One of my favorite books I read last year was Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I am an unabashed Gaiman fan. I even participated in the Dream King Challenge. So you can imagine how unbelievably excited I was when I won a limited edition copy of The Graveyard Book from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. If you've never checked out Pat's website, I encourage you to do so. Even if you aren't a "fantasy" genre reader, there are so many interesting books listed you'll probably find a ton of new books to read.Anyway. On to The Graveyard Book. I actually read the story online as an E-book from the library. I really didn't want to mess up the limited edition book so after I read the story I went back through and checked out all the lovely artwork.
If you haven't yet read this wonderful story, I'll give you a little synopsis. The story opens up to an assassin who enters a family's home and kills the entire family...well almost. He doesn't kill the youngest Owen. The baby is spirited to a nearby graveyard where the ghosts become his guardians and he is dubbed "Nobody Owens." He learns tricks and stories from these ghosts but eventually he must grow up, leave the cemetery and find out who killed his family and why.
I loved this book. Bod, as Nobody is dubbed, is so curious and smart and I just fell in love with him. The ghosts are amazingly well portrayed. It's one of those books where the words combined with the few illustrations make it just visually stunning. I could imagine all the scenes just as if I was watching it.
Which made me excited to go to my illustrated version. How gorgeous is the cover?
The front flap opens to show Bod as a baby walking down the assassin's knife. Loved it.
I loved how Bod was drawn. I thought he looked pretty much how I envisioned him.
I loved how Bod was drawn. I thought he looked pretty much how I envisioned him.
This edition was made by Subterranean Press. I get their email newsletters. They do some gorgeous work. It looks like The Graveyard Book edition has been sold out but they have a limited edition of Smoke and Mirrors.
If you haven't read this Newbery Award winning book yet, please go out and read it.
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This was a terrific book. Far and away my favorite character was Liza the witch, and my favorite chapters were a tossup between the ghouls and the Danse Macabre (for obvious reasons). It's still not quite my favorite YA book of this nature though -- that remains Clive Barker's "The Thief of Always".
ReplyDeleteOoh, I am SO jealous! What a gorgeous limited edition. I love Pat's Fantasy Hotlist as well, though I rarely enter his contests. Now I SHOULD!
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