I just finished this one today, and my oh my, SK’s got his groove back, IMHO anyway.
Call this book volume 4.5 in the Dark Tower series. It’s a story within a story within a story, and I loved every minute of it, in ways I haven’t with SK’s works in, well, decades. Not since finishing “The Drawing of the Three.”
What I loved about it is how it didn’t really advance the whole story arc of the Dark Tower at all, but very rewardingly and satisfyingly gave more glimpses into Roland and his companions, young Roland and his early companions/adventures, and a more ancient protagonist who followed one of the beams (this one the beam of the lion.)
I’m normally not a big fan of authors who write fillers for their universes, but for me, SK struck just the right note, and I felt about the whole DT series again the way I felt originally after the first 3 books.
It’s on my Kindle wish list, just haven’t bought it yet. I think I will now. I started to get annoyed with the Dark Tower series around book 5 or so, but I stuck it out because I just had to know how it ended.
Thanks for the review, I finished reading 1-7 back to back last month (I’d never read them before, and realised I’ve read every other one of his books, so it had to be done) and I just got “Keyhole” out of the library yesterday.
I’ll be back once I’ve read it, but am looking forward to it more after your post!
I pre-ordered it through Amazon and read it a month or so ago. I agree with the OP that it’s extremely worthwhile. It reminds a lot of Wizard and Glass, but perhaps with smaller stakes. It creates a handful or terrific new characters and shows a somewhat kinder and gentler young Roland. I especially enjoyed discussion of Engie and Sma’ Toot. I liked the Wind through the Keyhole story more than the Skin-man story, it had far more of the Dark Tower vibe and a better conclusion, but both are plenty enjoyable.
I enjoyed it very much as well, I liked the story within a story aspect, and the fact that it didn’t change the arc of the prior books. It inserts quite nicely within the current books.
My one complaint has to do with one of the key events that drive the stories resembling a similar type of event from a rather lousy movie.
I thought it was a bit of a silly element, but then it made sense later on in the story when one was described in more detail - I think it was actually one of those little things that come out of thinking too much about the details of your world. If the Beam moves the clouds, it’s gonna produce some wacky weather, isn’t it?
I’m conflicted on this one. On the one hand, it was lovely to dip my feet back into the bizarre, surreal, yet instantly-familiar realm of Mid-World. It’s also amusing to see King continue to give shout-outs to other authors’ works in the Dark Tower series. On top of such earlier references as Aslan and golden “Sneetches,” it’s obvious that Steve has been reading some George R.R. Martin; how better to say “winter is coming” than with a starkblast? Rather than plagiarism, homage, or mere toadying to his author friends, these little name-drops always give me the impression that I’m never closer to seeing the unfiltered, uncensored landscape of King’s subconscious as when I’m reading one of the Dark Tower books. And, as always, King is an effortlessly engaging writer: funny, scary, tender, sexy, or gross, as the situation requires. King could write a three-star (three stars from me, anyway) book in his sleep.
Which it kind of feels as if he did, in this case. This book feels…hastily done, and not just because it’s short. I was excited once I realized it was a flashback story, since Wizard and Glass is my favorite book in the series and one of my favorite Stephen King books, period. However, the intriguing, Inception-esque story within a story within a story premise fails, to me at least, because it feels as though he breaks voice repeatedly. The narration is not convincingly Roland - neither the old-Roland story nor the young-Roland one.
Nonetheless, still a very enjoyable story, and I’ll take more Dark Tower any way I can get it.
Honestly, when I saw that he’d written another Dark Tower novel, my first reaction was really strongly negative. The last two novels of the series just burned me so bad.
But, from the good buzz here, I decided to give it a try. Once Eddie said he wanted a bumper sticker that said “I rode out the Starkblast in Gook,” I was feeling a bit more charitable, and once we met Sister Fortuna, I was totally hooked. I agree, the middle tale is the best one, but the whole thing was pretty fun.
I wonder if anyone has pieced together a chronological tale of Roland’s family and early life? I’d actually like to re-read that part, without the heartbreak of the craptastic development of the Dark Tower quest in later books.
Interesting, I didn’t even know this book existed. I haven’t read a single King book in something like 6 years now. But I loved the Dark Tower series (yes, even the ending), and I’ll have to pick this up some time.
As I said in the initial post, it’s sort of like book 4.5, and if you’ve read thru Wizard and Glass, that’s all you need to have read to appreciate this one.
