Valyruh’s #CBR4 Review #56: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Never having read a Stephen King novel before, and being a great big scaredy-cat when it comes to the horror genre ( movie or book, doesn’t matter), I picked this novel up with a bit of trepidation but also much curiosity, as I had seen the title on a recommended list that crossed my path. I didn’t know at the time that it was one of a lengthy western/fantasy series called The Dark Tower, a series beloved by King fans, so I read it as a stand-alone. The result was mixed.
It is in effect three stories in one book, all linked through the hero, gunslinger and storyteller Roland Deschain. While I had no background to bring to the Mid-World in which the novel (and series) takes place, I fairly quickly was able to intuit what I needed to keep the story coherent. In effect, I felt like I was reading a child’s fairytale, complete with dragons and witches, Merlin and Aslan, and appealing creatures called billy-bumblers. But it was a child’s fairytale also filled with pretty raunchy specifics and with more explicit gore than one usually finds in the Brothers Grimm. That said, I found it imaginative, colorful, and a quick if not very profound read. Definitely not for children, but not for adults seeking much substance in their reading matter, either.
I have no desire to fill in the gaps by reading the (so far) 8 volumes or so in this series, but for those enamored of this specialized niche, go for it. You won’t be disappointed.
Cannonball Read IV 