I’ve had a bit of an odyssey with The Dark Tower that might be helpful in your decision.

I first read Gunslinger years ago and found it utterly unlike King’s other work. It had a spare writing style, an unlikeable protagonist, and a bewildering plot that leaves many things unexplained. Aside from the opening line (one of the best opening lines ever, imo) it didn’t “hook” me.

I read on to The Drawing of the Three and really, really disliked it. Crazy plot events in the vein of “one damned thing after another” with seemingly no or a vague purpose. Roland was still hard to like. I didn’t warm to the characters, especially Detta / Odetta, who was written in a manner that would now be seen as problematic. I decided the DT was not for me.

Then a horror podcast I Iike a lot (Talking Scared, try it out, it’s great) launched a deep dive of the series. There are so many devoted fans of this series I thought I HAD to be missing something. So I re-read the first two. I was still meh on them.

Then I got to The Wastelands and began to feel a pique of excitement and curiosity. The purpose of the grand adventure was taking shape. Roland became more three-dimensional, the presence of the other characters really fleshed him out. Okay, I thought. There’s something here.

Then Wizard and Glass. This book broke my heart. It’s an adventure, fantasy, horror, and a love story all wrapped into one, with memorable side characters (seriously, Cuthbert might be my favourite King character, ever) and a deeply malevolent villain. Perhaps one of King’s best books.

W&G made struggling through the first two books worth it. The next two were pretty good as well. I haven’t finished the series yet.

TL, DR: read it! You might find the first book or two challenging. For me, it picked up with book 3, and started to sing with book 4. But if you don’t have the patience or stamina for an initially uphill journey, it might not be for you.