Hodder & Stoughton Fairy Tale: The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller

In October, I only read one book, and that's Stephen King's "Fairy Tale." 600 pages divided into 32 chapters and an epilogue, each chapter with a beautifully detailed drawing by Gabriel Rodríguez and Nicolas Delort alternately, and each chapter title is a summary of some of the things you will encounter in it. This is Stephen King at his best. "Fairy Tale" starts as an everyday story, a modern novel. A teenage boy helps an old man who has fallen from a ladder. He takes care of his dog, does some chores around the house, helps with rehabilitation... But it wouldn't be a typical Stephen King story if nothing out of the ordinary happened. That's why I didn't like his last book, "Billy Summers," that much. The extraordinary was not there. Charlie Reade, the teenage boy, is the one who tells the story in later life. So we see everything from his perspective. He takes us on a journey through a fairytale world filled with things familiar to us but just a little bit different. This world reminded me of Mid-World from the "Dark Tower" books all the time; there are some similarities, but King himself regularly makes it clear that it is a different world after all. Sometimes King explains a little too much. He does not let us make the connections ourselves with the fairy tales from our youth, but always wants to make the comparisons clear himself, as if he is afraid that we will not understand his intention. Another trait of King is that he often repeats certain words in his books to show how the locals pronounce them, how their dialect uses different sounds to make the word sound different; he does it again here, but a variation of it. But these negatives don't take away from what a fantastic adventure story this is, with quite a bit of fantasy mixed in, and a little bit of horror. I really enjoyed it and made me want to re-read some of King's books; as if my reading pile wasn't big enough already...

Stephen King has had a bit of a late career revival with The Institute, The Outsider, Billy Summers, and Fairy Tale (the less said about Sleeping Beauties, the better — I rank that below Dreamcatcher, if that gives you any idea of how disappointed I was in what was at the least an interesting concept). But I'm going to go out on a limb and say Fairy Tale is King's best novel in ages — and if you enjoyed The Talisman, this shares a lot with it, at least in spirit. While there are some horror elements, Fairy Tale is more of a fantasy story, and I can honestly see a decent move adaptation coming along some day if it falls into the right hands. It's definitely a page turner and probably good for older kids (I was reading King in elementary school, YMMV). If you don't like / come to love Charlie and Radar, I don't know what that says about you.

King is not known for brevity, but this feels a bit too slow. It takes halh a book to get to the essence. Not bad, but not a masterpiece either.

The cover is perfect and the book is intact! I love this version because the writing is easy to read compared to other editions and every chapter has a small picture. Amazing!

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.