I had written a few quick reviews a while ago and I am going to start adding them to the Compendium over the next couple of days or so. These two reviews are of two books by Christopher Golden. One a comic tie-in for Hellboy and one the beginning of a trilogy.
I expect to be reading The Borderkind and The Lost Ones next month so I’ll follow up with reviews of the remaining two books of the Myth Hunters/Borderkind Trilogy.
As for Hellboy, I have on my shelves Hellboy Novels by Tim Lebbon, Mark Morris, and the Odder Jobs set of anthologies as well. Maybe I’ll do a Hellboy Nightstand Review Special next year.
Hellboy: The Bones of Giants
Christopher Golden is working with characters that have been around for some time in comic book form. Some people might find that a hindrance when picking up this book since they might not follow Hellboy story. That, I say, is bullshit. Golden takes both Hellboy and Abe Sapien and introduces them to the reader as if they were brand new characters. You do not need to know anything about Hellboy comics to get a sense of who he is and how he acts. Same goes for Sapien. Would it make the story any better? Not really, it’s pretty damn good to begin with, but it might enhance your reading. Golden fleshes out the minor characters as well. Don’t be worried that you don’t know the Hellboy “mythos” to enjoy the story.
What makes it good? Hellboy, Thor’s Hammer, Giant Zombie Skeletons, Old Norse Gods, a wisecracking squirrel, and Hellboy beating the shit out of Zombie Giants. What is there not to like? Nothing, I tell you. Well, OK here is a bit more in depth review. The story has a great concept and Golden is almost flawless in its execution. He is a great writer and has really yet to disappoint me. He moves the plot along at a brisk pace but not to fast that you miss out on some great prose and character development. There are a few little bumps throughout the novel but nothing that drives to distraction.
One gripe I have with the book is the handling of Thor’s remains near the middle of the novel. It seems that Golden couldn’t figure out what to do with a loose end(and a rather big one at that) so he takes the easy way out. Dealing with this loose end, in a way that would satisfy me, would in itself be a small novella, so he probably did the right thing with considering length and pacing. But it still bugs me.
Despite this gripe the book is a great read. Don’t let the media tie-in part of this book make you put it back on the shelf. It is top notch writing and storytelling.
Overall Rating-9 out of 10
Get this book. Read this book. Enjoy this book. Don’t worry that it is part of a comic mythos. Golden does an excellent job in bringing new readers into this wonderful world.
The Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden
Off the bat I didn’t like Oliver Bascombe. He was a bit whiny and indecisive. Christopher did not give any inkling that Oliver would be anything but a whiny character. Actually through the first few chapters of the book I was hoping that either he would be killed off and Chris would focus on someone else or Bascombe would grow a pair. Well it didn’t happen. Throughout the story Oliver grew as a character. Which in of itself is an interesting feat these days in fiction since most authors think that growth takes place over the course of two paragraphs not throughout an entire book. Chris winds his way through the story adding more and more to Bascombe. And by the mid point of the story I was actually starting to like the bloke.
Golden shines with his characterization of Frost and don’t call him Jack Frost because you’ll find yourself with a nice pointy icicle in your eye. Frost has a bit of bravado to him and arrogance but Golden is also able to show that Frost is a little bit frightened by what is happening with The Borderkind. Hell, he should be a bit scared since every Hunter is out there trying to find him and his friends to kill them. And poor Oliver Bascomb, he gets involved, just by being up and awake at the wrong time and place. Tough luck, buddy.
Golden weaves an intricate tale of “real” world and the world beyond the Veil. There are times that I put the book down when he switched back to the “real” world since I was more interested in learning more about the land behind the Veil. (Which now I suspect we will learn more in the second book of this trilogy) But it did give me pause to continue at times. Golden seemed to be more interested in the lands beyond the Veil more than the “real” world and it came through in his writing.
Golden is a superb writer. He is able to move the story along without sacrificing his characterization. There are times in the beginning that I found myself bored with the “real” world narrative because the character of the grizzled old, divorced Detective with a strained relationship with his daughter seemed clichéd. And to me he was not an interesting character. Actually to be quite honest I groaned when Golden introduced him. How many grizzled detectives with dysfunctional family relationships that are also damn fine police detectives are there in New England. Really. But never to fear Golden turned this rather benign character into someone that I started to root for in the end.
Golden takes myths from all over the world and makes them real. Each time you travel behind the Veil you want to see what new myth or legend Golden has mined to include in the narrative. A great story that after a few lagging areas in the beginning really takes hold and drags you to the end.
Overall Rating- 8 out of 10
Since this is a trilogy (I didn’t know this until after I finished it and saw a quick excerpt from the forthcoming The Borderkind and The Lost Ones) you might want to wait until all three books are out so you don’t have to wait to finish the entire story. Well I say phooey to that idea. Get this book. Read it. The second one is coming out in February of 2007. That isn’t that long to wait. Plus you’ll get to experience this great story. [Update- I wrote this review before the second and third of the trilogy were released. All three books are out now.]
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