The Gunslinger series

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Interesting Stephen King books that are nothing like his normal stuff.
It's a series of 4 LONG books about a futuristic gunslinger named Roland and his trusty .45's.

If anyone will be laid up in bed for a few weeks, it's not the worst thing in the world to read.
 
YES! Those are probably my favorite books of all time. They get a huge vote of confidence from me.

They are set in a land which has "moved on." The world used to be ruled from a land called New Canaan, and law was enforced by knight-types: The Gunslinger.

There is lots of 2 handed revolver action in the first one, and a great shoot out in the second one. Our protagonists have to face like 7 guys with automatic weapons, and they just have the gunslinger's pistol. And they're naked.

A great series.
 
Our protagonists have to face like 7 guys with automatic weapons, and they just have the gunslinger's pistol. And they're naked.
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No worries. The bad guys are armed with things like an M-16, aka Wonderful Rambo Machine that recoils so bad it's like shooting a jackhammer, sawed-off shotguns that look like swollen derringers, etc. The good guys have single-action revolvers that can be reloaded in moments when you have one in each hand, and a firing pin for every cylinder. Another book of his also has the classic side-by-side pump-action shotgun. Brilliant.

The story's okay, but Stephen King wouldn't know a shotgun from a pile of dog poop. Jesus man, if you're going to write about guns, at least do five minutes of research.
 
The funny thing is Stephen King started writing the series when he was in college, at least twenty some years ago. Every once in a great while he adds a new book to the series, but so infrequently I find myself having to go back and reread all of them to maintain continuity.

Anyone into .45 wheelguns would probably enjoy the series. I just wonder if he'll ever finish it?
 
In a recent King interview W/ the Lansing Journal he claims that he WILL finish the series (even stating that the final 2 books arte WRITTEN but not edited already) and that if he died today, the series WILL finish...

(BTW, I am a HUGE King fan... I even posess all the articles he wrote in "Ellery Queens Mystery MAgazine", "Playboy" and "Argosy")

The "Gunslinger"
DOES explain reloading, and how Roland handles it... eventually Roland loses a few fingers to an overgrown Lobster, and it even briefly gets into reloading a wheelgun W/ missing fingers...

AND to boot, King even goes into having Roland maintain (clean and oil) his guns... 'tis a GREAT series, and does quite well W/ the gunplay!
 
its interesting how king has tied in several other elements from his other storylines into 'the dark tower' saga. i like the inclusiong of randall flagg especially.

what i am disappointed with is that some of the details of rolands existance and experiences in the first book, such as his ability to go without water, and how when he reached higher levels (almost rpg-like) his thirst would go away. its as if roland's character changed immensely right after he held palavar with the man in black.
 
The fifth book in the series, Wolves of the Calla, is scheduled to be released in hardcover in 11/03. In 2004 the last two books in the series, Song of Suannah and the Dark Tower, are supposed to be published.
 
Before we get all caught up in bellyaching about the guns being wrong, keep in mind that none of the characters are from our world. Their worlds are similar to ours, in greater or lesser degree, but not identical to it. Their worlds aren't even identical to each other. In Jake's world, for example, maybe Ruger did make a .44 autoloader though they haven't in ours, yet. Of course, the errors are more likely the result of poor research on King's part than they area deliberate device, but the story so far has been good, so I don't let the technical errors destroy my enjoyment. If I want good technical information or training tips, I don't look for them in King novels anyway.
 
Roland was the inspiration for my first Ruger Blackhawk purchase.
It's too bad that King's books are typically done poorly as movies. I'd love to see a Matrix style version of the Dark Tower. It's also too bad that Clint Eastwood is a little too old to play Roland.
 
I suspect R of G sold quite a few Single Actions though this is not exactly what King had in mind. He seems of two minds about guns- works them into all his books with frequent positive use of them but has also started up with some of thge "tragic prolifferation" talk more recently.

it would be nice if he would learn enough to avoid things like .38 Colt Woodsman(s) etc.
 
Those are my favorite Stephen King books and on my top ten list. Although I can't say that Steven King's firearms knowledge is that great. I just like the story.
 
The story's okay, but Stephen King wouldn't know a shotgun from a pile of dog poop. Jesus man, if you're going to write about guns, at least do five minutes of research.
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What Meowhead said. SK don't know NUTTIN' 'bout guns.

Story-wise, I enjoyed the first three books of the series, but then I found out that Stephen King is an anti (saw an interview with him on The Learning Channel a couple years back in which he blamed the Columbine tragedy on "the availability of guns").

Somehow couldn't read any more books by him in a series about a *ahem* "Gunslinger" without a real bad taste in my mouth. :scrutiny: :barf:
 
Calamity Jane is correct. Stephen King is a long time, well known, anti-guns-owned-by-us-worker-peasants-and-serfs. He believes that the Second Amendment was placed there in order to establish a police state, in that only the police and military would be armed (and of course, criminals).

Another of the Mega Millionaire Marxists set, in my opinion.

J.B.
 
That series is fun to read, but a little too 'stream-of-consciousness' for me.

- Gabe
 
"...Another of the Mega Millionaire Marxists set, in my opinion...."

Maybe now- but he started out as an unemployed extra-broke hippy type barely -and sometimes not-paying his bills. Marxism probably seems natural to him given that he is now firmly planted in the arts and croussants set. His work has wide appeal and he may understand that his gun -owner fans are way less dangerous to him than the psycho-fans. One of those broke into his house a few years ago and scared him pretty bad.

I delt with a woman who belived that supernatural forces were pumping poison and/ or evil forces up through her toilet fixture and floor. she had the toilet stuffed with rags and papers and the floor paved with newspapers to keep out the evil. her bathtub was brimming full of liquified excrement and her coffee table was loaded with Stephen King hard cover books.

She was walking around town with a suitcase containing $40,000 and that's what got her in trouble with the white suit and butterfly net set.
 
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