The dragon's eyes

The eyes of the dragon (original title The Eyes of the Dragon ) is a novel by the writer Stephen King first published in 1983 by Philtrum Press , which he originally wrote for his daughter Naomi King and the son of Peter Straub . For this reason, King published the novel in a limited edition of 1250 copies. It was not until 1987 that Viking-Verlag published the novel after acquiring the rights. The German translation by Joachim Körber was also published by Heyne Verlag in 1987 .

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The kingdom of Delain is ruled by old King Roland de Delain, who is neither a good nor a bad king. The sinister court magician Flagg, who longs for rule, is at his side as an advisor. Roland marries the young Sasha; although he loves her, he shuns her out of shyness.

But one day, while hunting in the forest, he meets a dragon , which he successfully kills. As a sign of triumph, he consumes the dragon's heart. He then finds the courage to sleep with his wife and a few months later she gives birth to a son who is named Peter.

Peter enjoys a carefree childhood, his parents love him and the people already consider him a worthy heir to the throne. For Flagg, Peter is a thorn in the side and Roland has become more determined than ever. A few years later, Sasha is expecting another child and by chance escapes a poison attack by Flaggs. But Sasha dies giving birth to her second son, who is named Thomas.

In contrast to Peter, Thomas is a weak person who is always in the shadow of his older brother. A few years later, Thomas begins to hate not only his brother, but also his own father. Roland shows more care for Peter and Thomas feels left out. Flagg of course sees this as an opportunity and begins to manipulate Thomas and shows Thomas how to look into the trophy hall through the eyes of the dead dragon's head. Thomas then makes it a habit to spy on his own father.

One day Flagg mixes kite sand in the king's wine. Dragon sand is the deadliest poison in the world. Thomas watches through the dragon's eyes as Flagg hands his father the poisoned wine that Roland drinks without hesitation.

Soon afterwards, Roland suffered agony and died from internal burns. Flagg manages to cast suspicion on Peter. Peter is the regicide found guilty and thrown into prison. Only Thomas can prove his older brother's innocence, but for fear of Flagg he remains silent. Thomas is crowned king and Flagg is at his side as an advisor. From now on, Thomas is the mindless puppet of the murderous wizard. Peter does not want to give up and is already planning his escape from the dungeon and wants to free Delain from Flagg's machinations.

At his request, Peter is granted two things in the dungeon: his mother's dollhouse and a fresh napkin with every meal. Peter takes five threads from each napkin and uses the loom in the doll's house to weave a rope. He plans to use this rope to abseil himself out of the dungeon.

During the attempt to escape, the rope breaks. But Ben (a childhood friend), Naomi (a companion of Ben) and Dennis (the son of a servant) save him. When the four set out to get the gun that Roland used to kill the dragon, they are caught by Flagg. Flagg tries to kill her, whereupon Thomas, who has since got around to it, shoots him in the eye. Nevertheless, Flagg manages to escape.

The book ends with Peter taking the throne as the rightful king, Ben and Naomi marry, and Thomas and Dennis set out to find Flagg.

useful information

• The first edition with illustrations published by Philtrum Press in 1983 was limited to 1250 copies and was published in a slipcase specially designed for the book. In Germany, Edition Phantasia published a portfolio limited to 100 copies in 1987 with 13 black and white illustrations by Johann Peterka from an unrealized book project.
• The first German edition of the novel has been severely shortened. For example, entire book pages were not translated.
• The book has long had the working title The Napkins ("The Napkins").
• Naomi and Ben, two of the characters in the novel, have the first names of Stephen King's daughter and Peter Straub's son.
• The first complete German translation of the novel was only published in February 2011.

Link to other works by Stephen King

The figure of the flag appeared in the novel The Stand - The Last Stand and later in the Dark Tower cycle .

The fantasy world that King designed for the novel The Eyes of the Dragon is obviously a parallel world to the tower cycle, which is mainly reflected in the similarities of the names of the protagonists Roland Delain and Roland Deschain and many other small set pieces and Minor characters expresses. Unlike the world in which the Dark Tower cycle takes place, the world does not seem to have moved on.

Literature and web links

• Stephen King, Die Augen des Drachen , Ullstein, abridged version 2005, ISBN 3548263054
• Stephen King, Die Augen des Drachen , Heyne, unabridged new edition 2011, ISBN 978-3453435759
• Detailed table of contents in KingWiki