Latest Novel Gone Graphic: A Game of Thrones

In a little over a month Bantam Books will be releasing A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, volume 1, making George R.R. Martin the latest in a spate of popular English-language novelists to have their bestselling works transformed into graphic novels. This trend–which many attribute to the boom in interest in Japanese comicbook art (manga) brought on by popular anime shows like Pokemon,  Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece–has seen the adaptions of novels by Stephan King, Stephanie Meyer, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Anne Rice, Jim Butcher, Eoin Colfer, and Richelle Mead, among many others. Even the classics are being adapted to the graphic novel format, like Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities and Stoker’s Dracula.

I’ve always followed this trend at bit of a distance. I know, for instance, that the Stephanie Meyer Twilight graphic novel series is immensely popular, but never bothered to pick it up myself. I am a fan of the original novels (and the movies) and just can’t imagine what else I would get out of reading yet another version of the same material. I can see, perhaps, making the classics graphic novels would make them more appealing to a younger readership; but as for re-hashing bestselling novels, I’m afraid I don’t get it.

Thoughts? Anyone?

The Thirteen Hallows, by Michael Scott

The Book:

The Thirteen Hallows
By Michael Scott and Colette Freedman
Tor Books
Published December 6, 2011

 

The Hallows. Ancient artifacts imbued with a primal and deadly power. But are they protectors of this world, or the keys to its destruction? A gruesome murder in London reveals a sinister plot to uncover a two-thousand-year-old secret. For decades, the Keepers guarded these Hallows, keeping them safe and hidden and apart from each other. But now the Keepers are being brutally murdered, their prizes stolen, the ancient objects bathed in their blood. Now, only a few remain. With her dying breath, one of the Keepers convinces Sarah Miller, a practical stranger, to deliver her Hallow—a broken sword with devastating powers—to her American nephew, Owen…As Sarah and Owen search for the surviving Keepers, they unravel the deadly secret the Keepers were charged to protect. The mystery leads Sarah and Owen on a cat-and-mouse chase through England and Wales, and history itself, as they discover that the sword may be the only thing standing between the world…and a horror beyond imagining.

The Review

All right. Fine. I’ll admit it. I first picked up this book not because of the snazzy jacket art or because I felt like reading a good fantasy book (which I haven’t for a while), but because I was hoping The Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott was some sort of weird combination of Harry Potter and The Office. It wasn’t, of course. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Instead, The Thirteen Hallows reads more like a supped-up supernatural Da Vinci Code. It is rife with psychopathic hit men, gruesome murders, police chases, ritualistic sex, and enormous liberties taken with the Bible. The chapters are extremely short (two pages, on average) and the narration snappy, making the story feel much shorter than its 350 pages. This also lends to its very cinematic quality, jumping from one character’s perspective to another, just like a movie wipe between scenes.

I have to applaud Michael Scott for choosing to make the main protagonist (as much as there is one) a female, sword-swinging do-gooder. You don’t see many of those. Sarah Miller is a strong character, even if she herself is unwilling to admit it. With barely a bat of her eyelash, she takes on bloodthirsty demons and pitiless gangsters, all while keeping two steps ahead of the pursuant police. My only wish is that she could have had all her fight scenes with her clothes on.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read. I have to take points off for redundant bad guys (with exception of the Dark Man and his mistress, they all have interchangeable back stories and are, for no apparent reason, homosexual). Points are also lost for overusing the descriptions smells. A random thing, yes, but reading about “a mixture of excrement and stale sweat coupled with the bitter metallic odor of blood” for the twentieth time gets tedious. It just smacks of lack of imagination and ambition. By the end I was wishing the author(s) would fixate on another of the senses–or that the characters would all spontaneously develop head colds.

Finally, this book comes with a warning. If it were a movie, it would be rated R for lots of blood, violence, and sexual encounters. This is a book meant for mature audiences. Reader discretion is advised.

The Rating

Readability:         
Originality:           
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Thematic Quality:
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Overall Rating:

The Recommendation

Read it if you enjoy books like Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, Lehane’s Gone, Baby, Gone, or Preston and Child’s Relic. However, don’t expect as many twists and turns. This one is straight out action/adventure.

Best in Show: Book Covers 2011 Mainstream Adult edition

I’ve picked five fabulous covers to represent the best of the best of adult mainstream books in 2011. Haruki Murakami blows the competition out of the water with his fantastically designed cover for 1Q84. I’ve seen it crop up on many lists, and you will see why below. I also can’t get over the whimsically dark Night Circus cover nor the Oliver Sacks books which, when put together, form one neurobiology-inspired picture. Throw in the well executed font of The Uncoupling (not to mention the model town photograph) and some tossy-turvey waves of We, the Drowned, and all these covers are pitch perfect and deserve all the recognition my little blog can give.