Gunslinger

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Book reviews for "Gunslinger" sorted by average review score:

Two Brothers : The Lawman/The Gunslinger

Published in Paperback by Pocket Books (01 October, 1998)

Author: Linda Lael Miller

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In this trade paperback flip book, Linda Lael Miller tells two complete stories, bringing together twin brothers who are separated at birth when their parents die on a wagon train headed for California. In The Lawman, Shay McQuillan, town marshal, teams up with his newly discovered twin, Tristan Saint-Laurent, to track down the elusive stagecoach robbers who stole Tristan's money and murdered Shay's fiancée. Shay is drawn to pretty Aislinn Lethaby, a newcomer to town with limited resources and a generous heart, whose desire to save Shay from danger provokes his exasperation and wins his love. In The Gunslinger, Tristan, a former bounty hunter recently turned cattle rancher, tangles with spirited Emily Starbuck, whose herd of sheep has the locals up in arms, while her innocent sensuality makes Tristan dream of settling down. Miller has a winning way with rascally Western characters and conveys the romantic relationships with down home sweetness. Readers will enjoy the competitive camaraderie between Shay and Tristan, who delight in confounding town folk--by posing as each other! --Ellen Edwards

Average review score:

Great Stories horrid endings

I absolutely loved both stories but I have to say that I hated the way the stories end. Each story ends with the characters' first love scene and then it jumps to an epilogue that takes place one year later. The stories need just a brief, maybe one page transition from that love scene before it jumps to the epilogue and it would flow a lot better. It shows the sign of a great writer to get the reader so emotionaly involved that you don't want the book to end but we still need to end the book without feeling cheated from a great ending.

Two Sweet Stories...

Two more sweet stories from Linda Laehl Miller that didn't disappoint me. As in most of her books, these two stories grab you in the beginning and hold you tight until you finish the last pages. These books were definitely not as "steamy" as other Miller books, but were sweet enough that it didn't matter. Wonderful stories that had me anticipating re-opening them to finish reading.

Great book - but this was a bit easier to put down

This book was good, but it lacked the "I can't put it down until I've finished it" quality. Shay and Tristen's story was well written. The first part of the book and the story about Shay and Asilin was very good. It also introduced the major characters in the story. The second part of the book about Tristen and Emily was a bit more slow moving. The constant bickering about the sheep and her claim to the land got tiring. It would have gone quicker if something would have happened to those stupid sheep.

The Gunslinger

Published in Mass Market Paperback by Signet (July, 2003)

Author: Stephen King

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Thirty-three years, a horrific and life-altering accident, and thousands of desperately rabid fans in the making, Stephen King's quest to complete his magnum opus rivals the quest of Roland and his band of gunslingers who inhabit the Dark Tower series. Loyal DT fans and new readers alike will appreciate this revised edition of The Gunslinger, which breathes new life into Roland of Gilead, and offers readers a "clearer start and slightly easier entry into Roland's world."

King writes both a new introduction and foreword to this revised edition, and the ever-patient, ever-loyal "constant reader" is rewarded with secrets to the series's inception. That a "magic" ream of green paper and a Robert Browning poem, came together to reveal to King his "ka" is no real surprise (this is King after all), but who would have thought that the squinty-eyed trio of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach would set the author on his true path to the Tower? While King credits Tolkien for inspiring the "quest and magic" that pervades the series, it was Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that helped create the epic proportions and "almost absurdly majestic western backdrop" of Roland's world.

To King, The Gunslinger demanded revision because once the series was complete it became obvious that "the beginning was out of sync with the ending." While the revision adds only 35 pages, Dark Tower purists will notice the changes to Allie's fate and Roland's interaction with Cort, Jake, and the Man in Black--all stellar scenes that will reignite the hunger for the rest of the series. Newcomers will appreciate the details and insight into Roland's life. The revised Roland of Gilead (nee Deschain) is embodied with more humanity--he loves, he pities, he regrets. What DT fans might miss is the same ambiguity and mystery of the original that gave the original its pulpy underground feel (back when King himself awaited word from Roland's world). --Daphne Durham

Average review score:

A bit disappointed, but still willing to give it a chance.

The main problem with this book is that I have no idea what is going on. My best guess is the Gunslinger lives in some world that is half reality half dream. I am thinking King was doing his fair share of hallucinogenic drugs while he was writing this book. But here is what I THINK is going on. Roland, the gunslinger, is in pursuit of the man in black, who can help him to find the Tower, his true goal. Along the way, he meets Jake, a young boy who becomes his travelling companion. And they run into various adventures, misadventures, dream-like sequences, and the reader gets to flashback to Roland's youth.

The main problem with this book is I have no idea when or where it is taking place. I am hoping that this becomes clearer in the second installment, although seeing how I didn't like this one too much, it may take me a while to get to "The Drawing of the Three." I have heard that perserverance in this series pays off. If you're looking for a quick, easy read, skip this book. If you want to read the whole series, be prepared for a slow start.

The best creation of King's imagination takes time ....

At under 300 pages, "The Gunslinger" -- the first book from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series -- may seem oddly short, especially when compared to the latest volume from the epic, weighing in at around 700 pages. And still, Constant Reader, there are thousands more to go!

According to the afterword from this volume, it took King twelve years to complete the writings. He wrote the opening line "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" while an undergrad, the middle portions when "'Salem's Lot" was going bad, and was inspired with another concurrent writing: "The Stand." For King to have kept the Gunslinger, the Man in Black, Jake, the other characters -- and really the entire world of the Dark Tower -- alive for so long in his mind is a testament to not only the power that this held over the author, but holds over us -- his Constant Readers. Moreover, since the first publishing of "The Gunslinger," around twenty years have passed, a number of newer volumes in this series have come and gone -- yet with this first, partially inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland," and partially inspired by reams of green paper (read the afterword to the book), you know that it was a very special creation indeed.

I am not a fan of King's horror fiction. But when he gets down to writing about "other worlds than these," such as "The Stand," "Insomnia," "The Green Mile," and "The Talisman" (co-authored with Peter Straub) -- there is no one better. His is an imagination to be jealous of. There is always a feeling that alternate universes exist, next to our own (or maybe, ours exists within a molecule in some other reality). King imbues his other worlds with just enough of our own so that we feel a tantalizing connection between our perceptions of reality, and those that he uses to entertain us with.

"The Gunslinger," at under 300 pages, is just right to introduce us to the world of The Dark Tower, and keep us on course, with a desire to continue (and to wait, ever so patiently for the next volumes in the series) the journey that the Gunslinger started many years ago.

The Begining to A Great Book

The Gunslinger is one very good book. I really like the characters here because I really believe this is a story you will not be able to put down. Many people dont have time to read but when you pick this book up you will not be able to put it down. Make sure you have extra time on your hands or else youll become glued to the book.

Gunslinger

Published in Mass Market Paperback by Leisure Books (June, 1999)

Author: Connie Mason

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Gunslinger by Connie Mason

One star is way too generous for this. Desperado (come on, Desperado?) is a chauvinist pig with no class, intellect, or respect for anyone and Chole is a complete twit who does little more than droll over said pig for the length of the book. Combine that with a complete lack of plot, and this is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. Save your money for anything by Lorraine Heath, Kathleen Kane, Maggie Osborne, or Susan Kay Law. This one isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

It's books like this that made me love Connie Mason!

I enjoyed this book immensely. The story line caught my attention from the very first page and carried me through to the end without coming off as scattered thoughts and jibberish as to the hero/heroine's thoughts and feelings and didn't drag on in dialogue.

To me, the characters were interesting and believable. I love Desperado, the dark mysterious stranger who comes into town and hires on for a cattle drive, and Chloe spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out what drives him.
Connie Mason did a wonderful job in developing these characters to match wits with each other in interesting, intriguing and sensual ways. There was no dragging-your-heels in the descriptions and dialogue of this story. It was even paced and enjoyable to read.

... I highly recommend this book, it's a page-turner! I couldn't put it down!

WOW! Desperado is H-O-T!

Connie Mason has a knack for making her male leads so hot and this book was no exception. Desperado is the fastest gun in the west. He is feared and revered by so many. Chloe is about to lose her ranch to a bunch of money-grumbing people and needs a fearsome gunslinger to protect her herd as she makes her way to the market to sell them to pay her back taxes. He is hired on to help her and her herd and her hired hands not more than boys, make it to market, but what Chloe doesn't know is, Desperado has a hidden agenda. The story was explosive and full of action. I loved Desperado. He was pure sex-appeal. He was reknown for his coldness and meanness, but inside Chloe finds his heart. I don't know what it is about the way Mason writes, but her men become so real to the reader that you wish they would walk right off the pages. I loved 'Gunslinger', it's one of the BEST western romances I have EVER read.

Bad Guys : True Stories of Legendary Gunslingers, Sidewinders, Fourflushers, Drygulchers,Bushwhackers, Freebooters, and Downright Bad Guys and Gals of the Wild West

Published in Hardcover by Doubleday Books for Young Readers (13 October, 1998)

Author: Andrew Glass

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REVISTING THE WILD WEST

While waiting for a haircut in a barbershop along Route 66, the author read a Police Gazette story about Doc Holliday. Since this was the most memorable experience of his fourth grade year, he was inspired to share the excitement with young readers. The stories discuss such legendary Wild West figures as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Joaquin Murietta. While Glass's narrative reveals that the true facts behind these stories were greatly enhanced by eastern newspapers, his illustrations are colorful and lively enough to perk up the legendary version. Young readers will probably enjoy this subject as much as Glass did when he was a boy. Their parents may be put off by the illustrations in an era when there is a heightened awareness of guns.

Sweetwater Gunslinger 201

Published in Hardcover by Aero Pub (December, 1988)

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Not as realistic as it thinks

Sweetwater and Gunslinger are the cllsigns of the crew of an F-14 fighter which was, when this book came out, the US Navy's top interceptor. While two-man aircews should be enough to generate the structure around which can be built a great aviation novel (like "Flight of the Intruder"), it's wasted here as we watch the two engage in the sort of antics popularized in Top Gun while the top brass watches powerless, and aged admirals watch wishing they could be young nuggets again. Much of the novel is episodic, and not written very well, following the boys as their aircraft carrier charts the expected hostile waters, but we never feel as is we are actually there. The airplanes aren't fully realized, nor are the struggles of becoming a proficient aviator made out well enough to describe the charachters and why their superiors tolerate them. Ditch this book for anything else by Coonts.

Bravest, Baddest?.......

Althoug I enjoyed this book it was more of a collection of short stories with a connecting theme than a real novel. The main charachter "Sweetwater" is not featured quite as much as the title suggests and many of the other charachters are not described enough to give you a clear picture of them. I laughed at several spots an d at the end wasnt too dissapointed.....