Seb's Web

As a kid, I’ve been a Harry Potter fan. It was what was accessible at the time. A bit of Eragon, a couple of adventure books, plus whatever the school made us read.
Oh boy, I wish I had gotten into Stephen King during those times. Easy to read, absolutely vivid narration, fantastic ideas, good humour. His books have a bit of everything.

The Gunslinger is the first book in the Dark Tower series. It wasn’t initially, and after you read the rest you understand why. This read more like a fun project, not necessarily an introduction to the rest of the world. The revised edition chisels it more into a DT intro. But it flows well. And when I heard this was called “the weaker” in the series, I was all in. I’m halfway through already and can’t wait to turn every page into Roland’s story.

No Dark Tower discussion would be complete without mentioning Randall Flagg. The Man in Black. What a fun antagonist! Move over, Voldemort, this guy’s wearing denim, playing cards, running his mouth, playing with nukes… Yeah, magic can be both fun and scary, but fantastic elements will always feel remote and distant. But an average looking guy in jeans who’s a smooth talker and absolutely dangerous, that feels more scary. At least for me. I can watch a horror movie and I won’t be afraid of the dark corner of the room when going to sleep. But a realistic psycho in a leather jacket could be lurking at any corner, doing the bidding of the Crimson King.

It had some slow moments, but a brilliant start to the series. 7⭐