A rollicking, genuine fairy tale, told with great appreciation for the genre and a sly sense of humor.
A dragon seeks vengeance against King William, who slew his dragon-love, in the second installment of Heckel’s (A Fairy-tale Ending, 2015) outlandish fantasy series.
Volthraxus, the Dragon of the North, is devastated to learn his beloved Magdela, the victim of a fairy curse, is dead. The dragon-slayer was none other than William Pickett, a former peasant whose bravery ultimately led to his being crowned King of Royaume. As Volthraxus’ minion, Beo the wolf, acts as a scout, the dragon flies to Castle White to abduct Will’s fiancee, Lady Rapunzel, known as “Elle.” Will then enlists his friend Edward Charming as his squire in his quest to rescue her. Both men want to prove themselves: Edward, when he was prince, was prophesied to kill the dragon himself. Will’s older sister and Edward’s bride, Elizabeth, and Edward’s ex-squire, Tomas, follow, and all four must contend with wizard Dracomancer. The sorcerer may have the know-how to vanquish Volthraxus, but he also has an army of zealots and a plan to seize control of the kingdom. Will’s pitchfork, already bathed in dragon blood, is capable of piercing a dragon’s hide; sadly, he left it in the old Dragon Tower, where Volthraxus lies in wait with Elle. Heckel’s story is unmistakably satire, with generous allusions to tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood.” It’s laced with robust humor, including a blatant reference to the Duran Duran song “Hungry Like the Wolf”; the three bears of fairy-tale fame are both vicious and adorable here, believing irony (or “imony,” as they call it) to be something edible. Still, Heckel treats the genre with respect, building a solid foundation for the story. There’s heroism, romance, and a giant troll, in a self-aware narrative with a no-frills style: “If one happens to find oneself a king someday, it would be advisable not to model one’s rule after the kings of fairy tale.” Reading the previous book isn’t required, but references throughout (how did Will slay the first dragon?) should make readers want to.
A rollicking, genuine fairy tale, told with great appreciation for the genre and a sly sense of humor.Pub Date: May 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-235932-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An eerie odyssey that would be right at home in the pages of the pulpy Warren comics.
The second, equally creepy novel from Deadspin columnist Magary (Someone Could Get Hurt, 2013, etc.).
Magary channeled postmodern horror-comedy in his first novel, The Postmortal, and here taps into a similar vein that posits an Everyman in a video game–like setting, with a Kafka-esque transformation thrown in for good measure. We meet Ben as the suburban family man has left his family in Maryland and arrives at a hotel in rural Pennsylvania for a business meeting the next day. He decides to go for a hike. And then all hell breaks loose. For starting out with such a grounded setup, Magary isn’t shy about getting weird fast. Ben is soon pursued by a pair of killers who wear the disembodied faces of skinned Rottweilers. He’s left messages with his name on them that read, “Stay on the path, or you will die.” He’s kidnapped by a cannibal giantess named Fermona who forces him to fight a man to death in her arena, and that’s before she sics the dwarves on him. Along the way, Ben is told his only solution is to find a demigodlike character called only “The Producer.” “I don’t even know if I’m still on Earth, or if I ate some kind of bad mushroom or something,” Ben tells his only companion, a talking crab named Crab. “I don’t know anything. But this path opened up and any time I leave it, something tries to kill me.” It seems that Ben is in an alternate dimension, one with two moons, death clouds, and time travel. It all unfolds much like a video game does, so readers who don’t enter this weird world with a lot of preconceived notions should have a blast. It’s worth noting that Magary even nails the ending with a Twilight Zone twist that would have Rod Serling nodding with approval.
An eerie odyssey that would be right at home in the pages of the pulpy Warren comics.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-56385-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Poignant and heartbreaking, eloquent and frightening, impeccably rendered, it’s a fable that reminds us how our lives are...
From one of the great masters of modern speculative fiction: Gaiman’s first novel for adults since Anansi Boys (2005).
An unnamed protagonist and narrator returns to his Sussex roots to attend a funeral. Although his boyhood dwelling no longer stands, at the end of the road lies the Hempstock farm, to which he’s drawn without knowing why. Memories begin to flow. The Hempstocks were an odd family, with 11-year-old Lettie’s claim that their duck pond was an ocean, her mother’s miraculous cooking and her grandmother’s reminiscences of the Big Bang; all three seemed much older than their apparent ages. Forty years ago, the family lodger, a South African opal miner, gambled his fortune away, then committed suicide in the Hempstock farmyard. Something dark, deadly and far distant heard his dying lament and swooped closer. As the past becomes the present, Lettie takes the boy’s hand and confidently sets off through unearthly landscapes to deal with the menace; but he’s only 7 years old, and he makes a mistake. Instead of banishing the predator, he brings it back into the familiar world, where it reappears as his family’s new housekeeper, the demonic Ursula Monkton. Terrified, he tries to flee back to the Hempstocks, but Ursula easily keeps him confined as she cruelly manipulates and torments his parents and sister. Despite his determination and well-developed sense of right and wrong, he’s also a scared little boy drawn into adventures beyond his understanding, forced into terrible mistakes through innocence. Yet, guided by a female wisdom beyond his ability to comprehend, he may one day find redemption.
Poignant and heartbreaking, eloquent and frightening, impeccably rendered, it’s a fable that reminds us how our lives are shaped by childhood experiences, what we gain from them and the price we pay.Pub Date: June 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-225565-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
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