The Wind Through the Keyhole: The Dark Tower IV-1/2

Petite appréhension en commençant la lecture : est-ce que j'allais pouvoir me reconnecter à cet univers Dark Tower le temps d'un "petit" roman? Ah bah oui ça fonctionne très bien! Dès la 1ère page j'étais à nouveau dedans. Ce que je trouve très réussi dans la forme : l'histoire dans l'histoire... dans l'histoire! Fallait oser, et là c'est très très réussi et prenant (plus réussi que dans Misery)!!! Bon je ne l'ai pas encore terminé... ça va pas tarder. Mon conseil : contrairement à ce que dit Monsieur KING dans le prologue je pense que c'est mille fois mieux si on connaît déjà la série avant de lire celui-ci.

King treats us to 3 different stories within his latest novel. In part 1, we meet up with Roland and his Ka-tat, or if your familiar with the rest of the books, you can call them, our old friends :) heading once again along the trail of the beam, towards the Dark Tower. Though it isn't long before danger strikes, a devastating storm known as a Starkblast approaches, forcing Roland and his companions to take shelter in an abandoned town hall. Stranded until the storm passes, Roland sits everyone down and passes the time with a story from his past. The story of the hunt for the Skin-Man (shapeshifter) We find a young Roland once more (this takes place not long after the events Roland spoke about in Book 4, with Susan and Wizard's Ball) accompanied by another gunslinger, Jamie De Curry, the two set off on a task set before them by Stephen Deschain. A beast believed to be a Skin-Man has been tearing people limb from limb and its up to Roland and Jamie to figure out who it is and how to stop it before a few killings turn into a Bloodbath. During the Skin-Man story, we are subjected to a Story within and Story, as Roland, Young Roland, begins to tell yet another story. The main story within the book is, as you may have guessed from the title, 'The Wind Through The Keyhole' Which is a great tale of Tim Ross, the son of a Lumberjack and his wild adventure packed full of magic, horror and excitement. I dont wish to explain too much about this story. Only that, at first I was like "Awww, I just want to hear about Roland, I don't care about this other kid" but before long, I found myself unable to put the book down as Tim's story turned from a classic sounding fairytale into some-sort of a, Mystery, Horror, Thriller. It's brilliant. Very engaging. Once the story of Tim is over, we return to Young Roland and the hunt for the Skin-man. And finally as this story also comes to a close, we return to our friends, sitting by the fire, as the last of the storm passes by. This isn't a spoiler at all. This is book 4.5 its obvious they are all ok, otherwise books 5, 6 and 7 wouldn't exist. Or would be COMPLETELY different. - - - My final verdict. Though its not solely based around Roland and his Ka-Tet, which those stories I personally loved. As King writes in the book, Those tales have already happened and gone by, 'Once upon a bye' I had no idea what to expect of this book, only that I had to read it once I heard its related to the Epic, that is The Dark Tower. After reading this book, it feels as though Id gone back to read them all again, only to discover I some how missed 306 pages in one of the books. This book does not disappoint. Id highly recommend reading the entire Dark Tower series, then returning to this book last, just as the rest of the Tower fans will have. Best to read it as intended so not to encounter spoilers. Thankie Sai, for I hope this review helps a few of you consider purchasing and reading this novel. May you have long days and pleasant nights, with this book in your hands and your mind lost in the world of the Tower.

I eagerly bought and read the Dark Tower/Gunslinger books for years. After all those years I did feel cheated when the last book finally came along, cheated by the way the quest finally ended, and cheated that there would be no further adventures to look forward to. So I was happy but rather wary to find out that King had penned another Dark Tower novel. How would it fit in with the story already told ? Well this book is written to slot in between novels 4 & 5 of the series. It can be read as a "stand-alone", but I think that those already familiar with the series will get more from it. It's a tale within a tale within a tale, that is not really part of the main story, but gives us another glimpse of the fascinating "Mid-World", and a very brief glimpse of an interlude in the quest of the main characters (the ka-tet) from the Dark Tower series. A terrible storm (a "Starkblast") is on the way, and the ka-tet have to take shelter in an abandoned village. During the course of the storm Roland tells them about an episode from his youth, when as a young gunslinger he is sent by his father to investigate reports about a murderous "Skin-Man" (a sort of shapeshifter)in a distant dusty town. During this adventure he encounters a terrified young lad whose unconscious mind may hold the key to uncovering the human identity of the shapeshifter. Roland tells the lad a story that his mother had told him when he was a child, a story about a brave boy (Tim "Stoutheart" Ross), who has to leave his village and face the wonders and perils of ancient Mid-World to find a magical cure for his mother who has been gravely injured by his violent stepfather. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was a wonderful tale which gave the reader more insight into the early life of Roland and gave more detail about the history, magic and strange legends of Mid-World. If you are looking for a full length ka-tet adventure (about Eddie, Susannah and Jake) this is not what you'll find here, but it's still a great story.

It's the crown jweel for King

Received it within hours of ordering!!! Packaging could do better but hey, the book arrived in one piece without dents, bends and dogeared pages. Print is good. Surprisingly the spine or the book page edges weren't affected in the insecure packing. All of this matters right- specially if you're a collector and this was the only book missing from your dark tower series collection like in my case! Print and page feel is awesome. The way it should be. No weird duplicate feeling. Do yeah phew! Yet to read it!!!! :-D