The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger... Emperor: Gates of Rome!

[Neil]

So I read "The Gunslinger" many years ago, got bored with it, and never finished it. While away last week I listened to it in audio book format.

To be honest, I found it difficult!! Very hairy fairy and intangible. In such a fantasy - where seemingly there are no real rules - any old thing can happen... So I really didn't care for it...

I'll start listening to the next one... to give it another chance...



Also read, "Emperor: The Gates of Rome" by Conn Iggvlden... really enjoyed it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Rome

[Danny]

i Love the gunslinger, its a bit slow but it has such great set pieces like the henge with the spirit, the ancient subway full of slow mutants and such, it really painted a vivid picture.
The next one has a lot more going on in it, not my favorite in the series but it stuck 'dad-a-chuck' in my head for forever.

[Neil]

i Love the gunslinger, its a bit slow but it has such great set pieces like the henge with the spirit, the ancient subway full of slow mutants and such, it really painted a vivid picture.
The next one has a lot more going on in it, not my favorite in the series but it stuck 'dad-a-chuck' in my head for forever.

OK! I'll give the next one a good go!

[Legion2213]

"Shake the hand that shook the world." - Randal Flagg

Listened to all 7 of the Dark Tower audiobooks...epic. Give 'em another go mate. :)

[LoSTBoY]

Best reading I've had in a long time:

The Whale Road (Oathsworn Book1) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whale-Road-Oathsworn-1/dp/0007215304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280916964&sr=8-1)

It is set in 965AD, 200 years after the first Viking raids and well past the first heady flush of those rape and pillage years. Part of the reason for the Norse to go raiding in the first place was the inheritance law – in a land-poor country, it was no good splitting farms up into smaller and smaller units, so the rule was that the eldest son got the lot. Any other sons were faced with the prospect of working for their brother for the rest of their life – or finding their fortune another way. Enter the raiding Norseman, always hoping to make enough money to buy a new future, either as a trader or a farmer.

By 965AD, however, the raiding Norse who had carved out the kingdoms in Scandinavia and elsewhere were finding they no longer had a role to play. All the jarls – petty chieftains – who took on warriors to make them great no longer wanted those swords around when they had achieved their goal. Now those warriors were dropped in status, no longer the lauded heroes they had once been and reduced to being merecenaries. They formed bands, called varjazi by the people east of the Baltic – the Greek version of it was varangii and, eventually, that word came to be applied to the Varangian Guard, famed elite axe-wielding favourites of the Byzantine Emperors.

That is exactly what the Oathsworn are when, led by Einar the Black, they take on a task for the trade port of Birka and cross the path of young Orm, whose story this is.

[clanglee]

Yeah the first book was really not that great. . .the rest of the series however was awesome!

[DubiousComforts]

So I read "The Gunslinger" many years ago, got bored with it, and never finished it. While away last week I listened to it in audio book format.

To be honest, I found it difficult!! Very hairy fairy and intangible. In such a fantasy - where seemingly there are no real rules - any old thing can happen... So I really didn't care for it...
The Drawing of the Three is much better and IMO, handles time/dimension travel setting in the way that The Matrix should have depicted it.

But to be honest, you probably won't like any of them if you found the first book "very hairy fairy and intangible" and are obsessing over rules. King made this stuff up as he went along.

[Neil]

The Drawing of the Three is much better and IMO, handles time/dimension travel setting in the way that The Matrix should have depicted it.

But to be honest, you probably won't like any of them if you found the first book "very hairy fairy and intangible" and are obsessing over rules. King made this stuff up as he went along.

Well, so far I'm enjoying the second one...

[DubiousComforts]

Well, so far I'm enjoying the second one...

Just wait until Wolves of the Calla to see if you're still singing the same tune. :D

Btw, are you actually reading these books or depriving yourself of that pleasure by listening?

[Neil]

Just wait until Wolves of the Calla to see if you're still singing the same tune. :D

Btw, are you actually reading these books or depriving yourself of that pleasure by listening?

Audio book... I don't see it as 'depriving' myself.
1) I don't get as much time to sit down and read, as I do to listen.
2) It's quite nice to detatch yourself by having someone with a good reading voice tell you the story :)

[Terran]

To be honest, I found it difficult!! Very hairy fairy and intangible. In such a fantasy - where seemingly there are no real rules - any old thing can happen... So I really didn't care for it...


Sounds like the TV show "Lost"....

:lol:

I thought the first book was alright...though I didnt like it enough to start the second book.

[Neil]

Sounds like the TV show "Lost"....

:lol:

I thought the first book was alright...though I didnt like it enough to start the second book.

Well, the second book seems far more interesting so far... Will report back when I finish it...

[DubiousComforts]

Audio book... I don't see it as 'depriving' myself.
1) I don't get as much time to sit down and read, as I do to listen.
2) It's quite nice to detatch yourself by having someone with a good reading voice tell you the story :)

I also listen to audio books on long travels when there is no other option available, but trust me, you should read The Dark Tower novels so that you can visualize the story in your own voice. You've already missed out on the excitement when these books were first released; there was a few years' gap between each novel and the anticipation was something else.

Plus, I've ruined more than one Stephen King story for myself by listening to the audio book with King himself squawking through the narrative in different vocalizations. I don't wish that on anyone. ;)

[Legion2213]

I believe earlier releases of the DT audiobooks were narated by King. The newer versions have proper folks narating them.

The DT series had two different guys because one had a really bad accident and couldn't continue, but both were pretty good IMO. Both sounded like "Roland" in their own way.

[DubiousComforts]

I believe earlier releases of the DT audiobooks were narated by King. The newer versions have proper folks narating them.
Thank God because I'll never be able to read that great short story about the haunted hotel room without hearing King squawking "Nine! Nine!"

What's the name of that story? I think it was first published as an audio anthology and then released in print.

[clanglee]

1408?

[Neil]

Finished the second Dark Tower book... Very clever! Amazing how it seemed to slow time down so you could enjoyed every moment as if watching it in slowmo...

Onto the third now...

[Neil]

Dark Tower Film & TV series news...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46438
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/The-Dark-Tower-Confirmed-Will-Utilize-Both-Film-And-Television-To-Bring-Roland-To-Life-20554.html

[Neil]

(Dark Tower) Third book done... Onto the fourth :)

Quite enjoyed it! :)