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The Circle Series: The Visual Edition of Black, Red, and White by Ted Dekker

Pages: 416
Ages: 14+
First Published: Dec. 29 2009
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:

One of the benefits of the last shift at the Java Hut: free caffeine …

Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils ‘10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.

Ted Dekker is one of my favourite authors and I was very excited to read this as I haven’t read any of his fantasy yet, meaning I hadn’t read the original novels this graphic novel was based on either. Absolutely amazing story. Part fantasy and part urban fantasy. Thomas Hunter is nicked in the head with a bullet and starting from that point on whenever he falls asleep he travels between two realities. One a medieval sort of world where evil is fast encroaching upon good and he is the one who can find the answer to saving the world by finding the long lost Books of Histories and travelling into the other reality gain information. While in the modern world he realizes that the two worlds are somehow connected through him and here he may be the only one with the answer to a terrorist who is unleashing a deadly virus on the world if his demands for nuclear submission from the entire planet are not met. Eventually Thomas starts dreaming on purpose to travel between worlds, sometimes needing a bash over the head or a sedative to get to sleep quickly.

In the alternative Earth, good and evil are much more visible than they are in the modern reality but as Thomas travels he never knows which one is the dream and which one is the reality. Ultimately this is a fantastic Christian allegory of the Gospels, the Passion of Christ and the power of Baptism. An utterly thrilling story on many levels. Often reading like an episode of 24 when in the modern reality. There is the president under pressure, terrorists, kidnapped scientists and such but on the other hand when in the alternate reality it reads more like a grown-up, more violent Narnia-like story and how the two combine makes for a riveting read. The artwork is topnotch. Beautiful, dark and bold whichever is needed to represent the mood. Overall, a stunning piece of allegorical Christian fantasy.

Of course, the original novels are written for adults, but I would classify this graphic novel as a cross-over suitable for both adults and young adults. There is a young adult set of novels that compliments the series that are being turned into GNs as well. I think at this time 4 of the 6 books have been done. I’ll wait for an omnibus edition like this one.

I enjoyed this so much that my next foray into Dekker’s backlist is going to be this series, which also has a 4th book (Green), and all it’s various offshoot series.

White Cat by Holly Black
The Curse Workers, Book 1

Pages: 310 pages
Ages: 14+
First Published: May 4, 2010
Publisher: McElderry Books
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

I woke up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles.

Reason for Reading: I’m a fan of the author.

Set in an alternate reality almost identical to the Earth we live in with one small difference, some people are born with a special ability which is called a “curse”. One must touch another’s skin for the effects to take place. These “curse workers” are a minority of the population and their curses range from luck to changing emotions to causing death. In this world everyone wears gloves to keep everyone safe from “curses”. No one knows who may be a “worker” but working itself has been deemed illegal.

In this world Cassell finds himself the only non-worker in a family of workers. His family, along with others who have a strong heritage of workers, are what we would call organized crime families, mobsters and con artists. Since Cassell can’t “work” he at least has honed his skills as a con artist. But his life starts to unravel when he finds himself sleepwalking, having dreams sent from a white cat and beginning to notice some unaccounted for events in his life. His brothers act strangely when he asks them about it and Cassell begins to feel that perhaps he is the subject of a huge con himself.

I loved every word of this book! I was hooked from the first sentence and couldn’t continue with my regular life until I had finished the book. The world Black creates here is very dark and dangerous. One wonders if any character can truly be trusted and the main character himself is not exactly an honest citizen. The direction the story takes is surprising and makes compelling reading. The unexpected actions of characters, including Cassell himself, are shocking and yet as one gets to know them not out of character at all. In this world of dark magic and crime the back stabbing characters are always at each other and it’s as matter of magic against magic and wits against wits. The ending is absolutely brilliant and so appropriate! Don’t expect any happy, happy, joy, joy ending here! I can’t wait for book two!

The Child Thief by Brom

Pages: 481
First Published: Aug. 25, 2009
Genre: urban fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

It would happen again tonight: the really bad thing.

Reason for Reading: I was very interested in a retelling of Peter Pan from an author known previously for horror books.
Summary: This is a modern re-telling of the Peter Pan story. If you’ve read the original you’ll know that Peter is rather an arrogant, self-centered boy and the author takes that Peter and creates a very dark urban fantasy. Amazingly, the basic plot line is very similar to the original. Peter comes to the real world to find runaway kids and steals them by tricking them into following him back to his world, Avalon. There he has created a group of children who fight against the evil Flesh-eaters who are out to destroy them and the island, headed by the fearful, Captain. Peter has his mother figure in the woman who is the lifeblood of Avalon, the one who keeps the magic alive and Avalon hidden, Modron, the Lady of the Lake.

Comments: This was a fantastic read! First off though, the book itself is beautiful. Brom also illustrates the book with full page b/w drawings which are very dark and haunting, several of them remind me of the artist Hans Holbein’s woodcuts which feature Death. Plus in the middle of the book are full colour paintings of the major characters!

The book is both enchanting and disturbing at the same time. I love the folklore connections of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake. Avalon itself is inhabited by pixies and elves and all manner of creatures; while the mythos behind it all is fascinating. In the Author’s Note at the end, Brom goes into detail where he found his inspiration, which in itself is interesting. Peter and his gang of runaways, The Lost Ones, The Devils (they call themselves) are disturbing. A handful of them become major characters who the reader becomes emotionally involved with (one way or the other). The writing and characterization is brilliant. One can never forget that these are children and so it becomes a dreaded but compelling read that can’t be put down as they brutally kill and slay their enemies and swear like gangsters. Among themselves The Devils form a group that reminds one of The Lord of the Flies. And yet through it all, there is one runaway, Nick, whom we meet near the beginning, who never quite falls under the spells of the magic, Avalon, Peter, who knows that Avalon is not all there is to fight for. A truly, splendid, wonderfully crafted story. Very dark and haunting, not for those with weak stomachs (heads fly frequently), but both urban fantasy fans and fans of fairytale and classic book retellings will not want to miss out on this one. I will most certainly go back and read Brom’s two previous horror books and be on the lookout for his next offering.

I don’t want to post an illustration here and infringe on copyrights but going to this link will take you to a lot of pictures featured in the book. Unfortunately, the creepiest one that especially gave me a Hans Holbein vibe is not shown but scroll down about halfway for the woman with the monster head things, that will give you an idea! Most of the colour illustrations are shown, though again not my favourite.

Hell’s Horizon by D.B. Shan (aka Darren Shan)
The City Trilogy, Book 2

Pages: 389
Ages: 18+
Finished: May 4, 2009
First Published: Mar 5, 2009 UK & Apr. 3 2009 CAN
Genre: urban fantasy
Rating: 5/5

Reason for Reading: next in the series. Received a review copy from Harper Collins Canada.

First sentence:

In room 812 of the Skylight Hotel a woman lay close to death.

Comments: The summary of this book is going to be very hard to understand if you haven’t read the first book. You can read my review of Procession of the Dead for a fuller understanding of the story without any spoilers. This second book starts off with completely different characters within The Cardinal’s Troops, his own personal police/security force. The plot runs parallel with the first novel with very few crossover’s until the end. The theme centers around a vicious killing of a young woman and Al Jeery, Troop member, is personally assigned, by The Cardinal himself, to solve the case. The case becomes personal to Jeery as he finds loved ones crossing paths with his investigation. This book also delves deeper into the mysterious Incan group of blind men in white robes, has more of a mystical element to it and centers on the mysterious but feared and dreaded hitman/killer/torturer Paucar Wami first met in book one.

A quick-paced read that ultimately reads like a mystery thriller for 3/4s of the book. Second books in trilogies are always compared to the first as we have expectations set up for us and while I certainly do describe this as a dark, violent urban fantasy, I found this not as dark, not as mafioso, not as violent (but don’t get me wrong it is plenty violent!). Comparisons aside, this was a fantastic read, the mystery angle really shocked me having read a lot of Shan’s books I didn’t expect that angle coming from him. It was very well done. The characters are just as eccentric, as expected, from the victim’s cross-dressing rich brother to the octogenarian pimp who always knows the word on the street. Those characters make it sound seedy but it’s not, I don’t remember any s*x scenes at all!

I’m hardly doing the book justice as it is just such an intricate book and since it runs parallel with the first one there are crossovers which are infrequent to start off with but rush to a head at the end. Now that I have read the final words of book one and the final words of book two, I just can’t wait for the two to meet up with each other in the final book, City of the Snakes, due Mar. 2010 in UK, which means a month or so later for me here in Canada.

I can’t find these books available new on amazon.com, so am thinking they haven’t been published by an American publisher, which means you Americans may not find them on the shelves of your local bookseller. If you like urban fantasy these books really are a MUST read and I can’t recommend them highly enough. You must find a way to buy them. My links above with take you to amazon.ca where you can easily purchase them. If price+ship doesn’t work for you there , here’s a place American’s can order direct from the UK and receive Free Shipping, The Book Depository. The mass market pb’s are only $9US, but you’ll have to wait for Sept. for this one to be published in mmpb. The Trade PBs are reasonable enough especially considering, you pay no shipping from the UK. PS - I get no money from that link. It’s free advertising for them, I just want you to read these books!