Product Description

A kingdom is in turmoil as the old king dies, murdered by a strange and horrible poison. While the land of Delain mourns, the evil wizard Flagg, hatches an unscrupulous plot which sees the King’s eldest son Peter imprisoned for his father’s murder, and the youngest son inherit the throne. Only Peter knows the truth about his own innocence and the evil that is Flagg. Only Peter can save Delain from the horror that Flagg has in store. But first, he must escape from the high tower…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #346297 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
A kingdom is in turmoil as the old king dies and his successor must do battle for the throne. Pitted against an evil wizard and a would-be rival, Prince Peter makes a daring escape and rallies the forces of Good to fight for what is rightfully his. This is a masterpiece of classic dragons-and-magic fantasy that only Stephen King could have written!

Review
'Classic King, fine characters, compellingly written in a gripping, well-honed plot' (Daily Express on WOLVES OF THE CALLA )

'Join the quest before it’s too late' (Independent on Sunday on SONG OF SUSANNAH )

Synopsis
A kingdom is in turmoil as the old king dies, murdered by a strange and horrible poison. While the land of Delain mourns, the evil wizard Flagg, hatches an unscrupulous plot which sees the King's eldest son Peter imprisoned for his father's murder, and the youngest son inherit the throne. Only Peter knows the truth about his own innocence and the evil that is Flagg. Only Peter can save Delain from the horror that Flagg has in store. But first, he must escape from the high tower!

Customer Reviews

Eyes of the Dragon
Stephen King takes a break from the norm and produces his first children's novel - the tale itself is fairly standard fairy tale material, complete with a murdered king, a prince wrongly imprisoned in a high tower, and an evil plotting magician who must be defeated, but King tells it well, and despite a slightly bloated middle section (even when writing for children King can't quite get the hang of economy) events ramp up to a breathless finale. Younger reader (who already enjoy the likes of Harry Potter perhaps?) will find this captivating, and thanks to King's interlinked mythology there are enough links to novels such as The Stand, The Talisman and the Dark Tower novels to keep older readers interested.

Heart-warming childrens' fantasy with universal appeal
Wonderful stuff. King's classic horror fare, while generally entertaining, can be sometimes be too long-winded for me (although I haven't read his recent stuff). But this... if you liked the old Mumfie adventures, or say The Thief Of Always, you will so dig this. A simple tale belonging in the overcrowded childrens' fantasy genre - but like the above examples, intoxicating, beautifully narrated and illustrated, laced with funny, tender and dark scenes, carried along by some memorable characters. It's not as explicitly gruesome as many of his other stories, but there's plenty of cruelty, injustice and suffering, orchestrated by a fascinating and devious villain. And there's a bittersweet climax, with a sublime moment of forgiveness, which always brings a tear to my cynical eye. A perfectly self-indulgent enduring escape for all ages. For me, Stephen King's best, and not by coincidence, the most whimsical - and by all accounts one of his most personal.

More enjoyable if you're not familiar with King
I first read The Eyes of the Dragon when I was 13 - it was my first book by King and I didn't feel up to reading his horror novels just then. 10 years later, I've just re-read it and, although I still found it really enjoyable, it wasn't until then I realised how differnt it is from his other books.

Don't buy this book if you don't like fantasy - it's no where near as scary as most of his other work. If you do like fantasy, but haven't enjoyed other books by King, this is worth a go.