Addendum, 10-6-16: I've read this twice, and have listened to it twice. George Guidall does a great job as a narrator, and I highly recommend it. 
 Original review: August, 2010 
 Two decades pass between the time this was published and the time the final volume of the series was written, and I believe this book was written many years before it was published (when King was a mere 19 years old, in fact). He's grown much as a writer since this was tik-a-tak'd out on his typewriter. If this were a standalone book, I would give it two stars. However, it introduces the Dark Tower series which is overall AWESOME, and it sets the tone of the main character: Roland Deschain, who is a hero I love. He's based on the man with no name played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's trio of spaghetti westerns, and, of course, that dude is completely bad-ass. Roland is even cooler. If you're going to enjoy the series, then you really need to start with this collection of five short stories. Don't get me wrong; it's not a painful read at all, but the quality of his writing is much better in other books.