Stephen and Owen King’s ‘Sleeping Beauties’ is—checks notes—book twenty-eight of 2023.

This massive book slab took me quite a while to get through; I started it on one of the last days of my honeymoon. That does not mean the novel is slow or tedious. I wanted to give it the space to breathe. I’ve had a great time immersing myself in this dystopian world.

Reminiscent of his heyday (‘The Stand’, ‘It’), ‘Sleeping Beauties’ is classic King. It’s his old-school, multi-character, small-town America story. The setup is unique—all women, all over the world, are falling asleep. Once unconscious, the women grow a cocoon. If a foolhardy person disturbs the webbing, the women explode in a rabid attack.

For an older, straight, white, rich American, King is far more liberal than you’d expect him to be. Sure, some points could be a smidge more progressive, but at no point does King fumble the ball. The ‘Sleeping Beauties’ themes are on-point and relevant when taken alone. The story becomes even more extraordinary when considering the man who wrote it.

Each character is well-drawn and believable and contains the depth for which we all know King. Even insignificant side characters are multidimensional, and their motives are understandable. The story builds and escalates until it all collapses in a thrilling finale. Nobody does that ‘fate spiralling down towards its inevitable conclusion’ thing like him.

Oh, and the idea of father and son working together on a novel? It’s so wholesome, despite the bleak apocalyptic tale.

King is king.

Or should that be, the Kings are king?