Reviews with content warning for Grief - Fairy Tale

The king is back.
What a read. I was so excited to get into this story, and my lovely girlfriend ended up surprising my with it.
As this is the year in which I have by far read the most Stephen King, this book was a fantastic addition to his repertoire.
The story takes place from the point of view of 17 year old Charlie Reade, who is just one of the most likeable protagonists in the works of Stephen King. Charlie is an all around good guy who is athletic, and wants to help everyone.
He loses his mom to a driver in a horrendous fashion. After the accident that kills his mother his father falls in to a spiral of self destruction stemming from alcoholism.
Now, this would usually be a key plot point in a King novel- how many of King's characters are walking embodiments of "first the man takes a drink, then the drink takes the man"?
But, Charlie makes a deal with God to have his dad stop drinking, in exchange he offers the vague trade of doing something for God.
This ends up being fulfilled in the way of Charlie saving elderly curmudgeon Mr. Bowditch, who Charlie saves after he falls from a ladder and fucks up his leg.
While in the hospital Bowditch is forced to trust Charlie with not only maintaining his house but also with taking care of probably the best part of this book... RADAR THE GERMAN SHEPARD.
What a fucking GREAT character Radar is. I love dogs, and when I was reading this book, I was constantly smiling and grimacing based off of the experiences of the best friend around.

Mr. Bowditch has secrets tucked away in his shed, and, when he ends up dying of a heart attack, it is revealed that his shed is the portal to another world, akin to the steps in 11/22/63 which I thought of often. This world is called "Empis" and it is a fantasy world inhabited by many a kind people. However, these people are also plagued by "the gray" which is a physically progressing disease that causes people to essentially melt away. Charlie also finds out that there is a sun dial that has the ability to reverse time, which he intends to use on Radar as she is old and nearing death.
While there he successfully reverses Radar's aging, but, he is also capture by the evil king- the Flight Killer and the evil kingdom. It is the Charlie's task, along with those whom he interacts with along the way, to escape and save the kingdom.

The first thing that I have to praise is King's character writing. If you read any of my previous reviews of King's works, it is evident that one of my biggest gripes with his work is the character casts. Most of the time they are so evil or so good that there is no nuance to them. I did not feel that in this book. There are characters who are dealing with internal strife, and when they are evil, or they are good, you can understand their intentions, and they have time spent developing them. They don't feel like characters who are acting in a way solely to progress the story, rather, they are acting in a way because that is how they would, if they were real people.
I thought that the relationships between Charlie and Mr. Bowditch, Radar and Charlie's dad were some of the strongest character relationships which I have read recently. The cast of characters in Empis is girthy- there seem to be a new name on every fucking page, which can be a bit overwhelming, but, King managed to write them in a way in which they feel unique.

I thought that the scenes when Charlie is imprisoned were so well done, especially the fight scenes. The guards in the Empis jail were so intimidating and Charlie figuring out how to lead a revolt was truly fantastic. I thought that the looming threat of a fight to the death ala Battle Royale as it is the constant threat of the resistance numbers being cut down and down.
When the big bads were cut down, I did feel a surge of triumph. But, there were still some instances wherein you truly do feel sympathy because the character's backstory's are illustrated so exquisitely.

The imagery in this book runs the gamut from beautiful to terrifying, to awe inspiring to gore filled and horrific and I will be goddamned if I didn't love every bit of it. The set pieces- two moons colliding, a field of battle covered in blood and guts, a massive chronology reversing sundial. King's descriptive prowess is on full display here, and it was a blast to read.
His pacing in this book is some of the best that I can recall reading. It is about half way through the book before Charlie ends up in Empis. This does wonders to help build up the allure and wonder of what is going on in that damn shed. It also gives the reader the opportunity to learn more about the characters and to build relationships between the characters. Not once did I find the pacing to be slow to the point of overindulgence, or mastubatory. Rather, I found it perfectly fit with the narrative structure of the story.

You can tell that King had a fucking blast with this book. It was such a fun time to read through, and it was nice to read a King book where it had a happy ending?? I read this book with apprehension that Radar was going to die a hero's sacrificial death, and that did not happen thank goodness!!
I loved this book, and I can say that I would happily revisit this book in a heartbeat. We are truly so luck to live in a world wherein an author like Stephen King is still putting out stellar reads 5 decades since starting his career.

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billyjepma's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

As far as Stephen King goes, this is pretty mid-tier. It's advertised as the book he wrote in quarantine to bring himself some enjoyment, and it shows, in good and less-than-good ways. The positive stuff includes King's usual strengths: excellent foreshadowing, endearing characterization, enticing ideas, you get the gist. And that stuff rules! It's been a minute since I've picked up a King book, and this was a wonderful reminder of why he's the best at what he does. Watching him develop the relationship between protagonist Charlie and old-man Mr. Bowditch and his aging dog, Radar, is a treat, especially once he begins teasing the dark, fantastical mysteries that are coming. Those first 150+ pages are all about that relationship, and it's the anchor that keeps the rest of the story from unmooring (although there are some close calls).

Bowditch is the book's highlight, arguably, and viewing him as King's self-insert character (as I did) gives the story some potentially meta-commentary elements that I liked. I doubt this is intentional, as the book doesn't explore those elements, so take my assessment with a grain of salt. King isn't interested in interrogating or subverting the fairy tale ideas he's using, opting instead to enjoy them as toys for a relatively by-the-numbers tale that's content to be a soft remix of the greatest hits. On those terms, Fairy Tale is an easy, enjoyable read, even though I kept waiting for it to become something more.

Ironically, the most effective parts of this book take place outside of the fantasy world, as it's there that King's writing is most touching and memorable. After the fantasy starts, things regrettably grow a little dull. King's characterization and pacing falter, as does his plotting. We're introduced to some wonderful supporting characters and big, exciting ideas; they just don't go anywhere. Charlie becomes a less interesting protagonist, too, as his role in the traditional fantasy adventure is as by-the-numbers as they come. King's attempts at giving it some teeth are more monotonous than anything, too, and eventually, my earlier investment in Charlie took a nosedive.

Still, despite its shortcoming, I love a good fairy tale and getting to read one of the best storytellers of a generation tell one was a ride I'm glad I took. The ending wraps things up on the kind of nostalgia-tinged note I'm always a sucker for and nails the balance between bitter and sweet like all fantasies should. I won't be running back to this one, but the vibes and visuals will happily linger in my head for a while. The book gets a 3.5/5 from me, but Radar the Very Good Dog™️ gets a 12/5.

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braiths_book_thoughts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I LOVED this book.

It brought me out of a reading slump and allowed me to enjoy the works of Stephen King. I don't enjoy the genre of horror, so when this fantasy book came out I was excited. It did not disappoint!

I completely and utterly fell in love with the characters, they weren't always brave people or good people, some choices they made were cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Yet, they were perfect for this story.

Some things happened too fast, sometimes the story would build up to a fight and it would be over faster than expected, but for me, this did not take away from the joy and pleasure of reading this.

If you love portal world fanatsy, this one is for you.

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kittyswinny's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As a fan of Stephen King, I'd say this is something quite different to his usual style but extremely enjoyable. For fans of adventure, classic fairy tales with a grotesque twist and a journey, it's perfect!

<Spoiler>I would perhaps say that there weren't as many catastrophes as there should have been. Sometimes it seemed too easy for our hero Charlie to succeed. There were opportunities to have me on the edge of my seat but they fell just a little flat.

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