Review ~ The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower book 1) by Stephen King

Title: The Gunslinger (DarkTower Book 1)

Author: Stephen King
Copyright: 2003
Type:  fantasy
Pages: 231
Series: yes

Reason for Reading
They are making a movie and I wanted to read the book before the movie came out.

Summary:

Book I
In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.

The Problems:

It took me a while to figure who and why the kid was important. It was jarring when he was introduced and then I can't tell when I became so attached to him.
King's writing still did a King thing where you could have cut out a lot of this book and still go the point of the novel and not felt like you were losing anything by not having that part there. I feel that sometimes King doesn't know when to stop describing a tree that is not important nor will ever be important.

The Wins:

I really liked the character Roland and watching him go through the whole struggle of his past, current and what was his choice going to be (no spoilers I promise). He was so fixated on the man in black that he almost forgot himself and I enjoyed learning about who he was before the man in black became the fixture of Roland and what he was after. I enjoyed seeing his character development from a young man to the man we see at the end of the book. It was a real treat and I can't wait until the end.

Goodreads Grade: 4 out of 5 stars

Would you recommend this book to others? Yes I would and actually I have to a few people and can't wait for the movie/series to come to the screen.