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The Wind through the Keyhole

A Dark Tower Novel

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The Wind through the Keyhole

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Stephen King
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Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.
For readers new to The Dark Tower, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland and his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

This Russian Doll of a novel, a story within a story, within a story, visits Mid-World's last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV and Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter, a 'skin man,' Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, 'The Wind through the Keyhole.' 'A person's never too old for stories,' he says to Bill. 'Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.' And stories like these, they live for us.

(P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.©2012 Stephen King Dark Fantasy Epic Fantasy Scary Fiction Haunted Ghost Suspense
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Critic Reviews

[A] phantasmagorical folk tale . . . King's ability to entertain and unsettle cannot be denied. The skill with which he delivers a shock or sense of gothic terror is simply unmatched
Perfectly balanced: another excellent example of King's sheer skill as a storyteller.
A frantic-paced puzzle-box adventure that encompasses gunslinger Roland Deschain's early years, werewolves and powerful storytelling.
King is one of the great popular artists of our time.
Like John Steinbeck, he's an unfussy writer whose voice is rooted equally in the rhythms of everyday speech and the mythic made manifest in everyday life. Indeed, reading King, you often sense the presence of the dustbowl America of The Grapes of Wrath . . . a King novel has a sparse elegance that most novelists never achieve in a whole career. Put it down to the insistent, economical and wholly distinctive authorial voice.
Classic King, fine characters, compellingly written in a gripping, well-honed plot
Superbly energetic, it's King at his best.
All stars
Most relevant
A story within a story from the Dark Tower universe. King is reading and is easy to listen to. If you have heard the other DT novels this is a side story giving more to Roland’s character.

Very good

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Read by the author, not a reader (like the other dark tower books). This detracted a little from an otherwise good trip to midworld

Good story reading not so good

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This book is a story within a story within a story. It doesn't add anything to The Dark Tower epic since the main story is a fairytale told to Roland as a child. It's a good story, say true, but it feels like Stephen King had one more story he just had to tell. Read it if you have already read all the novels in The Dark Tower series.

A nostalgic read for Dark Tower fans

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I have been re-visiting the Gunslinger series in audio format, and what a treat to have it read by Stephen King himself. To be honest, I preferred Frank Muller narrating as he is much more lively and does great voices. However Mr King does a pretty good job, and I enjoyed listening to him.

As for a review on the story itself, as a Gunslinger fan, I very much enjoyed this one - but best you look at the other reviews or Goodreads for a more thorough insight into the story :)

Loved it

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King has once again delivered another great story of Midworld. Although it is not only about the ka tet, it remains a very good read

Another king of kings

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