Reviews
Los Libros de la Magia by Paul Johnson, Scott Hampton, John Bolton, Charles Vess, Neil Gaiman
charlibirb's review against another edition
4.0
5 for the artwork
3 because the whole thing felt like the exposition to something without anything happening. If I should have to read something first, or if there are follow-up stories to make this more understandable, the book should reference it. I've read "Sandman," and sure, there were a lot of characters that appeared, but it felt like a book full of references and possibilities, rather than a journey. I didn't feel like Tim Hunter grew as a person, made any actual choices, or changed in any drastic way. He just learned a bunch of stuff. Also, all 4 of his guides may as well have been the same person. They didn't feel or look significantly different, and their separate motivations were a bit jumbled and unclear.
VERY pretty artwork, though. Gaiman always builds a fantastic world, but his characters are mostly a bit 2 dimensional.
I guess there are more books in this series, and if the artwork keeps up being as beautiful, and the world-building is as cool, I'll probably read them, despite the thin-ness of the plot and story.
3 because the whole thing felt like the exposition to something without anything happening. If I should have to read something first, or if there are follow-up stories to make this more understandable, the book should reference it. I've read "Sandman," and sure, there were a lot of characters that appeared, but it felt like a book full of references and possibilities, rather than a journey. I didn't feel like Tim Hunter grew as a person, made any actual choices, or changed in any drastic way. He just learned a bunch of stuff. Also, all 4 of his guides may as well have been the same person. They didn't feel or look significantly different, and their separate motivations were a bit jumbled and unclear.
VERY pretty artwork, though. Gaiman always builds a fantastic world, but his characters are mostly a bit 2 dimensional.
I guess there are more books in this series, and if the artwork keeps up being as beautiful, and the world-building is as cool, I'll probably read them, despite the thin-ness of the plot and story.
miredwig's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
melina27's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
runia's review against another edition
5.0
Ma che figata!
Io sono una supercasual per quanto riguarda il mondo DC, ho visto sì e no qualche film, ma le cose belle si riconoscono sempre. Questa è una cosa bella. È una storia di formazione: Tim Hunter, un ragazzino "normale" appassionato di skate, potrebbe diventare un mago, e potrebbe cambiare la storia del mondo. Lo farà? Nel suo viaggio alla scoperta della magia sarà accompagnato da quattro pezzi grossi, in una esplorazione e un susseguirsi di esperienze che pochi hanno avuto la fortuna di poter fare.
Un fumetto in quattro parti, scritto da Neil Gaiman e con un illustratore diverso per ogni parte, uno stile di disegno sempre diverso ma che nell'insieme si combina molto bene con gli altri.
La storia è piena di rimandi a personaggi del mondo DC, per un appassionato dev'essere tanta roba.
Tim ha un po' la faccia da pirla e si lascia trascinare dalla corrente, ma va bene così, è un ragazzino. Sta crescendo. Le tavole comunque sono bellissime.
Io sono una supercasual per quanto riguarda il mondo DC, ho visto sì e no qualche film, ma le cose belle si riconoscono sempre. Questa è una cosa bella. È una storia di formazione: Tim Hunter, un ragazzino "normale" appassionato di skate, potrebbe diventare un mago, e potrebbe cambiare la storia del mondo. Lo farà? Nel suo viaggio alla scoperta della magia sarà accompagnato da quattro pezzi grossi, in una esplorazione e un susseguirsi di esperienze che pochi hanno avuto la fortuna di poter fare.
Un fumetto in quattro parti, scritto da Neil Gaiman e con un illustratore diverso per ogni parte, uno stile di disegno sempre diverso ma che nell'insieme si combina molto bene con gli altri.
La storia è piena di rimandi a personaggi del mondo DC, per un appassionato dev'essere tanta roba.
Tim ha un po' la faccia da pirla e si lascia trascinare dalla corrente, ma va bene così, è un ragazzino. Sta crescendo. Le tavole comunque sono bellissime.
mtmdays's review against another edition
5.0
Very inventive, plot-wise, and as for dialogue, character development, and setting, absolutely amazing. This guy makes me want to play more DnD.
reasonpassion's review against another edition
5.0
So very much fun with a lack of simplicity and a desire to bring the reader on a journey both interesting and mind-expanding. The supporting characters bring a great deal to the story of what is essentially humanity's choice to see wonder or dwell in the mundane, notably John Constantine who has the most heart even as he seems the most cynical. Definitely worth reading and then reading again.
pagesofpins's review against another edition
Started off looking a lot like an early 90's Harry Potter, then developed into a sort of American Gods travelogue through time and space to meet every occultic comic character ever, except....not nearly as interesting as either of those. Flat characters, boring dialogue, tired plot, pretty decent art. DNF, sad sad panda.
alisarae's review against another edition
3.0
Incapsulates postmodernism, and would be really good to teach it using this book. The story itself, at least in this set of the first four, is a bit dull. The art is wonderful though!
iamericat22's review against another edition
5.0
Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. When I heard he had a graphic novel, published years prior to the release of Harry Potter, that detailed the story of a bespectacled boy and his owl beginning the journey of the call to magic, I knew I had to read and compare.
Fortunately, The Books of Magic series (only the first written by Gaiman) is more an ode to Joesph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey." And for the record, Gaiman defended J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series by saying they both drew from standard story archetypes but were both stories of different measure.
The artwork in books of magic is beautiful. The story was dark, intriguing, and full of Easter egg nods to Gaiman's highly excellent Sandman graphic novel series. Read Sandman first, and then cleanse the palate with this gem.
#5StarRead
Fortunately, The Books of Magic series (only the first written by Gaiman) is more an ode to Joesph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey." And for the record, Gaiman defended J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series by saying they both drew from standard story archetypes but were both stories of different measure.
The artwork in books of magic is beautiful. The story was dark, intriguing, and full of Easter egg nods to Gaiman's highly excellent Sandman graphic novel series. Read Sandman first, and then cleanse the palate with this gem.
#5StarRead