Fairy Tale

Here it is: the very first book of the month! The book for March 2025 is Stephen King’s Fairy Tale. Published in 2022, King states in his foreword that he asked himself “What could he write that would make him happy?”.

The book follows Charlie Reade, a highschool student who is tasked by a dying man to descend into another world and save the life of the man’s dog, Radar. Throughout the book, we see a lot of Charlie’s deep thoughts, particuarly about good vs evil, and the influence of stories.

“He had been told the story of the sky-sisters as a child, and as you probably know for yourself, dear reader, it’s the stories of our childhood that make the deepest impressions and last the longest.”

-Stephen King, Fairy Tale

The story, as seen through Charlie’s eyes, has moments of both sarcasm and utter seriousness. Following him as he progresses through the fairy tale world, we can see how he learns not only more about the people and history there, he learns more about himself and his own world. King utterly suceeds with his take on the Chosen One trope, a difficult task to make so refreshing and unique. The rich description and mix of action and slower, more contemplative sections of the book are what make it come alive.

The complexity of the story, along with Charlie’s thoughts, immersed me and made me deeply care about the characters. Fairy Tale is a book that can be the centre for long and interesting discussions about many topics, and I’d highly recommend it to almost anyone I come across.