Who needs Harry Potter?
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I discovered Capt Bluebear back in 2000 but it has taken me until now to read Rumo. I was not dissapointed...once again Moers has created a world of undescribable wonders....full of fantastic creations. I would tell everybody to read this book but never quite know how to describe it...is it fantasy?, is it SF?, is it sureal humour? possibly a bit of each?
If you have yet to read Moers, start with Capt Bluebear but buy this at the same time...then you wont have to wait for the postman.
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The silver thread
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Comic artist/author Walter Moers created the lost continent of Zamonia -- and all its bizarre inhabitants -- in "The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear."
But he expands it further in the tightly-written adventure tale "Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures," the story of a little Wolperting and how he became the greatest warrior in Zamonia. Unlike its predecessor, this story has a solid central storyline about -- what else? -- seeking true love and one's own destiny.
On the day he learned to walk and speak, Wolperting pup Rumo (along with his owners) is kidnapped by evil omnivorous Demonocles. In the Roaming Rock prison, he's taught how to speak and fight by the shark-grub Smyke, who engineers an escape -- using Rumo's newfound fighting abilities to destroy the Demonocles and set everyone free. After some odd adventures, Smyke sends Rumo on his way, to follow the Silver Thread that leads him to his destiny.
Rumo finds his way to a city of Wolpertings, where he learns to fight, work, and falls in love with the beautiful Rala. But after leaving to get a gift for Rala, Rumo discovers that a mysterious black dome has swallowed all the Wolpertings in the city, dragging them down into the Netherworld -- where they are to be used as gladiators for monsters and the horrific Copper Killers. And Rala is in even more danger than the others, unless Rumo, Smyke and a Nocturnomath scientist can save her.
Moers' talent is in writing stories that are meant for adults, but which have the charm, imagination and complete lack of realism that we think of kids' books having. Minocentaurs, Yetis, unicornlets and savage metallic killers are only a few of the weird species that Moers populates Zamonia with -- and those are the ones with only one brain.
Though Moers devotes a lot of time to these weird creatures, he never loses sight of the plot. It sags a bit when Rumo arrives at Wolperting and tries to pursue Rala, but picks up as soon as the Netherworld attacks. And he has a delicious writing style. Never hurried or precious, but with plenty of description and some very detailed backstories, from a city of refined dinosaurs to the horrors of the Netherworld.
And it does get pretty horrific at tmes, with some nasty deaths, monsters, and the ultimate torture device, the Metal Maiden. But there's plenty of humor too, a lot of which comes from Rumo's magical knife Dandelion -- which isn't exactly the ideal weapon for a hero, since it tends to faint during fights and has a split personality.
Rumo himself is not quite an ideal hero -- he tends to be a bit too serious -- but his earnest love for Rala, and his pursuit of the Silver Thread, make him quite endearing. He's backed up by other mildly weird characters, including the mysterious Smyke, the malevolent robotic General Ticktock, a mad emperor, and the brainy Kolibri.
"Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures" has a bit of a dead zone in the middle, but Walter Moers' whimsical, adventurous story carries itself through to the end. Hail Rumo!
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Silver threads
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Comic artist/author Walter Moers created the lost continent of Zamonia -- and all its bizarre inhabitants -- in "The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear."
But he expands it further in the tightly-written adventure tale "Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures," the story of a little Wolperting and how he became the greatest warrior in Zamonia. Unlike its predecessor, this story has a solid central storyline about -- what else? -- seeking true love and one's own destiny.
On the day he learned to walk and speak, Wolperting pup Rumo (along with his owners) is kidnapped by evil omnivorous Demonocles. In the Roaming Rock prison, he's taught how to speak and fight by the shark-grub Smyke, who engineers an escape -- using Rumo's newfound fighting abilities to destroy the Demonocles and set everyone free. After some odd adventures, Smyke sends Rumo on his way, to follow the Silver Thread that leads him to his destiny.
Rumo finds his way to a city of Wolpertings, where he learns to fight, work, and falls in love with the beautiful Rala. But after leaving to get a gift for Rala, Rumo discovers that a mysterious black dome has swallowed all the Wolpertings in the city, dragging them down into the Netherworld -- where they are to be used as gladiators for monsters and the horrific Copper Killers. And Rala is in even more danger than the others, unless Rumo, Smyke and a Nocturnomath scientist can save her.
Moers' talent is in writing stories that are meant for adults, but which have the charm, imagination and complete lack of realism that we think of kids' books having. Minocentaurs, Yetis, unicornlets and savage metallic killers are only a few of the weird species that Moers populates Zamonia with -- and those are the ones with only one brain.
Though Moers devotes a lot of time to these weird creatures, he never loses sight of the plot. It sags a bit when Rumo arrives at Wolperting and tries to pursue Rala, but picks up as soon as the Netherworld attacks. And he has a delicious writing style. Never hurried or precious, but with plenty of description and some very detailed backstories, from a city of refined dinosaurs to the horrors of the Netherworld.
And it does get pretty horrific at tmes, with some nasty deaths, monsters, and the ultimate torture device, the Metal Maiden. But there's plenty of humor too, a lot of which comes from Rumo's magical knife Dandelion -- which isn't exactly the ideal weapon for a hero, since it tends to faint during fights and has a split personality.
Rumo himself is not quite an ideal hero -- he tends to be a bit too serious -- but his earnest love for Rala, and his pursuit of the Silver Thread, make him quite endearing. He's backed up by other mildly weird characters, including the mysterious Smyke, the malevolent robotic General Ticktock, a mad emperor, and the brainy Kolibri.
"Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures" has a bit of a dead zone in the middle, but Walter Moers' whimsical, adventurous story carries itself through to the end. Hail Rumo!
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The best bedtime story ever told
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If you have read Bluebear, then this is a darker, more complex and even more satisfying tale, brimming over with the same dazzling inventiveness but with a more compelling, less episodic storyline.
If you haven't read Bluebear, you should, but you could read this without it; think Terry Pratchett without the nerdy irony; Tolkein written by Roald Dahl. I read these to my kids for half an hour each night, and we've been spellbound for months.
Younger kids might find it quite strong - some of it is a little gruesome. But there again as Roald Dahl knew, kids love that stuff.
And a word of praise for the translator too; I'm a languages student myself, but unusually I wasn't aware at any point that this was a translation.
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Loose yourself again and again
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I read this after reading Captain Bluebear. I'd really enjoyed Bluebear and was hoping that Moers could do the same again. Well he exceeded himself. The first time I read this book, it was my bedtime reading. (I'm in my 30's, by the way!)Istarted going to bed earlier and earlier and reading later and later.
Rumo is a Wolperting, the product of a romantic trist between an enchanted wolf and an enchanted doe. That's only the start of it! Weirdness ensues with Nocturnomaths, Sharkgrubs, Bluddums, the list of weirdness could go on for ever. Despite this the book always inclues the readers, whisking all along for the ride.
Above all, this is a love story full of daring do and the importance of being true of heart.
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