Te Wind Trough the Keyhole

A Dark  ower N ovel

Stephen King

In

Te Wind Trough the Keyhole

, Stephen King returns t o the rich landscape of Mid-World, the spectacular territory of the Dark ower fantasy saga that stands as his most beguiling achievement. Roland Deschain and his ka-tet—Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy, the billy-bumbler—encounter a ferocious storm just after crossing the River Whye on their way to the O uter Baronies. As they shelter from the howling gale, Roland tells his friends not just one strange story but two . . . and in so doing, casts new light on his own troubled past. In his ear ly days as a gunslinger , in the guilt-ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to investigate evi- dence of a murderous shape-shifter, a “skin-man” preying upon the population around Debaria. Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, the brave but terriﬁed boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast’s most recent slaughter. Only a teenager himself, Roland calms the boy and prepares him for the following day ’ s trials by reciting a story f rom the Magic  ales of the Eld th at his mother of ten read to him at bedtime. “A person’s never too old for stories,” Roland says to Bill. “Man and boy , gir l and woman, never to o old. W e live for them.” And indeed, the tale that Roland unfolds, the legend of im Stout- heart, is a timeless treasure for all ages, a stor y that lives for us. King began the Dark  ower series in 1974; it gained momentum in the 1980s; and he brought it to a thrilling conclusion when the last three novels were published in 2003 and 2004.

Te Wind Trough the Keyhole