The Eyes of the Dragon

The Eyes of the Dragon

First edition cover
Author Stephen King
Country United States
Language English
Genre Fantasy
Publisher Viking
Publication date
February 2, 1987
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 326
ISBN 978-0-670-81458-9

The Eyes of the Dragon is a novel by Stephen King that was first published as a limited edition slipcased hardcover by Philtrum Press in 1984, illustrated by Kenneth R. Linkhauser. The novel would later be published for the mass market by Viking in 1987, with illustrations by David Palladini. This trade edition was slightly revised for publication. The 1995 French edition did not reproduce the American illustrations; it included brand new illustrations by Christian Heinrich.[1]

At the time of publication, it was a deviation from the norm for King, who was best known for his horror fiction. This book is a work of classic fantasy, with a clearly established battle between good and evil, with magic playing a lead role. The Eyes of the Dragon was originally titled Napkins.[2]

Plot

Title page from the original 1984 Philtrum Press edition (book issued without cover)

The Eyes of the Dragon takes place entirely within the realm of Delain (which itself is located within In-World from The Dark Tower series, as established in "The Little Sisters of Eluria"). It is told from the perspective of an unnamed storyteller/narrator, who speaks casually and frankly to the reader, frequently adding his own commentary on characters' motivations and the like.

King Roland's magician, Flagg, seeking to destroy the Kingdom of Delain, sees his plans being ruined by the good heart of Queen Sasha. After Sasha gives birth to Peter, a noble and worthy future king, Flagg realizes that his position, his plans, and his life may be in danger because of Peter. When Sasha is pregnant with a second son, Flagg seizes the opportunity. He forces the Queen's midwife to cut Sasha as the second son, Thomas, is born. Sasha bleeds to death and Flagg begins plotting to remove Peter. As Peter becomes a teenager, he begins the custom of bringing a glass of wine to his father before bed each night. Flagg decides to use this as a means of framing Peter. He dissolves a poison called "Dragon Sand" in a glass of wine and delivers it to the king after Peter leaves. Previously, in an attempt to win Thomas' friendship, Flagg had shown him a secret passage where Thomas could spy on his father. Unbeknownst to Flagg, when he delivers the poison, Thomas is watching through the glass eyes of the mounted head of Roland's greatest trophy, the dragon. Flagg plants evidence incriminating Peter.

After a brief trial, during which the judge decides Peter is guilty, he 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. At the start of his long stay in the Needle, Peter manages to send a note to the judge who convicted him, Anders Peyna, with the seemingly innocuous requests to have his mother's old dollhouse and napkins with his meals. Peyna is puzzled by the requests, but, seeing no harm in them, grants them. Five years later, Peter escapes from the Needle, having used the toy loom in the dollhouse and threads from the napkins to make a rope. After the escape he and his allies rush to get Roland's bow and arrow. However, it is not to be found because Thomas had it once they got into the king's "sitting room". Flagg, now revealed as a demonic being, is about to kill them when Thomas reveals himself and tells Flagg that he (Thomas) watched Flagg poison Roland. Thomas shoots Flagg in the eye, but Flagg uses magic to disappear and escape. At the end of the novel, Peter is declared to be the rightful king. Thomas, who has become deeply hated in Delain, sets off alongside his butler, Dennis, to find Flagg. They find him and confront him, but the narrator does not reveal the outcome.

Characters

Flagg (pictured right) with King Peter from The Eyes of the Dragon. Art by David Palladini

Reception

The Eyes of the Dragon was rejected by some Stephen King fans who believed it was a children's book.[4] This belief spawned from the fact that King originally wrote the novel for his children.[4] Another reason for rejection of The Eyes of the Dragon was the fact that it was fantasy, with little to no elements of horror.[4] This drove Stephen King to write Misery as a metaphor for the fact that he was chained to writing horror fiction.[4] Barbara Tritel of The New York Times called The Eyes of the Dragon "more elegant than any other novel Mr. King has written so far."[5]

Crossover

Adaptations

Rights to The Eyes of the Dragon have been optioned twice, once for a film and once for a television series.

Film

Initially The Eyes of the Dragon was to be created as an animated film produced through the French company WAMC Entertainment.[6] The movie would have a budget of $45 million and was expected to release in late 2001 or early 2002.[6][7] However the movie did not progress into active production and the rights lapsed in 2000.[8]

Television adaptation

In 2012 Syfy announced that they were developing several projects for potential television adaptations, one of which was The Eyes of the Dragon.[9] If successfully developed, the book would be made into either a movie or miniseries.[10] Michael Taylor and Jeff Vintar were confirmed to be penning the script and Taylor and Bill Haber would act as executive producers.[11]

References

  1. The Eyes of the Dragon, on the Club Stephen King
  2. Beahm, George (1992). The Stephen King Story (2nd ed.). Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews and McMeel. p. 114. ISBN 0-8362-8004-0.
  3. Alissa Stickler, "The (Mid)Evil Nightmare of Yesterday and Tomorrow: Flagg as the Immortal Monster in Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon and The Stand," in: The Year's Work of Medievalism 15 (2002), ed. Jesse Swan and Richard Utz.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Beahm, George (1992). The Stephen King Story (2nd ed.). Andrews and McMeel. pp. 136–137, 242. ISBN 0-8362-8004-0.
  5. Tritel, Barbara (1987-02-22). "What the Wicked Magician Did". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  6. 1 2 Spignesi, Stephen J. (2003). The Essential Stephen King. Career Press. p. 78. ISBN 156414710X.
  7. Meaux Saint Marc, Francoise. "WAMC set to animate Stephen King's Dragon". Screen Daily. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  8. Williams, Owen (August 1, 2011). "a WINTER'S TALE". Empire (subscription required). Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  9. Willmore, Alison. "Stephen King's 'The Eyes of the Dragon' Being Developed as a Syfy Series". Indiewire. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  10. Hibberd, James (2012-04-24). "Stephen King's 'Eyes of the Dragon' in development at Syfy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  11. O'Neal, Sean. "Syfy is going to do something to Stephen King's The Eyes Of The Dragon". AV Club. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
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