A review by kandicez
The Dark Tower, Volume 1: The Gunslinger Born by Peter David
4.0
7/2015 - I bumped it up a star because I very recently re-read [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375776480s/43615.jpg|46575] and this satisfied a craving. I am so in love with Lee's illustrations! I'm still not a fan of the familiarity of the narrator with the reader, but the story is solid.
I love the way the GN explains things like Ka and Ka-tet as soon as the words are used. King lets the reader figure their meanings out, but with the GN there is a very finite number of words and a lot of information to pass along, so explaining is a good choice.
Did anyone else notice the use of the word "shiny" in a very Whedon/Firefly-esque way? ;)
2008-
I have to say that the captions bothered me a bit. As the narrator was addressing the reader, he spoke in too familiar a voice. As I read the Dark Tower series, I feel it's almost an epic fable, but addressed in such a way makes it too personal and "right now". I want to feel like I am reading/hearing this story eons after it has taken place, not a week later. It loses a bit of it's magic in this way. To me, anyway.
I did love the illustrations. Susan's face was perfect, if her hair and clothing left something to be desired. Cuthbert looked almost perfectly the way I pictured him. Alain, not so much, but not different enough to be distracting. I loved the way the peach fuzz on Roland's face was suggested. Also, the way his body, when he was shirtless, really looked like a 15 year olds. Obviously developing into a powerful man, but not quite finished.
Even with these complaints, I will certainly be reading the rest.
I love the way the GN explains things like Ka and Ka-tet as soon as the words are used. King lets the reader figure their meanings out, but with the GN there is a very finite number of words and a lot of information to pass along, so explaining is a good choice.
Did anyone else notice the use of the word "shiny" in a very Whedon/Firefly-esque way? ;)
2008-
I have to say that the captions bothered me a bit. As the narrator was addressing the reader, he spoke in too familiar a voice. As I read the Dark Tower series, I feel it's almost an epic fable, but addressed in such a way makes it too personal and "right now". I want to feel like I am reading/hearing this story eons after it has taken place, not a week later. It loses a bit of it's magic in this way. To me, anyway.
I did love the illustrations. Susan's face was perfect, if her hair and clothing left something to be desired. Cuthbert looked almost perfectly the way I pictured him. Alain, not so much, but not different enough to be distracting. I loved the way the peach fuzz on Roland's face was suggested. Also, the way his body, when he was shirtless, really looked like a 15 year olds. Obviously developing into a powerful man, but not quite finished.
Even with these complaints, I will certainly be reading the rest.