The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger

Rating: 4 out of 5

"There are quests and roads that lead ever onward, and all of them end in the same place -upon the killing ground."

Over three decades ago, Stephen King introduced readers to the extraordinarily compelling and mysterious Roland Deschain. Roland is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, a landscape strewn with the wreckage of civility, he tracks the man in black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with a boy from New York named Jake. Both fiercely realistic and eerily dreamlike, The Gunslinger is the first book in what is perhaps the greatest odyssey Stephen King has ever written.

I have never read anything by Stephen King, I was always more of a watch the movies type with his work. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I have to say I was engrossed pretty early on. In the introduction he gives King says its inspired by LOTR (so win automatically because I love LOTR). I was a little confused when the book started about what exactly was happening; but I couldn't stop reading. King has an interesting style in which he tells the narrative that I really enjoyed. He would give these long sections of flashbacks, but only things that were important to understanding the narrative. (So win for me).

Usually I am not a fan of world building or even the first book in a series because of all the world building, but I think the way King did it was perfect for what I needed. He gave me just enough, but left so much unanswered that I want to read what comes next. I was honestly surprised by the entire book and the outcomes of all the events; I thought certain things would play out differently because it's how it always goes... but this book was like... nope let's be real. I can't wait to see what happens next in Roland's saga and journey.