When I think of Steven King, I tend to conjure of images of pulling a
blanket over my eyes and letting out a bloodcurdling scream. This genius
in making the spine tingle is not one for the faint of heart, and
generally his books -- and his movies -- are far too frightening for me.
But Eyes of the Dragon is different.
My dad is an avid Steven King fan,
and knowing how I hate horror stories, he was thrilled when he came
across this book. With reluctance, I agreed to let him read it to me.
Steven King for a bedtime story? The thought was dubious at best. But as
he read, I found in this book one of the finest fantasies to come from a
current author. I was held in rapt attention each night as King's
superb attention to detail and characterization made the tale come alive
-- and in chapters short enough that Dad never had to stop reading in
the middle of a chapter.
I couldn't have asked much more of
this book as a fantasy. It was comparable in quality to the work of
Brian Jacques and J. K. Rowling, and there were very few passages which
would be inappropriate for young readers. The nightmare-inducing horrors
typical of Stephen King books are all but absent here. King fans will
enjoy this book as a deviation from the norm, and the lily-livered folks
like me will enjoy it for the fine writing which we could not enjoy
before. I wish he would write more books like this.
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