Fairy Tale: the number one bestseller from the ultimate storyteller

I recently read Stephen King's latest book "Fairy Tale" and I have to say that it was an absolute masterpiece. From the very first page, King has you hooked with his evocative descriptions and vivid imagery, transporting you into a world that feels both familiar and fantastical.What I loved most about this book was its characters. Each one was so unique and well-developed, with their own distinct personality and backstory. King has a way of crafting characters that feel so real, you almost forget they're not actually people you know. I found myself rooting for them, feeling their pain and celebrating their victories.The plot of "Fairy Tale" was equally impressive. I won't give away any spoilers, but suffice it to say that King knows how to keep his readers on the edge of their seats. The twists and turns in this book were unexpected, yet made perfect sense in hindsight. And the ending? Let's just say that it left me thinking about it for days afterwards.Finally, I have to mention King's writing style. It's unmatched. His command of the English language is incredible, with beautifully crafted sentences that flow seamlessly from one to the next. Reading King's prose is like savoring a fine meal or listening to a masterful musician – you can't help but be in awe of his talent.Overall, I absolutely loved "Fairy Tale" and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good suspenseful story with complex characters. It's easily one of the best books I've read this year, and I can't wait to see what King has in store for us next. Five stars all the way.

SK is in his 75th year, and I wonder how many more books he has left in him — hopefully many more, based on this latest offering. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been reading a lot of challenging books recently but it was just a joy to sink into this novel. The author is quoted as saying he looked to write a novel that would make him happy. Well, this one certainly helped me escape every time I dipped into it. There’s just something about his style that draws you in. He could write a story about the joys of accountancy and still make it interesting.The tale itself revisits certain character types and themes seen in many of SK’s previous books: a young boy who is somehow special but has flaws; an old man who needs some kind of care (qv SK’s recent novelette, Mr Harrigan’s Phone) and a portal to another world. Yet somehow, SK seems to provide fresh perspectives on these tropes. I would say the novel is in two parts — the earthly part and the fantastical part. Part 1 sees the hero, Charlie, having to deal with his mother’s death and the father’s subsequent descent into alcoholism. The boy having to cope with this, and make a ‘deal with God,’ provides the motivation for him helping the grumpy Mr Bowditch who lives at an old house further up the street. The old Man falls and breaks his leg, so Charlie comes to the rescue of both him, and his aging dog, Radar. As Charlie helps the old man recover, they begin to trust each other, and Bowditch lets him in on the secret of the shed in his back garden. This, it turns out, is the aforementioned portal.Due to a number of circumstances, which I won’t spoil here, Charlie ventures into the world beyond the deep portal in Bowditch’s shed and encounters the Fairy Tale world of Empis. This requires a shift in belief-acceptance for the reader, but King leads us in gently through his masterful use of the ‘diary’ first person narrative of Charlie. From here on in it’s into full-on fantasy mode where SK weaves together many Grimm-based elements, together with a Lovecraftian horror in the form of ‘Gogmagog’. There are multiple villains, friends and allies to meet, and this second part makes up the bulk of the book.Some criticise King from a plotting point of view, but for someone who has no idea how a book will ends when he starts it, this accomplishment is all the more amazing, to my mind. Unlike earlier books, the gore-horror elements are downplayed in favour of the characters and suspense coming to the fore.If you’re already a King fan, you won’t be disappointed by ‘Fairy Tale.’ If this is your introduction, it gives a perfect example of where this storyteller is at as he approaches the twilight of his career.

The first half of this book I enjoyed a lot and I actually expected to enjoy the second half more but didn't.Stephen King spends a long time building up the characters at the start of the book and you start to really connect with them and it gets quite emotional at times, whilst also in the background leading up to the main plot point of the book.Once we arrive at that point I actually found it hard to get through because you lose a lot of that emotional depth and its replaced by action and adventure.To top it off, often times Stephen King does too much when narrating the main characters thoughts or describing what we are meant to visualise.tldr: Interesting book with a great premise that lost me in the second half a bit.

The imagination of this man knows no bounds. A fabulous modern fairy tale, throughly enjoyed....don't know how I missed this one.Stephen really is the King !!!

There’s no such thing, for me at least, as a Stephen King story that’s too long. He is a master of form, and whether it’s a short story, a novella or an epic novel, the story suits the length.For the first third of the book, the story is quite straightforward. A boy fulfilling a promise to a god he only partially believes in helps an old man and his dog. Seventeen-year-old Charlie Reade is no saint, he makes that clear from the beginning. He has done things he is not proud of, cruel things he tried to justify as pranks, but which he knows hurt and distressed people. That they came from the anger of a boy whose mother died suddenly and violently and whose father drowned his grief in a bottle, only serve to make Charlie the kind of balanced and realistic main character who is a feature of King novels.As the old man’s secrets are revealed a new world opens for Charlie, and he has the opportunity to become the kind of hero fairy tales talk about. But, being a King fairy tale he maintains doubts, is driven by revenge as often as justice, and maintains a believable character.The story reminds me a little of The Black House and its sequel (the duology King wrote with Peter Straub), and a little of The Eyes of the Dragon (a more purist fantasy outing from King). I loved all of these, so am not surprised that King handles the fantasy elements of the other world in Fairy Tale so well. Indeed for someone most often described as a horror writer there are probably more fantasy elements to his novels overall than any other genre. But, one of the things I most love about Stephen King novels is that the genre is irrelevant - it's the combination of great storytelling with engaging characters that brings me back to his worlds time and time again.

Once upon a time there was a great horror writer who wrote groundbreaking books that everyone read, pushing the boundaries of horror. Then he wrote The Tommyknockers and the killer vending machine marked the beginning of the end for this writer. Its unfair to say that King hasn't written a good book since but let's be honest, there is often more quantity than quality and its pretty well known that there's been some patchy endings to even his better books. So I started this one with trepidation... and was pleasantly surprised. Here was the King of old- likeable characters, good back stories, mysterious elements, pacy writing. I was all prepared to write a five star review celebrating a return to form. Yes, the description of the house is a bit like Salem's Lot and parts of it are similar to The Body but who cares- both of these books are King at his finest.And then Charlie, the lead character, goes into the fantasy world. I'll lay my cards on the table and say I struggle with fantasy but King kept me interested by referencing fairy tales and stories from popular culture. It becomes a bit like 'spot the reference'. Is King trying to be clever? There' s a lot of links to CS Lewis, The Wizard of Oz, Brothers Grimm etc which is quite entertaining. Then I looked at the writing and the story. At this point, about a third of the way in, you'll notice the writing change. There's a lot more 'I did this...' and 'I did that...' type sentences flattening the paragraphs and telling us what is happening rather than showing us. This is combined with pages of endless talk with characters Charlie meets along the road he is travelling, most of whom are quite annoying, particularly the one who always speaks in capital letters. The story becomes a rather boring quest novel at this point which, in typical King style, is resolved 200 pages before the end. But it goes on... and on... and becomes a book that you can read the first sentence of each paragraph and not lose a sense of the story.So by all means, read this book and revel in a return to form for Stephen King, but put the book down at around the 200 page mark. You won't miss much after that and you'll know what happens to the dog, because all fairy tales have a happy ending.

Stephen King’s Fairy Tale is definitely different from his usual style, but it’s an amazing read that pulled me in from the very start. Charlie is such a compelling character, his difficult life shapes him, but through his journey, he learns powerful lessons about love, loyalty, and sacrifice.Radar, his beloved dog, absolutely stole my heart. I would have done the same for my own furbaby in a heartbeat, and the bond between Charlie and Radar is one of the most touching parts of the story. There were moments that broke me, and I cried when Radar was suffering, but those scenes made the story even more powerful and real.What truly stood out was Charlie’s dedication, not just to Radar, but to honoring his promise and helping the people of “the other” world. Watching him grow into someone brave and selfless was heartwarming and inspiring.This book is filled with both heartbreak and hope, and while it’s a departure from King’s usual horror, it shows just how versatile and masterful a storyteller he is. A truly wonderful read.

King is writing some cracking novels in the latter part of his career. It’s like he’s got a second wind in the last couple of decades and Fairytale is a great(and unique)addition to the hits.The story of a teenage boy who saves an old man’s life after hearing his dog barking, he visits him in hospital and ends up caring for him when he gets home.At the end of his garden is a shed with a big secret. A portal to another world. A fairytale world that is more brothers Grimm than Walt Disney. A world where Charlie(our teenage hero) goes on an adventure with the dog that drew him to the old man.I really loved this for the most part. It takes its time in the beginning, the actual fairytale element not taking place until maybe a quarter or a third of a way through the book. That was a plus in my book. I really enjoyed the whole relationship between Charlie, Mr Bowditch(the old man) and Radar the dog. It’s a mini book in itself and a great read.When we get into the magical world, there is plenty of magic but even more darkness and some pretty extreme violence.The creative ways that King manages to reference actual fairytales and their characters in this other world are great fun and very impressive.Although a kind of straight forward good against evil story, this is anything but. There’s some really dark passages and some impressively bizarre ideas and characters.As with a lot of King books it’s a little too long. Only just mind. It’s a minor niggle in what is a hugely enjoyable and totally engrossing tale.

J'ai vraiment apprécié ce "conte de fées" à la sauce King, qui évoque un peu par moment l'univers de The Dark Tower.N'hésitez pas à vous y plonger !

He leído la versión en inglés para Kindle, buen libro del maestro del terror. El principio algo lento, pero la historia recobra fuerza y vale la pena.

The master storyteller does it again! This book had me hooked from the word go. It's different, it's quirky, it's got those heartstopping moments when you know the good guys will somewhat win but you don't know how. For no one really wins, do they? And theres nothing called a "happily ever after"!

"I'd like to tell you I came back to my better self at the very end. To say I felt regret. It wouldn't be true. There's a dark well in everyone, I think, and it never goes dry. But you drink from it at your peril. That water is poison."Charlie is a regular seventeen year old kid. Only Charlie has lived his life mostly looking after himself. After the tragic death of his mother, Charlie's father was driven to drink, barely able to look after himself, let alone a child. A chance meeting with Mr Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill, changes the course of Charlies life forever. After receiving a major inheritance, all of which included a creepy shed down in the back of the yard, Charlie sets out to save a life.In true King fashion, the story is a very slow build, crafting every single moment so you don't miss even the tiniest detail. The story is created based on the old Grimm's Fairy Tales, spun in a new light and modernized to fit with more recent times. The characters and their relationships are put together so beautifully, they draw you in and make you feel for every single one. Not one character feels insignificant. The stunning world building had me lost in a daydream, just imagining the spaces. The read will leave you happy and sad, nervous and excited, I wove through a multitude of emotions on each chapter.This is quite different from most of King's previous works, it is a work of fairy tale art as opposed to strictly horror style novels. There are some quite graphic scenes though, so younger readers may need to be aware of those.

This is my first contact with the author, and I came with high expectations that were not let down. This is a great book, very well-written, with great characters, an interesting plot, amazing worldbuilding, and, as expected, a fantastic fairy tale.Charlie, as a child, lost his mother in a tragic accident, and his father was lost in grief and turned to drinking for many years. It wasn't until Charlie made a promise that he would do anything for his father's recovery that things started to improve. A few years later, he responded to his mysterious neighbor's dog barking for help and...It's a great book; the fantasy and fairy tale vibes are totally there! Following Charlie's journey was amazing and totally immersive. I was expecting something darker and more towards horror; it's not a dark fantasy, but it's far from one seen through rose-colored glasses. I totally recommend this book.