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Fairy Tale (2022)
Paperback edition includes reading group guide.
- Release Date
- 2023
- Length
- 624 pages
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
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Our Review
About the book
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Reade befriends a reclusive old man, Mr. Bowditch, and his aging German shepherd, Radar. The friendship leads Charlie to a secret on the property that opens onto another world, one with its own monsters, rulers and a growing threat that could spill into ours.
Our review
King trades small-town horror for a portal fantasy, and the result is one of his warmest, most generous late novels.
The first third is pure King comfort food: a grieving teenager, a father fighting his drinking, a gruff neighbor who slowly lets the boy in. The relationship between Charlie and Radar is tender without sliding into sentimentality, and it gives the whole book an emotional anchor. When the story finally crosses over, King leans happily into the archetypes he grew up loving, borrowing from fairy tales, pulp adventure and Lovecraft with obvious joy.
The other world is vivid but uneven. Its middle section, involving a long stretch of captivity, drags compared with the lively opening, and some of the villains are more cartoon than menace. Charlie’s narration also sounds older than seventeen at times. Even so, King’s affection for storytelling itself is infectious, and the book has a big-hearted sincerity that his darker work rarely allows. Dog lovers, especially, will find a lot to treasure.
What we loved
- The bond between Charlie and the old dog Radar
- A grounded, emotionally honest opening section
- King’s evident delight in classic fantasy and adventure tropes
Keep in mind
- The middle section in the other world runs long
- Some antagonists feel broad and underwritten
Read it if you like
Fans of The Talisman, Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, or readers who prefer King’s 11/22/63 to his straight horror.
The verdict
A big, affectionate adventure with a slow middle; among King’s most heartfelt books and a fine entry point for fantasy readers.
