The Wind Through The Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel [Rilegato]

As a longtime fan of King, I've not always agreed with every decision he's made, while respecting his right to do whatever he wants with his own writing. For example, there are things I like and don't like about the revised edition of The Gunslinger, in which he made several changes to the book's tone and some aspects of the characters' personalities, as well as to much of the dialogue. I appreciate any and all Mid-World fiction King wants to treat us with, but I'm not wild about changes being made to beloved material. That brings us to The Wind through the Keyhole, King's latest re-entry into the Dark Tower universe. Noting the five-star rating I've given it, you can safely assume I'm pleased with this addition to the canon. Here's why.

When I first heard about this project, I thought it made good sense. King mentioned that after some reflection, he realized there was a gap between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla, and has referred to this novel as "Dark Tower 4 ." Let's go back in time a bit. Years before King was hit by a van and nearly killed, he always said that The Dark Tower would be a series of about seven or eight novels. After the accident, King attacked the story like a man possessed, determined, as he also mentioned several times, not to end up like Geoffrey Chaucer with a hugely ambitious literary work that didn't get finished. He steamrolled through writing three final novels, ensuring that his story's fate wouldn't end up the same as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Now, after several healthy years recovering from the accident and resuming his career, he seems less pressured and more interested in enriching the story. And like King, I also sensed a gap between DT 4 and 5, one that didn't exist between the other novels. Sure, Jake, Eddie, and Susannah have progressed noticeably from the end of The Drawing of the Three to their first appearance in The Waste Lands, but not to the point that it seemed like a great deal of time had passed, as it did between 4 and 5.

The best thing about The Wind through the Keyhole to me is that the book doesn't change anything, but it adds much. It bridges the gap and fills in that missing time, establishing a more cohesive flow between books 4 and 5, while offering Dark Tower junkies like myself another glimpse into King's fantastic creation with stories of Roland's past. I don't know if I'm alone here, but I was looking for more of Roland's back-story than I got when Wizard and Glass was published. I loved the story of his ordeal in Mejis, but I thought the flashback would have a wider scope, that it wouldn't be mostly concentrated on one summer from his youth. The stories within Wind through the Keyhole open up a bit more of that past with rich storytelling that helps flesh out Roland's early years and negates the concern of what the stakes will be for him and his current ka-tet. As others have noted, we know all of the characters are safe, so a worry going in was, what is there to provide suspense? Once you get lost in Mid-World's past, that concern will fade and the joy of experiencing that magical world only presented in tantalizing fragments in the other Dark Tower novels (except DT 4, of course) will set in. Wizard and Glass proved that flashbacks like these can be thrilling even if you know the characters will survive. They're great fun, allowing King to delve into the history of Mid-World and the forces that shaped Roland's personality. The Wind through the Keyhole is, for me, a welcome addition to Tower lore.

I actually can't wait to go back and re-read the entire series with this book added to the timeline. It's impossible that King was able to squeeze in all of the ideas that he wanted to develop when he wrote those last three books, considering that he took years in between each of the others, and that Roland promises at the end of Wizard and Glass he has a "tale for another day" that must be told before reaching the Tower. I feel like we're now getting some of those ideas that might've come naturally if King's accident hadn't given him a pressing urgency to finish the story as soon as possible. Maybe not everyone will agree with me, and maybe even some will refuse to accept this book into the Dark Tower family; to that, I'd say they will always have the freedom of skipping it and ignoring what it adds to the story. As for me, I'm grateful that King decided to give us a little bit more. You never know, he might even decide one day to give those readers unhappy with the ending of Dark Tower 7 the final version where Roland reaches the Tower with the Horn of Eld in tow. Whether he does or not, The Wind through the Keyhole opens the door for future possibilities with this series.

Stephen King begins The Wind Through the Keyhole with a nod to Robin Furth and the gang at Marvel Comics. It's a fitting dedication since, with the exception of a narrative framing piece, this really could have (perhaps even should have) been a story arc in the comic series.

That's not to say I disliked it, just that it really adds nothing of value or context to the overall Dark Tower saga. It's nice to revisit friends, and immeasurably comforting to fall back into the language of Mid-World (say thankee-sai), but it lacks the epic feel of the rest of the series. There's no advancement of the greater plot and, rather surprisingly, hardly anything in the way of meta-references or pop-culture trivia. It also suffers, of course, from being an after-the-fact addition to an already finished storyline - no matter how fantastic the Starkblast was, there was never any real sense of danger, since we know the characters all live through to the next book.

Having said that, it's still Stephen King, it's still The Dark Tower, and it's still an enjoyable read - regardless of how it's told.

Let's start with the framing narrative of Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy. It's definitely nice to revisit the ka-tet in the days when it was whole and healthy, and comforting to spend some quality time alongside them. As for the Starkblast, it may have just been a convenient plot device to gather them together long enough for Roland to tell a story, but it's a force of nature worthy of Stephen King.

The first story-within-the-story is that of Roland as a youth, sent by his father to investigate the murderous rampage of a skin-man. It's an interesting enough tale, and does illuminate a little of Roland's mental state following the death of his mother, but it's also the aspect that most feels 'lifted' from the comics. The skin-man had definite potential as a King monster, but it never really gets its moment to shine. Yes, we get to see the carnage it's left behind (the scene with the children at the farmhouse is especially chilling), but it feels as if King wasn't that interested in the final confrontation. Again, much like the Starkblast, the skin-man is ultimately a plot device designed to give young Roland a chance to tell a story of his own.

It's this second story-within-a-story where the book really shines. Even though it has nothing to do with Roland or his ka-tet, it touches on several elements on the greater saga . . . and does, as the book's only real meta-reference, tie nicely to The Eyes of the Dragon. Part fairy tale and part epic quest adventure, Tim Southeart's tale could have carried the book on its own, with no need for the skin-man framing device. Here we get King's signature take on the family (and step-families) and the horrors of which human beings are capable. We also get an extended look into the more fantastic landscapes of Mid-World, it's mutated denizens, and the very real monsters living there (including faeries and dragons done as only King can do them). Tim's story also provides a new twist/tie to the Arthurian legends, finally weaving Merlin into the larger story in a scene that brings us back to the Starkblast, this time with a very real sense of danger to accompany it.

Overall, a solid book with one particularly great story contained within it . . . and one scene at the very end, between Roland and Susannah, that does add just a little to his character.

For Stephen King's coterie of Constant Readers, Gunslinger Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are more than just characters. For better or for worse, they have become part of us; their stories have become *our* stories. But don't let that scare you off if you've never read the Dark Tower books, for above all else, "The Wind Through the Keyhole" is about the power of stories ~ how the stories of our childhoods, the stories of our pasts, affect the stories of our lives.

The three tales-within-tales King tells in "The Wind Through the Keyhole" weave together seamlessly and with bittersweet resonance, each illuminating both Roland's character and the quest to come in small but powerful ways, while being worthy and exciting tales on their own merits. The tales begin amidst the roaring wind of a deadly storm called a starkblast, where the winds remind Roland of the stories his mother told him in his childhood bedroom atop his own tower ~ a place where he was both safe and innocent, where the Dark Tower was only a footnote in someone else's story.

When he is asked for a story as his ka-tet waits out the storm, Roland obliges with a story from his own life as a young gunslinger, after the events in Mejis ~ the story of young Bill Streeter and the Skin-Changer, and how Roland comforts this frightened young boy with a story his mother told him in that round tower room ~ the tale of young Tim Stoutheart, a character you will also come to love very quickly.

For those who have not read the Dark Tower series, you probably will not find the same emotional resonance that those who "know" Roland are bound to find, but don't let that frighten you off. These are stories worth reading ~ and I believe you will be intrigued enough by Roland Deschain and with Mid World to want to know as much of his story as you can, and I encourage you to do so. I promise you, if you do, you will never be the same.

For me, to simply be with Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy again was priceless. Knowing what is/was to come did not ruin it for me in any way ~ it was an extra glimpse of a peaceful time amidst the chaos, a time then the ka-tet was together and safe and warm as the storm raged all around them. My only complaint... I wish I could have stayed with them longer. I suspect that they will have new stories to tell in years to come and that Mr. King will be moved to share them with us. After all, the very best stories that never truly end... for ka is a wheel.