worth it.
    • 4/5
      Loved it miss jake tho :(.....

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    • 2/5
      I didn’t like this audiobook at all but I hope the second book is better
    • 2/5
      God, what a boring book. I'm going to have to build myself up to listening to the next one.

    • 1/5
      I am sure the book itself is great, but the narrator killed it for me. I have a severe case of misophonia, and any narrator on any audiobook that I can hear 'mouth sounds' like licking or the squishy mouth sounds of up close speaking, literally makes me cringe. I physically get irrational rage when a narrator does this. I know it's no fault of his, but I've had many audiobooks in the past I've bought that I literally gave away (cd audiobooks) or refunded on audible because of this. *sigh*
    • 3/5
      Hard to read but worth it according to other readers. Honestly I think you’re better off reading a summary of book 1 and starting at book 2. This was a chore to get through but in Kong’s foreword he acknowledges it is hard to read and written when he was a young author. “The series really finds its voice in book 2” says King. I hope so. I’ll still give her series a chance because I like his books. This was my least favorite though.
    • 1/5
      This was excruciatingly boring and painful to get through. Slow moving plot, verbosity enough to make Anne Rice jealous. I thought it would be a better listen than the movie was too watch.. I was wrong.
    • 5/5
      It's a great story but the end is missing from this
    • 5/5
      I certainly did not find this book boring. I listened to this during a stephen king binge and it was honestly refreshing after all of that dad talk Americana to come to this strange dark world full of magic, mystery and moral ambiguity. The world building burns slow and rich like a hand rolled cigarette. I was going to take a break on the King but now I think I will tuck into the next Dark Tower book.
      Excellent narrator its nice to see the series seems to be split between him and Frank Muller who is one of my favorites.
    • 2/5
      My least favourite Stephen king book so far… I’m a huge fan of king but had an extremely hard time following this book and still am not really sure what it’s about
    • 3/5
      A little tedious. You're thrown into a book as if from the middle with a lot of references to which you don't get context. This would be a fine book if you were re-reading the Dark Tower series.
    • 5/5
      I'm delighted to finally be able to hear this book. It's so much deeper than I had thought. It's definitely not your typical fantasy book. The King as always reigns supreme.
    • 5/5
      Great start of the series. I have a lot of questions but I started the book knowing that I will not get everything.
    • 3/5
      I really liked the mystery of it all and the complexity of the character. I could have done with a bit less detail in some mundane parts.
      I want to find out what happened to Roland's mother , what the tower is and why is Roland so obsessed with it!
    • 5/5
      The Gunslinger is a classic genre-bending novel that skates the line between Western, sci-fi and fantasy. The book started slow, sending the gunslinger gradually along his path until the final gallop and the brilliant ending. The writing is perfect, each word chosen carefully to tell the story simply yet meaningfully. King is a true master.
    • 1/5
      Everthing is not for everybody...

      I just couldn't with this one. I got the spiritual overtones of it, sure, but still, I just couldn't with this one. Offer me a fast-paced, more bone-chilling King masterpiece before the tale of The Gunslinger on any given day, and I'll gladly take it.
    • 4/5
      I highly recommend it ! Stephen King is the master of popular fiction of our time !
    • 5/5
      I had no idea what I was getting into. I knew nothing about the book except for the opening line, which is often repeated among the Constant Readers. I was hooked and now I'm left feeling a wide range of emotions that I can't really explain. I was very upset with an event that happened and I'm left needing to know the rest of the story, so here starts my journey with the Gunslinger.
    • 5/5
      I went in sceptical, not knowing whether this series was for me. I'm a young, female reader and fairly new to King, having only read The Outsider, which didn't quite sit right with me (a crime fan) with its supernatural twist. I wanted to give The Dark Tower a try, finding it's somewhat more traditional genre appealing (being a fantasy fan as well), and I was quickly intrigued by King's epic, imaginative and mysterious world. I didn't mind the many mysteries of the story or how slowly they seem to unfold. Patiently looking forward to the continuation.. Beautifully read by George Guidall.
    • 5/5
      Awesome I loved it. Can’t wait to listen to next part
    • 2/5
      I'll continue reading the series, and I hope it gets better... This first book didn't capture my attention that much?
    • 4/5
      The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.. This is my second time listening to Gunslinger but will be my first time through the whole Darl Tower series. I'm pumped to see what the rest is all about.