The Wind Through the Keyhole

[Chris , The Hardcase]

It's May 1st, cullies. Time for our group discussion of The Wind Through the Keyhole.

Yes, we've been talking about the book for months, in this thread: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

But that was more of a "OMG, this book is coming out I CAN'T WAIT!" thread, along with some "I got my copy!" stuff thrown in at the end.

In this thread, we'll actually read the book and talk about it. Beware spoilers, and please mark anything that will spoil this book (or Books 5-7 in the DT series). Keep in mind that several people will check in here with progress as they read.

[Chris , The Hardcase]

Myself, I finished it today.

Now, while my review does not spoil anything that actually happens in the book, it will reveal the structure of the novel, what characters are involved, and how it fits into the main series. So check the review at your risk.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Chris , The Hardcase]

Oh, look at this. When I marked this as "Read", my 2012 Reading Challenge updated:

"Awesome, you're 19 books (19%) ahead of schedule! "

Directive 19, methinks.

[Jamie]

I just finished it!!! All I am going to say right now before I digest the rest of what I just experienced is that this was one of the most magical stories I have ever read. I truly loved it and hope sai King writes more for the DT series.

[Becky]

Ugh... and I'm 1 book behind. Dang.

Here's my review. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Same thing Chris said applies to my review... more about structure than content, but read at your own risk. :)

[Scott]

I'm almost done with the story within the story within the story. Only King would do something like this.

[Becky]

Scott wrote: "I'm almost done with the story within the story within the story. Only King would do something like this."

*cough* The Name of the Wind *cough* ;)

[Chris , The Hardcase]

And I hate to say it, but Rothfuss was better at pulling it off.

[Becky]

Chris wrote: "And I hate to say it, but Rothfuss was better at pulling it off."

Agree.

[Danielle]

*I don't think there's anything spoiler-y here, just general comments. I'm still new to this...*

While I know many will disagree with me, I don't think of the Dark Tower series as King's best work. But I have read them all and do enjoy them, especially the opening novel, The Gunslinger, which is haunting in a lyric way. Instead of feeling like I want to go back to the other DT books, I think I might venture into the list of linked books given in TWTtK's inner pages, back to Insomnia or Desperation.

What I liked best about TWTtK was the title story, which actually comes in the middle of the novel, the story within the story within the story. (I do feel like this structure is a bit too...structure-y, but all things serve the beam, right?) These were the characters I could best get into and the plot I found most inviting. I really liked DARIA and the reappearance of R.F., of course.

What I disliked is Roland as narrator. He is an untrustworthy narrator, which can really work in fiction, but when we're dealing with myth and history, I find myself wanting a more reliable narrator. In general I prefer King's books when written in third person. (11/22/63 is an exception to this.)

So: King fan? Read it. Not already a fan? I don't think this one is going to win your heart.

[Scott]

I never read any of Rothfuss' work. There's more for my TBR list.

[Leah]

Chris wrote: "Oh, look at this. When I marked this as "Read", my 2012 Reading Challenge updated:

"Awesome, you're 19 books (19%) ahead of schedule! "

Directive 19, methinks."

Creepy.

[Leah]

Anyone else listening to this book? I just started the audiobook and King himself is reading it. However, I think it is detracting a bit from the story -- anyone else have any opinions?

[Becky]

Leah, I agree with you and I didn't listen to the audio. LOL

I know that King reading audiobooks doesn't work for me. I just have a hard time listening to his voice for that long, and it starts to grate on me. I was VERY disappointed when I found out that King read the audio for this one. I was hoping for George Guidall to read this one, since he read the last 3 of the series and the revised edition of The Gunslinger.

[Jenny]

Just finished and loved it! I didn't realise how much I've missed this wonderful world till now. Must read the series again.

J

[Leah]

Becky wrote: "Leah, I agree with you and I didn't listen to the audio. LOL ...

I was just so excited to get the book (I have an Audible subscription so it was a "free" credit) that I didn't even look at the narrator. I assumed George Guidall also and was shocked when the foreward was over and King was still reading! I love the man, but really, does he have to do the reading as well as the writing? I don't want to wait for a real book to ship and I don't really know if I want it on my Kindle, so I will hang in there, but I keep finding that I drift off and am waiting to miss something really important -- like who the shapeshifter is :) (<-- not even close to that far yet).

[Bondama]

For the first time since I read "Carrie", I've been under a solemn vow NOT to buy the new King. My son is DETERMINED to give it to me for Mother's Day. Ever since a birthday when I got three copies of "Bag of Bones"-- he's determined to be FIRST this time!!

[Becky]

I think you'll enjoy it Bondama - it's not usual DT fare (whatever that is... :P) but I think you'll like it. :)

[Dustin]

I'm really enjoying it, so far..:)

[Dustin]

Chris wrote: "Myself, I finished it today.

Now, while my review does not spoil anything that actually happens in the book, it will reveal the structure of the novel, what characters are involved, and how it fi..."

Nice review, Chris. Thank you.

Becky- I'm unable to read yours...

[Becky]

Here's the review text:

3.5 Stars
Believe it or not, there was a time when I hadn't read the Dark Tower series... but we don't talk about that. It's a painful time in my history, and polite company lets me keep my shame to myself. But I mention it because since stepping foot into the Tower multiverse, everything changed. I thought I was a Stephen King fan until I read the Dark Tower series, but I had no idea how much I could love King and his books. I adore this series. No other series or book can claim a higher spot in my heart (not even Harry Potter, though that's a very close second), so when I learned that there would be a new book in the series, I SQUEE'd all over the damn place. Messy clean-up, but so worth it.

Dark Tower is bittersweet. It is. But that's one of my favorite things about King; he makes it real. So I couldn't wait, nay... COULD. NOT. WAIT. to read the shit out of this book and finally see the ka-tet again. To go on another adventure with them, to see what this new interlude holds... despite knowing ka-shume is coming down the path of the beam for them. But then... I admit to feeling a bit cheated after I started. Maybe that's not fair, probably not, because had I read the book description, I'd have known that likely wasn't going to be what I'd get... But those of you who know me well, those who share my khef, do it please ya, will know that I wouldn't want to know, that I'd want to just go where Ka's wind blows. And so I did... but I can't help wanting more of Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy.

As a ka-tet book, low marks for this one because there's just so little of them here... but as a Mid-World/multiverse book, high marks, because there's a lot here in that regard, and it's quite interesting to piece together.

What we have here is a story within a story within a story. Not my favorite thing. I love Wizard and Glass, but the Mejis flashback storyline is long. W&G is my least favorite of the series for this reason, and I always get to a point where I'm ready for the Young Roland story to be done so I can get back to Present Roland. But saying it's my least favorite is not saying much, because every book in the series is fantastic in its own way.

So coming on the heels of Wizard and Glass, in internal story setting order, is The Wind Through the Keyhole, where our ka-tet takes shelter from a starkblast and has another episode from Roland's seemingly endless cache of Adventure Stories From My Youth and Other Relevant Tales from Before The World Moved On.

The first story Roland tells is of being sent on another mission by his father to take care of what's rumored to be a Skin-Man (a shapeshifter) terrorizing one of the baronies. Within this story is the story from which this book takes its title, which is the story of Tim Ross and his encounter with the Covenant Man, whose horse is called Blackie. Just sayin'. This story ties into both the Young Roland story, and the Present Roland story... in different ways, which was interesting.

These two stories make up the bulk of the book, which is short (for King) to begin with. But these are interesting, particularly Tim's The Wind Through The Keyhole, because of how other multiverse books might, and probably do, connect with it. I counted quite a few references to other books in the three stories, including Eyes of the Dragon, The Talisman, and Desperation, just to name a few.

I won't go into much more detail, since everyone should read it for themselves. Overall for me, this was worth the read, although my heart still wanted more of Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy. Maybe... Maybe Gan will bless King with another Dark Tower book?

A girl can dream...

[Dustin]

Hi, Becky-

Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful review.:)

[Becky]

I don't know about "wonderful" but it is a review. Of sorts. :P

[Dustin]

Well, I enjoyed it.:)

[L.]

Possible Spolier:




I've finished the book, and I LOVED it.

And we got a 1st person POV of Roland was awesome! Was this the first time there's been a Roland 1st person POV? (Perhaps there was and I'm mis-remembering....been a while since I re-read the DT series).

[Felina]

I finished this one a few days ago. I only finished reading the series for the first time in January but I was surprised how much I'd missed the DT world and how easy it was to slip back into. Like someone mentioned above, I also enjoyed the title story the most.

While being somewhat disappointed that (view spoiler)[ Jake, Oy and mostly Eddie were pretty much absent (hide spoiler)] I still really enjoyed it.

[Dani]

Becky, I could NOT have said how I felt about this book any better than you did. My sentiments exactly!!

[Becky]

Dani wrote: "Becky, I could NOT have said how I felt about this book any better than you did. My sentiments exactly!!"

:)

[Dustin]

I finished TWTTK last night. Yay! I'm really looking forward to discussing it with you all!!

[Becky]

What did you think of it? Seems like you liked it, since you rated it 4 stars, but what did you think of the book as a DT book?

[Chris , The Hardcase]

I'd say that it is as much a DT book as a 5 minute Avengers trailer is a Marvel Comics movie.

[Becky]

LOL... I'd have to agree with you there... but it does fit into the world.

[Chris , The Hardcase]

That's true.

I'll read it again some day. Maybe I'm just having a Feast for Crows moment with it.

BTW, I bumped Feast up to 5 stars on a re-read.

[Becky]

I loved Feast. :D

[Dustin]

I adored every word, and it definitely qualifies as a DT novel. It just left me wanting more...more of Roland and his Ka-Tet, more of the sighe (she's an awesome character, BTW.) Maybe I was anticipating too much because I'm used to being spoiled by King, and he very rarely disappoints, IMO, but I also wanted to know more about Roland's youthful adventures, young Bill Streeter, Tim "Stoutheart..."
I think there are more questions than answers..
I'm not sure if that's necessarily a bad or good thing, it just is, I suppose.


Thank you for asking, Becky.:)

[L.]

Chris wrote: "That's true.

I'll read it again some day. Maybe I'm just having a Feast for Crows moment with it.

BTW, I bumped Feast up to 5 stars on a re-read."

I loved Feast as well--though not so much with A Dance with Dragons.

[Angie, Constant Reader]

Getting started!

[Dustin]

Have fun, Angie!:)

[L.]

You'll tear through it, no doubt.

[Leah]

I am almost through -- only two hours to go (audiobook) and almost through the story-within-a-story, but I already had a question that I thought might spark some discussion about the contents of the book as opposed to just its quality (which is excellent, btw, I am not a huge fan of the later DT books, but this one fits in perfectly to the part of the ka-tet, Tower, and mid-World stuff I loved so much -- ah, that is another discussion though...). Okay, so here is my question, maybe I am all confused because it is hard to go back with audio!...This spoiler relates to The Covenant Man and the end of Tim's adventure...(view spoiler)[The Covenant man collects taxes for Gilead and it is the tax collecting that Roland speculates may be the beginning of the fall of Gilead, but 1) does he actually work for Gilead, 2) if he does, but is still in the employ of the Crimson King, does this tell us already something nefarious is afoot (so early) in Gilead (I guess the Crimson King is forever), and 3) what the heck is his relationship to Randall Flagg/Farson/Martin Broadcloak? He can't really be the same person, can he? Even though he signs the note in the trap for Tim as RF (which must be Randall Flagg), Merlin indicates that a) The Covenant Man is not really high up in the King's court and b) that Flagg was actually who tricked him, not the Covenant Man. Or so I read. So, any thoughts on this? (hide spoiler)] There will be water if Ka wills it...

[Courtney]

Spoilers for lots of DT books, so if you haven't read up to book 4.5, you may not want to open the spoiler tag.
(view spoiler)[The Covenant Man was most definitely Randall Flagg/Martin Broadcloack, but RF/MB is not the same person as John Farson. Don't forget, even during Roland's time in Gilead, RF/MB was employed by Roland's father (and The Crimson King, although nobody realised it yet) so it's highly possible that RF/MB had inserted himself in Gilead as early as the days of Arthur Eld.

I think maybe you misunderstood - Maerlyn explains to Tim how he ended up as a Tiger, and that someone wants to destroy the Guardians, and subsequently the Beams. Tim thinks he means the Covenant Man, and that's when Maerlyn tells him no, he is capable of little magic, "there is one with greater magic than he of the broad cloak" (or something along those lines), meaning the Crimson King. (hide spoiler)]

[Esther]

I finished this yesterday. I'm in complete agreement with Becky's review, and I'll add to that the fact that I wish the book had been longer. It took me less than a week to read, and considering I have a job and a 4-year old, that's fast for me. =D

[Dustin]

Leah wrote: "I am almost through -- only two hours to go (audiobook) and almost through the story-within-a-story, but I already had a question that I thought might spark some discussion about the contents of th..."

Wow, EXCELLENT questions, Leah. Thank you!

[Jane]

I don't even like the dt series much but I have to say I loved this book! I loved the whole story within a story thing and I think it adds to and deepens Roland's character. My new favourite dt book.

[Leah]

Courtney wrote: "Spoilers for lots of DT books..." in reply to my question (see above and thanks Dustin!)...but Courtney and everyone else with interest, here are some things I am still wondering about w/r/t issues raised by my question: (view spoiler)[If the Covenant man is RF/MB (and you make a good case for yes, so just spinning thoughts here), 1) why would Gilead employ such an obvious evil dude as a tax collector -- he couldn't help but be mucking about with the lives of all sorts of folks, word must have gotten back -- so what are we to make of the rule of Gilead in its prime (i.e., not as idyllic as Roland makes it seem, perhaps?); 2) Maerlyn says the Coventry Man (RF) will be in huge trouble with the Crimson King after this whole Tim debacle, right? Do you think that could be when RF ends up in the Stand world (Stand spoiler (view spoiler)[ and when he ends up again in a new world with the aboriginals on the beach post-Stand? Rinse and repeat till he is strong enough/punished enough to be back in Mid-World? (hide spoiler)]); and 3) Do you really think the Crimson King was out and about and imprisoned Maerlyn? If the White is stronger than the Red, why would the Crimson King have actually prevailed and not been taken down by Maerlyn (or someone) later since Maerlyn was more powerful than he? (hide spoiler)] Thankee!

[Leah]

At the end of the the story within a story did anyone else almost have a heart attack (view spoiler)[ worrying that Tim would forget to give the axe to his Mom (hide spoiler)]? Yet another example of how King is a master of suspense -- even when you pretty much know what is going to happen!

[Dustin]

You are very welcome, Leah.

Once again, you've outdone yourself. I'm loving all these questions. I think they're all relevant to DT as a whole (there's so we done known,) and interesting.

[Kathryn]

Uh.....No offense to the above poster....but, some spoilers are in the post....

[Dustin]

Kathryn wrote: "Uh.....No offense to the above poster....but, some spoilers are in the post...."

I agree...

[Chris , The Hardcase]

Jan, I've deleted your comment but reposted it here, edited to mark the possible spoilers. Please be careful giving away stuff in the books - we have a lot of new readers to King and the DT series. Thanks...

Jan wrote: "Hi, I've been a lurker on these boards for a while, haven't posted much before, just wanted to say hello to everyone.

Series spoiler: (view spoiler)[Also, I'm pretty sure that Merlin mentions to Tim that The Crimson King is already imprisoned in the Dark Tower, and that it was The Covenant Man that tricked him. (hide spoiler)]

This book spoiler: (view spoiler)[What I have a slight problem with in this book, is the mention of The Good Man.
I mean, Tim's story supposed to be happening long before Roland was born, it's a story his mother read to him when he was a wee lad.

I was under the impression The Good Man was a man of Roland's time? (hide spoiler)] .."