"The Eyes of the Dragon" (1987) by Stephen King REVIEW

I was pretty excited to read this book, being it is Stephen King's only novel appropriate for a younger audience.

In the kingdom of Delain, King Roland is poisoned. Framed for the crime of murdering his father, the king, Prince Peter is thrown into prison and his younger brother, Thomas, is crowned king. Although, little do the brothers know, Flagg, a magician and closest advisor of the now dead King Roland, is working behind the scenes to make sure King Thomas completes his plans in turning the kingdom towards chaos. However, even the greatest plans leaves room for failure, including Prince Peter's plan of escape and the dark secret Thomas had seen through the eyes of the dragon.

Though the main plot of the story is quite basic, Stephen King take this tale to the next level. Characters, both main and side, each have their shining moments and are very well fleshed out in this story. Simple enough for a child to understand, the story moves at a slow but steady pace. Also, with 380 pages in rather large print, the book is also a quick read. Many accuse Stephen King to only write horror and be rather wordy, but this book says otherwise. This is a children's fantasy tale he wrote for his daughter and other kids so that they may experience what his work is like (however, some content towards the beginning of the book (which could be easily skipped over) brings it to a lower young adult level).

The Eyes of the Dragon is a great expansion to a rather basic tale. Though the writing is brought to a basic level, King's prose keeps you intrigued. I highly recommend this novel to fans of fantasy or for Stephen King fans that are unaware of this book's existence.

Rating: 14+
4/5 Stars

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