I eagerly bought and read the Dark Tower/Gunslinger books for years. After all those years I did feel cheated when the last book finally came along, cheated by the way the quest finally ended, and cheated that there would be no further adventures to look forward to.
So I was happy but rather wary to find out that King had penned another Dark Tower novel. How would it fit in with the story already told ?
Well this book is written to slot in between novels 4 & 5 of the series. It can be read as a "stand-alone", but I think that those already familiar with the series will get more from it. It's a tale within a tale within a tale, that is not really part of the main story, but gives us another glimpse of the fascinating "Mid-World", and a very brief glimpse of an interlude in the quest of the main characters (the ka-tet) from the Dark Tower series.
A terrible storm (a "Starkblast") is on the way, and the ka-tet have to take shelter in an abandoned village. During the course of the storm Roland tells them about an episode from his youth, when as a young gunslinger he is sent by his father to investigate reports about a murderous "Skin-Man" (a sort of shapeshifter)in a distant dusty town. During this adventure he encounters a terrified young lad whose unconscious mind may hold the key to uncovering the human identity of the shapeshifter. Roland tells the lad a story that his mother had told him when he was a child, a story about a brave boy (Tim "Stoutheart" Ross), who has to leave his village and face the wonders and perils of ancient Mid-World to find a magical cure for his mother who has been gravely injured by his violent stepfather.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was a wonderful tale which gave the reader more insight into the early life of Roland and gave more detail about the history, magic and strange legends of Mid-World. If you are looking for a full length ka-tet adventure (about Eddie, Susannah and Jake) this is not what you'll find here, but it's still a great story.