mhuntone's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
love_schwizzle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
moreadsbooks's review
1.0
Why oh why do I persist? These come in to work so shiny and brand new and they look so exciting and then they just stink. I keep reading them hoping beyond hope that something awesome will happen, somehow I'll be rewarded for slogging through increasingly rotten storytelling. Hasn't happened yet.
In this volume, words are taken right out of the mouth of Aunt Talia from The Waste Lands and given to some anonymous lunatic. There's another blonde woman with a braid named Susan who gets imperiled in some implausible way & it's never quite clear exactly why there had to be another blonde chic named Susan. Cuthbert is depicted as a fat little boy & Aileen makes one last moronic request just so she can But hey, at least no pregnant women get stabbed in the belly! Really, this was awful. I think the thing that pisses me off most is that Roland is such a dork. He talks to himself, worries about going crazy, and overall is not the badass Roland I remember from the actual Stephen King novel. Do yourself a favor, skip this and go read that.
In this volume, words are taken right out of the mouth of Aunt Talia from The Waste Lands and given to some anonymous lunatic. There's another blonde woman with a braid named Susan who gets imperiled in some implausible way & it's never quite clear exactly why there had to be another blonde chic named Susan. Cuthbert is depicted as a fat little boy & Aileen makes one last moronic request just so she can
Spoiler
be shot in the heart with a dart.francomega's review
3.0
More prequel stuff, but made more relevant by King's announcement of a new Dark Tower novel soon. Nothing canon-bending here, but always fun seeing Roland in action.
asweetdevouring's review
3.0
The writing feels like a rough draft and a lot of things that the Gunslinger thinks and says are juvenile. I had no problem believing that King came up with this when he was fifteen because it sounds like it was written by someone who is fifteen. That being said, the main plot points and the world itself are pretty cool and it definitely didn`t hurt that I imagined Idris Elba the entire time reading this.
I`ll at least read the second one, but pull back my expectations of this beloved series.
I`ll at least read the second one, but pull back my expectations of this beloved series.
ramseyhootman's review
5.0
I'm SO angry at myself for not reading this earlier in my life! Not that I don't love it now, because I absolutely do, but back in college this would have blown my little mind. My only other experience with Stephen King was Misery and a sampling of some of his other contemporary horror, but this is so much deeper and more lyric. I adore the mashup of solid Biblical allusion, English lit, tarot, and what has got to be a substantial amount of LSD. And the characters are really magnificent. Now I understand when people are talking about when they venerate Stephen King.
I have heard that this series goes downhill towards the end, and that usually bothers me, but you know what, this first installment was so damn good I don't even care. Worth it.
I have heard that this series goes downhill towards the end, and that usually bothers me, but you know what, this first installment was so damn good I don't even care. Worth it.
paulweymouth's review
2.0
I talk about this book some in my monthly wrap-up for October on Booktube:
https://youtu.be/PRkElauPI0c
https://youtu.be/PRkElauPI0c
gauvvaine's review
5.0
i don't rly have much to say about this atm except that i am relieved to find i enjoyed this just as much the second time round as i did the first time i read it, way back when i was a youngin. honestly i love roland a whole lot? i'm so excited for the movie lmao. i rly love this world, with all its shining crumbling facets, and the concept of the dark tower is just....wonderful.
chapter five is fucking amazing lmao, i love the tarot reading.
i will forever be sad about jake, though.
(re: the child abuse warning, there are numerous scenes describing roland's gunslinger training which feature a grown man beating children lmao. there are also a couple scenes featuring implications of rape -- the stone circle with the oracle, a scene in a flashback featuring roland's mother & the man named marten (this also features some domestic violence) -- but nothing graphic or really overt, so i decided not to tag for it.)
chapter five is fucking amazing lmao, i love the tarot reading.
i will forever be sad about jake, though.
(re: the child abuse warning, there are numerous scenes describing roland's gunslinger training which feature a grown man beating children lmao. there are also a couple scenes featuring implications of rape -- the stone circle with the oracle, a scene in a flashback featuring roland's mother & the man named marten (this also features some domestic violence) -- but nothing graphic or really overt, so i decided not to tag for it.)
More...