It's a post-apocalytptic sphaghetti western set across several
worlds, dreamt up by the most popular writer of horror in the last
few decades. In other words, this is far from Stephen King's usual
macabre fair, even though there are traces in his tone and savoury
details. The plot resembles more of a fantasy quest with a 'Good
Bad and the Ugly' aesthetic and that's exactly what makes this
first installment SO DAMNED COOL!
(The series tends to dip in quality after book four, but there's
still plenty of good stuff to be seen thoughout the entire seven
book run)
The first book is about ninety-percent plot and zero context. We
know that the gunslinger, the series' stoic and seemingly
emotionless protagonist has been pursuing a wizard in black for a
very long time, but we have no idea why. We learn that the man in
black is supposed to provide a clue to lead our hero in his quest
for the Dark Tower, but we have no idea what that is or why he's
looking for it either. The world we find this action in seems more
than a little askew. We encounter sexually ravenous oracles without
physical forms and cave-crawling 'slow mutants' attacking
dilapidated rail cars, and in a dingy dust strewn tavern, a crazy
old man plays "Hey Jude" on a honky tonk piano.
It's all so marvelously dark and surreal that you can't help but
read on and guess at what our gunslinger is searching for and
whether this man in black is what he seems to be - assuming our
hero ever catches him.
Read this. It's among King's best.