Fantasy/SF Book Reviews
The Highwayman: A Novel of Corona by R. A. Salvatore
CDS Books, March, 2004Hardcover, 372 pages
ISBN: 1593150164
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Fans of the Dark Elf or the Demon Wars series are in for a
treat with Bob Salvatore's stand-alone fantasy prequel set
in the world of Corona. In God's Year 54, Bransen Garibond
is a young orphaned cripple who lives with the monks who are
the only people who will tolerate his slobbering and
ungainly walk. Although he is deformed on the outside,
Bransen's mind is sharp and nimble. His curiosity helps him
discover his past: he is the son of
Bran Dynard, a monk of the religion of Abelle and his wife, the beautiful and
mysterious Sen Wi, who were both killed by the corrupt
denizens of Corona for showing pity to a criminal. Drawing
on the magic and mind power of his parents' religion, Bransen
learns to make his body whole and to fight with his mother's sword.
He takes on a Robin Hood like role, helping the downtrodden populace
against the cruel and arbitrary rule of the corrupt upper classes.
The Highwayman is great, swashbuckling fun, filled with adventure, swordfights and romance. This is an excellent introduction to the world of Corona for those who haven't discovered Salvatore's brand of excitement and adventure. A new Drizzt Do'Urden story, "The Dowry," is an added bonus for fans of the Dark Elf.
Lovecraft by Hans Rodionoff, Enrique Breccia and Keith Giffen
Vertigo/DC Comics, March, 2004Graphic Novel (Mature Readers), 144 pages
ISBN: 1401201105
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
H.P Lovecraft (1890-1937) is one of the great American
horror masters. His influence has been felt throughout the
genres of horror, fantasy and sf and beyond. The truth behind
Lovecraft's life is as bizarre as one might expect from the
creator of Cthulu and the Old Ones. Based upon a screenplay about
Lovecraft's life, this new graphic novel asks the question, "What if
the Cthulhu and all the other nightmarish visions Lovecraft described
were real?" The story follows the major events in Lovecraft's life: his childhood
when he was forced to dress as a little girl, the death of his father
in an insane asylum, the loss of the family fortune, his writing career
and his failed romance. Overshadowing all these events is the
knowledge that Lovecraft gained from a secret book that was his
father's, called the Necronomicon which opens a gate to a world
of pure horror. Lovecraft spends his life battling the monsters from
Arkham, which are determined to take Lovecraft's very soul.
Howard Lovecraft's tortured life provides rich material for the imaginations of Hans Rodionoff and Keith Giffenand, and the perfectly suited illustration style of Enrique Breccia. Breccia manages to convey both the grotesquerie of the Lovecraftian universe and the pathos of Lovecraft's life in this fascinatingly creepy story.
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Viking, February, 2004Hardcover, 376 pages
ISBN: 0670032891
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
In this third installment of the wild and witty
series began in The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book,
Jurisfiction agent in training and real world SpecOps
Literary Detective Tuesday Next (she's currently on leave from
SpecOps) is in need of a vacation after her
last case, in which she at least temporarily defeated arch villain Archeron Hades
and the Goliath Corporation. In Tuesday's alternative reality world
people are simply mad for books and Tuesday herself has the ability
to "read herself in" to any book she wishes. Tuesday decides to take her
vacation in the Well of Lost Plots, one of the subbasements of
the Great Library, where all published fiction is stored. All
books are actually created in the Well of Lost Plots, though most
never make it up to the Great Library. Through the
Character Exchange Program, Tuesday takes up
residence in a pedestrian crime thriller where she takes
on the stock role of a woman named Mary. She has lots
of time to carry out her Jurisfiction duties, so long as
she shows up to say her character's lines. (And if this doesn't make
the least bit of sense to you, your best bet is
to purchase and read The Eyre Affair before proceeding any further). Alas, Tuesday's
vacation time is cut short when she is called into action
by Miss Haversham to investigate a murder. But the Well
of Lost Plots is a very dangerous place. Deadly grammasites
rip through stories, changing the meaning of text and characters
or transforming them into something else entirely,
the terrifying mispeling vyrus can turn a mop into a map
at a moment's notice, and dreadful books (like the one where
Tuesday has been living) can be dumped into the Text Sea
at any time. When the ruling powers of the BookWorld
prepare to release UltraWord, "the ultimate reading experience,"
Tuesday realizes that something is dreadfully wrong in BookWorld,
something that could destroy all fiction.
After Jasper Fforde's first two books, one wondered where Fforde could possibly go next. Could he outdo himself? Apparently, such fears were unfounded, for The Well of Lost Plots is the best Tuesday Next book yet. The pace is frenetic and the literary allusions fly thick and fast in this extremely funny, witty and imaginative novel. Thursday Next is still an appealing heroine who successfully completes all her wild assignments, from managing nursery-rhyme characters on strike to conducting anger-management sessions for the main characters of of Wuthering Heights, to spotting the black market sale of plot devices (a favorite: the old "Suddenly a shot rang out!). In an effort to synchronize the UK and US publication schedules, Fforde's next book, Something Rotten will be published in August, 2004, making for a double treat for those that love a good literary feast.
--Claire E. White
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