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 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

The publication of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is, in itself, a tragedy – Stieg Larsson died suddenly shortly after delivering the manuscript for the book, and its two sequels, to his publisher, leaving behind the unfinished plot outlines for a further 3 books featuring the main characters, a fact that has helped his sales along the way. Because the Millennium Trilogy are all that will be published by Stieg Larsson, so there is no risk of the series being marred by further, weaker books, something that has afflicted a great deal of authors.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced Journalist who is hired by an ageing industrialist to solve a mystery that has haunted him for decades. Whilst this storyline unfolds, we are gradually introduced to a socially inept computer hacker by the name of Lisbeth Salander – declared legally incompetent and yet incredibly gifted. As the story progresses, Salander and Blomkvist find themselves thrown together to try and solve the almost unsolvable mystery, whilst someone else will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

The plot plods along at an amicable and gentle pace for the first third of the book, which is surprising, but at the same time works very well. At this point, the friendly pace of the book is interrupted by some brutal and fairly distressing scenes of a violent nature, before slowing back down again. This up and down feeling to the novel does continue throughout and it is an excellent plot device. The characters are likeable, although both of the main two have some annoying personality traits, and the large cast of other characters are varied, and make for a tough time trying to guess the culprit.

All in all, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a great read and it is easy to see why it has become such a massive success, both in its native Sweden and across Europe. Can't wait for the Swedish made film which is released shortly, although dreading the inevitable American remake...

Highly recommended.