I'm seriously glad I picked up this book. I was told that if I liked King's work I definitely needed to read the Dark Tower series, but its length always put me off. The premise didn't quite grasp me, either. After giving in and picking up the first, I thought I would definitely not be able to read that many books written that way. However, I trusted Stephen King and as one of his Constant Readers knew that he was capable of better, and that The Gunslinger had been written very long ago, by a young man who surely wanted to impress and prove himself. It's also the work he's claimed he is the most proud of, is his most complete, and that made me curious. I decided to give the second book a chance, thinking it had to have gotten at least a little better. And boy, was I right. This book convinces me that Stephen King is more than just a popular writer of violence and sex and murder tales, that he has the intelligence and imagination of a boy who still dreams of parallel worlds and cowboys years after he should have stopped. There's something incredibly magical about this book, about the drawing of the three. All through it, the tale is laced with the usual Stephen King trademarks, subtle reminders that it's still King you're reading. But he could almost make you forget.
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