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Fairy Tale
Fairy Tale
Fairy Tale
Audiobook24 hours

Fairy Tale

Written by Stephen King

Narrated by Stephen King and Seth Numrich

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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  • Survival

  • Friendship

  • Adventure

  • Fear

  • Mystery

  • Power of Friendship

  • Chosen One

  • Reluctant Hero

  • Fish Out of Water

  • Amateur Detective

  • Time Loop

  • Man's Best Friend

  • Power of Love

  • Call to Adventure

  • Loyal Dog

  • Family

  • Courage

  • Exploration

  • Loyalty

  • Trust

About this audiobook

Winner of the 2023 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator

Master storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this #1 New York Times bestselling and spellbinding novel about a young man who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a horrific accident when he was seven, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from that shed.

Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

Editor's Note

Good versus evil…

Charlie Reade, a lonely teenager with problems at home, befriends the elderly Mr. Bowditch. The more time Charlie spends at Mr. Bowditch’s home, the more curious he becomes about the shed out back — and the unearthly noises coming from within. Of course, it wouldn’t be a true King (“Billy Summers”) novel if the oddly mysterious didn’t morph into a fantastical adventure full of good versus evil and quests for survival.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 6, 2022
ISBN9781797145297
Author

Stephen King

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch, the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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Reviews for Fairy Tale

Rating: 4.603649416691594 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

3,343 ratings275 reviews

What our readers think

Readers find this title to be a fabulous, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable book. The characters are well-developed and the world created by the author is lovely. The narration is excellent and the details bring the reader into the story. However, some reviewers felt that the plot was lacking and uninspired. Overall, this book is a great read with twists, surprises, and a fantastic narration. It is recommended for those looking for an adventurous book with a twist.

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    King does not disappoint. He lulls you with a seemingly coming of age story and then plunges you into a dark fairytale that is so hauntingly beautiful with it brutality that when it’s over, you ache for a world that lives in his mind.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great! This one was great! I loved Seth too! Thanks

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It pulls you into the adventure. It’s not what you’re expecting. Keeps you on your toes.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I fell in love with the characters. I didn’t want the story to end. All good things do.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm no good at writing reviews. I will just say that I enjoyed the tale immensely and another great work by a great writer.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I think this book just shows how vast the imagination can become if you let your mind go to different places, places created in your mind. The good and evil in all places, the good that become bad, being forced to be on a side you don’t want to be on but keeps you alive. Being courageous and selfless for others. It was by far the best fairy tale I’ve ever read!!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Different genre from what Mr. King's usual, but definitely as good as any of his books. Of course you can read traces of him everywhere, and that's fantastic

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a magnificent piece of magic. I loved every bIt of this book

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A book I will most definitely reread! The narrator made this book go from a 7-10 in the first chapter.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of Stephen King’s best. Twists and turns to keep you engaged till the end.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of my favorite books and one of King’s best!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mr. King, thank you so much for this story! I have been looking for this gateway to another world in my head like this ever since the Tower series. You took me away...
    Far, far away and wishing I could go back. PLEASE LOL :)

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing book! Loved loved loved this book! Feel empty without it!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bros. Grimm Meets Lovecraft. It is beautifully done. The narrator did an excellent job with such a large number of characters.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing! I want to read more books like this. Such a great book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It has been a Loooong time since I’ve had a book Hangover. I don’t want it to be done! I want more Empis stories!!!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautiful storytelling but I wish I knew more about what happened to all the creatures in the other world.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed this one a lot. The narration was excellent.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I’m a big fan of Stephen King and this book didn’t disappoint me, I loved it and I will definitely read it again in some months, I’m sure of it.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As if the story wasn’t incredible and immersive enough as it was, this narrator though! I just want him to read every book to me from now on. I can’t get over his intonation, and the way he differentiates voices. His giantesses! I fell out of my chair laughing while “Hannah” was singing her lewd song with the voice he gave her. In general, I prefer reading to audiobooks, but I am thrilled I made an exception this time. I knew King wouldn’t disappoint, but the reading on this is PHENOMENAL.
    That acknowledged, this is one of those stories I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for. I love a dark fairytale, and this one effortlessly weaves the reality of our world with the horrible magic of another - without leaving loose ends, but also without unnecessary explanations. The story moves along at a rapid clip, but tells every juicy, adventurous step along the way. Highly recommend to almost everyone I know, whether they love fantasy, horror, adventure, or a good coming of age story.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Absolutely outstanding. Really incredible how big a story king was able to cram into this and still wrap it up nicely.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It delivered. As always.
    On to the next one !

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's a lovely story. A boy, his dog, a magical kingdom.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another edge of my seat King Story. One good book

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    OMG!!! This is one if Stephen King's best works! Not scary but there are some tense moments! I really loved listening to this!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent book! I enjoyed every single minute of it. Even the narrator was great!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of Stephen King's best. A wonderful adventure with scary parts and cringy parts, written in King's wonderful narrative style. If you read The Talisman you'll love this book. I look forward to reading it again.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just outstanding once again Stephen King has wrote a captivating and exhilarating tale.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of my favorite novels I have read. I love Stephen King and I read every book he writes, I make it a point to do so. This is one of my favorite books that he has ever written. I was hooked from the very beginning and I could not stop. It's a beautiful story and absolutely fantastic in every way. It was incredible and I absolutely loved it I'm honestly heartbroken that I'm done.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! Such an amazing story! King always has a way to paint a readers mind. His usage of imagery is amazing and it helps us with the characters, setting and overall story. While listening, I always had a good understanding of what was being described and was able to imagine is clearly. Its over and I just want more! More story, more character development!

    It has to be noted, the sound/audio is top tier. The sound overall was clean, but it's the Readers themselves. The way that each character has a distinct and different sound. It helps you connect with them as a whole and really helps with the imagery!

    10/10 will recommend this to everyone!

    1 person found this helpful