The Wind Through the Keyhole (Dark Tower)

The Wind Through the Keyhole (Dark Tower)
Stephen King, 2012

Premise: Set between books four and five in the Dark Tower series, this stand-alone tale-within-a-tale-within-a-tale shares some of Roland's past, and a story from the early days of Mid-World.

This was a very interesting book, although not in the way I expected at all. Let me start by saying that Wizard and Glass, which is also primarily flashback, is not one of my favorite Dark Tower books. The idea of getting more backstory wasn't a huge appeal to me. However, I really enjoyed this read.

The book starts out in the “present,” with the main group traveling. Very quickly this frame story is done, and Roland tells the others the tale of a mystery he investigated in his youth. Eventually young Roland in the story tells another story, and actually over half of the book is this furthest-nested-in tale.

And that's just fine, because the tale of The Wind Through the Keyhole is a fable of Mid-World, and a great story. It reminds me quite a bit of Eyes of the Dragon, King's most fantasy-esque novel. The fable is about a young boy in a village on the edge of the forest, and the adventure that follows him after the death of his father. It starts small and expands, but doesn't become too epic. It's an intriguing glimpse into the history and myth of Mid-World itself.

While I enjoyed reading the book, it doesn't add much to the story of The Dark Tower overall. It stands fine as its own unique little piece, and for good or ill, it feels like King's just writing whatever he feels like getting down.

Although honestly, if there's any more Dark Tower to be had, I'd rather either have more in the vein of The Little Sisters of Eluria (Roland alone, but not young) or more short adventures of the entire ka-tet.

4 Stars – A Very Good Book (Although you can optionally remove a star if you aren't a huge Dark Tower fan already)