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  • The Wind Through the Keyhole

  • The Dark Tower
  • Written by: Stephen King
  • Narrated by: Stephen King
  • Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (166 ratings)

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The Wind Through the Keyhole cover art

The Wind Through the Keyhole

Written by: Stephen King
Narrated by: Stephen King
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Publisher's Summary

For those discovering the epic best-selling Dark Tower series for the first time—and for its legions of dedicated fans—here is an immensely satisfying stand-alone novel and perfect introduction to the series.

Beginning in 1974, gaining momentum in the 1980s and coming to a thrilling conclusion when the last three novels were published in 2003 and 2004, the Dark Tower epic fantasy saga stands as Stephen King’s most beguiling achievement. It has been the basis for a long-running Marvel comic series.

Now, with The Wind Through the Keyhole, King has returned to the rich landscape of Mid-World. This story within a story within a story finds Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, in his early days during the guilt-ridden year following his mother’s death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-shifter, a "skin-man", Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime. "A person's never too old for stories," he says to Bill. "Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them."

Sure to captivate the avid fans of the Dark Tower epic, this is an enchanting introduction to Roland’s world and the power of Stephen King’s storytelling magic.

Please Note: This audio edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole ends with a short preview of Stephen King's The Dark Tower VII, read by George Guidall, followed by a brief introduction and the first chapter of King's Doctor Sleep, both read by the author.  

©2012 Stephen King (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

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What listeners say about The Wind Through the Keyhole

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A return to first principles

While the end half of the Dark Tower series felt overwritten, like King was forcing himself to finish it, this is a more self contained and direct story that felt like it had a purpose.
This novel doesn't tie in to the original story in a meaningful way. It's inserted between Wizards & Glass and Wolves of the Calla and framed as Roland telling the ka-tet a story and then a story within a story (I guess Roland was just in a storytelling mood after arriving at Topeka) while the gang wait out a magical cold front/storm. He starts with a story from when he was younger, hunting a werewolf-like creature. In this story, young Roland ends up with a boy, and passes the time by telling the boy the title story. It isn't clear how this works in the frame narrative. Like, is Roland telling the Skin-Man story to his Ka-tet and then switch halfway to TWTtK? This structure doesn't work well narratively, either, since none of the stories impact one another in a meaningful way. The Wind Through the Keyhole story is told all the way through, and by the time I got back to the skin-man I had sort of forgotten the emotional stakes of that original story. The skin-man story was pretty good, but hung around the neck of the Keyhole story like two ball chains because of structure of the book.
But the story of Tim is a really good story. A mother doing everything she can to save her son and then the son going off into the dangerous wilds to save his mother is a really touching parallel. It's rife with lore from the Dark Tower world, as Tim encounters monsters, fairies, dragons, and mutants. Though, in true King fashion, the real monsters turn out to be the people, as our old friend Walter Padick is back with some tricks for Tim. Overall, this book fleshed out the Dark Tower world for me, and did so in a compelling, fairy tale way.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

King needs to let real narrators narrate.

Definitely worth the read in the dark tower series. The story is the weakest out of the rest but still a fun one, none the less. My only issue with it, is that king narrates it himself. Some people need to stick to what they're good at. You can't be amazing at everything.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story!

I’m not going to break this down, just read/ listen to it and let the book do it’s thing. If you’re a Dark Tower fan you won’t be disappointed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved SK's narration!

It was very cool to hear a story within a story, within a story. And ever better that the stories were read by the author, so adding yet another layer! SK's narration was enjoyable for other reasons too - he has a very soothing voice, calm & grounded. (Reminded me of Kevin Costner's narration in "Dances With Wolves") I also liked that he read the book as a storyteller would, not as a voice actor would. Loved hearing him talk in RF/MB 's voice - that's how he must sound in the author's mind!! Soooo cooool.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A neat little collection of stories.

king does a unexpectedly good performance. hes regular voice is little sleepy, but he narrates quite well.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Worth a read

First off I would give this 3.5 stars if it were an option. It's the weakest of the dark tower books sure but it is still a good read. I'm all in for a good story and Roland has the best stories! Wizard and Glass was my favorite of the seven so I couldn't resist once again going down memory lane. I'm glad I did. All of the reviews that were bitter at King for reading this himself puzzle me? Sure it sounds different than the other books but he does a fine job and for sure shouldn't be the reason to avoid listening to this book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great side story!

If you enjoyed any of the Dark Tower books you'll love this one. And even if you didn't I think its a worthy stand alone fantasy story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read!

It was a great read. I read this after I finished the series (which was excellent from start to finish). I liked the change of pace and the new character. Anyone who’s a fan of he dark tower series is sure to enjoy this!

Happy reading!

#Audiable1

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Audio Performance starts dry but warms. Good Story

very good story but. was very difficult to warm to Stephen King reading. Started slow and gradually performance was better but started very monotone and little emphatic expression early on. Perhaps just first time through the process and warmed up later on instead of dry start. But story is good.

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