Sleeping Beauties: A Graphic Novel in Two Parts (2021) By Stephen & Owen King. These two graphic representations run to about 230 pages and contain the main focus of the original novel, but a picture speaks a thousand words… Here we have hundreds of nicely drawn, inked and lettered (by Rio Youers, Alison Sampson and Triona Farrell) examples of the ideas within the book. While I have long enjoyed the work of the senior King and have read much of his sons’ output, I couldn’t find it in myself to forage through this novel.
Lucky me.
This pair of books has allowed me to both grasp and enjoy the book in a much shorter time span. The tale, of women being transported while they sleep to the same world they have left, but without men to mess things up, has a nice ring to it. I only wonder why all the women would want to come back to the original version of things. I suppose, like every fairy tale, there must be a happy ending.
But for whom is it happy?
There is the usual quota of gore, small community self-applied tension, a bit of fantasy and dregs of horror, but there is also a beautiful story of love and self-realization happening here. This is sure to delight the busy followers of both Kings. ( )