The Dark Tower series

So I'm a big nerd. Sci fi and fantasy books, when done well, are my absolute favorite. So after my third fellow fantasy-loving book geek told me I needed to read Stephen King's epic fantasy series, I caved. I expected the literary version of a horror movie (lots of special effects and bad dialogue). I'd never read anything by him, but I mean, it's Stephen King, master of creepiness.
This series is not for the faint of heart. Seven volumes. 10,000 pages. While not a story that exists simply to creep, it is pretty grim. Legal fine-print out of the way...
This is actually really good. King's dealing with very big ideas. Our hero is on a quest across great expanses of space and time to climb the Dark Tower, source of all power in all universes, and challenge whoever he might find at the top. He wants to know why the world is winding down and falling apart, and stop it if he can. Roland of Gilead, the last Gunslinger (a kind of a cross between a knight of the round table and a Clint Eastwood cowboy hero) is haunted by tragedy. His quest for the Dark Tower has demanded everything of him, and has caused the death of nearly everyone he has ever loved. He draws three adventurers to him from out of our world into Mid-World, where he is, to join him in his quest. Their quest ranges across space and time, with many adventures, rescues, close calls with dark villans, monsters, demons, and a talking dog along the way.
It's intense, compelling, fascinating, had me in tears more than once. At the end of volume 4, I threw the book across the room, it was that upsetting. The ending of the series (at least for the supporting characters) was beautiful.
On the downside, sometimes it rambles. Some volumes fit together neatly, in others King has to do some deus ex machina mumbo jumbo because he's painted himself into a corner. He writes himself into the story in volume 6, which I think was pretentious, but I'm sure I'm not the first one to accuse him of that for that particular trick.
It's the master-work of a pretty good writer haunted by great ideas, and if you like fantasy and don't mind the dark, it's well worth it.