Beowulf [Mass Market Paperback]

Caitlin R. Kiernan (Author), Neil Gaiman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2007

Who will come to the aid of beleaguered King Hrothgar, whose warriors have become the prey of the vengeful outcast monster Grendel?

A grand and glorious story that has endured for centuries, the ageless classic adventure takes on a breathtaking new life in a remarkable new version for a modern era. Brilliantly reimagined by acclaimed, award-winning author Caitlín R. Kiernan, based on the screenplay by #1 New York Times bestseller Neil Gaiman and Academy Award^®-winning screenwriter Roger Avary, it is the tale of a noble liege and a terrible creature who has cursed his kingdom with death, blood, and destruction—and of the great hero, Beowulf, who is called to a land of monsters to triumph where so many have failed . . . or to die as so many of the brave before him.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061341282
• ISBN-13: 978-0061341281
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,216,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Adaptation, November 7, 2007

By 

J. Walker "jfwalker7" (Little Rock AR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beowulf (Mass Market Paperback)

Kiernan has provided a fine retelling of the Beowulf saga. While it is based on the Gaiman screenplay, she has obviously pulled from many other source materials, including the original, to create a fresh view of an old and fascinating story. It is certainly not a 'cliff's notes' version - if that is what you want you should go buy some 'cliff's notes'. This is a dark, gritty and magical world not seen since "Grendel" by John Gardner. Like her other original works, this novel speaks to the hero and the monster in us all.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The comic made from the movie, November 2, 2007

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beowulf (Paperback)

It's an exciting, readable, visual telling of the classic story. It has all the heroic essentials, including manly combat, seductive but evil beings (guess where Angelina Jolie comes in), terrible monsters, sword-swinging, and lots more. If you're already eager for the movie to come out, this appetizer gets your taste up for it, making you want that coming movie even more. Hey, that's the job it's supposed to do (in addition to lifting a few more bucks from your pocket). Good story, good art, and an interesting connection to super-hero stories a thousand years old.

My sister in law teaches medieval English lit - she even had a dog named Beowulf. She won't like it. It's not true enough to the original story. It's too cartoony. It's not respectful of the tradition. It doesn't take the serious story seriously enough.

Well, she doesn't read comics anyway. I like the fact that it puts the old stories in front of new audiences, something that probably wouldn't have happened without a fair bit of modern retelling. That's true to the original oral tradition though: retelling it again for each new generation, keeping it alive and relevant as the world changes around it. And who knows, maybe this will stir a few readers to hunt down a traditional version (I recommend Beowulf: A New Verse Translation). Would that have happened without the popularized redering?

-- wiredweird

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A creative reimagining, December 3, 2007

By 

Art Bunny "Jen" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beowulf (Mass Market Paperback)

Personally, I very much enjoyed this novelization. The departures from the orignal "epic" poem were quite interesting and well written, and definitely kept me hanging on. The intense action scenes and vivid descriptions lend themselves well to the mind's power to invision the author's intentions. Though this is not her "typical" work (as it is such an understatement to call her work "typical" in any reference), still a success for Kiernan.