|
The cover for the English (Hodder) version of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is now available, and here it is:
 STEPHEN KING: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
Hodder HB
For readers new to The Dark Tower, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland and his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. This Russian Doll of a novel, a story within a story, within a story, visits Mid-World's last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV and Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in 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, "The Wind through the Keyhole." "A person's never too old for stories," he says to Bill. "Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them." And stories like these, they live for us.
 Meanwhile, there's rather a lot going on in the King universe right now, so here goes. According to Talk Stephen King Bag of Bones will be out on DVD on March 13. It will cost around $26.99 and you can preorder your copy here.
The special features you’ll get are:
- Voicemail from Sid featurette
- I Miss You Jo featurette
Here's one review from the Amazon.com site:
If you like haunted house or horror stories that don't involve gore and do involve a bit of mystery and a great deal of character development, this is the story for you. This wonderful adaptation of King's Bag of Bones in my opinion only improves and tightens the novel's story. Mystery into the life and death of a past singer, an old curse and a bit of romance are expertly combined in this rather old fashioned ghost story, where a Stephen King clone character (a popular writer) stumbles on an ancient mystery and curse when he retreats to his Maine vacation home following a family tragedy. The script is updated slightly from the book, set a decade later for the writer , with the murder mystery moved to the 1930s rather than 1900 in the book, but the story is improved by the fairly minor changes. The mini-series aspect of the film gives ample time to explore virtually all the events of the original huge novel. The production is well done, with great settings, backed up by a fine cast, and enhanced by a score that was so impressive I looked to see if the score was sold separately (sadly so far it is not). One of the great things about this film is that it is more intriging than horrific. Even the writer finds himself more intrigued and puzzled by the events than horrified. Not that there aren't plenty of chills in this story. But if you shun horror stories with blatant gore, but like ghost stories, this is one that chills without overt disgust. It's also rather amusing to see King put so much of himself in the writer main character, expertly played by Pierce Brosnan (though why he has an accent and his brother doesn't is a bit of a puzzle). Also kudos to the little girl that plays Kyra, and the rest of the fantastic cast. There really isn't a bad note in this great movie. If you didn't catch the miniseries when it was on tv, then don't fail to pick it up in DVD form.
The US cover for WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE has been released, although there are rumours flying that the Scribner's edition will contain no illustrations. Some people are up in arms about this - in my opinion it's the quality of the writing that's important, and some of the illustrations I've seen that ended up in the US editions left a lot to be desired. The final book, THE DARK TOWER, has some excellent illustrations in, but I don't think it's that important. It's the story that counts, and I don't think anyone will be disappointed with this new DT novel. There's also a cover for the Donald M Grant limited edition novel, which is released in April, but I'm not impressed. It is similar to the Marvel Comics editions, which again left a lot to be desired. I wouldn't turn it down, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get hold of a copy - the Scribner's edition is far better. I can't wait to see what Hodder UK come up with! Here are the two covers released thus far:
 
In meandering through th'internet looking for various stuff, I've discovered a splendid site belonging to one Darek Kocurek, who I believe does the illustrations for Polish editions of Mr King's works. There are some terrific illustrations from the Dark Tower and various other Stephen King works on the site, and it's well worth a look (click on the image below):
From the December issue: I have lots to talk about on the Stephen King page this month, beginning with news of the outstanding success of 11.22.63, a 25th anniversary special edition of IT, a gallery of the fantastic new covers of the Hodder UK paperback reissues, and a fantastic site linked to the BAG OF BONES TV miniseries, so let's get cracking...
11/22/63 Makes NY Times Top 10 List of 2011
Stephen's critically acclaimed new novel 11/22/63 has received a listing on The New York Times Top 10 Best Books of 2011. This is the first time one of Stephen's works has received such an honor.
 IT 25th Anniversary Special Edition from Cemetary Dance Publications:Cemetery Dance Publications is very pleased to publish our Special Deluxe Limited Edition of Stephen King's classic novel It,which he calls his "final exam on Famous Monsters" in his brand new afterword to this oversized special edition. This project was easily the biggest, most lavish production Cemetery Dance Publications had ever undertaken. Glen Orbik painted the gorgeous wrap-around cover artwork, Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells created nearly thirty exclusive interior illustrations including black & white drawings and color paintings, and we hired the designer of the Limited Editions of The Secretary of Dreams, Blockade Billy, and Riding the Bullet, andFull Dark, No Stars to create a unique interior design. This fine collectible volume was published in three states, all of them printed in two colors and bound in fine materials that go beyond the scope and quality of our other much-acclaimed Stephen King special editions. The exclusive Cemetery Dance Special Limited Edition of It by Stephen King is the perfect addition to any collection.
|
Stephen King Page
