The Eyes of the Dragon is a King book you rarely hear mentioned, and yet - in terms of pacing and execution - it's probably one of the author's best (and thus underrated) works. For anyone who has missed out on what this great novel has to offer, it's a fantasy tale in the vein of King's Dark Tower series and a great gateway novel into that particular world (it features many characters and connections to the novelist's magnus opus, most notably in its use of the brilliant and maniacal Randall Flagg as a villain). The book, which has a young adult-ish vibe to it and yet remains cleverly meta, concerns a Prince who is framed for murder. Notably, King had a hard time getting The Eyes of the Dragon published because it wasn't a straight horror novel (he wrote Misery in response to being pigeon-holed). In retrospect, though, this one feels special - noticeably King in a lot of ways, yes, but somehow different. Embracing the feel of a "classic" work, even.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
