Give me more young Roland, and you’ve already got my attention.
The flashbacks were some of my favorite parts of The Dark Tower, especially in Wizard and Glass. I liked learning about his old friends, his teachers, and the life he had before we met him walking across the desert. The Wind Through the Keyhole gives us another piece of that past.
The book begins with Roland and the group taking shelter from a dangerous storm. While they wait, he tells them about an investigation from his younger days as a gunslinger. There’s been a terrible slaughter, and the evidence points toward a shapeshifter called a skin-man.
During that account, young Roland tells a frightened boy a tale his mother used to tell him. That brings us into Tim’s story and a dangerous adventure of his own.
So we’re listening to Roland tell a story in which he tells somebody else another story. I thought that was cool.
I like seeing Roland at different points in his life. You can recognize the man he’ll become while watching him handle things as somebody younger. His training is there, along with the responsibility of being a gunslinger, but these are experiences he’s still living through.
The investigation gives him a threat to understand and a survivor to protect. Having him calm that frightened boy with a story adds something to it. A tale his mother passed down becomes something he can offer somebody else, and years later his companions get to hear it too.
Tim’s adventure takes us further into the folklore of Mid-World. There’s magic, danger, and a boy trying to find his way through things much bigger than himself. We get to hear the kind of story somebody in Roland’s world might have grown up with.
That’s part of the appeal for me. I’m already interested in this world, and I enjoy finding another tale tucked inside it. King gives us a reason to settle in and listen while the storm keeps the group in one place.
This book sits between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. It takes time away from the main journey, and I was happy to spend that time with Roland’s memories and the story he carries with him.
Who I’d recommend it to: Readers who enjoy Roland’s flashbacks, dark fairy tales, and stories within stories. If his younger years interested you in Wizard and Glass, this is worth adding to your reading.
Caution: This companion novel pauses the main journey while Roland tells his stories. Expect gruesome violence, frightening scenes, and themes of grief and family trauma.
Discussion question: Which part interested you most: young Roland’s investigation or Tim’s adventure? Do you enjoy this kind of story within a story?
— Cory Lane