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  • The Dark Tower I

  • The Dark Tower, Book 1
  • Written by: Stephen King
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (869 ratings)

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The Dark Tower I

Written by: Stephen King
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's Summary

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba!

In the first book of this brilliant series, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most powerful creations: Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, The Gunslinger leaves listeners eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

©1993, 2003 Stephen King (P)2003 Penguin Audio and Recorded Books, LLC

What the critics say

"An impressive work of mythic magnitude. May turn out to be Stephen King's greatest literary achievement." ( Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
"A compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievably to its center." ( Milwaukee Sentinel)
"Brilliant, fresh and compelling - will leave you panting for more." ( Booklist)

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What listeners say about The Dark Tower I

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Hard to listen to

I found this narrator pretty bland and hard to listen to. Wife almost wanted to stop listening. Good book but bad performance. Next one was much better

6 people found this helpful

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Great story, awkward narration.

I probably wouldn't continue this series if the rest of the books were read by the same narrator. He has a great voice for the gunslinger's character but I find that he parses his sentences quite awkwardly. It took me way longer than it should have to get through this.

That being said, the story is intriguing, captivating, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

4 people found this helpful

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not a disappointment

the movie left me wanting. That's why I decided to reread the books using Audible. Thanks Audible for making this easy.

3 people found this helpful

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Ate up all my time

I was interested in the series for years and was disappointed by the film. After a chapter I was hooked. Can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

3 people found this helpful

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Great listen too.

This book was very easy to getblost in. I often found myself rooting fornthe wrong side...

1 person found this helpful

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Great

Great story with great characters. It was very enjoyable I couldn't stop listening to it

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  • nco
  • 2023-02-23

Just ok

I’m a huge Stephen King fan but this book just seemed really boring to me. It was really hard to follow and stay interested.

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Hard to follow

Not sure if it was just me or the narrator but I found the story to hard to follow. Made it to the end but I don’t think I could really get a grip on what was going on.

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this is a wonderful series. I have

I so love ❤️ ❤️ the dark tower series. This is the third time I have listened to it all the way from 1 to 7. Love you Stephen King.

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Always a pleasure to listen to a masters story

George had a very good cadence and well spoken. King is a master author and listening to the book is a pleasure.

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  • Jim "The Impatient"
  • 2016-01-14

LIKE A DULL AX THROUGH A CALF'S BRAIN

Y IS A CROOKED LETTER AND CAN'T BE MADE STRAIGHT
This recording, which replaced the old recording is, I believe the same, old recording, only with King's introduction taken out. An intro in which King said he did not know where this series was going. For me that showed big time in the feel of the story. I enjoyed the first chapter which was, more of a novelette. After that, the story is told mostly in dreams and remembering. Even the first chapter is Roland telling his story to another man.

DO SOME MEN EVER GROW UP OR ONLY COME OF AGE?
This series has a huge following, but it is more for those who like descriptive language, dreamy wild scenes, but no plot. If horror was a main subject and not a sub of fiction, this would be under Weird Western. Joe R. Lansdale and Jack Ketchum write in that genre a lot. This story was just a little too abstract for my taste.

LONG DAYS, PLEASANT NIGHTS
Guidall is the father of narrators and one of the best still. He makes the story better.

260 people found this helpful

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  • avoidthelloyd
  • 2017-06-09

Abrupt Ending...

No Spoiler: This book was better than I imagined it would be. Of course, you will find some disturbing images, but overall, it was less vulgar and better paced than I expected a King novel to be. As usual, he introduces characters, but takes his sweet time to develop them. I had tried to read this before but was bored with it until I saw the movie trailer and that prompted me to give it another try and having the knowledge it involved sci-fi items and having faces with the characters really helped me enjoy this. The only thing I didn't like was the abrupt ending. I understand now that this was a series of short stories in the beginning and I see why it was that way, but I wasn't prepared for no closure or answers at the end. The narration was really well done and I listened at 1.5X speed to save some time. If any of this was helpful, please click YES below. Later.

217 people found this helpful

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  • Jkoe
  • 2017-06-04

Not great

What disappointed you about The Gunslinger?

This book was one of the most boring things I have ever experienced. I toughed it out because everyone said how great the series is. I almost quit several times because it was so slow. I did enjoy book 2 more than this one, so I'm glad I got through this. It was rough.

182 people found this helpful

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  • David Murphy
  • 2017-06-11

My favorite book.

This is the first book of Stephen King's Magnum Opus. It is a combination of spaghetti western, occult, and science fiction all tied together by romantic and philosophical ideals.

It is very short and gets very dark at certain points: this paired with the wonderful narration of George Guidall is why I believe all should give it a listen.

133 people found this helpful

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  • Roland
  • 2017-05-21

I almost quit couple of times.

At no point of the story I felt that I cared too much for the protagonist. I felt that the novellas with backstory were meant to tell me something, but the whole point was lost on me.

132 people found this helpful

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  • Michael williams
  • 2017-05-26

Too Strange

just too difficult to follow the storyline. Perhaps I will get the next book to see if I can catch on. Performance was excellent.

111 people found this helpful

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  • G
  • 2017-06-08

Just as good as I remember

Loved this book decades ago and it still holds up. Can't wait for the movie version!

108 people found this helpful

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  • Tq
  • 2017-06-02

This book made absolutely no sense

All I know is there is a guy and another guy and some stuff happened. Least entertaining book I've listened to ever.

103 people found this helpful

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  • Matthew Richards
  • 2017-05-21

Did it enjoy this book

Was not able to get hooked on this book, and couldn't see myself reading the rest of series

92 people found this helpful

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  • Shelley
  • 2017-05-26

Worst book ever

This is the worst book I have ever heard. Boring and stupid. I can't believe I bought it.

91 people found this helpful

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  • Coralie M.
  • 2019-07-21

Très bien lu, même si l'histoire en elle-même est plus un prélude qu'un livre en soi.