8th Dark Tower Novel - The Wind Through the Keyhole

[Lilja]

If anyone's interested, here is a chance to get the UK limited edition of Wind Through the Keyhole for free:
http://www.liljas-library.com/article.php?id=3002



Lilja

[Brian James Freeman]

Hey, does anyone on here tool around on Wikipedia? Someone needs to add this book (and probably some others!) to the listing for Grant:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_M._Grant,_Publisher.

It hasn't been updated in a long time:

The Paperback Art of James Avati, by James Avati, Piet Schreuders & Kenneth Fulton (2006)

Brian

[RolandLover]

Wow that illustration of Roland is so raw! Thanks for sharing!

[Brainslinger]

I preordered this today at Waterstones. Half price*, and they gave me a free copy of The Gunslinger too, which was a surprise! I already have two version of it... but it's a nice freebie all the same.** I see they've dropped the 'unabridged' label now, although it is that version. No doubt, this is due to being the only version published now. It's got a nice golden 'Roland walking towards sunset, with Tower in background' cover. Kind of a generic image, but a good one.

I'm not a collector though, so I will probably sell it on or give it away. I'm happy with my original hardback version. If anyone here from the UK interested in it, drop me a line, first come first serve. I only ask you to cover the cost of postage.

*That's cheaper than I've seen it on the internet too. Unusual for books, but just goes to show the traditional book-shop has it's moments of great deals.

**Since The Wind... is set between Wizard... and Wolves... I wondered at the logic of this, but I understand it works as a stand-alone story too, so this is a good way to get new readers into the series.

[Bev Vincent]

Listen to Stephen King read from 'The Dark Tower: The Wind through the Keyhole' -- EXCLUSIVE AUDIO

Stephen King’s polarizing, genre-mixing The Dark Tower series will be getting an eighth volume on Apr. 24 with The Wind through the Keyhole, the first new volume since 2004. For those of you who can’t wait to follow Roland Deschain on his next adventure through Mid-World, we have an exclusive, 19-minute-long clip of King himself reading from the latest chapter of the “über-long” book that is the Dark Tower saga. (Actually 10 minutes looped to make 19)

[Brainslinger]

Ooh, I'm tempted to listen to that... but I'll wait for April.

[Silenoz]

Will the Scribner edition have the illustrations? Or just the alternate cover?

[Randall Flagg]

Will the Scribner edition have the illustrations? Or just the alternate cover?

No interior art (full page, double page) in the Scribner edition.

[herbertwest]

Did your face make it onto the cover of the next Stephen King book, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE?


http://www.stephenkingfaces.com

[Ari_Racing]

Yes I did:

http://www.stephenkingfaces.com/#!i=204

[mae]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012...en-king-review

It has been eight years since Stephen King presented readers with the controversially open ending to his epic fantasy sequence, The Dark Tower. The seven-book series eventually stretched to nigh-on 4,500 pages, and it would have been fair to assume the author was done with a story he began over three decades ago, inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", and by the spaghetti westerns of the 1970s.

But Roland the gunslinger and his battered band of followers – a drug addict, a boy, a schizophrenic woman missing half her legs – and their quest for the Tower have clearly exerted more of a pull over King than any of his other creations; he even, somewhat bizarrely, wrote himself in to later parts of the story. So perhaps it's not surprising that he has found a way back to Mid-World, a place which is "very old, and falling to ruin, filled with monsters and untrustworthy magic", and to the characters who just won't stay quiet.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is set in between the fourth and fifth novels in the sequence, making it, King says, Dark Tower 4.5. Roland and his followers have left the Emerald City, but have yet to arrive at Calla Bryn Sturgis; they are forced to hole up in an abandoned meeting hall when a storm of monstrous proportions, the starkblast, hits them. But their adventures only top and tail the novel, because The Wind Through the Keyhole is a story within a story within a story, as Roland talks his way through a long, icy night.

First, the gunslinger tells his friends of a mission in his youth to save a desert town from a "skin man", drawing them in with the hard-to-beat opener: "Not long after the death of my mother, which as you know came by my own hand … " This shapeshifter is suitably, horrifically murderous, leaving a trail of blood and guts in his wake. Just one survivor remains from the last attack, a young boy, and to keep him calm through another long wait Roland tells a story from his childhood. This is "The Wind Through the Keyhole", a fairytale Roland's now-murdered mother recited to him at bedtime, with all the tangled forest, dragons and wicked step-parents such a story requires, and it is what turns this into a gem of a novel, enchanting and enchanted.

Tim is an 11-year-old boy who lives on the edge of the Endless Forest, which is "dark and full of dangers". His father is killed; his new stepfather is wicked; and he ends up on a strange, terrifying, wonderful quest through the forest to save his mother. It begins, says Roland, as all stories do, "Once upon a bye, before your grandfather's grandfather was born". Via a tricksy fairy, a deadly swamp peopled with mutated humans and another starkblast, it ends with an enchanted tyger, magic and Maerlyn.

Wind blows, whistling and magical, through each of Roland's tales, from the ice of the starkblast to the desert wind of the shapeshifter's crumbling home town and the night wind of Tim's woods, which "slip[s] its strange breath over the cottage: sweet with the scent of the blossiewood at the edge of the Endless Forest, and faintly sour – but still pleasant – with the smell of the ironwood trees deeper in, where only brave men dared go". King is utterly at home in Mid-World, and the cadences and rhythms of the vernacular he has created provide a language fitting for the stories and legends he recounts.

King has proved that he does long well. 11.22.63 was a sprawling but unputdownable marathon to save JFK from assassination; Under the Dome a claustrophobic, vintage piece of horror. But when the author reins himself in and keeps it short, he's even better. King writes in his foreword that newcomers will be able to enjoy The Wind Through the Keyhole without reading the other Dark Tower books, but this feels like something of a leap. Better to start at the beginning, or to hold out hope for the book of collected Mid-World fairy stories that Roland mentions, Magic Tales of the Eld.

[Brainslinger]

It has been eight years since Stephen King presented readers with the controversially open ending to his epic fantasy sequence, The Dark Tower.

Has it really been that long? It still feel quite recent to me. It's scary how quick time goes past as I'm getting older.

And Woah! I stopped reading some of that review when they started describing a bit too much of the story!

[RolandLover]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012...en-king-review

It has been eight years since Stephen King presented readers with the controversially open ending to his epic fantasy sequence, The Dark Tower. The seven-book series eventually stretched to nigh-on 4,500 pages, and it would have been fair to assume the author was done with a story he began over three decades ago, inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", and by the spaghetti westerns of the 1970s.

But Roland the gunslinger and his battered band of followers – a drug addict, a boy, a schizophrenic woman missing half her legs – and their quest for the Tower have clearly exerted more of a pull over King than any of his other creations; he even, somewhat bizarrely, wrote himself in to later parts of the story. So perhaps it's not surprising that he has found a way back to Mid-World, a place which is "very old, and falling to ruin, filled with monsters and untrustworthy magic", and to the characters who just won't stay quiet.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is set in between the fourth and fifth novels in the sequence, making it, King says, Dark Tower 4.5. Roland and his followers have left the Emerald City, but have yet to arrive at Calla Bryn Sturgis; they are forced to hole up in an abandoned meeting hall when a storm of monstrous proportions, the starkblast, hits them. But their adventures only top and tail the novel, because The Wind Through the Keyhole is a story within a story within a story, as Roland talks his way through a long, icy night.

First, the gunslinger tells his friends of a mission in his youth to save a desert town from a "skin man", drawing them in with the hard-to-beat opener: "Not long after the death of my mother, which as you know came by my own hand … " This shapeshifter is suitably, horrifically murderous, leaving a trail of blood and guts in his wake. Just one survivor remains from the last attack, a young boy, and to keep him calm through another long wait Roland tells a story from his childhood. This is "The Wind Through the Keyhole", a fairytale Roland's now-murdered mother recited to him at bedtime, with all the tangled forest, dragons and wicked step-parents such a story requires, and it is what turns this into a gem of a novel, enchanting and enchanted.

Tim is an 11-year-old boy who lives on the edge of the Endless Forest, which is "dark and full of dangers". His father is killed; his new stepfather is wicked; and he ends up on a strange, terrifying, wonderful quest through the forest to save his mother. It begins, says Roland, as all stories do, "Once upon a bye, before your grandfather's grandfather was born". Via a tricksy fairy, a deadly swamp peopled with mutated humans and another starkblast, it ends with an enchanted tyger, magic and Maerlyn.

Wind blows, whistling and magical, through each of Roland's tales, from the ice of the starkblast to the desert wind of the shapeshifter's crumbling home town and the night wind of Tim's woods, which "slip[s] its strange breath over the cottage: sweet with the scent of the blossiewood at the edge of the Endless Forest, and faintly sour – but still pleasant – with the smell of the ironwood trees deeper in, where only brave men dared go". King is utterly at home in Mid-World, and the cadences and rhythms of the vernacular he has created provide a language fitting for the stories and legends he recounts.

King has proved that he does long well. 11.22.63 was a sprawling but unputdownable marathon to save JFK from assassination; Under the Dome a claustrophobic, vintage piece of horror. But when the author reins himself in and keeps it short, he's even better. King writes in his foreword that newcomers will be able to enjoy The Wind Through the Keyhole without reading the other Dark Tower books, but this feels like something of a leap. Better to start at the beginning, or to hold out hope for the book of collected Mid-World fairy stories that Roland mentions, Magic Tales of the Eld.

I'm already excited to read TWTTKH but this review has me extremely excited! Thanks for posting!

[TLC]

Super Excited to read this book!! And this thread has just made me more so!!!

[Brainslinger]

Out tomorrow! Doesn't time fly?

I've got a pre-ordered copy to pick up. I should be off work Wednesday, so hopefully I'll get it then.

EDIT-

Bought it today. I haven't read anything but the foreword so far*, but it's a lovely cover. The lady at the shop mentioned the photgraphs on the back cover. They're so small, they strike me as almost pointless (really, you can't even tell they're photos on the cover) but the art effect is still very nice.

Oh and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jae Lee's pictures ARE included. Not the colour pages like the other books, of course, but it's nice to have the black and white line illustrations.

*I'm reading another book at the moment and I dislike to read two at a time although it's tempting in this case. I just know I'll get through it quite quickly and I'd like to savour it...

[mtdman]

Started the audio version of Wind today. King is reading it, and imo doesn't sound too good. Sounds kinda old and tired while reading it. He did Bag of Bones, and Needful things and a few other short stories that turned out great. Here he sounds a little off. It's kind of distracting. Not to mention it's hard to get into it having listened to George and Frank for the rest of the series.

[Brice]

Ah, I actually first heard the early books read by King and felt they were way beyond what those other two guys did. I wish King would read the whole series.

[RUBE]

I love King's books but I would not want an audio version read by him. I simply do not like his voice.

On a note related to The Wind Through The Keyhole, I have purchased a copy and have read about 1/3. I am disappointed that it did not have the artwork but at least I can see it here. So far I really like the actual Wind Through the Keyhole part of the story and the Roland as a young man part but I thought the beginning was a little awkward and forced. It also made references to events that happen later in the series which are intended as nods to us that have already read it all but I thought were unnecessary and weird.

[Brainslinger]

After getting the book half price by preordering at Waterstones, I went into W H SMiths the other day only to find they have an exclusive version also going at half price.

Curious to see the differences, it seems to be pretty much the same as the usual UK edition, except it has a nice colour picture which seems to be of

Spoiler:

a kid with an axe and an alligator type creature

. I'm not sure it's worth buying this version just for that one extra picture, but I feel a bit gutted I never knew about it just the same.

I considered selling the version I have and buying it, but I think now I'll stick with the version I have. It's still very nice. Mustn't be greedy. Heh. It's not like this is the full artist's version.

[WeDealInLead]

Well, if you do end up getting an extra copy of the edition with an extra plate for 1/2 off, I'd glady take it off your hands. I'll pay for the book, shipping and something for your time.

[Brainslinger]

Well, if you do end up getting an extra copy of the edition with an extra plate for 1/2 off, I'd glady take it off your hands. I'll pay for the book, shipping and something for your time.

You know what? I'm so fickle, I might just pick one up for myself after all if they're still doing the same deal. (I'll pop round there tomorrow.) I'll gladly grab a copy for you too.

The price comes to £9.95 at half price. According to this currency converter site that comes to $16.05 Canadian dollars (hey I just noticed you live in London too. Ka? ). Is that all right? I ask, because I remember during a visit to Canada, the books being a good deal cheaper than they are in the UK.

Oh, and I hope I didn't come across to whiny in my last post. I remembered afterwards that Waterstones actually gave me a free copy of the Gunslinger with that too. I already own two versions of The Gunslinger, but that's still a great deal and a fantastic way of getting new readers on board.

Oh, and don't worry about 'something for my time', though much appreciated. Price of book + shipping will suffice.

[WeDealInLead]

Hey man, I'm interested. Let me know whenever you have the total ammount and I'll send the cashola right over. Thanks!

[Brainslinger]

Hey man, I'm interested. Let me know whenever you have the total ammount and I'll send the cashola right over. Thanks!

Will do. Just to clarify, it's essentially the British Hodder-Stoughton Hardback with the picture of the keyhole on the front and the miniaturised photos of competition contestants incorporated into the back image with one colour picture inside not included in the usual edition.

I'll PM you the details, when I get it.

EDIT- Book bought, PM sent.

On comparison with the other edition, there is a slight difference with the cover too. More fire around the keyhole, basically, or it maybe closer in. It's nice.

[Bev Vincent]

Test your knowledge of The Wind Through The Keyhole and enter for a chance to receive a copy of the audiobook read by Stephen and a Wind Through The Keyhole tee shirt. Five lucky entrants will receive both the audiobook and a tee shirt and 15 others will receive just the tee shirt. Recipients will be chosen at random from correct entries.

In order to allow everyone a chance to read the book, we will only begin accepting entries on May 21st, and we will continue accepting entries until May 28th.

http://stephenking.com/promo/wind_giveaway/

[Tatts4Life]

So I saw that the paperback version is out now. I own the large paperback versions of the dark tower series that had the pictures in it and was wondering, for the paperback version of WTTKH is there a large version that would match the other books? I know it might not have the pictures since I think it was a grant exclusive. But it would be cool to have all the books in paperback.