The Wind Through the Keyhole (Dark Tower) by Stephen King

The Wind through the Keyhole (Dark Tower series) by Stephen King is a late addition to the fabulous Dark Tower series - an alternate-fantasy quest by the King of Storytelling, started as his own version of a story influenced by the LOTR long years back. This book would nicely slot itself in between Book 4 (The Wizard and the Glass) and Book 5 (Wolves of Calla) and is a welcome addition to the cannon for sure. 

I have always enjoyed the stories about the earlier days of Roland Deschain, the young gunslinger's formative days and his share of conflict, turmoil and the guilt that consumed him all through his adult life. And yes - this story takes us back to those days of young Roland sent on another important mission that would shape his days to come. It was a pleasure once again to reunite with one of my favorite Ka-tet, say true sai.

The Wind Through the Keyhole was a book I bought as soon as it released (a decade back I think!) but never got around to reading. I admit - The Dark Tower series is one of my favorite set of novels, where the Master of Storytelling Stephen King spins a dazzling, thought-provoking grim tale of a gunslinger from another world, and his quest for the Dark Tower, a metaphor for multiple things.

So yes - after having read the whole seven books way back in 2008-09, I was excited to back in the Mid-World journeying through adventures with Roland and his gang once again. But as I quickly found out, this novel is a puzzle-box, a story within a story and there are actually three stories nestled in one. The best one is the one after which the book is actually named, the beating heart of the book is this heartfelt and dazzling adventure of a twelve-year old boy named Tim Stoutheart. Like King's best novels till date, this one too is magical, full of pulse-pounding adventures and ultimately, shining bright with hope. The perfectly addictive storytelling that we expect from the Master. And Oh yes - it features a version of the Man in Black :)

Comparatively, the other two stories felt like unnecessary padding before we get to the heart of the matter. Young Roland and Jamie Allgood, future Gunslingers are sent on a mission to save a mining town from this horror named the Skin-Man. The story is set up excellently and is full of promise as we unite once again with the broken hearted young man, living with the terrible guilt of what he had to do to his mother. We meet the legendary Stephen Deschain, his father and the leader of the Gunslingers, descended from the line of Arthur of Eld.  We also meet the Sisters of Eluria (featured as a Graphic Novel in the Gunslinger series) The story picks up pace as we are led into a mystery about this skin-changing creature who has been slaughtering the residents of this mining-town. However, once Roland launches into a story about Young Tim, I got so enamoured by this gem, that once I had returned back to the adventures of the Skin-man and Roland's six-shooters, it had lost its appeal. A bit duller compared to the flighty adventurous tale of a young boy discovering the steel in himself and facing tough odds, to make things good by his mother. 

Tim's story has all the right elements that makes story-telling so compelling. The pacing, the characters, the conflicts and even magic. We get to meet one of the oldest magicians of the In-World and Mid-Word! But am getting ahead of myself.  Overall, while not a bad reunion with my favorite band of gunslingers, they actually played a very little part in the overall scheme of things. Jake, Oy, Susannah and Eddie are all some of my favorite part-players in one of the best written fantasy-quest story but The Wind Through the Keyhole is not about them. 

I would rate this one as a good book, certainly not one of the better books in the Dark Tower series. But it is a solid book with a very wonderful heartfelt adventure at the centre of it. And it's heartwarming because, you get to spend time with some old friends on a new adventure. For this reason, this one's pure gold. Come rediscover your love for the dark-tower but stay for the fascinating yarn about a young boy, who discovers magic and lots more including his own courage in the face of overwhelming odds.