I started a journey through Eyes of the Dragon the other day. It's been a long time since I read this book -- like 1992! That was the year I graduated high school and got my first job, an usher at the Hollywood Bowl. I have fond memories of reading this book every chance I got. I couldn't stop! .
I recommended my daughter read it, thinking she would love the fairy tail. I had forgotten most of the details of the story, just fond memories of the joy it gave me at the time. As I started back through the novel I had a surprise coming to me. There's a lot of . . . uh. . . talk about how babies are made. And Flagg (the King's evil magician) has this magic potion that is a super version of Viagra.
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The story is not a typical King novel. The writing in particular is different. King usually builds a story scene by scene, like episodes in a television series. Eyes of the Dragon often pulls far above a single scene to give a birds eye view of a character or storyline, and then the narration dives in for a particular scene.
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King also narrates the story in his own voice. What I mean is. . . while it is third person, he often speaks directly to the reader. Much like a father pausing to explain something in the midst of a story.
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Each character is carefully introduced before the meat of the story is served up. This leads to a slow build up in plot as the reader sees each player. Thomas in particular is vividly portrayed. I think there is something in all of us that identifies with Thomas. He's not as good as his older brother. He feels like his father doesn't pay him adequate attention. And when he gets to peep through the eyes of the dragon at his father alone in his den, he discovers that his father the king farts and picks his nose and pees in the fire; not the kind of guy he can respect. King does a masterful job explaining, in simple language, that we all do things in private that we would never do if we knew people were watching.
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I like it that King's "bad guys" have depth. People who do bad things oftne have motive and reasons that make them feel they are not really so bad. King doesn't give us simple black and white characters, but shows us a real picture of humanity.
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Thus far, my return to the kingdom of Delain has been a joyful one.
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