The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower I)

Set in a desolate world that mirrors our own in unsettling ways, the first novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series follows Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who has spent many years pursuing his adversary, the man in black. The chase takes Roland across a vast desert and beyond. The novel blends the Western with fantasy, science fiction and horror, and King drew partly on a narrative poem by Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. It was assembled from five short stories first published separately, and King later revised the novel substantially.

Andrew Elliott, founder of GoDesignerGo, had only just started it when he recommended it, describing it as the kind of fun, recreational reading he mixes into his queue and a good read so far.