Smorgasbord Fantasia

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 by Stephen King still remains my all-time favorite fantasy novels that is accessible and still remains intriguing, is a running social diatribe and blends in elements of western, horror and fantasy skilfully. It’s obviously the story-telling capabilities of the master that sells the story to you – of Roland the lone Gunslinger fighting for what is left of everything good in this world – connected to the Mid-World through the Beams of power. It is a spellbinding narrative and it held me rapt for several years in my younger days – my favorite of course is, Book Four: Wizard and Glass , which take us back to Roland’s younger days. The kinship, the reckless love-story, the daring adventures – all of this crafted in King’s supremely non-parallel voice. In fact, this seven book series was one of the chief reasons I started writing, in the first place. And okay now that I’ve established how much I love love love these books, let’s talk about the movie ... that ruined i...

This is next installment in the acclaimed Dark Tower series, that last ended with THE DARK TOWER, where Stephen King takes the excuse to travel back into the world of the Dark Tower and my all-time favorite Fantasy Protagonist, the flawed and yet endearing GunSlinger out to save the good in the world. Best yet, it recounts the story of Roland Deschain's younger days !! Woohoo, I always maintained that the Wizard and Glass story was the best of the lot. ( am a sucker for love stories, THIS IS the one that inspired me to start writing my own attempts at a dark adult fantasy story with an unfinished love story being the hinge) Anyways, eagerly looking forward to land this one!