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Book Review: Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Allen Williams

Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Allen Williams.

Katherine Tegen Books, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0062414465

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

 

 

Who better to take Pan’s Labyrinth, Spanish filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed dark, surrealist fairytale of a film and translate it into a children’s book than German children’s fantasy author Cornelia Funke? Ofelia isn’t your ordinary princess in a tower with a life under the control of a vicious, dictatorial stepfather: she is a child caught in the middle of a revolution in Fascist Spain, who discovers she is also the main character in a mythical story.  Although she is the protagonist, the film was not a children’s movie, and the story is framed by adults’ actions and points of view (specifically, the sadistic Captain Vidal, who is Ofelia’s stepfather, and Mercedes, their housekeeper, who is a rebel spy).

The book alternates between Ofelia’s view of the world as a magical place; the story of her family (including mother, stepfather, and new brother) and the battle between the soldiers (headed by Captain Vidal) and the rebels; and intertwined fairytales that touch on their reality. All three of these together lead Ofelia to take on a magical quest at the entrance to an ancient labyrinth on their property at the urging of the elemental, Pan, a faun who tells her that she is really a princess, the daughter of the king of the underworld.  The faun tells her she will have to undertake three tasks in order to rejoin her parents in the underworld. The obstacles presented by dinner parties, a sick mother, a baby brother, an angry stepfather, the violence of the Fascists toward the rebels, and Mercedes the housekeeper’s subterfuges, all must be navigated in order for Ofelia to sneak off and try the terrifying tasks for a faun she isn’t exactly sure she can even trust.

Cornelia Funke’s poetic and fantastical language and style of writing perfectly suits the fairytale nature of the story.  Yes, Ofelia’s story takes place in a specific historical setting, but the reader doesn’t have to know the history of the Spanish Civil War to fall in love with this tale (although I wouldn’t have been averse to a historical note). Due to its being based on a film targeted to adults, however, there are some disturbing moments of violence and implied torture and cannibalism, as well as a significant amount of bloodletting. There is plenty of foreboding and horror in play here, even presented as a children’s book.

Allen Williams’ illustrations really make the book work. Many pages are framed with bending tree branches around the text, giving the reader a feeling of really traveling through a portal into an ancient forest. The individual fairytales are printed on gray paper and have a full page black-and-white pencil illustration facing them, bringing the fantastical to life. The drawing opposite the story “When The Faun Came To Life” is strikingly similar to the creature in the film. I strongly recommend that if you choose to purchase this, you spend the extra few dollars for a hardback for the pleasure you’ll get from the combination of text with illustration.

This isn’t a simple novelization. Cornelia Funke has created something special here, making del Toro’s darkly magical film and narrative accessible to young people.  Highly recommended, especially for del Toro and Funke fans, for ages 12+.

 

Contains: violence, blood, murder, brief scenes of torture, implied torture, death in childbirth, implied cannibalism

Posted on October 17, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Tor.com, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1250225689

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Elendhaven is a decaying city on the edge of the far north, rife with poverty, crime, violence, and despair, surrounded with dark waters poisoned with magic. It is here that, abandoned and nameless, Johann acquired his name and vocation as a criminal and murderer, and learned he was invulnerable– not quite human. Tall, skeletal, and pale, Johann somehow escapes the notice of the people around him– until it’s too late. Johann has been stalking fussy, nonthreatening Florian Leickenbloom, the last member of one of the great houses of Elendhaven, after his family all died from a mysterious plague. He suspects Florian is a sorcerer, and convinces Florian to hire him. On the pretense of bringing Elendhaven prosperity once again, Florian has been undermining any chances developers and businessmen offer to the city in an attempt to destroy what is left of the city. Johann is the Monster of Elendhaven, but while Florian, with his devious plans and black sorcery, may not look the part, he is equally monstrous.

Imagine the worst, most impoverished parts of Dickens’ London, populated with vengeful mages with black sorcery, and deathless, monstrous killers from myth, and pour a dark wash over it all, and you will have a pretty good picture of Elendhaven. Imagine a monster, in thrall to a sorcerer, seeking agency to pursue its desires, but thwarted again and again in the face of Florian’s need for vengeance for his sister. Johann has flashes of humor and empathy that provide occasional light moments, and there are a few moments of sadness and regret on Florian’s part. But none of it, nor the twisted love and desire that underlie the story redeem either character.

Giesbrecht’s worldbuilding is  vivid and fascinating, and I would love to see further exploration of it either in additional novellas or a longer book. My hat is off to her for creating a powerfully descriptive, memorable and fascinating story around two completely irredemable characters who somehow manage to connect with both each other and the reader. It’s a book the reader won’t soon forget.

Posted on October 16, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Only Ashes Remain (Market of Monsters #2) by Rebecca Schaeffer


Only Ashes Remain by Rebecca Schaeffer

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1328863553

Available: Hardcover,  Kindle edition, audio CD

 

Only Ashes Remain is the follow-up to Not Even Bones (previously reviewed here). At the beginning of this book, Nita and Kovit have escaped from the Death Market, leaving chaos and over a hundred deaths in their wake. Kovit, a former mob torturer, goes on the run, and Nita turns herself over to INHUP, the international organization charged with policing “unnaturals” and eliminating the dangerous ones. Shortly thereafter, she discovers that the boy she freed from her mother,Fabricio, who betrayed her to the Death Market, is also the son of someone high up in a mob family, and is on the run from them as well. In the first of many incidents in the book, Nita has to make decisions about whether vengeance, and death for those who threaten her, is worth the price. Taking advantage of INHUP’s willingness to take her to her closest relatives, she decides to contact her mother in Toronto, who saves her from a police investigation. Nita is unwilling to go back to the role her mother wants her to play in hunting and killing unnaturals, and leaves her, connecting with Kovit once again. Video of Nita with her ability to heal has been shared on the Internet, and her anonymity has been compromised, leaving her in constant danger from bounty hunters. Nita has some desperate choices to make, and feelings that she must come to terms with, about herself, Kovit, and who she can trust.

Many of the characters here tread questionable moral ground. Where previously Nita was a complicit but passive participant in the murders her mother committed, then a desperate victim of a black market dealer willing to do terrible things to escape and survive, now she has agency. And, as might be expected from a traumatized teenager raised in a home where murder is the norm, her impulsivity causes some serious problems, and her judgment is really, really poor.  Crossing her line of when it’s acceptable to kill becomes easier and easier for her, so much so that even Kovit warns her about what she is becoming– and Kovit never lets go of the knowledge that he is truly a monster. Nita, while she can’t witness Kovit’s enjoyment in torturing others without fear and disgust, also can’t break the connection she has with him. Only Ashes Remain is still gory and graphic in places, but in terms of torture, dissection, and body horror, much more is implied than shown (that doesn’t mean it isn’t shown at all, but it wasn’t quite as hard for me to handle).

Although Kovit’s background is considerably fleshed out, we’re already pretty clear on what kind of relationship he has now with Nita. Nita is a less sympathetic character, probably because she is claiming her agency in some pretty murderous ways and keeps doing exactly the wrong thing after being told not to do it. Still, the plot races along, characters new and old add some interesting flavor, with a few loose ends possibly showing up again in the third book. We’re left wondering what’s reallly going on at INHUP, how Fabricio and his family play into the story, if the mob will catch up with Kovit, what role Nita’s mother plays in all of this, and how Nita and Kovit’s story will end. Despite the fact that Kovit is a monster who feeds off people’s pain and Nita is now responsible for multiple murders, Schaeffer has been a virtuoso in drawing them as characters that the reader still wants to make it.

There’s a lot of moral gray area to navigate in this book, as well as the gore, murder, and torture, so, again, it will take a special kind of reader to appreciate it.  For those readers, though, Only Ashes Remain is a solid sequel to the first book in the series. Highly recommended.

 

 

Posted on October 15, 2019 by , Reply
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