| Title | : | Fairy Tale |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1668002175 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781668002179 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 600 |
| Publication | : | First published September 6, 2022 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Fantasy (2022) |
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the 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.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.
Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.
A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.
Fairy Tale Reviews
-
2 stars for a Stephen King book. Yeah, I know. This lackluster rating certainly hurts me more than it hurts King. Death, taxes and King’s storytelling skills are what are supposed to be life’s certainties, right?
But — I knew I was in trouble when at 82% I was sure that I could put this book down and not care at all what happens in the end - even though I quite liked the first 1/3 of the story. And it’s not because this book is terrible - although King wrote a few real stinkers throughout his long prolific career, this isn’t quite one of them. It’s just that it left me not even as much bored as quite indifferent, and that’s a cardinal sin for a book.“Stories. An endless number of stories that pour into the funnel and come out in our world, barely changed.”
It feels like two books tacked together. The one I liked: a slice-of-life story about a teen boy who befriends a dying old man and his dog and sacrifices his last year of high school to become a caretaker. And the one that did not click with me: a story of a bland teen boy inheriting a passage to a version of fairyland where evil has taken a firm hold. The magic here fizzles out the moment magic world takes center stage.
Conclusion: If you want to read a Stephen King book about a boy in a twisted version of Fairyland, read
The Talisman instead.“In some ways those were good months. I felt useful, needed. I liked myself better than I had in a long time. Only the end was terrible.”
If you are new to King, don’t start here. King’s forte is his supernaturally good storytelling skills and a great ear for dialogue, as well as his uncanny ability to take the most mundane things and make them both magical and unsettling. But what we get here instead is an adequate serviceable story that never rises above just that: a promising intro that leads into a fairly generic dark fantasy adventure of the Chosen One - Emerald City, commoners worshipping royalty, a lovely princess, undead henchmen and a Lovecraftian Big Baddie anticlimactically defeated. And no, it doesn’t turn into something better in the end. It does exactly what it says on a tin: it gives you a fairytale adventure, and not a shred more, and then just fizzles out. A lot of buildup and foreshadowing that led exactly nowhere, with no payoff and little below the surface. And the overall feel is that of a Young Adult novel that’s trying to be edgy.
(Maybe I shouldn’t have been reading this in parallel with what I consider King’s best - the still amazing after a gagillion rereads
It).
It seems that King’s hook for readers this time is an adorable old dog. If you are a pet person, the one who’d seriously consider risking their life for the sake of a pet, he’s got your attention for a good chunk of this story. But, well, maybe the issue is that I’m more of a pet rock person, and that I need more than a lovely old dog to make me care.“Sure,’ Bertie said. ‘Monster dog. Like Cujo in that movie. Riii-ight.”
From a different author it would have been a decent effort, although still nothing special. But I know what King can do with books, and this makes Fairy Tale even more lackluster than it would have been had I been a newcomer to his ouvre. That’s one of the few times when those 600 pages actually felt much too long.
2 stars. I’m still King’s Constant Reader and devoted fan, but this mediocre book is easily forgettable.
——————
Also posted on
my blog. -
2 1/2 stars. This was... fine.
Whenever I review a new King book, I get asked by some people whether this would be a good place to start for newcomers to King. It's usually a difficult question, but here I can answer easily: no.
Fairy Tale isn't bad, but it's far from his best. I'd recommend pretty much any of his novels released in the last few years over this one (
The Outsider,
The Institute,
Sleeping Beauties,
Billy Summers, for example.)
Typical of King, this one is long and it starts with a slow build. I don't mind that so much as long as it's building to something worthwhile. King introduces us to Charlie Reade whose mother is dead and whose father coped with her death with a bottle of gin. Charlie sends up a prayer, hoping for an end to the nightmare he is living and, to his surprise, it seems his prayer is answered. In an effort to pay it back, Charlie ends up becoming a caretaker for an old man and his dog, Howard Bowditch and Radar.
But Howard Bowditch is an old man with some dark secrets, as Charlie will eventually find out.
This takes up approx. the first third of the book. There are hints of the supernatural in the background (such as scratching noises in a locked shed) but it's a long time before we even begin to get answers.
There's a lot of book here for what I found to be very little payoff. When the truth comes to light, Charlie ends up on his own little fantasy adventure story, which is... pretty much like any fantasy adventure ever, complete with giants, undead soldiers, a king, and a Big Bad. Nothing that happens comes as a surprise.
I kept thinking that it was all going to tie together into something more clever at the end, have a bigger meaning, be a metaphor for something, but it more or less just petered out. In the end, I actually think the slow beginning was the best part of the story.
I am rounding up for some light entertainment, King's trademark characterization, and a fabulous dog, but I'm still inclined to say this one is skippable. -
BEST BOOK OF 2022!!!
ALL THE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!
SURE TO BE A MODERN CLASSIC!!!
I'm in love with this story. It's that simple. Charlie and Radar will live forever in my heart. I finished the last sentence and just cried.
It filled me with so many emotions, but enough for now. I need to process this. There's a lot to unpack. That Epilogue, oh my goodness.
I can't wait to reread this someday!
Original:
STOP EVERYTHING AND COMMENCE FREAKING OUT!!
Constant Readers, it's hereeeeeeee!!
It's really happening. A new King and it sounds like a PORTAL FANTASY!!!!
Let's gooooooo! -
..."a recluse with a big dog in a big house..."
Great, just great. At this point I'll say I don't give an eff about Charlie & his Dad, but the dog better survive the novel.
---------------
09/10/22
And now for an actual review. Oof. Where to begin?
I feel this is going to be more of an expulsion of emotions I went through while reading Fairy Tale than a standard review. But before I start…
tl;dr – Major Spoiler Alert:
And there's also some spoilery stuff below.
There’s no question I cried more reading this than any other piece of work from King. The scenes involving Radar’s declining health were devastating. Some background: My wife & I were gifted as a wedding present a couple of dachshunds from the same litter. (They’re in one of my profile pictures.) They became part of the family when they were around six weeks old. The boy left us aged about 13-1/2 in early 2020 after spending the last week of his life in an animal hospital. He had an enlarged gall bladder, which was removed, but he stopped eating just before the surgery and then during his recovery. And this was a dog that ate anything: drywall, ant bait, refrigerator magnets, sides of kitchen cabinets, Christmas ornaments – there were quite a few trips to the vet for the little dummy. Anyway, blood tests showed there were much worse problems for him, he was losing weight, was being fed by a nasogastric tube… he wasn’t his usual self and was obviously in pain. So we said goodbye.
His sister we said goodbye to late last year when she was 15. She had Cushing’s disease and over the previous year had started losing some control over her back legs, so she was occasionally having trouble walking. Mostly she was her feisty self. Then she got really picking about eating and we scrambled to find food she would eat. We kept her weight up, but then we hit a period where she was having “bathroom” issues (I’ll skip the details), and on top of that she quit eating altogether. The vet recommended some various medications that MIGHT get her to eating again but after struggling with her to try and get the meds down we decided we needed to spare her that stress/pain and we said goodbye just before Christmas.
So let’s just say the story of Charlie Reade meeting Howard Bowditch and his elderly German shepherd Radar, with her having trouble walking and slowly losing her appetite… that ticked some boxes. And not ones with pleasant memories. I’m trying to think of the various King novels/stories I’ve read in the last (almost) 40 years since I was introduced to King by my mother when I was in my early teens where I’ve gotten weepy: IT, The Stand, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Billy Summers, the Bill Hodges trilogy, Joyland, Bag of Bones… I’ll stop with those coming from off the top of my head. Oh, and let’s not forget Radar losing interest in playing with her monkey. Ugh. That was our little girl with her rubber “ball” that had squared-off edges and would bounce all over the place. The last couple of months of her life she’d walk over to it when we’d throw it, nose it a bit, look at us, and then go sit down.
Foreshadowing. Sheesh, King has done this Cthulhu knows how many times over the years, but it gets me every time. I can’t pull any other specific examples from my brain because there’s still too much ‘80s Heavy Metal crammed in there taking up space. Mr. Bowditch… sorry, Howard – arrives back home after his surgery and Charlies says about that period: “In some ways those were good months. I felt useful, needed. I liked myself better than I had in a long time. Only the end was terrible.” Yep, I ‘m reading a Stephen King novel.
George Reade – “It’s hard when a good dog gets old. And when they get to the end of it…” He shook his head. “It tears your heart out.” Yes, George it does. And like Charlie, I would have absolutely gone down a creepy hole into the depths of the earth to a warped Grimm fairy tale version of Narnia if it would have given me a chance to save our dogs.
I really liked how, at least to me, it seems King was implying that the land of Empis had bled over into our world for years and years to give us our fairy tales. Christopher Polley/Peterkin as a Rumpelstiltskin kind of character being one of the main crossovers. I grinned when Charlie confused Princess Leah with Princess Leia; makes sense, after all isn’t Star Wars, more or less, one of our modern fairy tales? I also felt Fairy Tale had parallels with King’s other works. Charlie’s story had the feel of Jake Chambers/The Dark Tower and Jack Sawyer/The Talisman & Black House; who knows – maybe there’s way to Gilead if one starts in Empis. And I was definitely getting Flagg-in-Delain and Randall Flagg-in-Vegas-vibes from Lord High Kellin.
After Howard died and Charlie decided he had to at least try to save Radar by going to Empis, I was getting more and more tense by the minute once he reached Lilimar as I was silently urging him onward towards the sundial. Then later after Charlie & the others had escaped from Deep Maleen and Radar decided to accompany him, Leah, Eye, Jaya & Eris to try and stop the Flight Killer I got all nervous again. I’m not sure I’ve ever plowed through the remainder of a book faster to make sure Radar survived the final confrontation with Elden/Flight Killer. And speaking of…
King helped introduce me to H.P. Lovecraft in my early teens, so I loved the Lovecraftian vibes of the other world a “step down” from Empis where their version of Cthulhu was revealed to be Elden - at least as surmised by Charlie - and he wanted to cavort with something even worse named Gogmagog. As Elden was summoning Gogmagog under a night sky full of alien stars while Bella and Arabella were colliding, I couldn’t help but think of both “The Null” from King’s Revival as well as, to a lesser degree, Altair-4 as mentioned in The Tommyknockers.
One final random thought… to go with the absolute shit-ton of random thoughts that have comprised this “review”: As Leah was leaving Charlie’s bedside during his recovery he thought of a haiku he studied in an English class:
“Where there’s love,
Scars are as pretty as dimples.
I love you, Leah.”
And I then I thought of Ben Hanscom thinking of Beverly Marsh:
“Your hair is winter fire,
January embers,
My heart burns there too.” 😊
It’s still very fresh in my mind – duh – so who knows where it will end up as times passes, but my immediate thought is that Fairy Tale is one of the best Stephen King novels I’ve read. I don’t think anything will ever top IT, which I’ve gone back to reread at least 10-15 times over the years, but it is definitely up there.
Charlie Reade – “My good dog, my brave dog.” -
“Fairy Tale” by Stephen King was such a delight to read, it’s something you just need to sit back, relax, and enjoy slowly in stride. I loved how as always with King, he brings you back to a time when you were a kid and had to deal with all the usual things kids dealt with. Relationships, sports, family, friends, doing stupid things, and just trying to make sense of it all.
I absolutely loved all the characters King created in this novel. Charlie, Mr. Bowditch, Leah, and even the fantasy characters were all fantastic. Now, for me personally, when it comes to Radar, I became a dog owner for the first time in my life back in 2021 as she really connected with me. I have a cockapoo by the name of Ozzy Skywalker and reading about Radar really hit home for me in so many ways.
All the interactions, situations, events, and descriptions were exactly that of a dog and how a dog owner would react. I can imagine if you’re also a dog owner, you will feel the same way as you connect immediately with the dynamic duo of Charlie and Radar and the adventures that await them.
Don’t worry, I will not ruin anything for you but this novel is simply amazing. The way King blurred reality into fantasy completely blew me away. Even all the scary and horror situations were perfect that led to an awesome fairy tale story that was unique and just so good. The atmosphere, world-building, character development, and the pure creepiness of everything King built just really resonated well with me. Once I got to the 80% mark, it was incredibly hard to put this down to see what would ultimately transpire.
Also, the illustrations for each chapter brought me back to my childhood as I remembered reading a lot of horror and mystery novels that did this. I have no idea who created these graphics for King in every chapter but they were great and captured the essence of each one. As I read, I’d often head back to see the image just to give me that visual as it happened. Just really well done!
When it comes to the ending, it really delivered after such a climactic buildup. I had no idea what would transpire but when it did, my goodness, it was wonderful and wrapped up an unforgettable novel. It was simply a perfect way to end things that left me beyond satisfied.
I give “Fairy Tale” a perfect 5/5 and so far in 2022 at the time of this review, is the best novel I’ve read. King published this novel in September which is his birthday month. Considering he just turned 75 years young and wrote yet another impactful novel, truly made this year a great one for Constant Readers all across the globe. I highly recommend this novel to anyone that loves King, fantasy, horror, and wants to see what happens when both worlds ultimately collide. -
A 600+ STEPHEN KING FANTASY BOOK TAKE ALL MY MONEY AHHHHHHH
-
This was everything I hoped for plus some!
This is the story of Charlie Reade, having lost his mother and then, temporarily, lost his father to alcoholism.
That's all I'm saying about the plot. Instead, I will provide you some disjointed words and phrases and some of my observations.
Fairy Tale is the perfect title, because those tales play a big part in the story. Gog-Magog.
Monarch butterflies. Grey death. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Remember the carousel? "There are other worlds than these." Radar, the name of a very good girl. (DOG.)
There are many easter eggs here for King fans and they were fun. As for what other King books this reminds me of, one stands tall: The Talisman. I could make many comparisons between Charlie and Jack, but in the end, they are two completely different boys and two completely different tales.
I just adored this book. I slowed down my listening near the end just because I didn't want it to be over. That's really saying something when the audio is 24 hours long.
In my humble opinion, (and I say this without having yet read Billy Summers or Sleeping Beauties), I think FAIRY TALE stands right up there with King's best. It's, perhaps, King's best work in years.
ALL THE DAMN STARS! -
steve, babes, what is this
-
It's not easy wading through the reviews of a Stephen King book. There are those fanatical readers who either love or hate his work. There are many who give his books 5 star ratings before they even read his books, thinking that he could poop on the page and it would still be brilliant. You also have the haters who think he hasn't written a good book in 25 years who read his stuff just waiting to point out why it's not as good as his early stuff.
Me? King is hit or miss for me. I've really enjoyed some of his books and others I find almost unreadable. That said, based on the description of Fairy Tale, I came into this book with high hopes and high expectations.
Unfortunately, I found a lot to complain about in this one, much more than I found to celebrate. King makes the same mistake I'm seeing with a lot of authors right now in that he tries to give voice to a first-person narrator who is clearly beyond King's understanding. The worst part is that King knows it and tries to make excuses throughout the entirety of this book.
The narrator of this book is a 17-year old boy who might be the most anachronistic high-school kid I've ever read. King goes into this one knowing that he doesn't have the knowledge of what it's like to be a 17-year-old kid in today's world, so writes him as if he's more of a 45 year old man. When Charlie, the protagonist, references sports heroes, it's Mike Tyson and Shaquille O'Neal he mentions (because his father made him watch YouTube videos of them). When he encounters a skeleton-monster, he relates him to the Skeletor action figure he used to have when he was a kid, despite the fact that He-Man wasn't popular during his supposed childhood hears.
Charlies quotes all kinds of movies. Most of them are in black and white (explained as more quality time spent with his dad watching TMC-Turner Movie Classics Channel). It goes on and on. If you take a drink every time TMC is mentioned, you'l wind up too sauced to keep reading. Charlie has that nostalgic coming of age character that King writes so well, so often, but you could drop him into a book King wrote 20 years ago and he wouldn't have seen out of place. King does nothing to make him a modern day teen. I could be wrong, but I don't think Charlie sends or receives a single text message in this book--only emails.
There are some other glaring problems with this book. The first 160 pages are like a really long prologue. Almost a third of this book is gone before we get to anything that has to do with a fairy tale. Before that is the story of a boy who meets an old man and his dog and for reasons that are explained, but feel like a stretch, the boy gives up his senior year of high school, quitting the two sports he plays, to take care of a grumpy old man who gets hurt and can't take care of himself. The WHY is explained, but it never feels authentic. It never feels authentic to a kid of the age he supposedly is in the time of the world he lives in. King gives his reasons but they feel more like excuses.
There's also some problems with the Babelfish issue. After a long, grinding preamble, Charlie finally goes down the rabbit hole and passes through a barrier that makes his head fuzzy for a moment and somehow allows him to speak the language of the place on the other side. He's realizes that he's speaking another language and is unable to say things that there is no translation for such as "awesome sauce," which I believe King thinks is authentic 17-year-old speech. King goes on to show many instances of this solution to the babel fish problem. He repeats it over and over again, almost unnecessarily so. Then he stops. It's toward the end of the book and all of the sudden, he's saying words that people from Other don't understand. That he can say them is against the rules King has built for his world. Twice in short succession he says things that his friends from Other don't understand and ask him what it means. As much as this might seem like a minor thing, it's indicative of the laziness that this book was written with and is something an editor surely should have caught.
King's pace is usually slow and this one is no different. I knew that going in but it was an easy book to put down and one that didn't have me excited to pick it back up again. That said, fans of King will like his folksy storytelling and the vivid pictures he creates with his writing that slows the pace down as it does.
This books is filled with shout-outs to horror, fantasy and folk take/fairy tales. Much of it was clever and there a lot of nice homages from Bram Stoker to Disney and everything in between. This whole story is an homage to the genre and at points it can be charming in that way. If you can get past how anachronistic his protagonist is King fills his world with interesting and endearing characters. His bad guys in this story feel a little light. Some good "big bad" hanging over everything with impending doom could have given the story some much-needed tension. As it is two of the biggest--literally and figuratively--villains in the book are dispatched via deus ex machina in the form of a weapon from our own world which feels a little cheap in a magical fairy land setting.
King can spin a yarn. I remember reading the first third of the book and thinking, that we hadn't even gotten to the main story yet, that we were just building up to it over the large chunk of page space, but that King has a way of wrapping you up in a story that can be enjoyable even if it's outside of the plot. Clearly, there are going to be people who love this book. I felt like King took the reader's suspension of disbelief for granted though and asked too much. If you're going to write a 17-year-old character, especially in first person, you need to get know how a person that age speaks and thinks. Instead, King just kept making excuses for why he thought like a 45 year old man.
It's a 2.5 star book for me and I'm rounding down to 2 in my Goodreads rating. There wasn't anything to make me want to bump it up. I'm afraid I can't recommend it. This book has too many issues for me to give it my stamp of approval. If you really feel like you must read this one, I hope you'll wait for it to come to your local library instead of dishing out cash like I did. Honestly, I think it's best to just take a pass.
Note: If the blurb of this book interests you but you don't want to read it--or if you have and want to read the same premise done right, I highly recommend The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly who takes this same project on and gets a much better result -
Audiobook….read by Seth Numrich, and Stephen King
…..24 hours and 6 minutes
🚶🏻♂️🐾🪜🚲🔐👣🌔🌔🦇🦋🐺
Once Upon a Time …..
WONDERFUL!!!!!
A 17 year old High School smart athletic great kid - a dog to love wholeheartedly - a purpose - moral integrity- growth - coming of age insights - adventures- the scary creepy willies - (arms distance) - a tribute to classic fairytales —
Hansel and Gretel
Rumpelstiltskin
The Little Mermaid
The Wizard of Oz
Little Red Riding Hood
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
The Never Ending Story
…A goddamn bridge —
…Shared loss for a wife and mother
…A Dad who loves his son/a son who loves his Dad
…A priceless Mr. Bowditch whom Charlie develops a life-alternating power-source relationship
…A house on hill —
…Memories of childhood book buddy girl - ‘friend’
…A twenty feet tall woman — disfigured characters
…A sundial that gave life but also took it away—
…Cinnamon smelling red poppies —
…A goose girl princess with no mouth -
…sardines, refugees, night soldiers, two moons —
…The Haunted City —
…A talking horse —
…A mermaid —
…Loyalty- etc etc etc…..
LOVE ❤️
Heartwarming contemporary narrative mixed with magical imagination —-
SOOOOOOOO ENJOYABLE!!!!!
“When there is love, scars are as pretty as pimples” —-
AND ……
“Good people shine brighter in dark times”!!!
Highly recommend— The audiobook is fantastic!!!! -
5/5 ⭐
“You never know where the trapdoors are in your life, do you?”
I bet you guessed it already from the rating above but I loved this book! Definitely a new favourite of mine from Mr King.
The thing is as follows: this book is so unlike his usual style, but at the same time he keeps his usual pace and his usual details that make you feel chills down your spine from time to time.
I said it's unlike his usual style because we all know his speciality is horror, he gave us some of the most iconic horror characters ever. However, this book, Fairy Tale, is constructed to be a fantastic journey in the sacred pace of traditional fairy tales.
The plot is constructed as such: the pace is slow, the hero goes through various trials and challenges that change him from an ordinary boy in a small town to a brave and wise prince in a foreign world.
It is a long book, yes. I know. And at some point it kind of drags, but the way the plot has been built little by little, step by step, with traditional fairy tale elements, with trials, with ordinary heroes, with helpers and magical objects and magical creatures and magical worlds? Brilliant, 10/10 for that.
The dark premise that still makes you see it is King's doing is that he took elements from the original fairy tales that some of us grew up with, letting the sickeningly honey-glazed sugarplumed Disney version behind to eat dust. These were the real fairy tales, the ones the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen wrote, the ones with cruel and brute elements. Not the Little Mermaid who lost her pretty voice to Ursula but fell in love with the Prince, the Prince fell in love with her and they lived happily ever after. No. The Little Mermaid who couldn't speak because she sold it in exchange for legs, she couldn't make a step without feeling like a million knives were piercing through her flesh and, in the end, she fell in love with the Prince, but the Prince married another woman so the Little Mermaid died. Not because of jealousy and heartbreak though, but because she did not fulfil her side of the pact with Ursula, to whom she sold her voice.
That's the kind of fairy tale King was building and he succeeded. He believes in the twisty ones.“It’s the stories of our childhood that make the deepest impressions and last the longest.”
I love this book for a few more reasons, other than the great way it has been constructed. I loved it because it had a dog (and how could you not be obsessed with a story involving a dog) and also because Charlie was, actually, a quite relatable character. He didn't try too hard to get the spotlight, he was naturally good at things and naturally kind and sweet even though he hasn't had the easiest of lives, and one thing I absolutely adored about him is that even though his dad forced him to grow up faster than he should've (and made life hard for the both of them), Charlie still loved him dearly and they had a beautiful bond and a beautiful father-son relationship.
There's a lot to dissect about this book but at the same time, there is not much happening. However, there are details that make it nearly impossible to reproduce in a few sentences. Two things are certain though: 1) you have to read it because 2) there's Radar and she's the sweetest and bravest dog and you'll fall in love with her!
-
Fantastic!! All the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SPOILER FREE REVIEW:
Fairy Tale is the new book by Stephen King.
If you’ve come on Goodreads in the last 3 weeks, you’ve likely seen many reading this or adding it to their ever-growing TBR list.
I’ve just stuck with horror or crime mysteries by Stephen King and have not waded into his fantasy books. I love fantasy but I wasn’t certain how he would tackle this genre.
In my opinion, he did a fantastic job taking the reader on a journey that's whimsical, courageous and nail biting good!
And the ending was perfect for me.
I feel like Stephen King nailed the ending with this one and I can’t think of anything that needs to change.
Fairy Tale has been told a thousand times by different authors and in different ways.
A main character encounters a hidden world that has wonderful imagery, odd creatures and a fight against good vs evil.
Stephen King takes his turn with this type of story and it worked for me!
The main character of Charlie is basically good with a bit of dark/rough in there to do what he needs to do when he is transported to the world of Empis. I wouldn’t call him a morally grey character but he does have to do actions he’ll struggle with later in life.
The book introduces us to Charlie when he's a young kid. As the book progresses, we see the maturity and growth he comes to terms with and is introduced to Howard Bowditch.
Mr. Bowditch is an isolated, grumpy old man that doesn’t interact with the community. He also has an old dog named Radar that he loves with every piece of his crotchety heart.
Charlie is introduced to him in a traumatic and unusual way, and a friendship begins. Not only does Charlie like Howard but he falls hard for Radar.
As a dog owner, isn’t this always the case? I swear my heart grows a bit more when I’ve got a dog in my life that loves me unconditionally.
As their friendship develops, Howard has secrets galore and knows about a portal to another world. He shares this information with Charlie and he goes on an adventure and journey that you'll just have to read about.
This might be one my favorite books of the year.
I know I have three more months to go but this clicked all the right boxes for me.
The world of Empis was well developed, visually stunning, and I felt transported there. Fairy Tale is page turning, popcorn eating fun along with a great way to escape reality.
Plus, there’s a badass and awesome dog in this that steals the show! What more do you want? -
¡Cómo me ha gustado! Una primera parte maravillosa, para degustar despacio a pequeños sorbos, King en estado puro. La segunda, el cuento de hadas, fantasía al estilo King. Buena prosa, buen estilo, buena historia, buen final. Y ante todo, dos personajes, un chico y una perra, que van directos al corazón y allí se quedan toda la lectura y más allá. El maestro es el maestro y no hay que darle más vueltas.
Vamos al lío. Dice la sinopsis:
Charlie Reade parece un estudiante de instituto normal y corriente, pero carga con un gran peso sobre los hombros. Cuando él solo tenía siete años, su madre fue víctima de un atropello y la pena empujó a su padre a la bebida. Aunque era demasiado joven, Charlie tuvo que aprender a cuidarse solo... y también a ocuparse de su padre.
Ahora, con diecisiete años, Charlie encuentra dos amigos inesperados: una perra llamada Radar y Howard Bowditch, su anciano dueño. El señor Bowditch es un ermitaño que vive en una colina enorme, en una casa enorme que tiene un cobertizo cerrado a cal y canto en el patio trasero. A veces, sonidos extraños emergen de él.
Mientras Charlie se encarga de hacer recados para el señor Bowditch, Radar y él se hacen inseparables. Cuando el anciano fallece, le deja al chico una cinta de casete que contiene una historia increíble y el gran secreto que Bowditch ha guardado durante toda su vida: dentro de su cobertizo existe un portal que conduce a otro mundo.
¿Qué destaco del libro?
La portada. Está todo allí, el portal al mundo de Empis, el embudo y Charlie y Radar.
El título, "Cuento de hadas". Es exactamente eso lo que King ha escrito. Ha puesto su firma no en un libro de fantasía al uso sino en un cuento de hadas al estilo King. Ha bebido en las fuentes de los cuentos tradicionales recopilados por los hermanos Grimm. No con las versiones edulcoradas de nuestra infancia, sino con las originales, que son bastante más truculentas, con un toque añadido a lo Lovecraf. No estamos ante un libro de fantasía tipo Sanderson o Abercrombie. Estamos ante un libro con el inconfundible sello del maestro, el que siempre le da otra vuelta a todo lo que escribe y va un poco más allá.
La prosa. Que King es un genio con esto de la palabra escrita ya es sabido, que leerlo es toda una experiencia, también. He disfrutado tanto de esa experiencia, que llegó un momento en que la trama me daba exactamente igual. Son muchas las frases que nos regala a cuál mejor. Me quedo con dos, quizá las más significativas, las que generan una especie de hilo conductor. "¿No estás harto y cansado de estar harto y cansado?". "Los hombres valientes ayudan, los cobardes hacen regalos". Grande, King.
La estructura y la trama. El libro está dividido en treinta y dos capítulos y un epílogo. Cada capítulo, que consta a su vez de varias partes, tiene un título con frases alusivas a cada una de ellas. Al comienzo, una ilustración igualmente alusiva. Al estilo clásico de los cuentos tradicionales. Bueno, bonito y sencillo en apariencia.
La trama está narrada en primera persona por un Charlie ya adulto. Podemos diferenciar dos partes. En la primera, situada en un pueblo de Illinois, nos presenta a Charlie desde que tenía siete años hasta los diecisiete, cuando conoce al señor Bowditch y a su perra Radar. Esta parte es tan buena, que en cierto modo, opaca un tanto a la segunda. La cantidad de emociones, valores y sentimientos que King pone en juego nos van a acompañar durante el resto del libro. Destacan las relaciones, todas ellas magistralmente trazadas. La relación de Charlie con el señor Bowditch, la relación de Charlie con Radar y la relación entre Charlie y su padre, que es el motor inicial. El ritmo es el que caracteriza al autor, sin prisa, pero sin pausa. El maestro se toma su tiempo a la hora de presentarnos personajes y contexto. Está bien medido, tiene que ser así. El resultado, maravilloso. He experimentado alegría, pena y ternura. He sonreído, y hasta se me han escapado algunas lagrimitas. Grande, King.
La segunda parte transcurre ya en el mundo de Empis. Un cuento de hadas al estilo primigenio, con toques de humor y con escenas duras, de esas que no se leen a los niños. Una princesa heredera camuflada de pastora, un gobernante malvado, insectos del tamaño de gatos, gigantes, zombis eléctricos, una zapatera muy especial, una familia real diezmada, un reino destruido, una ciudad peligrosa y Charlie, que viaja a ese mundo impulsado por su amor a Radar. A medida que se avanza en esta segunda parte, comprendemos el tiempo que King se ha tomado en la primera. Todo tiene su razón de ser.
Los personajes, lo que mejor sabe hacer King. Esta novela no es la excepción. El elenco es importante en ambas partes del libro. El padre de Charlie y el señor Bowditch en la primera. Otros tantos del mundo de Empis en la segunda y sobre todos ellos, brillando con luz propia, Charlie y Radar.
Charlie Reade, a quien conoceremos desde los siete años. Un niño que perdió a su madre y durante un tiempo, también a su padre. No es un personaje en blanco y negro. A los diecisiete es responsable, comprometido y empático. Capaz de cuidar de un anciano impedido y de su perra envejecida, movido por un compromiso que adquirió consigo mismo. No siempre fue así. En el pasado los problemas paternos le llevaron a cometer acciones de las que no se siente orgulloso.
Las relaciones entre los personajes son el punto más fuerte de este libro. La relación de Charlie con su padre, al que quiere y siempre quiso, aunque "a veces no tanto", y las que establece con Howard Bowditch y con Radar. Relaciones que implican decisiones y renuncias. Por amor a su padre, adquirirá ese compromiso consigo mismo. Por cuidar de Radar, envejecida y enferma, renunciará a muchas de las cosas que hacía y daba por sentadas ( "El hombre valiente ayuda, el cobarde hace regalos"). Elecciones y renuncias que le preparan para afrontar las situaciones duras, que le toca vivir en el reino de Empis.
La propia Radar es un personaje entrañable. El maestro la presenta como lo que es, una más de la familia, que merece afecto y cuidados en su vejez, no un juguete navideño desechable con la llegada del verano. Grande, King.
El final o mejor dicho los finales. El final en Empis, que no es en su totalidad el final feliz de un cuento de hadas edulcorado. Y el final en Illinois, ese momento perfecto. "Ahí tenéis vuestro final feliz", dice el maestro. Yo no tengo nada más que añadir. Grande, King.
En conclusión, una novela maravillosa, en la que destacan dos de los mejores personajes que han salido de la pluma de King. ¿Recomendable? A los que como yo son incondicionales del autor, no hace falta, ya la estarán leyendo o lo harán próximamente. Al resto, por supuesto que lo es. Eso sí, si no habéis leído nada de King, leedla y si os es posible, leed también, alguna de su primera época. Así podréis apreciar su evolución.
Entre 4,5 y 5⭐. Le dejo las cinco por lo mucho que me ha emocionado, porque es lo que me pide el cuerpo y, como diría un amigo por aquí, porque me da la gana. -
An immersive beast of a novel. I fell into this world and didn’t want to leave.
When Charlie sees his neighbour lying on the ground after a fall from a ladder, he takes it upon himself to look after the man’s dog - Radar.
They form a kind of friendship and Charlie soon finds there is a world of secrets hidden in this grumpy man’s old house.
The world Charlie discovers is full of terrors, curses and the fight between good and evil.
He finds himself drawn to this world and their troubles, the people refer to him as the Prince that was Promised, and he can’t help but feel like he was meant to be there.
A wonderful novel of epic scope. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride.
***********************
Omg.
library copy available for pick up
I can’t believe this day is actually here!!!
So freaking excited for this!!! -
I’m sure I can tell this story. I’m also sure no one will believe it. That’s fine with me. Telling it will be enough. My problem—and I’m sure many writers have it, not just newbies like me—is deciding where to start.
Stephen King has said that Fairy Tale was prompted by a question he asked himself early in the pandemic: “What could you write that would make you happy?” And the answer to that question turned out to be a story about a young man who loves an old dog so much that he’s willing to travel through a portal to another, perilous world for a chance at saving the dog’s life.
…
I thought of that book cover, the one showing a funnel filling up with stars. Not stars, I thought. Stories. An endless number of stories that pour into the funnel and come out in our world, barely changed.
…
I thought, I don’t want to be a Disney prince. To hell with that. If I have to be a prince, I want to be a dark one.
Fairy Tale works for a number of reasons. First, Charlie Reade is a complex, richly drawn character. He’s got flaws and made mistakes, but it’d be pretty close to impossible not to root for him. Second, I’m a cat person and even I was moved by Charlie’s love for Radar the awesome dog. But most of all, this book works because it is a story about all the great stories. Within this novel are dozens of references, homages, and outright plot points taken directly from famous fairy tales (Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumpelstiltskin and other Grimm’s fairy tales), novels (the Chronicles of Narnia series, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, and HP Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu), movies (including The Wizard of Oz and, surprisingly, Gladiator), and King’s own novels (
11/22/63,
The Talisman, and
It, just to name a few).
Will Fairy Tale enter the pantheon of great Stephen King novels? Time will tell. But it has a little bit of everything, and something for everyone. And it will definitely put a smile on your face. What more can you ask for? Recommended. -
For me this book, in a way, is an enigma. I loved it for the main reasons I love most of King’s works and at the same time there are things I wish he would’ve done different. Not quite a love-hate, but a love…ah—disappointed maybe.
First, he chose to write the entire book in first person but in the reminiscent voice. I’m a huge proponent of the Fictive Dream. I love being dropped into the story and having my real world disappear and time turn elastic. When I finally pull my head out of the book to look up four hours has slipped away. And it feels like only twenty minutes. With the reminiscent voice King held me at arms-length from the story and even went as far as bursting the “forth wall,” when he stopped the story and the main character (author/story teller) gives us information. I don’t like it in movies and I don’t care for it the stories I read. I prefer the active voice where the author sets the scene, drops me in and I stay there living the events along the main character. The reminiscent voice is “telling,” the story as if I’m in a bar with King and he’s relating what happened to him. Most authors would have a difficult time pulling this off, but King is a master craftsman and still held my attention throughout, (for several reasons I’ll elaborate on later). In addition, the choice of the reminiscent voice gives up a great deal of tension and suspense because we know the hero is going to make it through, (and he keeps reminding us that he makes it through the ordeal by bursting the forth wall). Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting at the bar with him telling me the story.
Anyway, I’ve dwelt too long on this aspect.
In the first hundred-and-seventy pages King does what he does best, he establishes character and more important, with his voice and characters, he relates wonderfully well with the reader. He reminds the reader of things consistent with the character and the reader’s life. This is what makes his work so engaging. What makes King, the King. In fact, this part is so real and interesting he could’ve continued on without introducing the fairy tale part of the story and I would’ve stayed with him for another thousand pages. That’s really saying something.
When he does make the shift that contrast of the two worlds is not only fascinating but goes a long way to make it real. Make it believable.
I do book signings at Barnes and Noble and talk with readers about books and the poll I’ve taken on this book is a mixed bag. Some die-hard fans said they lost interest in the middle, some say there were too many characters once he entered the fairy tale land. I think both of these comments (pretty consistent too) are related.
When the main character goes down into the well, the setting takes on equal weight in the story as the main character. In fact, the setting comes very close to overpowering the story. But for me I loved it. For me, this is where King excels. I wanted to see every little detail (and again this might be because of the contrast, how he made the first 170 pages so real).
Once the main character gets captured and thrown into the dungeon, (sorry spoiler here, and I work hard not to have these) King has to endear the reader to the fellow captives in order for us to feel for them when they are put at risk. Several times (when the bursts the forth wall and talks to the reader), he even admits to the reader that there are too many names and apologizes.
In the dungeon, I thought King’s creativity flagged a little. He dropped into a tired old trope used in Ben Hur, The Gladiator, Hunger Games and on and on ad nauseum. In stark contrast to everything else like the play on all the old fairy tales. These were so fresh. Several new aspects though rescued me, like the huge daughter, the despicable girlfriend, the blue aura on the captors, just to name a few.
I’ve gone on too long, sorry for the ramble. I could continue, I love King (most anyway). I’ll end by saying for me this is a solid five stars and goes up there alongside my favorites of his which is saying mouthful.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series (and now the Dave Beckett series). -
The start of this book was classic King, that 'coming of age' stuff, with Charlie and his relationship with Bowditch and Radar.
Then it got very odd, but also meandering and boring.
It felt like a bad attempt at an 'Alice in Wonderland' type story.
I was left disappointed, it's such a shame because the first half of the book was really good.
My 63rd Stephen King read.
The 4th one I've disliked.
That's good going if you ask me. -
I never presumed I might enjoy the fantasy journey as this genre is a rarity for me. Now, Mr King managed to convince me we need magic and fantasy and fairy tales .....
The idea behind this novel sounds so simple! And yet, it is Stephen King who knows how to expand it and fill the worlds with memorable characters, both likeable and unlikeable ones, and confront the evil with the good.
I loved everything about this novel, and I think I owe a lot to Seth Numerich whose terrific reading meant that twenty-four hours of listening were really a joy.
OverDrive, thank you! -
He caído bajo el hechizo Kingniano y su propio cuento de hadas al más puro estilo clásico.
«Un hombre valiente ayuda. Un cobarde solo hace regalos.»
Cuando eres lector constante de un autor como Stephen King comienzas a ver sus aciertos y falencias. Descubres de qué pie cojea y sobre cuál mantiene el equilibrio. En este caso, siempre he dicho que tiene una manera de narrar muy pausada y a veces, me pasa últimamente que cuando veo que sus libros tienen más de 800 páginas me pregunto si valdrá la pena todo el viaje final. Y vaya que sí, para mí lo ha valido con creces. Es de esas veces en las que ni siquiera estuve pendiente del número de páginas que faltaban y solo quería más y más, sumergirme en el cuentazo y todos sus detalles fantásticos que me tenían maravillado.
«El whisky no huele como la ginebra… y a la vez sí. A mí todo el alcohol me huele igual: a tristeza y pérdida.»
A ver, no voy a mentir, en el primer cuarto de libro parece que no pasa nada y a la vez todo. King relata de manera paulatina la vida de Charlie desde que era un niño hasta su adolescencia. Con aire costumbrista nos envuelve en el pueblo, la escuela, su casa y finalmente hasta lo más importante: su relación con el señor Bowditch y Radar, la perra de este. Hay una magia impregnada en esta primera parte que te va dando dosis de referencias a cuentos de hadas populares para finalmente sumergirte en el mágico y misterioso mundo abierto a muchísimas posibilidades.
Por ejemplo, en un comienzo sabemos de la existencia de la caperucita roja que salió y nunca regresó porque tuvo un accidente, el padre ausente y alcohólico que es un completo pusilánime, el pirata y su buque lleno de oro, el hombrecillo (Rumpelstiltskin) con voz tonta y que da miedo; además de que también anda en busca de oro (toma tu referencia a las habichuelas mágicas), la casa vieja, gótica y espeluznante que tiene un halo sobrenatural o encantado, el viejecillo (leñador) que tiene una perra que en tiempos anteriores confundían con una bestia temible y luego está el cobertizo; el centro de todo, la amenaza viviente que se encuentra bajo candado y de la que se escuchan rasguños tras la puerta de madera. Y por último nuestro protagonista, quien nos narra de manera ulterior todo lo que aconteció en su vida y que es ese típico muchacho que siempre se embarca en una nueva aventura por explorar, donde le esperan muchas cosas agradables y desagradables en igual medida en mundos que transgreden la lógica con seres fantásticos.
«Me gustaría deciros que al final recuperé mi lado bueno. Deciros que me arrepentí. No sería verdad. En todos nosotros hay un pozo oscuro, creo, y nunca se seca. Pero allá vosotros si bebéis de él. Esa agua está envenenada.»
Y es allí, en ese otro mundo donde se reproduce al fin el verdadero cuento de hadas. Bichejos e insectos gigantes, un hoyo profundo con muchísimos metros de profundidad, que tiene escalones en espiral que te llevan a un pasadizo y finalmente un reino repleto de oscuridad, seres, maldiciones, promesas, leyendas, misiones, belleza, fealdad y horror sin igual. El misticismo y encanto de la naturaleza y el campo, con el peligro y decadencia de una ciudad de jade con torres de cristal: apodada la ciudad embrujada, encantada o como le quieras llamar.
Bueno, allá en ese mundo del que hablo hay un campo de flores rojas, una cabaña donde vive una mujer deforme y casi sin rostro, una chica de las ocas que no tiene boca, un anciano ciego, un hombre que no puede sentir, una mujer sorda, un reloj capaz de manipular el tiempo, un enano malvado e imprudente, gigantas temibles, personas grises, soldados de la noche, sirena, lobos, un cielo adornado con dos lunas llamadas Bella y Arabella, el Asesino del Vuelo, un dios dormido, prisiones, juegos mortales, deportes sangrientos, persecuciones y brutalidad sin igual.
«En toda la historia del mundo —de todos los mundos—, la ignorancia nunca ha cambiado un solo error.»
Una historia que comienza en la más tranquila cotidianidad y termina en un mundo mágico con la misión noble de salvar a una perra, para terminar convirtiéndose en una aventura por la supervivencia propia y de un grupo de habitantes del Reino de Empis. Un mundo lleno de maravillas y tormentos. Y aunque es obvio que tiene algunos pequeños fallos que no me convencen por su falta de verosimilitud bien se los perdono porque precisamente esto es un cuento de hadas, y en ellos abundan las coincidencias, las rarezas, el destino, o fuerzas mayores que actúan para que pase lo que tiene que pasar. Es más, hasta el mismo protagonista hace una especie de comparación un poco acertada: «¿Pensáis que algunas de las cosas de mi relato son difíciles de creer? Pues intentad imaginaros a Paul Newman de indio. Eso sí que es llevar la credibilidad al límite.»
Lo importante es la atmósfera y el tono mágico que abunda de manera preciosa y terrorífica de una manera sutil. Creo sin duda que al final es la historia de amor de un chico hacia su perra; la misión del héroe con la que cualquier lector puede empatizar si tiene de compañero una mascota a la que ama. Así que sí, me pongo la venda en los ojos y digo que he disfrutado de este cuento de hadas al estilo de los hermanos Grimm con referencias literarias muy directas a Lovecraft y todo su horror, además de otros exponentes del terror. -
My god, is there ANYTHING the "king of horror" cannot do? It doesn't seem to matter what kind of book SK writes, he always produces a wonderful story.
Hero of Fairy Tale is Charlie, a 17-year-old who has been through hell ever since his mother was killed in a hit-and-run following which his father became an alcoholic. He's in a pretty good place at the beginning of this book, but he doesn't really trust it. Also, some stuff he's done in the past is haunting him.
But when a dog alerts him to the plight of a reclusive neighbor, he does the right thing and helps. Charlie even becomes his caretaker.
Eventually, Charlie not only becomes Mr. Bowditch's friend, but is told his secret and that opens a whole new can of worms. Not because Charlie is greedy - because he cares. In fact, caring is basically what this book was all about for me.
Stephen King took the best elements of various Grimm fairy tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk (the original versions, not the Disney-esque ones) and combined them with the essence of portal stories like Narnia before turning the mix into his very own blend of fantasy and horror.
There were many great references to pop culture as well as to other SK stories. The Crimson King definitely featured in here but if this is his origin story or just another example of him possessing and corrupting people and places, we can't be sure. I think the author is deliberately leaving that up to the reader.
However, it is obvious that this book gives us another of the worlds of the wheel we were introduced to in The Dark Tower, which means we also get elements of gunslinging heroics and desolate worlds.
Honestly, the worldbuilding was the best. In Charlie's world and the other. Though I also thoroughly enjoyed the growing relationship between Charlie and Mr. Bowditch. OK, Charlie's father was cool, too. My favorite character, however, was Radar. Hands down. Nobody beats the old girl. And her fate also kept me on the edge of my seat the most.
As I said before, this is not one of my favorite SK books, not even top 3, but that is just because SK sets the bar so high and is producing so many incredibly fantastic books - this one was still absolutely enchanting and a wonderful adventure. -
Absolutely loved the first section set in the "real world," but my interest waned as soon as our main characters ventured into the fairy tale. Clearly this is user error. If you love fantasy, you'll love this.
-
Érase una vez, Stephen King se atrevió a escribir una novela llamada "Cuento de Hadas", tomando prestado de los cuentos clásicos que todos conocemos, tanto los estándares antiguos como los clásicos modernos, para poner su propia firma en un género fantástico dentro de una narrativa que abarca mundos con gigantes devoradores de hombres, zombis eléctricos, castillos y sirenas, duelos a muerte, un gobernante cruel y una bella princesa. Sin embargo, es un chico y su mascota quienes conquistan nuestro corazón, así como los esfuerzos pasados de King han desconcertado nuestra alma.
Los cuentos de hadas, que hoy en día se consideran bonitas historias para dormir, solían ser parte de las pesadillas. Las versiones que se encuentran en los libros para niños son a menudo versiones suavizadas de las parábolas crueles y espantosas que son las originales, cuyos "felices para siempre" están lejos de ser garantizados. Las hermanastras de Cenicienta, por ejemplo, mutilan sus propios pies en su desesperación por entrar en esa zapatilla de cristal. No muy diferente, la malvada madrastra de Blancanieves es castigada por sus fechorías haciéndola bailar con un par de zapatos de hierro al rojo vivo hasta que cae muerta.
Dados todos estos grotescos escenarios, los cuentos de hadas originales podrían ofrecer mucho para que un maestro moderno del género de terror y el suspenso se apoye. Y, en su novela “Cuento de Hadas”, Stephen King hace exactamente eso, presentándonos un reino mágico de gigantes, princesas y animales parlantes, pero asegurándose de que el lugar esté todo menos desinfectado, untándolo con fluidos corporales y blasfemias extremas.
Las cosas comienzan de manera bastante mundana en la zona semirrural de Illinois. Allí, el estudiante de secundaria Charlie, una fusión poco común de ratón de biblioteca y atleta, viene al rescate cuando su anciano vecino misántropo Howard Bowditch se cae de una escalera y se rompe una pierna. Charlie y Bowditch forman un vínculo, y no pasa mucho tiempo antes de que este último le revele al chico unos secretos inimaginables y espectaculares.
El mundo alternativo del libro combina elementos de los cuentos de hadas de los hermanos Grimm con el horror cósmico de H.P. Lovecraft, pero nos lleva un tiempo llegar allí, y cuanto más leemos, más apreciamos las preliminares en la narración de King. Nuestro héroe, Charlie, no comienza su viaje hacia lo fantástico hasta aproximadamente una cuarta parte del libro. Además de algunos extraños ruidos que emanan del cobertizo del viejo Señor Bowditch, la primera sección de la novela está dedicada a la relación de Charlie con su padre y su creciente amistad con el malhumorado viejo, un vínculo cimentado por su amor compartido por la pastor alemán del anciano, Radar. Algunos podrían llamar a esto un comienzo lento para una historia de fantasía y aventuras, pero no lo es en absoluto. Charlie es un buen chico, pero es muy consciente de su capacidad para comportarse de otra manera. Deja el equipo de béisbol de la escuela para cuidar al Señor Bowditch una vez que el anciano sale del hospital, pero una motivación no insignificante para esto es su deseo de pasar más tiempo con Radar, quien se acerca al final de su vida.
Cuando Charlie descubre que el Señor Bowditch ha estado escondiendo algo increíble en su cobertizo de madera, las intenciones de la novela se enfocan. Es un escenario de cuento de hadas, pero claramente arraigado en las encarnaciones más antiguas, oscuras y violentas de esos cuentos. Charlie encuentra muchas oportunidades para reflexionar sobre cómo éstas chocan con las versiones de Disney.
En la dedicatoria de “Cuento de Hadas” se lee: "Pensando en REH, ERB y, por supuesto, HPL", referencias que Charlie, un devoto lector de la ficción de principios del siglo XX, seguramente no tendría problemas para identificar como Robert E. Howard (creador de Conan el Bárbaro), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creador de Tarzán), y H.P. Lovecraft. Si los relatos modernos de cuentos de hadas pueden carecer de la terrenalidad de los originales, los cuentos de aventuras antiguos, aunque a menudo son muy divertidos, no suelen preocuparse por la profundidad emocional. Pero “Cuento de Hadas” proporciona tanto la fragilidad humana carnal como un corazón completamente funcional. Su trama no está impulsada por el deseo de su héroe de buscar fortuna, sino por algo tan potente como el amor de un chico por su mascota.
Ese amor es infantil y simple, y Charlie está dispuesto a arriesgar su vida para salvar a Radar. Cualquier amante de los perros puede entender la extravagante devoción de Charlie por una criatura a la que adora. Es ese amor lo que lo atrae hacia lo fantástico, pero es el amor de Charlie por su padre, enriquecido y complejo, lo que lo trae de vuelta. El apego que Charlie siente por su padre es en parte el vínculo elemental entre padre e hijo y en parte la recompensa ganada con tanto esfuerzo por lo que han pasado juntos y lo que han hecho el uno por el otro. Ni el chico ni el hombre dudan en expresar sus sentimientos, ya que ambos saben muy bien cómo de repente aquellos a quienes amamos pueden dejarnos. Las primeras páginas que King dedica a retratar su relación repercuten a lo largo de la novela, profundizándola.
Hay momentos durante “Cuento de Hadas” en los que Charlie se ve obligado a aprovechar sus sentimientos negativos. El odio es una fuerza tan grande en esta novela como lo es el amor. Un tema permanente en el trabajo de King es que cada ser humano tiene el potencial de hacer el mal, y que solo reconociendo esto y manteniéndonos alerta, podemos tener la esperanza de vivir vidas morales. “Cuento de Hadas” es a la vez amplio y autónomo, cómico y aterrador, conmovedor y sombrío. Al final de la novela, Charlie debe tomar una decisión tan inevitable como dolorosa. Es lo correcto, pero lo sabe sólo porque ahora comprende lo fácil que es hacer lo incorrecto.
Esta novela es una mezcla intertextual que atraviesa multiversos y salta géneros, impulsada por encuentros memorablemente extraños y una acción bien interpretada, a menudo emocionante. En una de las mejores (y más extensas) secuencias de la novela, Charlie se ve forzado a participar en actividades en las que deberá decidir si asesinar o ser asesinado. Pero es que a los 17 años, Charlie ya ha visto los efectos persistentes de los pozos oscuros en su padre, un alcohólico en recuperación. Charlie tendrá que aprender a vivir con lo que ha bebido de los suyos. Después de todo, la bondad no es algo que eres, incluso si eres el príncipe elegido que ha venido a salvar un reino: la bondad es algo que haces y Charlie Reade siempre está haciendo todo lo que está a su alcance.
A pesar de los giros y vueltas de la trama, la mayor sorpresa que "Cuento de Hadas" tiene para ofrecer podría ser la promesa del libro de un final feliz. En un momento, Charlie nos advierte que esos finales requieren "algo improbable", trucos narrativos hechos "apetecibles para los lectores que quieren un final feliz, incluso si el narrador tuviera que sacar uno de su sombrero". Pero, podríamos apostar que a muchos lectores hambrientos de una aventura genuinamente agradable no nos importará qué tácticas usa King para lograr tal final: en estos días, algunos de nosotros aceptaremos todos los finales felices que podamos obtener, por improbables que estos parezcan.
Reseña completa sin spoilers en mi canal de YouTube ➡ Maponto Lee 📚
Link aquí! -
Special thanks to the person who confirmed the dog doesn't die in this.
Jesus F*cking Christ this was a long book.
Stephen King has written one of my favorite books of all times: IT. There is nothing like that book and those characters out there. I think he truly delivers magic when it comes to coming of age stories and he adds so much soul to mundane characters.
This book feels like Stephen, but also doesn't at the same time. It's not quite a horror book, and it's not quite a fantasy book, it's somewhere in between.
It was really easy to connect to Charlie during the first half. He is a young man with an alcoholic father. Charlie begged God to help his father sober up, and he did. And because of that Charlie became the most reliable person in the world, because he truly believed that if he broke his part of his deal with God, his dad would go back to the alcohol.
He did great in school, at sports and helped his dad with work. Until one day, when walking back home from school, he hears his old neighbor's dog barking like crazy and once he checks it out, he finds the poor old man on the ground with a broken leg.
The first half of this entire book had
The Old Man and the Sea vibes. The grumpy old man falls in love with Charlie, and so does the dog. Charlie creates the most emotional routine with them, non-romantic love hits SO DIFFERENT.He takes the dog on daily walks, feeds him, and also helps Howard with his meds and keeps him company.
It's the perfect recipe to make you bawl your eyes out. And I did cry about five times for the first half of this book.
I don't want to drop you any spoilers here, because this book is SO LONG, and it really does carry 3 different stories all at once. 3 different worlds. Stephen was inspired by the old school Grimm tales and this turns into one, it was beautifully crafted, his writing is so so so great and honestly so satisfying to read, but unfortunately, the last 300 pages of this were unbelievably boring and slow.
Basically, all you need to know about this book is: this is the story of a young man who fell in love with a dog, the dog is old and about to die, and he is willing to do WHATEVER it takes to make this dog stick around forever. That's where magic comes in, in this urban fantasy Stephen King tale. If you're ok with the slow pace of the book, you might actually love this one, because honestly? I'd also travel to an unknown world, talk to messed up creatures, make deals with the devil and face any kind of dangerous magic to make sure my dog lives forever.
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EXCERPT: In the fall and spring, I rode my bike because we live in a hilly town and biking was a good way to build up muscle strength in my legs and backside. It also gave me time to think and be alone, which I liked. Heading home from HHS it was Plain Street to Goff Avenue, then Willow Street to Pine. Pine Street intersected with Sycamore at the top of the hill that led down to the goddam bridge. And on the corner of Pine and Sycamore was the Psycho House, so named by Bertie Bird when we were only ten or eleven.
It was actually the Bowditch house, the name was right on the mailbox, faded but still legible, if you squinted. Still, Bertie had a point. We had all seen that movie (along with other such required eleven-year-old viewing as The Exorcist and The Thing), and it did look sort of like the house where Norman Bates lived with his stuffed mother. It wasn't like any of the other neat little duplexes and ranchers on Sycamore and in the rest of our neighbourhood. The psycho-house was a rambling slump-roofed Victorian, once probably white but now faded to a shade I'd call Feral Barncat Gray. There was an ancient picket fence running the length of the property, leaning forward in places and sagging back in others. A rusty waist-high gate barred the broken paving of the walk. The grass was mostly weeds that had run rampant. The porch looked like it was slowly becoming detached from the house to which it belonged. All the shades were drawn, which Andy Chen said was pointless, since the windows were too dirty to see through anyway. Half-buried in the tall grass was a NO TRESPASSING sign. On the gate was a bigger sign reading BEWARE OF DOG.
ABOUT 'FAIRY TALE': Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.
Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.
A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance.
MY THOUGHTS: Once upon a time lived a man who dreamt up fascinating and fearful tales . . .
This is the best Stephen King book I have read in some time. It's vintage King - satisfying and scary - a frightening mix of fantasy and reality.
Charlie's a teenager struggling with grief and guilt. He made a bargain with God, and now it seems that God is calling in the debt and Charlie is more than happy to settle.
Charlie has been through a lot for a boy of his age. He has a sense of honour, and a compassionate heart. But there is also a dark side to him, one he can't always control.
Mr Bowditch is a wonderfully crafted character. He loves his old German Shepherd, Radar, and is more concerned with Radars wellbeing than his own. Both man and dog are old. Mr Bowditch is not long for this world and knows it. Once Charlie has earned his grudging trust, Mr. Bowditch charges Charlie with a dangerous task.
There are many references to the darker versions of the sanitised fairytales we all grew up with - Hansel and Gretel, and Rumplestiltskin immediately spring to mind. There's an ogre (or something resembling one), and a Princess who needs help; but does Charlie have the strength and cunning needed to ensure a 'happy ever after' or something resembling it?
All the stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#FairyTale
I: @stephenkingofficialpage @hodderstoughton
T: @ClubSTEPHENKING @HodderBooks
#contemporaryfiction #fantasy #friendship #horror
THE AUTHOR: Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers. King is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.
Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Fairy Tale by Stephen King. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... -
A fairy tale the Stephen King way.
Charlie Reade is your average teenager. He does well in school and plays sports. Charlie: however, is carrying grief with him everywhere he goes. His mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver on a stormy night. His father is now drowning himself in grief and alcohol. Charlie has become a parentified child - taking care of himself and his dad.
Howard Bowditch is a recluse living in a big house. One day, Charlie hears Radar, Mr. Bowditch's dog barking and the rest as they say in history. Charlie takes care of Radar while Mr. Bowditch is in the hospital. This is where the magic happens. Relationships are formed and lives are changed.
In the back of the house there is a shed. It looks like a normal shed where one would store lawn supplies but ...
When Mr. Bowditch passes away, he leaves everything to Charlie. Everything that a teen should not have to deal with...
Parts of this book were slow for me (some parts in the middle). I loved the beginning and the ending the most. I loved how Charlie formed relationships with Radar and Mr. Bowditch. I loved their interactions and how each was transformed by their bond.
Stephen King excels at writing characters (and in this book also a dog) which readers care about. We become invested in their wellbeing, their plight and what will happen to them. He has a way of placing ordinary people in extraordinary situations. In this book, Stephen King also used fairy tales to create the other world. What a world it is. King can never be called uncreative or unimaginative.
Creative, immersive, and enjoyable. -
Stephen King returns after last year's dreadfully dull Billy Summers with a pure and undiluted reminder about what makes him not only one of America's best, and perhaps most important (and certainly most influential), authors, but about the power of storytelling to begin with. Yes, there have been a few bumps along the way of King's illustrious career - that's bound to happen when you're as prolific as King - but Fairy Tale is a potent reminder about why King is, well, king.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Reade is mourning the loss of his mother (she was walking home along a bridge when she was struck and killed by a vehicle operated by a distracted driver, shades of King's own brush with death when he, too, was struck by a van in June 1999), while his father lapses into, and eventually recovers from, alcoholism (shades of King's own struggles with addiction - can you tell this is a deeply personal story from its author?). Riding his bike home from school one evening, he hears the cries for help from Howard Bowditch, the old recluse who lives in a large house reminiscent of the one in Psycho. Charlie made a promise to God that if his father would quit drinking, he would work to pay off his debt. After his prayer is answered, Charlie is sure the ailing, broken-legged Bowditch is his chance to return the favor and make good on what's owed. But as he and Howard begin to bond, and as Charlie falls deeply in love with the man's dog, Radar, Charlie begins to learn of the older man's secrets, particularly the one about the padlocked shed in the backyard...the one with a mysterious well in it, with stairs leading down, down, down...into a different world entirely.
The first couple hundred pages are devoted almost entirely to Charlie's burgeoning relationship with Howard and Radar, showcasing King's talents for deftly creating realistic characters that are both familiar and compulsively readable. He affords us the opportunity to become simpatico with Charlie, and although the teenager promises he isn't all good, it's genuinely difficult to hold that which he is guilty for over his head because he's such a decent fellow at heart (one might even say he's a prince of a young man). It's a slow burn, as King teases us with thumps and scratches from inside the shed and Bowditch's little mysteries, but a necessary one, one that lures us in and offers to us a chance to settle in and get comfortable, just before we're made uneasy.
Fairy Tale recalls some of King's past forays, with the book's opening segments calling to mind "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" (from 2020's novella collection, If It Bleeds), but also works like The Talisman and even "The Body." On the latter mention, Fairy Tale is narrated in first-person, with an older Charlie telling us of his past coming-of-age adventures into the make-believe storybook land of Empis. This is King's ode to all those childhood fairy tales we grew up on, from the Little Golden Books classics and the much darker original stories by way of the Brothers Grimm to (at least for my generation) The Never-Ending Story and Legend. He also draws upon some of his own childhood inspirations, like H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Robert E. Howard, to whom this book is dedicated and whose DNA is woven into this story's fantasy. King revels here, fully, in the power of storytelling, of mythmaking and magic, and the hero's journey as Charlie is transported to a fantastical realm and discovers within himself the power to save a kingdom.
Where King succeeds most strongly, though, is in capturing the power of a story's most important purpose - of providing its reader with an escape. Fairy Tale is a 600-page long opportunity to forget about the struggles and hardships of the real world, to ignore the dangers of an on-going viral pandemic, wildfires, earthquakes, wars, death, a former president and insurrectionist stealing nuclear secrets to likely sell to the highest bidders, and Twitter trolls trolling everything they deem "woke," like Black elves and a Black mermaid and a Black Death... Fairy Tale is pure, unadulterated, unabashed escapism, a chance to sit at the knee of Uncle Stevie at his most captivating and engrossing, with his heart fully on his sleeve, because he has a story to tell, and he knows how to tell it better than anyone. It's a light in the dark, a story where love, hope, compassion, and goodness can win the day, because it is, after all, a fairy tale, and that's exactly what we need right now. -
I can only tell that to me this book is just one more star to add to Stephen King's writing history.
What's different? The fact there's magic involved and some legendary/mystical creatures, which make the story a Fairy Tale and this time the story is told by the main character in the story (Charlie Reade) who will do anything and everything to save Radar (his recently inherited female German shepherd left behind by late Mr. Bowditch), but drawn also by the curiosity it represents to step foot into a hidden world.
Will Charlie succeed in carrying out what he intends? Being a Fairy Tale, what else will he find throughout his journey that may make his task difficult if not virtually impossible? What other characters will Charlie bump into who might make his journey easier or perhaps even more difficult than he thinks?
Being a Stephen King novel, are we expecting a happy ending or...? As usual, there's just one way to find out. -
This was a slog to be honest. 2.5-3 stars
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First of all, thank you to @simonandschuster and Stephen King for the opportunity to read this eGalley of the upcoming book “Fairy Tale”, releasing September 6, 2022.
“Fairy Tale” is the story of Charlie Reade, a teenager who has dealt with a lot in his life: the death of his mother and the struggles of living with an alcoholic father. He crosses paths with a reclusive neighbor, Mr. Bowditch and his dog named Radar, who I will never ever forget. But Bowditch has a few secrets, and one that is revealed after Bowditch’s death will change Charlie’s world forever.
King has described this book as the one he wrote to make him happy during the early days of the pandemic. And I am happy to report this book will make you happy too. “Fairy Tale” delivers in a way I never expected. The world building is masterfully done, and the characters will stay with me forever. First of all, Radar, the beloved dog of Mr. Bowditch and eventually Charlie, immediately found his way into my heart and revealed his love and loyalty throughout the story. Charlie is a young man, wise and mature beyond his years, who becomes a hero in ways he never knew were possible. Intermingled with the great fairy tales of our childhoods, “Fairy Tale” is a must read book this fall, and is another example of the absolute brilliance of the modern master himself, Stephen King. -
4.5 stars!
This was a brilliant and imaginative fantasy about family, love, courage, and the cost of power. Fairy Tale follows Charlie, a seventeen year old boy, who meets Howard Bowditch, a loner and his dog, Radar. After Mr. Bowditch falls and goes to the hospital, Charlie helps him around the house. When Bowditch passes away, Charlie listens to a tape that Bowditch left him and tells a story about a portal to another world inside the shed in his backyard that is actually true.
This book was so good! The pacing in the beginning of the book was slow, but by the middle of the book I was completely swept away by this unique world. The world building is excellent, and I loved learning about the world that Charlie finds and the intriguing characters including night soldiers, giants, mermaids, giant crickets, and more. The characters are very complex and interesting. I really liked Charlie, he is brave, kind, helpful, strong and resilient. I love Radar, she is sweet, loyal, and so cute. I also really liked Leah, she is resilient, sweet, brave and loyal. The side characters were also great especially Iota, Eris, Claudia, Dora, and Jaya. The character development was excellent, I enjoyed seeing a different side to Charlie and he changed so much from the beginning of the book till the end. The writing and storytelling is awesome, the writing is so descriptive that I felt like I was transported into the story with the characters. The ending was so good and I'm glad it ended on a happy note.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, excellent world building and great characters.
