The Dark Tower series is an awesome collection of books by Stephen King. The first novel, titled The Gunslinger, starts off with the main character Roland meeting a man named Brown. Roland, also known as the Gunslinger, tells him about one of the many times in this book he’s had to endure strange and difficult times to follow “the man in black.” The story revolves around Roland’s desire to stop the man in black and reach The Tower, which could be perceived as the place where all information you could ever want is held.
The entire book is filled with constant subtle humor. Dirty jokes in a seemingly innocent sentence which make them all the more amusing. There are outright funny jokes too, though. The character Brown makes a lot of little quips to Roland, even his talking raven Zoltan manages to contribute to the silly factor, and of course the Gunslinger himself.
The writing is very easy to read and well put together. Even if the book is a little slow at times, it makes sense seeing as it took around 35 years to write all the books. Fight scenes are plenty as the main character must battle his way through the different traps left for him by the man in black. Being the first novel of eight, The Gunslinger puts together a simple basis for the rest of the books to continue on.
Roland is continually pushing on his way towards the Tower, acquiring a few companions on his way like a kid named Jake. Very tough decisions are made on their accounts, and the importance of reaching the Tower really is amplified by their after effects. Overall, I really enjoyed the style, atmosphere, and plot line of The Gunslinger and encourage anyone with an action or slightly western oriented preference to read it.
Quarticulation 