黑塔：穿过锁匙孔的风 (2012)

《穿过钥匙孔的风》（英语：The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole）是斯蒂芬·金于2012年所推出的小说，是黑塔小说系列的外传，故事发生在《黑塔IV 巫师与水晶球》和《黑塔V 卡拉之狼》之间。最初于2012年2月21日由格兰出版社出版限量版，到了4月24日才由斯克里布纳出版社出版精装版，同步推出电子书和有声书。有声书版本由史蒂芬金本人亲自朗诵。

出版起源

2009年，正值《穹顶之下》出版之后，史蒂芬金举办了一个投票，询问读者究竟写《鬼店》的续集《安眠医生》，还是写黑塔的外传即此书，结果《安眠医生》以不足一百票胜出，不过史蒂芬金最终决定先写《穿过钥匙孔的风》。

故事简介

罗兰等人离开了绿宫后遇上了峻厉暴，于是在一个小镇逗留休息，休息期间，罗兰向杰克说出了一个往日的故事。故事中，罗兰父亲派遣刚成年的罗兰和洁米到北方处理皮人攻击人类的事情，两人找到一个曾经见过皮人变身的小孩，罗兰在和小孩独处时，告诉了小孩另一个由故事。在这个故事中的故事，主角蒂姆的父亲被人杀害，蒂姆要到森林中寻找改变事实的真相，黑衣人兰道尔·佛来格中途出现希望破坏蒂姆的行动，只是蒂姆最终都能找到梅林，并协助梅林打破血腥之王的魔法，得以拯救母亲。罗兰跟小孩说完故事，接着便和小孩认出皮人，及后杀死了皮人，解决了基列地北方边境的危机。峻厉暴过后，罗兰已经说完故事，共业的同伴更了解罗兰的过去，建立更紧密的连系。

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole is a 2012 fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King. As part of the Dark Tower series, it is the eighth novel, but it is set chronologically between volumes four and five. First mentioned by King in 2009, after the controversial ending of the seventh novel in 2004, the book was officially announced on King's official website on March 10, 2011.

Background information

In an interview in March 2009, King stated, describing an idea for a new short story he recently had: "And then I thought, 'Well, why don't I find three more like this and do a book that would be almost like modern fairy tales?' Then this thing started to add on bits and pieces so I guess it will be a novel." While promoting his novel Under the Dome, King confirmed this during his TimesTalk event at The TimesCenter in New York City in November 2009, and the next day King's official site posted the information that its tentative title was The Wind Through the Keyhole.

On December 1, 2009, Stephen King posted a poll on his website, asking visitors to vote for which novel he should write next and it was announced at the start of 2010 that The Wind Through the Keyhole had not received most votes, though it was a close call with Doctor Sleep. Nonetheless, both books were published several years later.

Publication information

The artwork for the volume was provided by Jae Lee, the main illustrator for Marvel Comics' adaptations of King's other work, The Dark Tower. It was published in various editions by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in February 2012 and in a mass market edition by Scribner in May.

The design of the Scribner edition cover was done by Platinum Fmd, the creators of the cover for King's 2009 novel Under the Dome, and Rex Bonomelli, Scribner's art director and designer. The preliminary version was simpler than the final version, which was designed to "give the cover a little more drama".

Plot

The novel begins with Roland and his ka-tet arriving at a river on their journey to the Dark Tower. An elderly man who operates a ferry gets them across the river, and warns them that a severe depression (starkblast) is coming, and that they can find shelter in a building a few miles ahead. They reach the shelter just in time, and while they wait out the storm, Roland tells them of an adventure in his youth to keep them occupied: "The Skin-Man."

Following the death of Roland's mother (Gabrielle Deschain), his father sends him and his friend Jamie De Curry west to the town of Debaria on a mission to capture the Skin-Man, an apparent shape-shifter who terrorizes the town and surrounding areas by transforming into various animals at night and embarking on murderous rampages. Roland and Jamie take a train to Debaria, but it derails before arriving and they must finish their journey on horse. On their way, they pass through a town known as Serenity, a community of women where Roland's mother lived after suffering a mental breakdown following her affair with Marten Broadcloak, an alias of the sorcerer Randall Flagg and Roland's nemesis. It is here that they learn of a woman attacked by the Skin-Man and hear her tale.