As a matter of fact, I'm in the middle of the sixth book of the series right now!
If you want a beginner's synopsis to Dark Tower (free of spoilers of course), here's all you need: Roland Deschain, last of the Gunslingers, is on a journey to find The Dark Tower. End description. The series combines almost every single genre along the way, westerns in particular, but also elements of science fiction, fantasy, classical literature, and romance among others.
I haven't read tons of King's books myself, although even I've noticed lots of references to his other work in there. It's not too hard to imagine his constant references to this alternate world when you realize that King started the series before he was a published author: the first book (The Gunslinger) was written while he was in teacher's college and he would pick away at the series throughout his career. He had written four books by the 90s, and set it aside for awhile until a fairly serious car accident reminded him of his mortality, so in the early 2000s he rushed through the final three books so he could bring the series to a close in a span of two years. He was thinking of retiring when he finished them, but I guess that didn't happen....
Some people think this was a mistake and claim books 5, 6, and 7 are weaker due to the rushed pace. I don't entirely agree, especially considering that King has always churned out books and screenplays at a ridiculous rate, so his writing style (for better or worse) is pretty consistent throughout most of his work. There are some minor things that have changed, but I think those have more to do with how he's changed as a writer. The only quibble I really have (won't give plot points away) is that he's veering a little strongly towards a "meta-literature" theme. I'll let you figure out what that means. I don't even know fully what it means!
The Dark Tower is definitely one of King's more ambitious works, and also I think the most personal since it's extended almost his entire career. It's also done in such a way that you don't have to have read any of his other books to understand what's going on. Most of them are like seeing Easter Eggs through the points of view of other characters, while the more explicit ones are explained in ways that make me want to check out the other books to get the fuller picture.
Here's what surprised me though: apparently he's working on an 8th book now. Not sure how that'll work since he seems to be building to a clear finish, but still. There are also graphic novels of Roland as a young man when he first started his quest (the novels focus on the last chunk of his journey while the comics will cover all the characters and places Roland keeps referencing but never fully explains). I've got the first three, but refuse to begin them until I have the seventh book finished.
Either way Bobby, you've got some catching up to do!
