The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower 1) by Stephen King Read 1/13-2/9

This is from my BOTM series, it is a second reading for me.  It was just as good as I remembered.  This is a fantasy novel meets the old west.  The main character Roland, is a “gunslinger” i.e. knight of his society.  The world has moved on, or is dying, it is full of mutants and empty landscapes.  I love the scenery, the old west and end of the world colliding.  Images of Mad Max fill my mind, but more Clint Eastwoody from The Good, The  Bad, and The Ugly.  The one town we encounter is a essentially a boarder town, that reminded me of Lonesome Dove, right down to the Saloon and piano player.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not like any other King series, there is no real jumpy parts, even when the mutants attack, it isn’t King’s normal scary stuff.  This is a nice quick read with limited main characters, Roland, Jake (enters half-way through) and the Dark Man.  After some of the more complicated storylines having just a few main characters to focus on was a really nice reprieve for my brain.  King does a great job setting up the series, he gives tid-bits of Roland’s past and the back story and the mission, without really telling us anything and making us want to read more.  This is a great start of the series.