Fairy Tale by Stephen king (a review)

At first glance Fairy Tale reminds me a bit of 11-22-63 by King. There is an otherwise normal protagonist who is led to a portal that takes him to another where or when. Our protagonist is Charlie, who is just a normal kid dealing with the loss of his mother. His father has turned alcoholic after the death of his wife. Charlie sees his world crumbling around him. He makes a prayer saying if God will help his dad, he will do whatever God asks. Whether it is a coincidence or not, Charlie’s father gets help the next day. So, Charlie feels he has to fulfil his end of the bargain.

Enter the mean old man who lives in the spooky house with a legendarily vicious dog (“like Cujo” Charlie’s friend tells him). Charlie rides by the old man’s house one day to discover that he has fallen and broken his leg. Charlie helps him and the man asks Charlie to take care of his dog (who is not really vicious and is quite old and arthritic at this point. Charlie sees this as his obligation (under the deal with God). He also helps take care of the old man during his recovery. This is where we start to learn the secrets that the man has been hiding.

Eventually, Charlie explores the big secret and we are off on an adventure of epic fantasy. There are some scary moments, but I would in no way call this a horror story. It’s not that kind of Stephen King story. Think of it as a little bit of Wizard of Oz mixed with Jack and the Beanstalk mixed with Sparticus (trust me, it works). King appropriately infuses the story with a sense of wonder. Also, I am a sucker for a story with a cool dog in it. It is well worth the 600 page read.

Star Liner

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