I don't really know why I've resisted reading Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon since it was originally published during the Reagan Administration. Maybe it was my own personal distaste for high fantasy, or my inability to wade through the King/Peter Straub collaboration The Talisman, or the simple fact that I know King is at his best when lifting the shroud on urban/suburban horror rather than his forays into fantasy. Whatever the reason, in my panic over the impending end of summer, I was looking for a light but compelling literary confection, so I picked up a paperback copy of the book I had resisted for so long, and I have to admit it was much better than I expected it to be. True, there were dragons and imprisoned kings and dark magicians (in the person of--surprise!--Flagg, moonlighting here from one of King's great gifts to apocalyptic horror, The Stand), but it's a truly compelling page-turner of a tale, complete with an intruding narrative voice that never lets you forget that this is a tale, and one King obvious took wicked pleasure in spinning. Next on my plate (if the school year ever allows me occasion for pleasure reading), another of King's creations I've never been willing to tackle: The Dark Tower series.