- Paperback: 144 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (26 Mar 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1848565771
- ISBN-13: 978-1848565777
- Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 16.4 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 256,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'packed with recherche trivia and literary psychogeography....fans of Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll will be right at home here: if the rest of the series lives up to this cliffhanging first volume it will be very good indeed' --The Telegraph
'just as truth and fiction, fascinatingly collide with intriguing postmodern results...Mike Carey climaxes his first page-turning volume with a discursive chapter on an imagined political conspiracy surrounding Rudyard Kipling' --The Metro
"A wish-I'd-thought-of-it premise, beautifully executed. Highly recommended for anyone who thinks that fantasy can do more than just help you escape the real world" --Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, TV's LOST)
'just as truth and fiction, fascinatingly collide with intriguing postmodern results...Mike Carey climaxes his first page-turning volume with a discursive chapter on an imagined political conspiracy surrounding Rudyard Kipling' --The Metro
"A wish-I'd-thought-of-it premise, beautifully executed. Highly recommended for anyone who thinks that fantasy can do more than just help you escape the real world" --Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, TV's LOST)
Product Description
Tom Taylor s life was screwed from the word go. His father created the mega-popular Tommy Taylor boy-wizard fantasy novels. But dad modelled the fictional epic so closely on Tom s real life that fans constantly compare him to his counterpart, turning him into a lame, Z-level celebrity.When a scandal hints that Tom might really be the boy-wizard made flesh, Tom comes into contact with a mysterious, deadly group that s secretly kept tabs on him all his life. Now, to protect his life and discover the truth behind his origins, Tom will travel the world, to all the places in world history where fictions have shaped reality.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stories are the only thing worth dying for,
By Sofia Romualdo (Porto, Portugal) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Unwritten (Vol. 1) : Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Paperback)
I will admit this right from the beginning: I got this book because of its cover. It's deceptively simple and quite brilliant. And the phrase that's pictured coming out (or going into) the book really piqued my interest: Stories are the only thing worth dying for. Food for thought.Wilson Taylor is the author of the most celebrated fantasy book series in the world. Surpassing even Harry Potter's popularity, the Tommy Taylor series follows the adventures of a boy wizard, his friends Sue and Peter, and a magical flying cat as they battle an evil vampire called Count Ambrosio (the similarity to Harry Potter's storyline is evident). The author's son, Tom Taylor, is believed by fans to be the model for his father's stories, and when Wilson Taylor disappears, his son tries to cash in on his father's legacy in any way he can. However, he is haunted by abandonment issues and resentment at being looked at only as a fictional character. When doubts are raised about his past, and whether or not he is truly the son of the missing author, Tom Taylor is thrust into a lot more trouble than he could conceive. I liked the story, the premise is interesting, and all the literary references make this a true pleasure for any book lover. I had a few problems with the execution - for example, I thought that the story evolved quite slowly, with the main character not figuring out things that are made quite obvious to the reader. I guess this is fairly true to reality - after all, if you were in the main character's shoes, just how easily would you believe you were actually a character made flesh, or that all the literary mumble-jumbo your father taught you would be useful to battle enemies you're not even aware of? In that sense, the character of Tommy is believable, even if he's a bit insufferable (at least to me, he came out as whiny and kinda spoiled). Even so, I found it a bit confusing, which I guess is the result of only reading the beginning of the story (when the book ends you feel like the story has only just started) and the bits of information that is thrown in in the form of blog entries, chat discussions, and back story. Still, I kinda liked the vibe of mystery-to-be-solved this gave, and I'm really looking forward to the next issue. Also, the fact that stories are presented as being the thing that makes the world go round is really interesting. Overall, thought-provoking and out of the ordinary. If you like fast-paced, action-driven comics, then I guess this one isn't for you. But if you're a passionate writer or a reader, I'm sure you'll be able to connect with this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction, looking forward to the next in the series,
By
This review is from: The Unwritten (Vol. 1) : Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Paperback)
Without wanting to reveal the plot, the whole premise is a fascinating discourse into the fantastic power of literature. This is revealed very gradually, and only in the final chapter do all the pieces of the puzzle fall together. Although the reader's curiousity will have picqued by then, the next installment remains sadly as yet unpublished (although I have already pre-ordered it).Still, in a "graphic novel", the "novel" part is simply one side of the whole. As far as the "graphic" part is concerned, the art is rich and cinematographic, and helps the plot unfold in a most satisfactory manner. However, it feels that the emphasis is placed more on the wondrous story and less on the art that, after a while, becomes "transparent" to the viewer, and serves best as a vehicle for the unfolding of the plot. One can't help but wonder what the result might have been if Mike Carey and Blacksad's Guarnido ever worked together on a project...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Starts as it means to go on,
This review is from: The Unwritten (Vol. 1) : Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Paperback)
This a great opening volume for one of the best comics on the go at the moment. By creating a Harry Potter analogue in the character and books of Tommy Taylor, Carey allows himself room for some wonderful pastiche that doesn't feel disrespectful to its inspiration. That this aspect is merely gravy on the meat of a fantastical story about identity, conspiracy and the power of words is quite something.Tom Taylor is the son of the author of the Tommy Taylor books who is at great pains to stress that he is not the hero out of his father's books, unless doing so will earn him a few bucks at conventions. As the mystery of his father's disappearance and questions about his own past are teased out in this trade paperback, Tommy finds himself on a quest to find answers before a shadowy group can either get to those same answers themselves or at least stop him from doing so. Along the way, other works of literature such as Frankenstein and Just So Stories are folded into the plot without sacrificing the tension and pace of the main story. As the lines between what is real and what is "merely" a story become more and more blurred, the climax should leave you with a small sense of closure for this volume but a greater desire to see what happens next.
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