Fairy Tale
the number one bestseller from the ultimate storyteller
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4.4 • 297 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
From legendary storyteller Stephen King: WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student.
But when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. When Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe - inside the shed is a portal to another world.
Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for their world or ours.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
At its heart, Fairy Tale is a simple story about a boy, his dog, and the lengths we will go to for love, filtered through Stephen King’s mastery of the horror genre and flair for epic world building. The novel begins with a life-shattering event for a young Charlie Reade and his father, the impact of which resonates through the rest of the narrative, leading up to another pivotal moment for Charlie, when he comes to the rescue of his elderly, irritable neighbour, Mr Bowmditch. Stretching out an itching feeling of foreboding in the front half of the book before plunging into a fantastical tale of high-stakes heroism, King’s rich universe of distinctive characters draws parallels and references with, and from, many of the enduring fables familiar from childhood. A well-paced, thoroughly absorbing read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller King (Billy Summers) underwhelms in an overlong fantasy most likely to appeal to his YA fans. In 2003, seven-year-old Charlie Reade's mother dies in an accident, sending his father into an alcoholic tailspin. Ten years later, a chance event changes Charlie's life dramatically; while passing by a neighbor's home, he hears frantic barking, and a feeble cry for help. He discovers elderly Howard Bowditch badly injured from a fall and calls 911, earning him Bowditch's gratitude and a reputation as a hero. Charlie becomes the caretaker for both the dog, Radar, whom he grows to love, and Bowditch, who gradually reveals his secrets, including the source of the gold pellets he keeps in his safe: the mysterious shed on his property contains a portal to another world, one teeming with evil that wants to escape. Once the action shifts there, the plot becomes derivative, retreading standard portal fantasy tropes and the familiar struggle between good and evil. Illustrations at the start of each chapter, headed with descriptions of what they include, further convey a juvenile feel. This attempt at creating a sense of wonder and magic falls short.
Customer Reviews
It’s like coming home…
…I took a King break for a bit. Due to reading just on my phone for a few years now, it was cheaper and, well, I just needed to widen my literary horizon. After reading just a few sentences I felt like I’m home. The story might not be the best executed and the overuse of big words was a bit much (English is my second language and I learned a lot of new words that I can’t even pronounce) and in recent years most of the stories just seem a bit rushed, like it’s a strong start but then it’s like he lost his idea but the style and the tone throughout every single story to me is like a camp fire…it’s warming and mesmerising.
A different King
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, could not put it down, a different, longer and happier Stephen King than I am used to, an intricate web of stories.
I love it
I’ve read a lot of Stephen King books over the years and can confidently say he is one of my very favourite authors. Fairytale didn’t feel like a Stephen King book to me at first but I love the story and am so glad he wrote it. By the end I knew it was him. It didn’t end the way I would have liked but that’s why I love his books.