While his earlier novel The Gunslinger included many elements of the fantasy genre, The Eyes of the Dragon was King’s first attempt at a traditional fantasy novel. The Gunslinger, like the rest of the Dark Tower series, combines fantasy elements with science-fiction and Western tropes. King decided to write a more traditional fantasy novel because he wanted his daughter Naomi to enjoy one of his books. She was 13 years old at the time and not a fan of horror. The dedication also includes his sometime co-author Peter Straub’s son: “This story is for my great friend Ben Straub, and for my daughter, Naomi King.” Both have characters named after them in the novel.

The Eyes of the Dragon is considered high fantasy because it takes place in a fictional world where magic is real and technologies resemble those of medieval Earth, but it is not an epic fantasy in the style of J. R. R. Tolkien. The Eyes of the Dragon reads more like a fairytale. The narrator resembles someone in the real world telling a bedtime story and imparting moral lessons, and the plot turns on what is essentially a retelling of Rapunzel or other “Maiden in the Tower” stories.