Bookish Thoughts

The real draw of The Last Hero  is the artwork. The story itself is fun and interesting. It's probably the best of all the stories that involve Rincewind and Cohen, because those two are best in small doses. But it also does a good job of incorporating all the other characters, from Lord Vetinari and Captain Carrot, to the wizards, the gods, and, of course, Death. And it half seems like that was just so Paul Kidby would have an excuse to draw all of these characters. The story is simple and straight forward, with a classic Pratchett twist. Having read some of his earlier work I have a much greater appreciation for this story. It's still lacking in some ways, and there were a number of characters I wish had been woven into the story (like literally any female character at all who resides on the Discworld). But the artwork is stunning, and that's really what this book is about. The fantastic illustration of the characters, the gods, and the Great A'Tuin.

I really wanted to like this book. I wanted to fall head over heels in love with it from the moment I saw it. The book itself is gorgeous. My mother-in-law got me the hardcover version for Christmas, and I can't imagine reading it any other way. The formatting is so integral to the story-telling that I even wonder how this will work as a paperback or e-book. It's part prose, part graphic novel, with a smattering of illustrations, both colored and not, throughout. Even the pages are colored in a sepia-toned gradient to look old-timey. The switches between prose and graphic novel are handled very well, especially in the beginning. It leads to great pacing and lends a sense of loving craftsmanship to the entire book. So it was disappointing to discover that the story itself was subpar. The book jacket describes The Explorer's Guild as an action-packed adventure story in the style of Rudyard Kipling, a return to the "golden age" of adventure stories. Unfortunately ...

Lauren Redniss'  Radioactive  is a light biography of Marie Curie, focusing on her love life and scientific discoveries. When I say light, I mean that this book took me about three hours to read, total. It's more of a display book than anything else, with really cool art and nearly self-contained stories on each page. You could easily flip open to any page in this book and start reading without missing too much. Here are a few examples of pages from the book, which are really cool to look at: The science isn't very detailed. The author chooses to give a very basic overview of the concepts of radioactivity, nuclear fission, and half-lives. But that didn't really bother me, in part because I just liked looking at the art and in part because I already have a decent understanding of most of the science. Redniss intersperses the story of Marie Curie with a history of her work through science. She touches on some of the "miracle-cure" radium-based pr...

I love a good fairy tale. One of my favorites is Stardust , which I've read and seen several times. My favorite version is the illustrated novel, which includes 175 paintings done by Charles Vess. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous are really add to the fairy tale quality of the book. It's like being a little kid and reading a picture book again, except for the occasionally adult content. Stardust  follows young Tristran Thorn as he goes searching for his heart's desire. Unlike Dorothy, he discovers that it's a lot farther away than his own back yard. Tristran goes off in search of a fallen star, in the hopes that he can present it to young Victoria and secure her hand in marriage. Tristran isn't the only one searching for the star though. A witch is seeking her heart which will grant her additional youth. A trio of brothers are racing to find her; the first one who does will secure the Lordship of Stormwal. And poor Ditchwater Sal would be l...

I've been reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for several years now. I actually read my first Discworld novel during my freshman year of college. But then I stopped taking every single class pass/fail and ran out of time to read anything I was being graded on. I didn't get back to the series until after graduation and have spent the last four years occasionally visiting the Discworld. I've read the first 26 (of 39) novels, without seeing much artwork. There aren't any maps included in the books (only an admonishment that you can't map a sense of humor). The covers of the editions I'm reading are fairly abstract. And I haven't sought out the movies or graphic novels. The world existed entirely in my imagination, and I was happy to let it. Then The Last Hero arrived in the mail and I was floored. The book is huge (10.8" x 9.2", according to Amazon) and fully illustrated. The illustrations, by Paul Kidby, are amazing. They...