Books of Magic

Amazing, amazing... Reading this book after having read almost all other books by Neil Gaiman was quite invigorating. I definitely prefer Gaiman's graphic novels (Sandman, Death and The Books of Magic, etc) than his books, especially because of the difference in format, besides, of course, the narrative combined with great artists. John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson elevate this graphic novel to a new level, transforming it into a must-read fpor everyone who loves Comics.

I can easily remember Rowling's Harry Potter and Le Guin's Sparrowhawk when learning magic, but it's Timothy Hunter who comes close to our mundane reality. It is precisely our proximity to Hunter which gives the book one of the best qualities of the Fantasy genre, which is to establish a dialectical and quite interesting relationship between the reader and the main character when dealing with the fantastic. The Books of Magic is a masterpiece after all, easily getting alongside Sandman (unfortunately I can not say the same about the author's books).

This was pretty good, but there were some moments when it felt a little "long in the tooth." The point of the graphic novel, which actually collects a four-issue story, is to introduce Tim Hunter, a young 12-year old boy to the world of magic. He has the potential to be a great magician someday, but he has to choose to follow the path. He has four guides who will show him parts of the path along the way. If you like myth and fantasy, this is a book for you. Don't expect a lot of action; there is not that much of that. It is a lot of exposition, which is why I liked it, but I don't love it. I will add that the art of the book is excellent overall, and it goes along with the story very well. Overall, the set serves to set up Tim's future adventures. It is written by Neil Gaiman, so you can be assured it is well written and good stuff, but as I said, it is mostly an expository piece.

By the way, readers who enjoy this book would probably enjoy Alan Moore's Promethea, which has a very similar feel to this book. Moore's work does have some action to it.