Grandville: A Graphic Novel by Bryan Talbot

Grandville: A Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard Scientific-Romance Thriller, is the latest graphic novel by Bryan Talbot. Inspired by nineteenth-century French illustrator Gerard, who worked under the nom de plum J.J. Greandville, the novel is the story of DI LeBrock on the hunt for the ruthless killers of a British diplomat. All fairly standard so far, but that is all that is standard in this graphic novel...

The first stand out point of the book is the characters themselves. Talbot has substituted the majority of the characters with animals instead of humans, whilst humans in the book are referred to as under-developed 'dough-faces', who are little better than slaves and have no citizens rights. The use of anthropomorphous animals is done excellently, with some hilarious results such as the drug dealing horse and the poodle hooker!

Another key part of the book is it's setting. Based mainly in France, Grandville is an alternate history story, set in a world where Napoleon won the war and Britain is little more than a colony that has just won independence. Alternate histories are a real favourite of mine, if done well, and Grandville does is perfectly. You are made aware of the worlds history early on, and the plot is largely based around the politics of this alternate timeline, but you are not smothered by it, which is something that has blighted many other books. If an author keeps emphasising the differences of their world to ours, it somehow looses it's sense of reality. The same can be said of the fact that this graphic novel falls into the category of 'steampunk', but Talbot understates this fact and it almost becomes unnoticeable, whilst managing to be an integral part of the story.

I was originally unimpressed by the artwork in Grandville, in fact it almost put me off completely, but whilst reading the book I realised how engrossing and beautifully detailed it is, with deep, rich colours and a great sense of pace. I particularly like both the blood and the movement effects, which are done perfectly. Talbot is clearly a masterful artist.

All in all I loved Grandville. It is a graphic novel I have been wanting to read for a long while and I am so glad I finally have. If anything, my only gripe is with the length of the book, I feel it could have been fleshed out more, it could have gone deeper into the heart of the story and we could have learnt more about the brilliant Detective-Inspector LeBrock. Fingers crossed that this is not a one off, as I can't wait for more Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard Scientific-Romance Thrillers!

Highly Recommended.

P.S. I love the front cover of this book!

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova's second novel, is a difficult book to sum up. This mystery-romance-historical novel is the story of a psychiatrist's life that is turned upside down when an artist with a mysterious past becomes his patient. It is an intriguing, involving and hugely flawed giant of a novel which is wholly enjoyable yet mildly dull.

Before I reel off a large number of complaints that I have about the book, I want to point out that I did actually like it. I really did. It was enjoyable and extremely well written in some ways, whilst the plot is an interesting love tangle, which the author deals with well. Kostova is a master of descriptive prose and has a unique style that is highly floral yet often engaging.

But there are so many flaws...

I think by far my biggest issue with the book are the characters. Despite being largely likeable, each of the characters begin to grate very quickly. This is due to the fact that Kostova only has one voice. Each character, whether male or female; old or young(ish); psychiatrist or housewife; uses the exact same tone coupled with some incredibly pretentious vocabulary. They are all so mind-achingly middle-class you start to wonder if Elizabeth Kostova has ever left the country-club. Also, it seems that in Kostova's world people are more than happy to spill their most intimate and private memories to anyone off the street who claims to be a psychiatrist. I mean really, do these people have no decency?!

One last little flaw (ok, maybe not that little), which in fact could also be applicable to The Historian, is the ending. I can only guess that Kostova was so involved in writing The Swan Thieves that she got to page 500 and then realised that she really should finish it soon, so threw together a few pages which in a matter of paragraphs managed to simultaneously consolidate a relationship that had only started to bloom a couple of chapters ago; cure a psychiatric patient of an illness that had plagued him for years; and solve a 300 year old mystery. Impressive in a way and yet frustrating and unsatisfying in a literary sense.

Once again I must say that despite its many, many flaws, I really did enjoy The Swan Thieves. Although not as exciting or enjoyable as The Historian, it really does draw you in to the world of art, history and romance that Kostova has created – although looking back I find it hard to see how! In all honesty I'm not a fan of classical art, historical fiction or romance, so to have held my attention so well it must have been doing something right.

Recommended – but you have been warned!

The Art of Tim Burton

I'm a fan of Tim Burton, not a massive fan, but a fair sized fan. I suppose it is his quirky darkness that I like. A collection of illustrations, drawings & paintings by Tim was published this month and it shows off the darkest corners of his vivid imagination, and it looks like a real treat.

The book does have a fair down side though, as the cheaper version of the book is £49.99, whilst the deluxe edition is over the hundred mark! But surely, if you are a big fan of Burton, this is a must buy.

Not sure how much you like Burton? Why not try The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy - a collection of short stories, written & illustrated by Tim Burton and priced at around £5, it's a massive amount cheaper!

http://www.timburton.com/

--Update 26/02/2010--

I have, just today, found out that Tim Burton started his career as an illustrator for Disney, which I suppose would explain his amazing artistic ability and the reason the book works. You may have already known that. I didn't.