The Eyes of the Dragon

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

The Kingdom of Delain is at stake when King Roland is murdered and his son and rightful heir, Peter, is framed for the crime. Plotting against him is the evil Flagg and his pawn, young Prince Thomas. Yet with every plan there are holes - like Thomas's terrible secret. And the determined Prince Peter, who is planning a daring escape from his imprisonment.

Stephen King has taken the classic fairy tale and transformed it into a masterpiece of fiction for the ages.

©1987 Stephen King (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Memorable, suspenseful, brimming with action." ( Chicago Sun-Times)

"King has done a masterful job - beautifully told and beautifully illustrated." ( The Cincinnati Post)

"Compelling - his most powerful storytelling." ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Nice change of pace as I read all things dark tower

I'm currently reading through the dark tower series, including some of the books that tie into it. Before this I had just read:

Salems lot
The gunslinger
The drawing of the three
The stand

I've liked each book so far, but this one was very different from the others. The book is told as a bit of a fairy tale, with the narrator stopping to comment on the story, teasing what will happen next and asking you to stop and think about how you would feel if you found yourself in the story.

I very much enjoyed the narration, and while the story was simple, it was a short and pleasant change of pace.

While the book does tie in strongly with a character found in other king books, you don't need to have read anything else before this one.

If you're like me and still early on your journey through all things dark tower, I think you'll look back on this one as a nice little side vacation.

A Great Place to Start

If you haven't read Stephen King and you've been meaning to start, this would be an excellent book for you. It's also appropriate for younger readers. Featuring a villain familiar to anyone who's seen or read The Stand, or The Dark Tower series, this story stands alone and is a favorite of many of King's constant readers. Fans of Ronnie James Dio, and Game of Thrones should enjoy this.

King pulls a Tolkien

Eyes of the Dragon is Steven King's first departure from Horror into the realm of Epic Fantasy. It is different from King's standard fair and I admit I only picked this up because the book's principal antagonist, Randal Flagg, later reappears in King's Dark Tower series. That said, I was very impressed with what I found here. Eyes of the Dragon is fantastic and stands as a great novel all on its own.

Also, Bronson Pinchot's narration is absolutely terrific. The echo he uses when voicing the dark wizard Flagg is particularly bone chilling. Highly recommended!

Wow

I don't believe I've ever before heard a narrator so good that I could, as they say, listen to him read the phone book. That it's Bronson Pinchot, who I've known for his many well-remembered silly-voiced characters is amazing. I'm going to go and look for more that he's done.

What a performance!!!

I have listened to dozens and dozens of audiobooks in my life, but I have to say Bronson Pinchot’s performance on this book was just incredible and was very possibly the best I’ve ever heard. Plus the story is great. Having read most of King’s books, this one is easily one of my favorites. All around, great. Very different from King’s typical horror realm. I really enjoyed his take on a fantasy story. You should definitely give it a try!

An uninspired performance

One of favorite stories of all of King's tales.
The narrator is wooden, inconsistent, and, as noted, uninspired. Flagg is poorly presented with such a low, slow voice there are times it is inaudible.
Still a great tale, I just wish the teller was better able to deliver it.

Fun story, tough narration to listen to

I read this book to catch up on books that relate to the Dark Tower series. I have now read quite a bit of Stephen King, and this was totally different than any I've read to date. He dedicates this to his daughter, and the book reads like a story that he's writing for a young child. It's very well written and a very fun story, especially if you enjoy Medieval Time stories.

The story gives a very good description of Randall Flagg, even better than The Stand, in my opinion. It definitely makes sense why this is a story to read before the DT series, and it's pretty short, so I would recommend.

The worst part about this audiobook was the narrator. This is only the 2nd audiobook that I've really disliked the narrator, and I don't remember for certain the other. His voice for Flagg is horrendous and for some reason all the drunks and poor people have Irish accents.

Fantastic

Mr. Pinchot did a wonderful job telling the story. Stephen King never disappoints. It was a wonderful read!

Great story but terrible reader

The story is great. Not your typical Stephen King novel, more of a "child like" book. I've read it probably 5 times since my childhood and have always enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the speaker is terrible. Half the time it sounds like a computer is speaking. You can hardly hear the poor imitation of Flagg when he speaks.

Bronson Pinchot is amazing!

At several points, I had to remind myself that it was only Bronson. It has the feel of a full cast recording, great work.

Occasionally, the audio clips off half a word at the end of a chapter.