Help, I'm in a reading rut!

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Kaity

Member
Aug 4, 2015
22
111
28
Hey!

So I have read a lot of stephen king books and have thoroughly enjoyed the majority of them. I have heard so many good things about the "dark tower" series so I decided to start reading it. I was expecting to love it based on what I had heard but so far it just seems like a really bad western (no offense!!) :(

So my question is, does it get better if i push through and keep reading? Or does it kind of stay the same all the way through? (I'm halfway through the gunslinger)

Thank you!
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hey!

So I have read a lot of stephen king books and have thoroughly enjoyed the majority of them. I have heard so many good things about the "dark tower" series so I decided to start reading it. I was expecting to love it based on what I had heard but so far it just seems like a really bad western (no offense!!) :(

So my question is, does it get better if i push through and keep reading? Or does it kind of stay the same all the way through? (I'm halfway through the gunslinger)

Thank you!
The first book was sort of like a 'bad western' (there! [I said it!]) but it does get better with books 2 and 3. Maybe go to the next book in the series? You might like it better. Good luck!
 

morgan

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2010
29,353
104,579
North Dakota
Hey!

So I have read a lot of stephen king books and have thoroughly enjoyed the majority of them. I have heard so many good things about the "dark tower" series so I decided to start reading it. I was expecting to love it based on what I had heard but so far it just seems like a really bad western (no offense!!) :(

So my question is, does it get better if i push through and keep reading? Or does it kind of stay the same all the way through? (I'm halfway through the gunslinger)

Thank you!
Yes - Keep going! It gets much better IMO. I had trouble getting through The Gunslinger as well.
 

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
2,906
6,242
62
Hey!

So I have read a lot of stephen king books and have thoroughly enjoyed the majority of them. I have heard so many good things about the "dark tower" series so I decided to start reading it. I was expecting to love it based on what I had heard but so far it just seems like a really bad western (no offense!!) :(

So my question is, does it get better if i push through and keep reading? Or does it kind of stay the same all the way through? (I'm halfway through the gunslinger)

Thank you!

This is not an uncommon reaction. Choke your way through it however you can . . . it gets a lot different, and a lot better (in my view) in the ensuing volumes.
 

DiO'Bolic

Not completely obtuse
Nov 14, 2013
22,864
129,998
Poconos, PA
I've heard a lot of similar complaints about "The Gunslinger."

I'd suggest instead of slogging through, you pack it all up and put it away for 30 or so years. Then when there is no new SK material coming out you'll have a whole new epic adventure to enjoy. You won't regret it.

(Hey, someone needs to play the devil's advocate, right? :))
 

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
2,906
6,242
62
The Drawing of the Three is one of my favorite books in the series! :)


I'll tell you what. I struggled with The Gunslinger myself (both times) and I wasn't sure this thing was going to be my cup of milk, but The Drawing of the Three changed all that, and I don't spend much time rating by degree things I like or do not like, but this one is probably my favorite part of the series, simply because it was so dramatically different, and more representative of where (and how) the story was going.
 

not_nadine

Comfortably Roont
Nov 19, 2011
29,655
139,785
Behind you
I've heard a lot of similar complaints about "The Gunslinger."

I'd suggest instead of slogging through, you pack it all up and put it away for 30 or so years. Then when there is no new SK material coming out you'll have a whole new epic adventure to enjoy. You won't regret it.

(Hey, someone needs to play the devil's advocate, right? :))


You have forgotten the face of your Father, Sai DiO.

:down:
 

Machine's Way

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
Jul 13, 2009
671
2,877
44
Baltimore
Well I can only echo what everyone else has said above me. The gunslinger isn't that long of a book, and yes it gets way better. I may be one of the few that think its absolutely crazy to skip ahead to TDOTT, but I have to have things in the right order. I would love to hear your follow up after your 1/4 of the way through TDOTT. I find it hard to believe you wont enjoy the journey. Also so many other things you have read in past SK books may take a whole new meaning to you after you dig into the DT.
 

danie

I am whatever you say I am.
Feb 26, 2008
9,760
60,662
60
Kentucky
Well I can only echo what everyone else has said above me. The gunslinger isn't that long of a book, and yes it gets way better. I may be one of the few that think its absolutely crazy to skip ahead to TDOTT, but I have to have things in the right order. I would love to hear your follow up after your 1/4 of the way through TDOTT. I find it hard to believe you wont enjoy the journey. Also so many other things you have read in past SK books may take a whole new meaning to you after you dig into the DT.
I'm like you--I have to read it in order, no matter what. Like you said, The Gunslinger is quite short (and I liked it anyway for saying so much in its brevity). The DT is something no Stephen King fan should miss. It is the essence of the man himself.