Peter must hatch a perfectly fairytale-esque plan to escape, clear his name, and attempt to banish the evil Flagg from the kingdom once and for all.Įven casual King fans may spot a couple of references right off the bat, one substantially more significant than the other. When Peter's mother, the Queen Sasha, becomes pregnant with another child, Flagg sets his nefarious plan in motion he orchestrates the Queen's murder during the birth of Peter's brother Thomas, and then - in a plot which takes over a decade to come to fruition - frames Peter for the murder of King Roland, sending him to be imprisoned in a tower known as the Needle.Īs a result, 12-year old Thomas becomes the new King, and in his inexperience he grants Flagg near-total power over the kingdom. His son, Prince Peter, is in line for the throne - but Peter, being noble and pure of heart, is secretly opposed by the King's magician, the sinister Flagg. The story takes place within the kingdom of Delain, which is ruled over by the benevolent King Roland.

It's a classic fantasy yarn involving a murdered King, an evil magician, and a deposed prince who must escape a terrible fate to reclaim his rightful place on the throne - and it has a few significant connections to King's magnum opus The Dark Tower and his horror masterpiece The Stand. The Eyes of the Dragon was the result of an effort by King to write something which his young children could read, and while some of his more hardcore fans were turned off by the book, critics at the time praised it as one of his best efforts.

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King