Dragons, Towers, and Constant Readers: The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

 

The first time I read The Eyes of the Dragon was about 30 years ago. I didn't remember all the plot details reading it again, but I did remember that it's a fairy tale fantasy novel. Above all, I remembered the warm tone of the narrator who speaks directly to the reader. 

It's pretty much King's style in the little forewords and afterwords where he directly addresses his Constant Readers, only if he were telling us a long fairy tale. I loved that aspect of the book just as much or even more than I did last time. I have a clear memory of reading a particular passage in which the narrator wishes the reader a good night. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing, dear reader.

There's a King Roland and a shady wizard named Flagg. My fellow Constant Readers will recognize Flagg, who is up to his same old evil mischief in the Kingdom of Delain as he is with that other Roland in the Dark Tower series, in Las Vegas in The Stand, and no doubt many other wheres and whens and levels of the Tower. (Come to think of it, the narrator in this novel may be Stephen King himself... my fellow Tower Junkies will know what I mean)

As for the plot, after an amount of backstory that makes sense for the kind of story this is, Roland dies mysteriously and wouldn't you know it, someone frames poor Prince Peter for the death of his father and installs his younger brother Thomas as King. You'll never guess who did it? Okay, you probably already did. It was Flagg, who is as much of an evil trickster as ever, but so much fun to read about. Since royals can't be executed, Peter is imprisoned in the tower (not THAT Tower).

I don't want to ruin it, but Peter does hatch a plan to escape with some help from napkins and a doll house, both of which are legacies of his deceased mother (you'll also never guess who's responsible for that murder...). I found that to be a sweet emotional touch: his love for his mother saves him in the end, along with some friends. But to learn about that, reader, you'll need to read the novel for yourself. You won't want to miss the dragon, of course.

So all-in-all, The Eyes of the Dragon is another good example of how good Stephen King is in any genre, but for fans of his more fantasy-oriented stories (like my favorite The Dark Tower) this is a particularly great example of his fantasy. And it also shows how King works in the multiverse of the Tower. There are, after all dear reader, other worlds than these.

See also my Goodreads review (another level of this review).