Eyes of the Dragon and my 14 year old son

[Teddy Duchamp]

For years my poor son has been listening to me rambling on about what a fantastic writer SK is!

He has watched Stand by Me, The Shawshank redemption, Storm of the Century etc.................however I wondered whether folk thought he was "too young" to try one of his books now?

He loves Harry Potter and Darren Shan, and loves the Lord of the Rings Films.............. and I was thinking "Eyes of the Dragon" would be an ideal book for him to try!

I dont want to put him off completely - but I remember reading this years ago as a sort of "grown up fairytale"

What do you folks think?

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

Fourteen is old enough for any reading whatsoever, IMO; in terms of life experience or emotional maturity he may still be your baby, need care & nurturing & loving parenting and all that... but in terms of intellectual maturity, the big turning point where a young person becomes capable of abstract thought and adult understanding, that light bulb clicks on at puberty.

IMO, there's no need to continue worrying about what he's "ready for" or what he "can handle"; if he's tall enough to reach the top shelves, it's okay for him to be in the adult section of the library.

We all float down here...

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

What Lencho said basically, and I certainly think he's old enough for EotD, Sai King wrote it for his own 13 year old daughter, if memory serves.

Long days and pleasant nights

[Teddy Duchamp]

Cheers for that guys!

Its what I thought myself and I actually bought a copy yesterday! If he doesnt like it I can re-read it myself!

I do take the point about letting him "go".

I read adult books at the age of 14 ............we dont smother him in any way - we are boadminded parents - but there are certain films (for example) that I still would not feel suitable for him to watch.............

As parents we do make a decision on this - maybe not the right ones all the time - for example I would NEVER let him see a film like "Saw" but would let him see a film like "the Ring"...............dont know if my logic is wrong in that - probably! (lol)!

[GBPack1]

You'll have to come back and tell us how he liked it

[Mr. Palmer]

I would NEVER let him see a film like "Saw"

Good.

I wish I'd never seen that tripe.

[Ghastly]

Note that I read Gerald's Game when I turned thirteen and didn't have a single problem with it and understood all the way through. I think he should be fine.

[JRM]

The Eyes of the Dragon is the most straight-forward Stephen King novel I've read so far. It's a very easy read, yet thoroughly enjoyable.

[Sweet One]

King wrote it for his daughter, who read Carrie and didn't like it, and was more into fantasy author's like Piers Anthony.

[Teddy Duchamp]

I am so sorry - I had completely forgotten about this thread!

Yes my son read this - yonks ago now - and absolutely loved it - he read it in two days.

I also bought him "the girl who loved Tom Gordon" and he enjoyed it also.

He has just informed me that at Christmas time he read "the Stand" which I was amazed about - although its my favourite book I thought it might be a bit long for him..........but nope.

He is on "the Talisman" now and says Wolf is fantastic (he loved Tom Cullen.........m o o n that spells Tom Cullen)