The Wind Through the Keyhole

The Dark Tower

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

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

so far this is my favorite of the series.

This was a wonderful addition to the series thus far. I so far wizard and glass had been my favorite instalation of the series this has now taken its place as my favorite.

Bad narration

Stephen King is a brilliant writer, but his acting is really bad. The story was really good but his reading of it was really bad and hard to get through!!

Beauty within beauty

I didn't think that I would enjoy the flashback style narrative, especially when there was a flashback inside a flashback. However, it was all told with such beauty and magic, and fit together so well as a stand alone story and as an interconnecting piece of the overall series, that I could not help but fall in love with the tale. A fitting resolution to Roland and his connection with his mother. As a reader that had just finished book four, this novel, what seemed like a distraction at first, has filled in a hole that I did not know was there. To listen to it told by none other than Stephen King himself was just the icing on the cake.

I LOVE the DT series, but this was disappointing.

The story was 'meh'. And the narration by SK was horrible. He's done really, really well on other audiobooks, but he should've left this reading for someone with the energy for it. He just droned in the same monotonous tone the whole time - I couldn't pay attention.

Another Great King Story

Another great story from King in the Dark Tower series. He is a great storyteller.

Great story, not so great Narration.

King’s narration in the beginning of the story was rough, to say the least. As the story goes on, he seems to settle in and it becomes more bearable. His writing is great, his narration leaves much to be desired. All in all, after finishing I’m glad I stuck with it and hope they get a professional reader to narrate going forward.

Difficult listening

I read this book when it first came out and just loved it. I’ve read all the dark tower series. Many years later, I’ve decided to listen to the audiobooks in the recommended order. I must say it’s been very difficult listening to Stephen King narrate this book. He is an excellent author/writer. But his voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Because the other books are so well narrated it made this even more difficult. Not a smooth transition. I would only recommend this book be read and not listen to.

3rd time even better!

One of the handful of books I can listen to over and over—like those in the story!

Loved it

I missed my katet! So sad I read all the others already. Maybe this warrants a second round.

unfortunate performance

I'm still listening to it only because it's a compelling story as most King stories are. But, and I say true, it's terribly unfortunate the author is also the reader. It's shudder inducing listening to him say "yar and nar." At one point you can tell he's holding his nose to give a nasal quality to one of the characters but it sounds so phony; it all does. It's just plain God-awful. Ka help me finish!