Please note: The rating above is a spite rating, though, in all honesty, I'd have given this all the stars in 1987, too. However, I am spiting Jeff whose opinion is horrible and should be rectified with electro-shock therapy, or something.

Interestingly, I'm stealing my review from a comment I made in another of his S. King threads. This is all getting very meta.

Comment/Review:
Aww, man!
I loved The Eyes of the Dragon!
It pissed my mom right off, though. She got it when it came out and was expecting...oh, probably what all King fans were expecting. I hated King's work at that age so HAD to read it when I found out my mom didn't like it. It became my most favorite book by him ever at that time. Of course, it was also an age-appropriate read for me and not so much for my mom.

Loved it. I remember seeing this book with the green cover as a kid when my mom was reading it in the 1980's. The dragon on it always fascinated me. Many years later here I am reading it for free as I just discovered the Libby app. Great first book to read on this app. I couldn't wait to read it each time, and I told my husband the story as I read it. 5 stars!

2021-
I am waiting for this to be made into a movie. Or a limited series. I couldn't care less which, as long as the source is treated with respect and presented in the manner in which it was written. I won't hold my breath, but I'll impatiently wait. It's a very visual story. We all grew up with fairy tales and this is my favorite fairy tale ever. No fairies of course, but kings and queens, princes and magicians, dragons and napkins. Yes, napkins.

2017 -
I love everything about this book and always have. The fact that it was written for King’s daughter Naomi is so incredibly sweet. Throw in the fact that a strong and important female character is named after her and you have a heart-tugging situation.

Now on to the actual story. So, so good. I read somewhere that this was originally entitled Napkins. I think that was a better title, but I digress. This is an adult fairy tale. Not because there is anything inappropriate about it, but because it’s a fully fleshed plot, not a simple little tale, tellable in one sitting. This is a meaty story about love, hate, friendship, loyalty (or the lack thereof) betrayal, and redemption.

As a non-spoiler-y recap, King Roland dies and leaves behind two sons who could sit on the throne. One, Peter, who is not only capable, but will probably be a better king than his father, and the other, Thomas, who will not. Guess who the court magician, Flagg wants to sit on the throne? This is all about who ends up there and the way that happens.

King has always been so good at writing from the viewpoint of the “other.” I mean other than what he is, whether that’s a young man, middle-aged man, or older man, he has only ever been a man, but he can write children in a way that makes his memory of that time seem supernatural. He writes women as if he has been one. Strong, weak, sweet, bitchy, young, old, makes no never mind. He gets in their heads and just knocks it out of the park. Every time. Putting that aside, I am always most impressed with the way he writes from an animal’s point of view. In this case, it’s Frisky.

Frisky is one of Naomi’s sled dogs. Not only one of but her favorite. Frisky is a tracker in addition to being a sled dog and the way King describes her picking up and following a scent makes me feel like I could track too. He describes scents as being recognizable by color. Old and sick people have faint colors. Young and healthy people have bright-colored scents. I love the idea!

This is one of the books in which we get, not only a glimpse but, a full-blown look at Flagg. I’ve often wondered at the significance of King Roland’s name. Roland is not a common name and the fact that King decides to use it for two of his major characters makes me believe there something.

This is not Stephen King at his best, but below average for him is good for other aspiring writers. 4 of 10 stars

Two of my favorite people have vastly different opinions on this book.  Delee gave this book 5 glowing stars while  Jeff gave it two and used such eloquent and moving words to explain what exactly he disliked so much about it.

When Delee told me I had to read it I could not tell her no! Literally she has read every single book I have ever requested she read. Literally. She’s amazing. And I knew how much this book meant to her. And Jeff insisted I skip this book; that it just was not worth my time. But on my quest to read all of King’s books I knew I had to get to this one eventually. I just wasn't sure when because of the varying opinion among King fans.

In the faraway land of Delain there resides a King. His name is Roland. *drops jaw* Yes. Roland. ERMAGERD. *coughs* Anyway, he is married to his beautiful wifey, Sasha. They have Le Petit Prince a sweet little Prince named Peter. Peter is instantly everyone’s favorite baby. He grows up to be a nice young boy that the kingdom is taken with. Everyone knows Peter is going to be the Greatest King of All Time.

But Roland’s “advisor” has other plans. Mayhap you’re familiar with this “advisor”? He goes by the name Flagg…Randall Flagg. *jaw drops again*

Flagg pulls a few strings to make the puppets dance. He gets Roland in bed with his wife again and BAM they are having another baby! And guess what?! It’s a boy! And guess what else?! Everyone’s favorite Queen dies during childbirth. The Kingdom mourns as much as the King and Prince.

Meanwhile everyone ignores poor little Princeling, Thomas. He’s basically abandon by everyone, everyone that is, except for Flagg. Flagg has some tricks up his sleeve for sweet, naive little Thomas. And when King Roland is poisoned and Peter is imprisoned it is up to Thomas to rule the Kingdom…with help from his only friend.

While I could appreciate what King was going for and I did enjoy the majority of the story there was just something I could not get behind. I can’t be ok with Thomas’ character. The whole time I read this I just felt so bad for him. He was born because Flagg made it so, he was abandon and utterly ignored because of Flagg, he was despised as a ruler because of Flagg. It made me so incredibly sad that this poor boy was subjected to such hate and abandonment while his brother was praised just for breathing or taking a shit. It really bothered me.

I think I just have one of those hearts that is naturally drawn to the “weak”. All through high school I was the one trying to stick up for the less fortunate; trying to prevent bullying whenever I could. I felt that Thomas was never even given a fair chance and it broke my heart. The ending was a little bittersweet. I was hoping for some evil spell to be lifted where the people of Delain would love Thomas and realize what asshats they had been.

I listened to this on audio and will at some point go back and read the physical book to see if I feel any differently about it. I landed safely in the middle on this one, but I’d like to give it a second chance later on in life.

I really missed out reading this book when I was 14. King packed this baby with all of the tropes YA fiction should contain and made a fun, page turning novel - even if we know how everything is going to turn out. The snarky narrator is an extra bonus.

And how cool is it that he wrote this book for his daughter? He even gave a character in the book her name. Did he win Father of the Year when this was first published?

Full Video Review Here: https://youtu.be/wG7Lhb5y-T4

It's a rare case when I pick up a Stephen King book and it is not for a re-read.

After the fiasco that was my "break up" with Stephen King in 2004 when I read the last 2 Dark Tower books, I wrote off The Talisman and Eyes of the Dragon because the last thing I wanted was Stephen King doing fantasy again. Yes, I was that petty 16 years ago.

Now, doing my "Into the Multiverse" series for the channel, it came time for Eyes of the Dragon, a book that many a King fan puts near the bottom of their rankings. So, was it as bad as I was told? Heck no, I loved it.

Going into this with the knowledge that he wrote the story for his daughter really helped me to approach it as a fairy tale rather than epic fantasy. The Eyes of the Dragon is every bit a fairy tale. A very, very charming fairy tale.

What I didn't expect was so many Dark Tower references (maybe?) in this one. Any time you get more of arguable King's greatest villain ever created in Randall Flagg, well it's going to be a good time. Add to this not one, but two coming of age stories under very different circumstances and it is King at his best; even if there isn't the usual horror and bad language.

I had a ton of fun with this one and I'm already planning for it to be my oldest son's gateway into Stephen King when he's ready. I think this is absolutely the perfect book for Constant Readers to pass on to their kids should they want to share a love of King with them.

This is one of Stephen King's fantasy offerings and it is quite delightful. I do not always enjoy adult fairy stories, but this one catches you up into the action and there is nowhere to go except to read and enjoy the whole book. The way the story is told is quite original. The chapters are all different lengths, sometimes just one paragraph, sometimes a normal length. Quite often the author lets the reader know what is going to happen and then goes back to fill in on how it came about that way. There's an evil wizard, a dragon, Kings, queens and princes and of course a prison cell at the top of a tower. All great stuff! I think one of the reasons I like King so much is that he is unpredictable yet always comes up with the goods.

"Of all the weapons ever used to commit regicide - the murder of a King - none has been as frequently used as poison. And no one has greater knowledge of poisons than a magician."

I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in this fantasy. This was my first Stephen King novel, I don't really like horror so I wanted something different from him and I wasn't disappointed!

King Roland has been killed, presumed murder. His eldest son Peter is accused of the crime and sentenced to imprisonment in the needle - the tallest tower in the Kingdom. Meanwhile his younger brother Thomas now sits the throne, despite not being fit for the role, as the old King's magician and advisor Flagg whispers in Thomas' ear and stirs up trouble.

There are those who are still loyal to Thomas, who suspect Flagg; after all he seems to have lived for an unrealistically long time, surely there is some evil at play here?

I noticed a lot of parallels between this and Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, it is set in a similar world which may be why I liked it so much.

A simple enough story of good vs evil, where each character has flaws of some sort. Where people have to decide how far they will go to prevent the spread of evil and to protect their royal family.

It was pretty good. I enjoyed the little graphics.

Mel

This is book #2 of 50 for the year 2023 from my TBR over 5 years. This is the first Stephen King book I read to my oldest, then 10-year-old son. (He liked the dragon on the cover, and is also a King fan as a result.) I have read this book repeatedly over the 50+ years of my life. Only my youngest (who is not much of a reader) refused listening to The Eyes of the Dragon. He thought the imagery was too scary. Mayhap it is; mayhap it isn't. This is King's first crack at fantasy and began as a bedtime story for his daughter, Naomi, and Peter Straub's son, Ben. Even though the content is a little scary, I opted to read this novel to my boys and they all developed a love for the genre, and the writer as well. My boys became fans of Dungeons and Dragons and would ask me to create scenarios for their characters, eventually begging their father to Dungeon Master their games. This book fostered a long-lasting bonding experience with my boys, so maybe it's impossible for me to be objective. Eventually, the non-reader child took-over as DM for the scenarios and I was relegated to a player, but ask me if I minded letting go the reins. They still wanted me to play.

The Eyes of the Dragon, as far as I can tell, is one of King's early departures from writing straight-up horror. It's not a horror story at all -- instead, it's fantasy set in a far-off kingdom, where an evil magician is determined to thrust the land into chaos and bloodshed in order to satisfy his own dark purposes.

King Roland the Good is an okay king, kind but not particularly effective, and perhaps a little too under the sway of his advisor, the magician Flagg. Roland has two sons -- his heir, Peter, and a younger son, Thomas, who grows up in his older brother's shadow, always plagued by feelings of inadequacy and jealousy as he watches Peter grow into a fine, beloved young man. When Flagg's schemes end with Peter falsely imprisoned on charges of murdering his father, Thomas gains the throne, but he's guided in all things by Flagg, who uses Thomas's weakness to destabilize the country. But Peter is strong and smart, and doesn't give up so easily...

Such a terrific story! I was completely enthralled by this tale of loyalty, royalty, friendship, betrayal, and the evil that threatens to undermine families and kingdoms. The characters are so well drawn, showing shades of personality and motivation, and finding hidden dimensions in characters that might otherwise seem like a stock type.

The Eyes of the Dragon is an excellent adventure -- don't miss it!