I fished this book out of the trunk of a friend's car. She was going to throw the books away or give them to charity and since I had read a bit of the Dark Horse comic I jumped at it and read it that week. (I am terribly behind with this blog).
The Gunslinger, Roland, is following the Man in Black across his world, a mixture of cowboy culture and sci fi-fantasy. Roland means to kill the Man in Black and get to the Dark Tower. The story has some flashbacks, to be honest they are the most interesting part of the novel, but the story feels very linear. You can see how Roland and the Man in Black are stuck in a "point A to point B" story, a path their creator makes them walk without any deviation.
The story is divided into vignettes as Roland encounters enemies or supernatural elements that hinder or aid him in his journey. The most dangerous to Roland is Jake Chambers, a small boy from another world stranded in this one after his death. Jake is the worst sort of trap for Roland, as he grows more affectionate and protective of him. Their relantionship leads to the two climaxes in the story.
In the flashback (I feel like I'm writing a Lost recap. The Lost writers worshipped Stephen King) Roland's mother is having an affair with Marten, a wizard. Roland feels betrayed by his mother and trying to avenge his father's honor takes the Gunslinger test earlier than expected. Roland chooses his hawk and sacrifices him so that Roland can win at all costs. We later find out that Marten is the Man in Black.
In the present the Man in Black forces Roland to choose between saving Jake or following him to the land beyond the mountains. Roland, of course, sacrifices another innocent in the hopes of destroying the evil Man in Black.
The book is richly layered and most of the characters get enough motivation and development. The female characters get the short end of the stick, as they are easily corruptible by the Man in Black and very subservient. It's a boy-man story through and through but I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the rest of the Dark Tower series.
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