Stephen King - The eyes of the DragonPages : 380
This was my first completed book from Stephen King. I had bought it because was a different book from Stephen King and it was set in the world of THe Dark Tower. Yes I come to know that Flagg (one of the main characters) is a important character in the dark tower series.
(Taken from wikipedia)
The Eyes of the Dragon takes place entirely within the realm of Delain. It is told from the perspective of an unnamed story-teller, who speaks casually and frankly to the reader, frequently adding his own commentary on character's motivations and the like.
The opening concerns itself with establishing five characters: King Roland, Queen Sasha, Prince Peter, Prince Thomas, and the wizard and royal adviser, Flagg. Flagg has been covertly attempting to assassinate Queen Sasha (who is more intelligent than her husband, well loved by the people of Delain, and therefore more of a threat) for some time; he finally succeeds by bribing the Queen's midwife to slit an unidentified vein open while Sasha gives birth to Thomas. Outwardly, it appears that the force of giving birth to Thomas caused Sasha to bleed to death.
Peter and Thomas develop into almost entirely opposite people. Peter is smart, honest, handsome, and in spite of his youth, has already gained the respect and admiration of many people. Thomas is chunky, clumsy, and just intelligent enough to hate himself for his shortcomings. The narrator describes Thomas as often sad and confused, "not a bad boy". Possibly to contrast their personalities, the story-teller describes how Peter once rescued a horse with a broken leg from being killed, carefully nursed it back to health, and kept it as his personal steed. A bit later, the story-teller describes how Thomas once carved a small boat as a present for his father. Roland ignores the gift almost entirely, in favor of lecturing Thomas on how well Peter had done at archery that day. When Thomas sees how little Roland cares about the gift he hobbles out of the castle and has a fit of vomiting and weeping. He then sees a mangy, sick dog, which he stones to death in a fit of rage.
As time passed, and Peter grew older, it became more obvious to Flagg that the crown Prince was a far greater threat to his position as royal wizard than even Sasha was. It would be too dangerous to simply leave him to become King — yet Roland loved him so dearly that if Flagg tried to kill the Prince it was likely the King would find out who would be responsible for assassinating Peter. Flagg then hits upon an even more devious plan: assassinate Roland, and frame Peter for the murder.
The scheme succeeds entirely. Roland's wine is poisoned, Roland drinks it and dies in three days, Roland's youngest son watches in horror as he drank the poison. Peter is blamed for it, and is locked up in the enormous tower, called the Needle, in the center of the city. Thomas is then crowned King, although he is only twelve years old; due to his youth and his fearful inexperience, he allows Flagg enormous amounts of power, as his chief advisor. However, Flagg has overlooked two flaws in his plans. Someone saw Flagg pass on the glass of poisoned wine to Roland. And Peter has made two requests for things he wants in his cell: his mother's dollhouse, and a napkin with every meal.
Peter takes 5 threads from each napkin and with the help of a working loom from the dollhouse weaves them into a rope. The rope breaks when Peter tries to climb down, but he is rescued by Ben and Naomi. The three rush to get the bow and arrow Roland used to slay the dragon but Flagg catches up with them and is about to kill them when Thomas reveals himself and the fact that he watched Flagg poison Roland. Flagg is shot and gets away.
Review
I have read dozens of fantasy books and this one is the one I least enjoyed. First I don't care much about the narrator. I don't like when narrators give their own expressions and views. It is horrible. Then all characters are one view only. They are like that and that is final. The only one which isn't too much like that is Thomas. The plot was simple but it teach the readers something. Even small things are important. Napkins are the key for this story. Who would had thought it? Well I have others books from Stephen King but probably won't read it in the near future. I have the complete set from the dark tower but I want to read the Stand as well. Let us see what it brings to us.
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