My Rating- 3 STARS
Synopsis- 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.
My Review- Possibly one of the strangest books I have read, though King has a very unique writing style that I love, but this time I struggled to connect with characters. The Gunslinger was mysterious in a way I enjoyed but it was hard to like him, hard to dislike him...so I ended up in a 'meh, he is alright' situation. The dialogue was pretty erratic and sometimes I struggled to understand what they were talking about...though in good old fashioned King way, it started to make more sense towards the end. There were times I was a quarter way through a chapter, having no clue what was happening, before I realized the gunslinger was thinking back on a past memory, so I would need to re-read the chapter.
The boy the gunslinger meets is a good character, though his moods are often confusing. one minute he is shouting at the gunslinger, the next minute he loves him and its the same with the gunslinger himself. he constantly struggles with the fact he loves the boy, but still seems very willing to offer him as a sacrifice to pursue his enemy and need for answers/knowledge.
This could be purely because its been a long time since I have read a King novel, Desperation remains my favorite book by him. I would still like to read book two as there is a lot left undone in this book, and I am curious about the dark tower and the world/era this book is set in