The Gunslinger

The first of seven (now eight) novels starts with the central character and does not really give any indication of the stories to follow. Roland is one of my favourite characters ever. The gun battle at the end of the first section is brilliant, worth reading for that section alone.

This is a short novel compared to the others in the series but so much is packed in story wise. As well as the gun battle we have the story of Jake and his untimely demise, the meeting between Roland and the man in black and all the back story of Roland,s early adventures which is expanded on in Wizard and Glass.

Altogether this is one of my favourite novels. Hard to beleive that Stephen King wrote it without realising ther would be seven more books and that he would write them on and off for 20-30 years.

The first part of a truly brilliant series that is full of story and great characters.