The Wind Through The Keyhole is a late addition to Stephen Kings Dark Tower series, set between books 4 and 5 and retelling a previously untold chapter in the lives of the last Gunslinger, Roland and his Ka-Tet.

Though it has been widely advertised as a stand-alone novel however (or erronously as a way for new readers to introduce themselves to Roland and his friends), it is this reviewers opinion that it is probably best enjoyed only by those who have previously read the rest of the series or are currently working their way through Kings probably most famous epic.

The book begins immediately after Wizard And Glass has finished, with Roland and his Ka-Tet leaving behind the Emerald Palace where last we encountered them. After crossing a river by means of an old ferryman, the group learn of the approach of something called a Starkblast. This is a storm of epic proportions that is known to lower the temperature in seconds when it strikes, causing trees to explode with the immediate influx of freezing cold.

Roland and his companions seek shelter in the meeting hall of an abandoned village and build up a fire to keep warm just in time. Knowing that they are going to be stuck there for a while, Roland begins another of his stories about his past; recalling the events that happened in his home of Gilead shortly after those he talked about in Wizard And Glass.

The remainder of the book is essentially a flashback, just as Wizard And Glass pretty much was, with Roland and one of his old friends being sent out to a neighbouring town to check out reports of a SkinWalker; basically a man capable of changing his form. Once there, Roland falls in with a young orphaned boy and then tells HIM a tale from his childhood thus providing the constant reader with a story within a story.

Anyone expecting a new full length tale of Roland and his Ka-Tet may be disappointed by this paltry offering that slots in nicely between nthe existing Dark Tower novels but for true fans, this book is a delight! Reading this is like catching up with old friends you thought you had lost or discovering a forgotten anecdote about someone close to you who had died that you had never heard before. It also leaves a hole in your heart and a heavy feeling deep inside once you are finished; knowing as you do that the chances are great that this could well be the last we ever see of Roland and his Ka-Tet! Of course, fans have thought that before.....

King has said that at some stage he wants to re-write some of the closing installments of The Dark Tower; possibly editing out his contribution to the books that feature himself as a character. Rather than doing that, I would instead prefer one or two more books like this offering us further insight into the man behind the Roland we have come to know in the rest of the Dark Tower series!

This really is a delightful gem of a novel but it is also a double-edged sword in that it leaves you desiring more. King throwing the fans this is the equivalent of you going to the duck pond and just throwing the ducks a few scraps whilst keeping the rest of the loaf for yourself! If this makes me sound a little ungrateful then so be it. But I have missed the way that everything else he writes fits nicely somehow into the Dark Tower mythos and this book is as much a tease or a brief taster, an amuse bouche if you will, than a full course in its own right.

If this is the last we ever see of Roland then it is a shame. But as a novel in its own right, I must admit I did enjoy this even if I did want more........

I hope you are listening Mr.King ~ give the fans what they want!