“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

I first heard Stephen King read these words, the opening paragraph from The Gunslinger, ten years ago on a Sunday night, driving back to college. Tonight, driving back from my first Kung-Fu class in a month, I finished the final installment, The Dark Tower

It’s been a long ride for me, and a longer ride for many others (the first book was serialized in “Fantasy and Science Fiction” starting in 1978), and I found it quite enjoyable. I listened to all of the books on unabridged audio book. King himself is a big fan of audiobooks. He has said on numerous occasions than he prefers some aspects of unabridged audiobooks to reading. I have to agree with him.

I first picked up The Gunslinger audio book read by King, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s not your typical King story. Try to imagine a Post-Apocalyptic Western Fantasy as written by a guy known for horror. If that seems hard, it might be easier to just read the book

I quickly picked up the next two books (The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands), also read by King, and then waited impatiently for the next. The fourth book, Wizard and Glass, threw me for a loop. It was read by Frank Muller. Muller may well be the greatest audio book reader ever. He does an amazing job with voices, and really pulls you into the story in a way that has to be experienced. Someone else must have thought so too, because he re-recorded books 1-3, which I bought and re-listened to.

There was a long break before the next Dark Tower book was released, but after starting up again King wrote books 5-7 in one shot. He also released a revised version of The Gunslinger. In the interim, Frank Muller was in a bad motorcycle accident. He survived, but is no longer able to work. The new version of book 1, and the remaining books (Wolves of the Calla,Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower ) were read by George Guidall, another excellent reader, although I have to say I prefer Muller overall.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the books themselves right now. I’m not ready. I’ve lived Roland’s quest for the tower for ten years, and now I’m still digesting the end. There’s more to read, of course, because a large portion of King’s other works tie into the Dark Tower saga in one way or another. If you’ve never given them a change, I suggest you do.

Tags: Audiobooks, books, Input, Stephen-King, The-Dark-Tower

9 Responses to ““the Man in Black Fled Across the Desert, and the Gunslinger Followed.””

Del Says:
March 10th, 2005 at 9:17 am
Now that they’re finished and I won’t need to pine away after the next installment, I think I’ll pick them up again. Perhaps I’ll do it the audio-book way you’ve been recommending…hmmmm… it was the only way I got through the Silmarillion (TOTALLY worth it too). Thanks, Jay.
mykel Says:
May 27th, 2005 at 6:16 am
(to begin, i found this page on google and havent read any of you blog besides this, ok.)

ive just finished reading the Tower series too. im not sure what i think of it, because the ending screwed me over pretty much. im never felt more emotionally connected to a book or series, and i think that has something to do with it. but anyway, i throughly enjoyed the books and the related ones by King (i read them before the DT series, which is odd but makes it that much better).

ignore me if you like, i just felt like writing something.
Jay Says:
May 27th, 2005 at 8:16 am
Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

I’d be interested to hear more about your thoughts on the ending, but I was trying to keep this post non-spoiler-ish, os I’ll post oven ar the page you set up here
mykel Says:
May 27th, 2005 at 10:02 am
youre welcome :)
i thought i should alert you ive addressed some questions, and asked some myself, on the page you commented on. i dont know if the blog software alerts you of replies to your comments but i dont think it does, so thats why im here :)

thanks,
mykel
scott dunn Says:
June 16th, 2005 at 10:51 am
I feel that the Dark Tower has become a part of my life. It has taken me about 15 years to read it all with many starts and stops. I purchased all of the books on unabridged audio this year and it improved the enjoyment a hundred percent. I have heard several that didn’t like the ending but I loved it myself. Certainly left Rolands future open. Who knows…another book maybe?
Jay Says:
June 16th, 2005 at 10:17 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Scott.

After I let it sink in I loved the ending as well. I wasn’t completely caught off guard. I had my suspicions, but I thought the way in which it was done was masterful.

I’m hoping to see a sequel to Black House at some point, which would at least be another Dark Tower related book.

Jay
S William Shaw Says:
September 17th, 2006 at 2:57 am
I just finished book 3 but am afraid to finish the rest. I love the series so far, but some of the Amazon reviews make it seem like the Dark Tower swerves off course. (600 pages of backstory in book 4?)
Jay Says:
September 17th, 2006 at 8:06 am
I think the fourth book is great. The story needs to be told. I think when it came out people were impatient to hear what happened next. I bet a lot of those same people were dying to hear Susan’s story at some point. Since the rest of the books are out and you can read five as soon as you finish four there’s nothing to worry about. The problem at the time was the gap between four and five was rather huge.

Sometimes I think people online tend to pick up on other peoples complaints to fit in. I never met a single person who disliked the Star Wars Special Editions when they came out, and now they seem to be universally despised.
S William Shaw Says:
September 17th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Thanks Jay. That gives me hope. I have book 4 sitting here, but was afraid to touch it. I love the series but didn’t want to be let down.