Heretics of Dune (1984)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 508

'When things change, your absolute universe vanishes, no longer accesible for your self-limiting perceptions. The universe has moved beyond you.'

-First Draft, Atreides Manifesto, Bene Gesserit Archives

Fifteen-hundred years have passed since the God Emperor's extended reign came to an end. Previously we witnessed Leto II musing upon the role his religion had to play in the great work and the sacrifices he had to pay to ensure it was carried out. Now we're privy to how the various factions that endure respond to that legacy and how they choose to act within its various interpretations.

Each group dreams of dominance while attempting to make the best of what the Tyrant left them. They strive to elevate their place in the universe's new shape. They're hopeful elements adrift in the human current believing their order worthy of filling the impossible gap left by his absence. They even begin to believe the whispering assurances of their own ego.

Heretics explores the 'myth of the Messiah' after he's passed, mostly by reference to, and direct experience of, movements within the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.

The labels we give to things in some ways define and influence them, so it's fascinating to see how place names change over time. Frank incorporated that phenomenon into the book's structure and explores the question of whether or not the new names also change the people that reside there, or do old prejudices remain, hidden, diluted but still potent in the right hands?

Concepts and belief systems can also change and grow in the same manner. The Tyrant, for example, in some circles has become known as the Divided God, referencing the belief that he exists still as separate pearls of awareness in an endless dream. His Golden Path rolls onward.

Many different dependency infrastructures exist within the novel. Much of your reading will require you to recognise them and weigh their importance with regards to the bigger picture. I believe that's the best way to approach it, because those seeking a quick fix or a standalone resolution will be left wanting - the Divided God's story is split across more than one book. (Book VI is HERE.)

4 wordless understandings out of 5

NOTE: I'm aware that the picture on the cover is the same as on God Emperor of Dune (1981). It depicts a scene from Book IV, so was obviously an error on the publishers part (New English Library), but that's how my editions are.

The Halloween Tree (1972 / 2015)

Author: Ray Bradbury  |  Illustrator: Gris Grimly  |  Page Count: 144

'The wind played a flute in a chimney somewhere; an old song about time and dark and far places. The tall man shut up his smile like a bright pocketknife.'

A new HB edition of Bradbury's 1972 children's book that has black and white and colour illustrations by Gris Grimly in place of the classic Joe Mugnaini art. Joe's art is much more dramatically menacing, but Grimly's 'darkly whimsical' style is also well-suited to the text, a story of eight friends who go on a journey one magical Halloween night. They're trying to solve a mystery and save a friend who may or may not be feeling quite himself. As they search for one thing they uncover answers to many things, deepening the allure of the season.

It begins in an unnamed mid-west American state with Tom Skelton, aged thirteen, going out to trick or treat with his friends, each one dressed in a different but traditional fright-night costume. But why are they traditional? What do witches have to do with an autumnal festival? Why are bandaged mummies paraded just once a year? As the boys uncover the mysteries of Halloween in an inimitable Bradbury way the reader learns their origin, too. Well, one interpretation of such.

Grimly's inky illustrations are highly stylised, sometimes half a page, sometimes full page. They're well-placed for the most part, but there's one colour plate in particular set before the appearance of the text it relates to. I dislike when that happens. It's almost like having sound and picture not properly synced in a film.

The colour pages are glossy and attractive, so why is the paper stock used for the text such cheap quality? It's not at all what you'd expect to see in a HB edition of an author so well-loved by so many. The publisher probably paid a lot of money for the privilege of republishing, and I realise they likely had to offset costs somehow, but compromising on paper quality is not the best solution. That's an adult concern for what's essentially a children's book, but I stand by it. It matters because if this particular edition is your child's introduction to the story, or even to Bradbury, then they may want to keep and treasure it for years to come.

3 candle constellations out of 5

The Hellbound Heart (1986)

Author: Clive Barker  |  Page Count: 128

'Everywhere, in the wreckage around him, he found evidence to support the same bitter thesis: that he had encountered nothing in his life—no person, no state of mind or body—he wanted sufficiently to suffer even passing discomfort for.'

The novella that became more famous for being filmed as Hellraiser (1987) by Barker himself is a fine example of how good an author he used to be. His prose effectively blends the fantastical with an exploration of the common from an uncommon perspective. In Frank Cotton Barker created a character for whom hedonistic desire has exceeded earthly pleasures, forcing him to cross an unseen border into the realms of the unknown: a meeting with the Order of the Gash.

The Cenobites, as they're more often referred to, are creatures for whom dealings in pleasure are a currency and a privilege, but their definitions of what pleasures of the flesh entail long ago exceeded the human sadomasochistic scale.

There are only four main characters. Unlike Frank the other three aren't as seasoned or as inherently obsessive in their pursuits. Their world is smaller. They're regular people with regular needs. Part of what makes them interesting is that, while each person's desire is different, they're tangled up together: two are in a loveless marriage, while the third is dealing with feelings of unrequited love. Everyone, including the antagonist Frank, craves something that only exists outside of themselves, and some of them dare to reach for it.

As first chapters go it's one of his more repulsive ones. The calculated grossness continues in the same vein throughout. You get the feeling that Barker has visualised the scenes so completely that he was able to move around within them, see them from all angles and even, on occasion, smell their vileness.

The Pinhead character that has become the hideous figurehead of the film series isn't in the book, or rather isn't the same as the one film fans will be familiar with. Putting his image on the cover was a cheap lure by Harper Collins. But I do love the unifying border design they used across all their early Barker books.

4 perverse logics out of 5

.hack//Alcor (2009)

Author: Kanami Amou | Illustrator: Rena Izumibara | Page Count: 176

“…do you have any quests where you don’t have to fight?”

The .hack// world can accommodate many kinds of stories within its virtual bordered structure. Alcor is just one of the possibilities. It’s a one-shot about Nanase, a young girl who wants to progress in life but is afraid of taking risks and of failure. She uses the game world as an escape, but brings into it her anxieties and failings, making her online world as complicated as her offline one.

Except it’s not complicated at all. The book could easily be summed up in one sentence. I won't do that, so don't worry.

It’s fair to say, though, hopefully without seeming too harsh that it's wishy-washy, angsty, early-teen drama. So if you're an irritating, self-absorbed, angsty teen with troubles of your own making, Alcor might just be for you.

Most everyone else will have trouble connecting because the other characters, of which there are many, are loosely written and two-dimensional. It’s only Nanase who provides any kind of solid gateway into the work. That may have been the author's plan from the outset, because it's clearly targeting a younger, less emotionally discerning demographic. If so. then the book successfully explores another aspect of the hack// versatility that I mentioned previously.

2 lucky animals out of 5

.hack//4Koma (2010)

Author: Koichi Sumimaru | Illustrator: Various |  Page Count: 192

“Your morals as a protagonist are being challenged, aren't they?”

A yonkoma, often shortened to 4koma, is a four-panel manga similar to the kind of thing you’d see in a Sunday newspaper, except that most yonkoma are read from top to bottom, not left to right horizontal.

The .hack yonkoma parodies Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate.  The comedy is derived mostly from non-canon meetings, rivalries, awkward social situations and typically friendly people being dicks to other characters.  As such, in-jokes are definitely the order of the day, so if you're not very familiar with each person's usual demeanour, or the .hack world, you'll miss most of the situational humour.

There are a lot of familiar faces, such as BlackRose, Balmung, Mistral, Shino and Atoli (even Lios the system admin gets some page time!), but it’s mostly about Kite and moody Haseo—both of whom are perfect targets for the kind of piss-takes and rebuttals that the format is best used for.  But Haseo’s troubles don’t stop with Kite's frequent slights.  He also has women to deal with, and that gives rise to an entirely different kind of anguish for the G.U hero.

2½ brands of crazy out of 5

The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk Omnibus (2007)

Author: Greg Pak | Illustrators: Carlo Pagulayan / Aaron Lopresti / Michael Avon Oeming / Alex Nino / Marshall Rogers  | Page Count: 384

"I didn't come here for a whisper. I wanna hear you scream."

The best Hulk stories are the ones that don’t rely on the Hulk Smash! clichés as an excuse to litter the page with the detritus of teenage wet dreams involving explosive violence and bloody carnage.  Planet Hulk avoids that for a while but eventually crumbles like a cookie in Hulk’s hand, and there’s so much “Finally. Hulk knows who to smash,” that my brain almost seeped out of my ears trying to get away from what my eyes were forcing it to assimilate.  It’s a great shame because the first half of Book I is bursting with promise, and even delivers upon some of it from time to time.

Prior to the story’s beginnings Hulk’s world is shaken by the realisation (or confirmation) that his ‘friends’ each brandish a back-stabbing knife and share a collective fear of his condition.  Instead of putting extra effort into helping him cope they take the coward’s way out by removing him from their space.

Stranded now on a world torn apart by a tyrannical ruler, the bulging green menace is forced to rely on his wits, and his (*chuckle) people skills.
For reasons I won’t go into, Hulk is thrust into the role of reluctant leader, which doesn't sit well because he’s not ever been what your boss at work would call a team player.  There’s a large cast of characters woven around his situation, and they exist in a world that’s well fleshed out with its own history and culture.

The strengths of the work lie in the perspectives taken, both literal (the art direction) and in how to view a hero / villain depending on which side of the fence you happen to lie.  In war the enemy is always the villain but both sides are an enemy.  Hulk is a monster but he’s our monster.  His goals are sympathetic to our goals, and our goals are noble because we are noble.  Does that make him more like us, or make us more like him?

When those kinds of questions are raised the story excels.  Unfortunately the chaos overshadows them, and by Book II, when everything turns to shit for the characters, the story suffers.  There’s a deeply emotional moment that knocked me for six but overall by the end of the chaos I felt physically drained by the experience when I should’ve been more emotionally drained.

The book collects together The Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 issues 92 – 105; Giant-Size Hulk vol. 2 issue 1; and ‘Mastermind Excello’ from Amazing Fantasy issue 15.

3 stupid names out of 5

The Hot Zone (1994)

Author: Richard Preston | Page Count: 418

She had bled around the edges of the Band-Aid. She did not see any monkey blood on her hand.
She put the last glove under the faucet. The water was running and it filled up the glove. The glove swelled up like a water balloon. She dreaded the sudden appearance of a thread of water squirting from the glove, the telltale of a leak, a sign that her life was over.

A true story about an outbreak of Ebola virus in a suburb of Washington D.C. Written more as a thriller than a historical account worked in making the story incredibly dramatic and more horrifying than any actual horror novel if one were to think about the possibilities put forward in the text. The book covers many principal characters from the first outbreak of the so called filoviruses or thread viruses as they first appeared in Africa and the ensuing chaos they wreaked on the populace of Sudan and Zaire and the possible sequence of events that led to their traveling to the U.S. The workers at a monkey house stumble upon some sick monkeys which will eventually turn into a huge joint operation between the Army and CDC to prevent an outbreak that could endanger 90 percent of the population.

Preston weaves the history of the viruses and the many characters surprisingly well as the story is easy to follow despite the large number of participants and multiple events happening simultaneously. Writing it in the style of a thriller was a good decision as writing it any other way that could possible make it uninteresting would be a shame.  It will keep you up at night if you imagine the filoviruses spreading the same way that say HIV has spread. It would be a world changing event. Riveting stuff in a surprisingly quick read.

4½ Livers turned as hard as salami out of 5

HR Giger's Film Design (1996)

Author: H.R. Giger | Illustrator: H.R. Giger | Page Count: 138

'[H]oles of all description, holes in the ground, holes in the head, ass-holes, etc. I'm still not sure what they were for but they're great nonetheless.'

William Malone

H. R. Giger's Film Design is a large format book that offers an insight into the artist's film projects. Much of it will already be well known to fans, his work on Dune, Poltergeist II, etc, but knowing about a thing and exploring the genesis of a thing are very different experiences.

It covers a wide range of work, from short films, lengthy personal projects to music videos and even furniture building. But the real treasure is when it goes into detail about the films that didn't make it past the design stage. There's one in particular that has the potential to equal David Cronenberg at his most bizarre; it's both repulsive and tantalising in equal measure. The only problem is the budget required to do it justice could buy a small country. In truth, I'd rather it never get made than get it half-assed.

There's a lot of space devoted to his involvement with the Alien franchise. Seeing him working on models and sculpts, getting a sense of scale, and seeing the evolution from sketch to 1:1 model is fascinating. The film was his most commercially successful from a production design point of view and is the one that stuck most faithfully to his designs. You'd think that thick-as-shit Hollywood producers would have made that connection by now. Instead they pay him for sketches and then continually change them to better suit their own weak ideals.

Which brings me nicely to the only negative aspect of the book. There's some duplication with the similarly sized Species Design volume that came out the same year. If you already own it, then you'll be able to skip that chapter.

5 good intentions out of 5

Heat Rises (2011)

Author: Richard Castle | Page Count: 305

"I catch an STD down here, I'll sue till I own the damn city."

Detective Heat starts in the freezing cold investigating the seemingly out of place death of a church pastor in a sex dungeon. What is at first possibly not even a murder will spiral into many conflicts, both political and mortal, that will push Nikki to her physical and mental limits and strain not just her, but her relationships with all those around her including would-be boyfriend Jameson Rook and her beloved police force.

The 3rd book in the Nikki Heat detective series starts off following the formula of the last books, but whether it is actually written better or I've just come to accept it, it felt quite different and less like reading a script from its tie-in show. The mystery was kicked up a notch and was actually mildly surprising, though at times felt less like nuanced mystery and more like just piling on with multiple scenarios playing out hoping the reader will just be overwhelmed with possibilities. This is tempered by the still likeable and relate-able characters. As they should be as they are just mirror images of the swell TV counterparts. Nikki Heat herself is also more interesting as the ordeal will actually force her into vulnerability which has been minimal in previous volumes even if it's clearly just paralleling the TV season on which it is based. But that is part of the joke, I suppose. Very Funny, Mr. Castle.

3½ Good People Have Good Sex out of 5

.hack//Legend of the Twilight: Volume Three (2004)

Author: Tatsuya Hamazaki | Illustrator: Rei Izumi | Page Count: 278

"It's a black box no one should look into."

The events of four years ago are still felt by the system administrators; their fear of a reoccurrence forces them to halt Shugo and Rena’s progress, but in doing so they place themselves at the very centre of something far beyond their control.

Tatsuya Hamazaki didn't just hold the best for last, he held about ninety percent of everything for last.  The third volume is packed with story, shining so bright that it causes the previous volume to throw an even darker shadow of shame.  That extra depth required an extra page count, making it much longer.

Friendship and awakening are themes central to the coming of age story that's the backbone of the trilogy, and they come to the fore at last.  It also throws in commentary on ideals, nostalgia, duty, limitations, family and honour.  Some of them sit quietly in the subtext, but are there should you choose to look for them.
There's still occasional filler that’s clearly fan-service, but it’s forgivable given that it's structured as a further step along the path of realisation.

3½ legendary right hooks out of 5

.hack//Legend of the Twilight: Volume Two (2003)

Author: Tatsuya Hamazaki | Illustrator: Rei Izumi | Page Count: 177

“The only ones that can protect this world are the players that live in it…” 

If you go to THIS POST, read the first paragraph and then return here, it’ll save me from exhausting my word count a second time.  Although, I have very little to say about the second volume, so some filler would help me out; it certainly worked for the book’s author.  The trilogy was originally a two-part adventure, and it was decided during the writing process that it should be expanded beyond that.

Volume Two of Three has Shugo, Rena and their ramshackle party hunting for clues to a mystery that isn't very mysterious at all.  Nor do they have to hunt for very long, as all answers are conveniently sign-posted, which robs the mystery of any weight it would've had, and the journey of any drama it could've had.  I’d have accepted a lazy montage of dead ends and empty roads, but we got zip.
Along the way the twins get into a situation that briefly offers a glimpse of how much they care about each other, but it didn't develop into anything deep.

Thankfully, the latter half of the book throws up a surprise or two, so don’t toss it in the corner too quickly.  It ends on a pretty big cliff-hanger, so make sure you have Volume Three close to hand.

2½ instances of overwhelming chibi cuteness out of 5

.hack//Legend of the Twilight: Volume One (2003)

Author: Tatsuya Hamazaki | Illustrator: Rei Izumi | Page Count: 176

“I’d watch my back if I were you.  Your friend has returned.”

.hack//Legend of the Twilight is a manga trilogy that forms a part of the Project .hack series, the first generation of the .hack universe.  It’s set chronologically after the first four games (//Infection //Mutation //Outbreak //Quarantine) that appeared on the Playstation 2 console.  If you’re new to THE WORLD, you’ll lack the necessary background and will encounter minor spoilers of events that unfolded in the games.  It's not necessary to have played them first, but it's certainly recommended.  The book makes some allowances for new fans, but space is limited so the catch-up is brief.  If you've a working knowledge of what has gone before, then read on.  Otherwise, you might want to skip this review.

Shugo (male) and Rena (female) are fourteen-year-old twins.  Rena wins a contest that enables her and Shugo to play the long-running MMO with chibi versions of the avatars used originally by the fabled hackers, Kite and BlackRose.  Having prior knowledge of the game's history means Rena is naturally excited.  Shugo, a newbie, is understandably less enthusiastic.

When a low-level field breaks in-game protocols the twins are drawn in a dangerous direction for which they're completely unprepared.

The story benefits from having the two characters already familiar with each other’s mannerisms and failings in the offline world.  Actions performed in-game can then be used to reveal each sibling's inner-feelings, creating some hilariously awkward moments.  The comedy increases with each successive chapter, which was a pleasant surprise as the .hack world can sometimes be too serious.

3 rare items out of 5

Heat Wave (2009)

Author: Richard Castle | Page Count: 198

 You radiate subtext.

A real estate tycoon falls to his death and it is up to homicide detective Nikki Heat and her ride along magazine writer Jameson Rook to solve the mystery involving thugs, accountants, thieves and spoiled rich people. It's a decent enough mystery, but it reads like a script of it's tie-in show, ABC's Castle. It carries all the same snappy banter and twists of any episode just with the names changed. That can be a strength though as it can give an extra layer into the character of Castle as this meta experiment gives his perspective of the relationship between Castle and Heat's inspiration, Detective Kate Beckett from the show or perhaps what he wishes it was as Heat is mostly congruous with Beckett with some added flare and sexuality.

Separated from the show it is an alright mystery, but like any tie-in should do, it enhances the show and becomes more when used the way it was intended. Everything is written in character right down to the dedication and acknowledgements. Even though it is ghostwritten, ABC is fully committed to the facade as no one outside the show knows who the writer is and the show's creator even lamenting in interviews that Richard Castle worked hard on it and people should stop trying to steal credit from him. Kudos for the commitment.

3½ meta author insertions? out of 5

High On Arrival (2009)

Author: Mackenzie Phillips, Hilary Liftin | Page Count: 292

"Not now darling, Daddy's shooting up."

The controversial memoir of Mackenzie Phillips following her from childhood to the present. It is a story almost typical about how child stars can spiral out of control into self destruction with drugs, sex and daddy issues and how she overcame these problems. As to the more salacious revelations in the book, I'll say free loving hippies + lots of drugs = I believe it.

There is certainly plenty of stuff to work with in her story, it is just hampered a bit by the writing. It's clear Phillips wrote most of it herself with constant overuse of certain words and phrases and while it is mostly chronological she does tend to drift at points. I suspect Liftin was just hired to clean up the manuscript after Phillips wrote it all down, but there is an interesting story with some fascinating details like how before rehab was a regular thing, addicts were still allowed to drink alcohol as it was considered separate from drugs. How far we've come.

2½ I suppose other addicts could sympathize more out of 5

H.R. Giger Tarot (2000)

aka: Baphomet: The Tarot of the Underworld

Author: Akron | Illustrator: H.R. Giger | Page Count: 223

This is the usual Tarot package, which means it’s a book giving details of readings and spreads and a deck with which to use. The cards are beautifully presented, large format card but totally impractical for use; nor is it a full deck, it’s just the Major Arcana. Worse, some of them have been changed. The Hanged Man is now The Hanged Woman, to better represent the painting Akron has chosen, and Temperance has become Alchemy. It doesn't really matter as they weren't painted to commission; like I said, they were simply chosen, the paintings existed before the book was conceived and have none of the traditional imagery or symbolism necessary for the user.

I've no doubt Giger could have produced a fundamentally different Tarot if he set his mind to it, one which included the necessary symbolism and still managed to maintain his sexually fuelled nightmarish imagery.  The book includes a chinagraph pencil sketch for each of the 22 cards, most of which would have been better suited to the purpose had they been fully painted.

After a brief introduction wherein Akron gives his reasons and justifications for using the paintings, he gives his interpretation of the meanings of the cards. Some of Akron’s writings are deep and insightful; had the book been written as a mere observational piece it could have been fascinating.

I know there are people that collect decks regardless of their usefulness, so for those people, and especially for fans of Giger, it’s an interesting package.  The collection is available in the German or English language.  It contains: a soft cover book by the occultist Akron, 22 fully illustrated Tarot cards and a spread mat for laying the cards on during readings.

If you want a proper Tarot deck get the Rider-Waite deck, not this.  I'm scoring this from a Giger fan POV and ignoring the lack of practicality.

5 biomechanical phallic disturbances out of 5

The Huge Book of Hell (2005)

Author: Matt Groening | Page Count: 157

“I wrote you three times but you never sent me a drawing of Marge Simpson naked.”

A collection of single page sketches culled from Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strip. It’s difficult to review because comedy is one of the most subjective mediums, so the success of the collection is primarily based on whether you can connect or appreciate Groening’s sense of humour or not.

Stylistically, it has his unique stamp on every page. If you're a fan of the Simpsons, or if it's all you know him from. then you'll recognise and be comfortable with the art style; there's even more than one cameo from some of the cast.

It’s full of wry observations on life, work and family, ironic and sardonic situation jokes and astute political commentary, but unless you agree, disagree or have personally experienced such situations then the impact may be lessened.

It's a mixed bag; some panels work beautifully and some lack spark. For me, it was mostly 'meh', never reaching the heights of Jim Davis or the wonderful Gary Larsen. I can’t complain, though, I got it new in a book sale for less than the cost of an average priced bar of chocolate. Plus, it has bunnies. We like bunnies.

2½ and good for killing time on the shitter out of 5

Heart-Shaped Box (2007)

Author: Joe Hill | Page Count: 400

"A girl, walking beside a taller boy who sported a yellow bow tie, shrank back against her companion as they went past. Bow Tie put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Jude did not flip them off and then drove for a few blocks feeling good about himself, proud of his restraint. His self-control, it was like iron."

I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill's contributions to the comic world- I think Locke & Key is probably the best comic being published right now- so I was anxious to check out one of his novels as well. I started with Heart-Shaped Box, a novel about an aging musician who finds himself being haunted after purchasing a dead man's suit on the internet. The book started out as a pure horror tale, and had some wonderfully creepy moments, but soon, it became more of a redemption tale than anything else. But as the book became less scary, its characters grew stronger, and it was a gripping read throughout.

At times, I wanted to scream at the characters for failing to put certain pieces of the story together, but the book was involving even when I could tell exactly where it was going. The surprises that do happen are mostly small, but those moments feel special, and give the book's cast more depth. I found the ending to be a little bit unsatisfying. This is partly because figuring things out ahead of time meant that there was no grand reveal scene, but also because it just wasn't my sort of ending, and I suspect many readers will be pleased that things pan out the way they do. All in all, this is a solid debut novel, and I may dive into Hill's second book tonight.

3.5 girls named after states out of 5.

The Homecoming (2006)

Author: Ray Bradbury | Illustrator: Dave McKean | Page Count: 56

'And to roars of laughter the chilly hand and the cold moon face lurched away in the roundabout dance.'

Part of the WISP series (Wonderfully Illustrated Short Pieces), Homecoming is a meeting of two exceptionally creative minds: American author Ray Bradbury and British illustrator Dave McKean. The former is my favourite American author; I can connect many of the significant moments in my life to a particular Bradbury novel I was reading at the time. McKean is perhaps best known for—and partly responsible for—the  enduring success of The Sandman comic book series. Both are giants in their respective field.

The text, featuring a ten-year-old boy named Timothy, was originally included in The October Country (1955), a collection of macabre-themed shorts. Timothy is a normal kid with normal thoughts. That's the problem. The rest of his family are vampires, ghouls, and things that bump in the night.

During All Hallows' Eve the family gather for an old fashioned get-together, but Timothy's being normal means he feels different, unable to fit in. It's a reversal of the usual 'weird kid that doesn't fit into society' tale and Bradbury finds the heart of the story effortlessly without sacrificing the innocence and beauty of childhood. Thematically, it's about family, identity, love, and the magic of youth.

It's not McKean's best work but it fits the aesthetic of the story for which it was designed, with scribble lines and dark shadows prevalent. In truth, even without the illustrations, it would be a top scoring tale.

5 smiles for Uncle Einar out of 5