For the past few months Allie and I have been reading Bone. Generally a chapter a night, but Allie has decided she no longer wants to listen to me read Bone. I can understand since Allie would look at me instead of at the beautiful sequential art while I was reading, regardless of how often I pointed at something to look at on the page. Now I read horsie books with Allie almost every night. However I’m going to finish this book for the second time, and I will continue to post reviews of each book as I finish it. I have the one gigantic volume edition, which is less travel friendly but in my opinion better. I am a huge fan of keeping all related writings together in one binding. I have read the book before, so I’ll try my best to keep spoilers out of the reviews (or at least give fair warnings if I spill the beans).
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Bone: Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith The premise: Thorn, Gran’ma Ben, Fone, Phoney, Smiley and Bartleby have gotten into the kingdom walls of Atheia, but since most of the Veni-Yan warriors have become traitors to the crown and are on the search for the Bone creatures the gang is still in peril. The title comes from Phoney, who is searching for the fallen kingdom’s lost treasure. Travel Angle: Even though this is a return to home for Gran’ma Ben, Atheia now is not like the Atheia she left. We do get to see a small glimpse of Atheia culture: marketplaces, currency instead of trading goods and rooftop cafes. There is even a great scene dealing with the neighboring kingdom’s culinary culture. Phoney Bone completely embodies the guy who embarrasses you in front of your well-traveled, more tolerant friends, with childish antics like spitting out his food and taking the hospitality he’s being shown completely for granted. The corrupt warriors are led by Tarsil who hates dragon and has banned dragon lore and shrines. Since I’ve never been somewhere that has been ruined by war but not rebuilt and then ruled by a usurper who outlawed the religious practices of it’s people I can’t make a proper parallel without sounding pompous. What Phoney and Fone assume are the royal palace ruins looks like the Coliseum (general aesthetics) in Italy if no one had stopped it from deteriorating. Travel Score: |
Check out the reviews on the previous books:
Out of Boneville
The Great Cow Race
Eyes of the Storm
Dragonslayer
Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
Old Man’s Cave
Ghost Circles