Most of the book is breezy and easy to digest, thanks mostly to King's own ethos. He tells the story quite literally in a storyteller-type of voice, leading the reader headlong into the lore and details of the world of Delain. I wouldn't say it's a perfect experience though; as common with King's stories, he sometimes spends pages and pages describing minute details, and it can be a bit tiresome in some scenes. Fortunately, it's not quite as laborious as other books I've read of his, and it is perfectly-readable all the same.
The story is a simple one: it focuses on two princes, whose father is slain under diabolical circumstances, which causes one prince to become wrongfully imprisoned and the other to become an inept king against his will. With this setup, the book has plenty of thrilling parts, as Peter is forced to stage a daring escape from prison, and other characters gather to confront the story's villain. There are a few things I could nitpick about; the story goes through a pretty long and random introduction, and thanks to King's narration, he tends to spoil the plot twists well in advance. You'll always know who the villain is and you'll always know that King Roland dies eventually, and I believe it kills some potential suspense. However, King does lay out this story with a lot of nuance and attention to thematic detail, going so far as giving significant meaning to a lot of different elements (including napkins, of all things).
As I mentioned repeatedly, King uses a pretty blatant storyteller's voice in this book, and I believe it's a hit-and-a-miss. The wording is often good, but I find it weird how he occasionally breaks the fourth wall by referencing himself as the storyteller (in our world nonetheless, causing him to draw parallels between modern things and fantasy things, which I found a bit distracting), and by addressing the reader directly (which I'm not necessarily a fan of). However, I can't deny that the prose does lend the book a level of authenticity that befits the story, and it is elegant most of the time. Quality illustrations add to the experience pretty well.
The Eyes of the Dragon is a simple story, but it is elegant and told in an interesting way. It's clear to me that it's an experimental work, featuring some elements (and even characters) that would influence other works (such as my favorite, The Stand, and The Dark Tower series). For such an experiment, I think King handled the fantasy storytelling pretty well, and fantasy fans should find this rewarding.
4/5 (Experience: Good | Story: Good | Book: Pretty Good)
No comments:
Post a Comment