The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
Blurb for the back cover:
“Rarely felt boring”
I like books. I like books so much that when I passed by this particular book inside Powells I got excited about a book being about books. And I’m not kidding. This book is all about books. The City of Dreaming Books is a novel which features a dinosaur named Optimus Yarmspinner. That fact that I did not recognize the species of the protagonist until I was 30 pages in to the book really speaks poorly about my ability to pay attention to the details. After realizing my folly, I paid closer attention. Aside from books, this novel is chronicles Yarmspinner’s journey to Bookholm as he searches for the author of a short story left to him by his authorical grandfather. Once there he find that the city that is thriving with bookshops, cafes with nightly poetry readings, and some much literature that is nearly drives him mad. As with every city, there is a dark side to it. The seeder parts of town play host the nefarious book reviewers who try to thwart the sales of authors they do not like. It isn’t long before Optimus discovers who really controls Bookholm. After showing the short story to a few people who react with alarm, Optimus is tricked and abandoned in the dangerous catacombs that lay beneath the city. At every turn he is attacked by vicious book eating monsters and nearly killed a couple times by book pirates (!!!) who search for the rarest of books they are lost in the maze of the catacombs. Trying to reach the surface, Optimus discovers that the legends of the Shadow King, a creature that scares even the toughest of book pirates, might not be so much a legend as it is fact.
One of the things I liked about this book is that it constantly makes the danger even greater for the protagonist. Once he gets out of one situation, he is immediately thrown in to another which is far worse. The book rarely felt boring and the plot was constantly progressing and if full of what can only be described as mystery and intrigue. Since this is a fantasy book, there are other fantasy creatures that inhabit the world. As is a problem with most fantasy books, it can at some times be hard to mentally picture these creatures. Luckily, there is the occasional illustration to help your imagination along the way.
Since this world is centered around books, there are numerous book references/puns are at first are cute. But then they start to get annoying halfway through the book when it becomes painfully obvious that this fictitious world eats, sleeps, and drinks nothing but books, books, books, books. I grew numb to them near the end and learned to accept that this is a very book themed book. I became more amused than annoyed by them.
In the end, this book isn’t for everyone. But for those of you who enjoy fantasy books or fantasy books about books, you might want to check it out.
20 in 2009 Challenge: 1/20
The Book Pirate Challenge: 1/10
January 25th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Fantasy books about books?! I'm there dude.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Great blog, great review. I'm adding this one to my list. Good luck with school, I'm there myself. :)
January 28th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Thanks. :-)
January 29th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Thanks. :-)
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