Books: Hellboy, Fforde, Pullman, and the Fantasticks

[woodwardiocom]

Hellboy: The Companion by Weiner, Hall, Blake, and Mignola

Back when I co-wrote the Hellboy Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game there was still a lot about the Hellboy-verse that hadn't been revealed. Conqueror Worm (H. v5) and Hollow Earth (BPRD v1) were out, along with a couple of novels and one anthology, but that was it.

Now we're up to eight volumes each of Hellboy and BPRD,, a volume of Lobster Johnson, two volumes of Weird Tales, two live-action movies, a series of animated movies, another half-dozen novels, two more anthologies . . . and, along the way, we have received the definitive origins for Hellboy and his Hand, not to mention Abe, etc. So, while at the time my book was definitive, now it's superficial. This book is definitive. If you find Hellboy heavy going, pick it up.

(Oh, and there's a "thanks to Steve Jackson Games" in the acks, but neither I nor Phil Masters got billing, alas.)

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

This was a gift, though I'm blanking on whether it was from my bro or gato_no_naces. It's set in a satirical alternate England where Richard III is Rocky Horror and literature is Serious Business. Our heroine is part of the Literary Detectives, responsible for tracking down forgers and Baconists, and her job gets weirder when a minor Dickens character goes missing from the book . . . and turns up dead in the river. Terribly odd, highly literate, and very recommended.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I saw the movie, so I figured I'd pick up the book. One chapter in, I was thinking, "this girl is seriously unpleasant". Ten chapters in, I was kinda hooked. Our preteen heroine's heroine-ity isn't horribly unlikely (as in some other books), the world is complex, not cliched, and not over-explained, and it's surprisingly adult for what is nominally YA (what we called a "juvenile" in my day). Recommended. (Though, jeez, "gyptian" should take a capital letter, ya ponce.)

Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four by Peter David, Pascal Alixe

The further adventures of the Seventeeth Century FF, as previously told by Neil Gaiman. The big Neil is a tough act to follow, but David does a workmanlike job, though he relies a bit too much on anachronistic puns. Doc Doom is in rare form, however. The 1600s work well for him. Midly recommended.

Comments

Pullman trilogy

[malefica-v.livejournal.com]

I think The Golden Compass stands alone. However, if you read the second book you may strongly wish to read the third, as there are a plethora of loose ends to resolve. It's not a Shiny Happy Ending, but you're probably not surprised by that.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

"gypsy" isn't capitalized in our world, so why should "gyptian" be in theirs?

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "gypsy" means "one inclined to a nomadic way of life", while "Gypsy" means "a member of a (specific) nomadic people, see Romany." The "gyptians" are designed to resemble the latter, not the former.