"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."
Returning to the genres of the Dark Tower and "The Eyes of the Dragon," Stephen King has built a whimsical tribute to our literary origin stories in "Fairy Tale."
Split between small-town Illinois and the cursed Empis, this book follows a high school student as he seeks to redeem a childhood marked by loss, addiction, and isolation.
"A brave man helps. A coward just gives presents."
After a chance meeting turns into the revelation of an alternate world stocked full of royalty, evil, giants, and mermaids, Charlie leans into his fate and balances the pull of his identities within the respective worlds.
"The first job was to get out of this unpleasant city, which wasn't deserted at all. And which wouldn't quite stay still."
While perhaps lacking the pull of immersion and the moment-by-moment anxiety of previous King novels, "Fairy Tale" still manages to feel like putting on a pair of slippers, pouring a cup of coffee, and settling into a familiar landscape.
Influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and marked by the character development that powers the author's genius, this tale represents an escapism and nostalgia that are all too rare in our current climate.
"We did the right thing, I know that. The only thing. And still my dad keeps an eye on the house at 1 Sycamore Street. I come back often and do the same, and eventually I will come back to Sentry for good. I may marry, and if I have children, the house on the hill will go to them. And when they are small, and wonder is all they know, I will read them the old stories, the ones that start once upon a time."
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