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Novel by Stephen King From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Eyes of the Dragon is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King, 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, and a 2016 new French version also included brand new illustrations, by Nicolas Duffaut.[1]
First edition cover | |
| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Viking |
Publication date | Fall 1984 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 326 |
| ISBN | 978-0-670-81458-9 |
At the time of publication, it was a deviation from the norm for King, who was best known for his horror fiction. The book is a work of epic fantasy in a quasi-medieval setting, with a clearly established battle between good and evil, and magic playing a lead role. The Eyes of the Dragon was originally titled The Napkins.[2]
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 wound Sasha while 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, Niner 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.
The Eyes of the Dragon was warmly received by professional critics. Barbara Tritel of The New York Times described The Eyes of the Dragon as drawing clear influence from European fairy tales and wrote that the novel was "more elegant than any other novel Mr. King has written so far."[4] Some of King's established fans rejected the novel, considering it a children's book – King originally wrote the novel for his children. Another reason for fan rejection of The Eyes of the Dragon was the fact that it was epic fantasy, with little to no elements of the horror that typified King's most successful work of this era.[5] Negative fan reaction to The Eyes of the Dragon was an inspiration for King's subsequent novel Misery. The protagonist of Misery was a successful romance novelist who killed off his most popular character to allow himself to write in other styles of fiction, only to be imprisoned by an angry, deranged fan; King saw Misery as a metaphor for his feelings of being chained to writing horror fiction.[5]
Initially The Eyes of the Dragon was to be created as an animated film produced through the French company WAMC Entertainment.[6] The film would have a budget of $45 million and was expected to release in late 2001 or early 2002.[6][7] However the film did not progress into active production and the rights lapsed in 2000.[8]
In 2012 Syfy announced that it was 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]
In 2019 news broke that Hulu was adapting the book as a television series.[12] In September 2020, Seth Grahame-Smith, a producer and screenwriter for the Hulu adaptation, appeared on The Kingcast podcast with news that Hulu decided to cancel the project due to budgetary concerns and changes to the Hulu's executive team.[13]
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