[Skywarp]

been totally unable to get into this series?.

I had heard nothing but praise for this saga for years and when I finally got around to picking it up I was rather excited at the prospect of an epic story that willl take a month to get through.

Sadly something extremely rare happened and I just cannot read this book/s. I think I got about 200 pages in before I finally gave up.
The writing style is strange to say the least, and the language is rather esoteric. But I have encountered lots of other books with similar issues, especially older works and can almost always overcome them.

Not here, every line of this book seemed like it was trying to kick me out of the story with vigorous abandon instead of draw me in or at the least catch my interest.

Its really quite strange. I feel as though I have missed out but cannot understand why. This was supposed to be an epic, but all I found was a jumbled mess.

[Ward]

The first book was actually my favorite, probably for the reasons you didn't like it, but then I read it first when there was no epic built in behind it and I wasn't expecting anything beyond a single book. King isn't spoon-feeding the reader in the first book, partially because he's trying to evoke a timeless and bizarre setting, but also because he doesn't really know what he's laying out either; its not like he was trying to set the stage for an epic series. The first book is a series of novellas that were King's first forays into this world.

However the books get far more straightforward after the first, the second is as fast-paced a page turner as he's ever written in my opinion, and the rest are told in a more conventional style. Once the gunslinger gets companions his quest becomes more of a normal style narrative (though the fourth or fifth has a lengthy and somewhat dull, to my mind, digression). I'd recommend you read at least into the second book, if you don't like it I doubt you'll like the series, at least not at this time.

You'll also probably enjoy some of the later books more if you've read some other King, like the Stand. Not neccessary, but a plus.

[DrBloodmoney1]

The rest of the series is different from the first book. I loved all of it, so YMMV.

[U-Borat]

I've read Gunslingers, but I really didn't get the point of the story.
And books that incorporate modern society as part of the novel really don't interest me much anyway.

And I heard there's like loads of side books that tell Roland's story or something.

[Ouroboros]

King wrote a preface / essay for the rereleases which sums up pretty well what he was trying to achieve with 'The Dark Tower'. Effectively, something on the scale of 'Lord of the Rings', but drawing more on American cultural touchstones like John Ford westerns rather than Northern European folklore.

Irrespective of the merits of such an enterprise, King is not going to be for everyone, no matter the slowbuilding word of the mouth that the series has generated.

Personally, I think it really is as good as a lot of people think it is. It's certainly King's magnum opus. If you're struggling with the first book it's worth noting that even King himself has written that the story does not find its stride until the second book onwards (a surprisingly frank admission).

[Skywarp]

Interesting responses.

Perhaps in future I can force myself through the first book if the subsequent books are more standard as some of you say.

[beedle]

Personally I loved the first four books, but found the fifth almost unreadable. I just found it incredibly dull, with nothing to keep me reading. Got about halfway through, then heard from a friend that no. 6 wasn't much better so gave up. Anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?

[tracyt1800]

I read "The Gunslinger" (first book) and thought it was OK but not great. The language was odd and the pacing seemed slow to me (but I'd been reading a lot of fast-paced espionage books just prior to that). I continued on and read the second book ("The Drawing of the Three") mostly because of all the recommendations here.

I enjoyed the second book more than the first, although I definitely liked the atmosphere that the first novel built. After that I ended up listening to the rest on audiobook because I needed something to download on my subscription. Books 4 & 5 were my favorites. I loved those two books. Loved them. Book 6 was my least favorite, but still enjoyable.

Tracy

[Phil Connors]

I loved every moment of this wonderful series. I read them all in one go, I wasn't one of those (poor!) people who followed them all the way through. A close friend of mine, the guy who finally convinced me to try them, read The Gunslinger when it first came out. And we think Martin writes slowly... Can you imagine waiting 22 years to see how it ended!?

Anyway, DT is one of those series that has a really special place in my heart - I just immersed myself in it for the couple of months it took me to read all seven and I have to say they blew me away. Are they perfect books? No. I had some....niggles, but all told, they are a monumental achievement, especially considering how close to death King came, and how (in my opinion) wonderfully this plays into the world he writes about.

[Erfael]

And we think Martin writes slowly... Can you imagine waiting 22 years to see how it ended!?

I would point out that between publication of The Gunslinger and publication of The Dark Tower King published 39 non-DT books (if you consider his other writing to be non-DT). So there's writing slowly and then there's simply writing other things.....