Scan barcode
A review by aceinit
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
4.0
A simple but solid tale set in a time and written in a style that will take the reader back to the before the garbled craziness that began with Wolves of the Calla. (Wolves, for me, was a turning point in the series when it went from being a remarkable opus into a rapidly-deterioriating trainwreck…but that’s a tale for another day).
The Wind Through the Keyhole is an interesting look at Roland’s world, and a coming-of-age tale that, in many ways, parallels Roland’s own youth. But those looking for a tale about Roland or his ka-tet run the risk of being disappointed.
Though the events take place shortly after the conclusion of The Waste Land and the real-time story of Wizard and Glass, Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy only frame the central narrative, and feature in it very little. The story-within-the-story, featuring Roland and Jamie DeCurry and taking place shortly after Roland's youth as shown in Wizard and Glass is a second frame story. The real hero of this novel is a boy named Tim Ross, and his tale—as told by Roland—dominates the narrative.
At first, I was disappointed by this. I had, after all, bought a Dark Tower novel and went into it with expectations of a Roland-centric story. However, once I put the initial disappointment of seeing how much of the book was devoted to Tim aside, I found it a fast and enjoyable tale, very reminiscent of earlier installments, particularly Wizard & Glass.
Readers who weren’t fond of Wizard may not care much for Keyhole either, but I, for one enjoyed this volume thoroughly, and hope to see more like it in the future.
The Wind Through the Keyhole is an interesting look at Roland’s world, and a coming-of-age tale that, in many ways, parallels Roland’s own youth. But those looking for a tale about Roland or his ka-tet run the risk of being disappointed.
Though the events take place shortly after the conclusion of The Waste Land and the real-time story of Wizard and Glass, Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy only frame the central narrative, and feature in it very little. The story-within-the-story, featuring Roland and Jamie DeCurry and taking place shortly after Roland's youth as shown in Wizard and Glass is a second frame story. The real hero of this novel is a boy named Tim Ross, and his tale—as told by Roland—dominates the narrative.
At first, I was disappointed by this. I had, after all, bought a Dark Tower novel and went into it with expectations of a Roland-centric story. However, once I put the initial disappointment of seeing how much of the book was devoted to Tim aside, I found it a fast and enjoyable tale, very reminiscent of earlier installments, particularly Wizard & Glass.
Readers who weren’t fond of Wizard may not care much for Keyhole either, but I, for one enjoyed this volume thoroughly, and hope to see more like it in the future.