The Eyes of the Dragon

Stephen King is an absolute master of words, best author ever hands down. This is definitely one of his most interesting works and I loved every page.

While I appreciate the good-natured tone of this story, "The Eye of the Dragon" is a forgettable tale, and a slog to read. Its characters, its world, its plot-- everything was mediocre to the extreme. The main protagonist, Peter, is described as a paragon, and a messiah. Anyone who opposes him or even rebukes him is wrong, and frequently he will be there to gracefully, but firmly, let them know. They recoil in awe of his royal air, and either immediately yield to him, or are made to be fools. Flagg is downright evil, and early on, the text very much says so. There is no nuance to his character, aside from hiding the true extent of his villainy. It seems almost as though the only people who live in Delain are those directly mentioned, and no one else can support or oppose either Flagg or Peter, who are the driving forces in the story. As a consequence, this world feels hollow, and its stories, cheap. One could read the summary and the last quarter of this book, and understand everything of significance that occurs. That is not to say, though, that anything significant has occurred. None of these story elements are helped by King's writing style in this book, which is whimsical and long-winded. If it were shorter, this might make a good children's story. As it is, I cannot recommend it even for young readers, which is a shame, because I know that King is a fantastic writer. It should also be noted that the name of the book and its cover are deceiving-- this narrative has only the barest connection to a dragon, and really, any kind of large animal could have taken its place.

Anyone who is a fan of King's Dark Tower should read this work. You will notice similarity between the culture of the Kingdom of Delain and Gilead, the structure of the government and some of the lore. The common thread of Flagg from one great work to the next draws all of King's efforts together into an incredible tapestry story. This modern fairytale is exceptionally written and stands on its own, but is much enriched by the connections to King's other stories. For these reasons I give it five stars.