The Eyes of the Dragon
by Stephen King
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 5336)
Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Fantasy/Stephen King fans
i need to preface this by saying that this was the first stephen king book i ever read. he is my father's favorite author, and i grew up staring at the dozens of hardback books all in a row on the shelves of his office, all with king's name on them. i really wanted to read one, see what it was dad read, and the reason he handed me this one was the same reason king wrote it: so his kids could read something he had written. in other words, it's kid-friendly, and actually written as a children's bo...more
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Read in November, 2007
Stephen King. For kids? Yeah, sometimes. Eyes of the Dragon is as close as King comes to being for all ages.
This is a shift from most of King's other writings, but carries much of King's traditional thematic and style. Stephen King's world is connected to our own and it's in that world that all his stories hang out, blending together in fascinating and engaging ways. One can't help but see the connections in Dragon to other books; The Stand, It, The Dark Tower....more
This is a shift from most of King's other writings, but carries much of King's traditional thematic and style. Stephen King's world is connected to our own and it's in that world that all his stories hang out, blending together in fascinating and engaging ways. One can't help but see the connections in Dragon to other books; The Stand, It, The Dark Tower....more
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Read in August, 2006
recommends it for:
Fantasy fans will devour it eagerly.
Before he began his quest for the Dark Tower, King took an earlier foray into the fantasy genre with a book called The Eyes of the Dragon. Written for his thirteen-year-old daughter who didn’t much appreciate his horror stories, Eyes takes place in Delain, a kingdom like many another. The court magician Flagg plots to assassinate King Roland and frame the murder on his heir, the noble Prince Peter. With Peter imprisoned, Flagg has free reign with younger Prince Thomas under his s...more
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At times, King's approach to writing from a storyteller's perspective is a little cloying, and there's a lot of old-fashioned narrator presence in this one. "I'm sorry to say," "It's not for me to tell," "You'll have to make up your mind"; to me, this stuff is cute in very small doses but betrays a little too much the mechanics behind writing itself. It's difficult to get really lost in a story when the author continually reminds you that it's a story. Other than th...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Hector by:
NobodyThis review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Stephen King fans, Princess Bride fans
This book has lain around the house for a long time. I don't remember how it got there. I avoided it whenever it was time to choose a new book because I thought King did not do fantasy very well, but should stick to modern people in this world. I am glad he did not agree with me. This was a gripping story about a fairy tale kingdom, a sort of anti-Princess Bride. It involves King Roland and his two sons and how they confront the evil of the court magician, Flagg. (I was thinking King reall...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Fiona by:
libraryrecommends it for: anyone who likes a gripping story
**Spoiler**
I really liked this book as it had a mystery feel to it, and at the end it had a flashback that uncovered everything and made everything make sense. In this book King Roland was murdered by his magician, who in 100 years only ages 10, covered the murder up by making it look like the oldest son, Prince Peter, killed his father to become king sooner. The second son became king at only 13, Prince Thomas, and he was advised by the magician whose only mission was to bring mayhem and trou...more
I really liked this book as it had a mystery feel to it, and at the end it had a flashback that uncovered everything and made everything make sense. In this book King Roland was murdered by his magician, who in 100 years only ages 10, covered the murder up by making it look like the oldest son, Prince Peter, killed his father to become king sooner. The second son became king at only 13, Prince Thomas, and he was advised by the magician whose only mission was to bring mayhem and trou...more
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I didn't think I was going to like this book. I'd heard it was very different from all of King's other novels and, while I haven't read them all, I LIKE those other novels. It WAS a very different type of story--a fantasy--but I still love it.
It was written in a very conversational tone (story being told by an anonymous narrator with short chapters--sometimes just a paragraph) and lots of jumping back and forth between characters. It was so fast that I never got anxious to hurry up and get bac...more
It was written in a very conversational tone (story being told by an anonymous narrator with short chapters--sometimes just a paragraph) and lots of jumping back and forth between characters. It was so fast that I never got anxious to hurry up and get bac...more
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Read in January, 1992
recommends it for:
Fantasy fans
Still my favorite Stephen King book, this fantastical novel (which serves as a prequel of sorts to the epic Dark Tower series) is as good a fantasy novel as you're going to find outside of Tolkien. Littered with dragons and princes, a diabolical wizard (Flagg, who many King fans will recognize from a different incarnation, Randall Flagg, in The Stand), and a story so exciting and suspenseful that the book won't allow you to put it down until you find out if the imprisoned Prince Peter will carr...more
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Read in November, 2006
If you have ever seen a movie based on a book that Stephen King wrote, such as The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption or Stand By Me,(to name just a few), you know what a fantastic story-teller he is. I've had a long time passion for thrillers-but not the slice and dice kind. When I discovered that Stephen King wrote this sort of fantasy/fairytale for his daughter, who wanted nothing to do with her father's gore-filled, profanity ladden novels, I had to take a chance. I'm so glad I did. Th...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Daniel, Tom, April
I read this book a long time ago and loved it. I also lost/lent it somewhere so when I saw it again at a used bookstore, I bought it and read it again. I was just as enthralled with it the second time around. It's a classic tale of good against evil, evil magicians versus struggling heroes, magic and dragons. I especially liked the comments from the omniscient storyteller as he shares the story.
I think Stephen King is an excellent writer, but I have shied away from his current fiction becau...more
I think Stephen King is an excellent writer, but I have shied away from his current fiction becau...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone if you care
Best book title, worst book.
I was hugely sorely disappointed in this book. I expected... fantasy. Sure, there might have been a potion or 2, a couple hints of magic. MAYBE a sword. Maybe 1, i don`t remember. You`ll find the majority of the story about a boy in a room and napkins.
I don`t want to bag on the story, but that`s just what it is. I would have loved reading this in 5th grade maybe? Or, a little more before I knew he was capable of writing the dark tower series. The clencher, wh...more
I was hugely sorely disappointed in this book. I expected... fantasy. Sure, there might have been a potion or 2, a couple hints of magic. MAYBE a sword. Maybe 1, i don`t remember. You`ll find the majority of the story about a boy in a room and napkins.
I don`t want to bag on the story, but that`s just what it is. I would have loved reading this in 5th grade maybe? Or, a little more before I knew he was capable of writing the dark tower series. The clencher, wh...more
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Read in January, 1992
I first read this book in sixth grade, and have read it probably ten times since. It is completely different from any other Stephen King book I have ever read (although since I haven't read them all, I can't say that he's never written anything like it), and that's part of it's charm. It is set in the world of princes and magicians, but there aren't any elves, or fairies, or ogres, or really wierd stuff. The evil sorcerer's name is Flagg, a name that King lovers will recognize as the face of dar...more
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I have the hard copy & paperback - which should show I enjoy this story very much.
I have to say though, it is not a horror! I thought of it more along a abridge version of a grim's fairy story. There isn't much blood & guts, there is an evil villian, a hero, a misdirected sidekick/hero, a little bit of adventure, and a happy ending. There are definite metaphors that children would possibly not get, specifically about sex, so you could read it to them without worry about then askin...more
I have to say though, it is not a horror! I thought of it more along a abridge version of a grim's fairy story. There isn't much blood & guts, there is an evil villian, a hero, a misdirected sidekick/hero, a little bit of adventure, and a happy ending. There are definite metaphors that children would possibly not get, specifically about sex, so you could read it to them without worry about then askin...more
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My main problem with Stephen King is that he often seems (at least to me anyway) to have no idea where he is going with a story as he writes it. While this helps prevent a story from being too predictable, it is rather irritating to me as a reader, because many side details of the story just become random additions that are never intended to tie anything together. In 'The Eyes of the Dragon' however, Stephen King took a break from both horror and from "I'll think of an ending later" ...more
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This is one of the few books (actually, it may be the only one) of Stephen King's that can be called "fantasy." And when I say fantasy, I mean with princes and kings and castles and turrets, and I think there's some betrayal there. The copy I have is so old, they don't even have the cover available anymore. It's a story that is clever about a prince who escapes a difficult situation in the most unusual way. Sharp writing and a style that is so un-Stephen King, you'll lose yourself in t...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
any fan of Stephen Kings or someone who likes fantasy
This book was not at all what I was expecting from Stephen King. It is written like a fairy tale story. It took me a while to get into it, but once I got used to the writing style it was not bad. The characters where well written, and the story moves at a good pace. I found I did not get hooked on the story completely until about half way through, and then I could not put it down.
It helped me to put things in perspective when a friend told me that Stephen King wrote this book for his kid. A f...more
It helped me to put things in perspective when a friend told me that Stephen King wrote this book for his kid. A f...more
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Read in January, 1990
recommended to Angela by:
Jason King
This was the 1st King book I ever read. I found a hardback copy of it in my younger brother's library when I was in junior-high. I had always heard the name "Stephen King" and shied away, fearing being left awake & terrified at night once the lights were out. This particular book was the absolute simplest & best for a younger reader who enjoys some fantasy to begin with on the "King" level. He can be and is not only an amazing writer but is also quite in depth at time...more
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Read in January, 1988
recommended to sab by:
Aunt Sandy
I AM NOT A STEPHEN KING FAN. I read this book when I was...hmmm...13? and remember adoring it! The suspense, the spiral staircase, the drama, I was captivated! At one point, I used to check out some of his other books (Misery, IT) and I found them to be ridiculous. I find his writing juvenile and too pop culture-ish. Anyway, the point being that THIS book was (is) out of my element but sucked me right in. A book for kids and adults, if my 13 year old memories aren't failing me, a good, wel...more
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I am not a big fan of Stephen King. But this book is...different. King is not his normal self in this book, and the fantasy aspects are horrific in a way that he normally ignores. It is a book about family and darkness, and is quite a spin on the heroic tale we have grown accustom to in post-post Tolkien fantasy lit. There is a tenous connection between the antagonist in this book and something in The Dark Tower, I am told, but I haven't read that whole series. On the whole, I am willing to say ...more
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