Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Review

Today, we are very excited to introduce a new contributor to Fantasy Matters--R.J. Huneke, who shares his thoughts with us about the latest addition to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.


The raw genius, adept and intriguing character depth, and concise wit of Stephen King’s first four gunslinger books comes across brilliantly in The Wind Through the Keyhole.

The heroic tale of King’s Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower series has crafted a modern mythology and lore akin to the King Arthur tales of old, and The Wind Through the Keyhole offers a riveting story that functions seamlessly as book 4.5 in the series, while remaining a fiercely engaging and illuminating read on its own.

The character of young Roland Deschain is visited throughout the first seven books, as Roland relates his youngest life-lessons to his new quartet of gunslinger companions, and this eighth offering of The Dark Tower does so again; it bridges the age gap between the pre-teen gunslinger apprentice and the late-teenage gunslinger powerhouse that witnesses the epic collapse of his homeland Gilead.
This is the perfect fifth book in the series, as the events begin right after book four, The Wizard and Glass. Here, Roland’s late ka-tet reveal themselves in significant ways and their growth shines through as they sit and shelter the Starkblast storm away. Perhaps Mr. King has access to an author-excusive time traveling device, because readers will find this installation to be appear as though it naturally follows the fourth Dark Tower book in 1998.

This new tale includes both familiar enemies of the gunslinger and entirely new monstrosities that are frightening, interesting, and dangerous. The lore of Mid-World is greatly expanded, and Roland and Jake in particular have moving transitions in their lives that are very important to their personal stories, especially just before they are to reach Calla Burn Sturgis in the actual fifth Dark Tower book, The Wolves of the Calla, and begin the raucous three book finale to Roland’s journey to the Tower.

For Dark Tower fans, Stephen King fans, and any fiction readers, in general, The Wind Through the Keyhole is unique, wonderful, and a must-read.

Impulsive Review Grade: A++