The Book of Ballads [Paperback]

Charles Vess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2006

Illustrated and presented by one of the leading artists in modern fantasy, here are the great songs and folktales of the English, Irish, and Scottish traditions, re-imagined in sequential-art form, in collaboration with some of today's strongest fantasy writers.

Here are New York Times bestseller Neil Gaiman with "The False Knight on the Road"; popular mystery author Sharyn McCrumb's version of "Thomas the Rhymer"; acclaimed children's writer Jane Yolen with "King Henry" and "The Great Selchie of Sule Skerrie"; popular novelist Charles de Lint's contemporary reworking of "Twa Corbies"; Bone creator Jeff Smith with "The Galtee Farmer"; Emma Bull's version of "The Black Fox," and much, much more.

Introduced by award-winning editor and writer Terri Windling, and finished with full lyrics and discographies of the classic versions of these songs and tales, The Book of Ballads is an event in the worlds of fantasy and graphic storytelling alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ballads were little known to the literate world until the 18th century, when scholars began writing them down. Since then, they've received attention from folklorists, folksingers and, now, cartoonist Vess (Stardust; Rose). Vess and his collaborators put a little meat on the ballads' often bare-bones stories, adding fantastic elements not in the originals ("Barbara Allen"), giving them modern settings ("Twa Corbies"), sexing them up ("Savoy") and otherwise putting their own mark on them. Vess approaches them with an appropriately elegant style. His exquisitely detailed art delightfully recalls the Pre-Raphaelites here, Aubrey Beardsley there and elsewhere Winsor McCay or Gustave Doré. The best stories involve passion, whether celebrated ("King Henry" and "Savoy") or cautioned against ("The Demon Lover" and "The Three Lovers"), though even the least effective stories are still beautiful. "The Three Lovers" is especially noteworthy; in it, Vess makes clever, subversive use of comics language, presenting a story that pretends to be a play (complete with proscenium arch). "Tam Lin" may be the collection's consummate piece. In it, Vess goes for straight illustration, with each illustrated page facing a page of verse. Here Vess reaches the peak of his art, standing proudly with the 19th- and early 20th-century illustrators who influence him.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In this comprehensive collection of Vess' ballad adaptations, four more join the nine that won the artist a 1997 Eisner Award. The scripters are primarily fantasy fiction rather than comics writers, though Bone author-artist Jeff Smith teams with Vess once and, not unexpectedly, affects his style: "The Galtee Farmer" features more caricatural figuration and less detail than usual for Vess. "The Three Lovers," cast as a play upon a stage, is also unusual, indebted to Little Nemo in Slumberland's Winsor McCay. Most of Vess' work reflects late-nineteenth-century influences, including Randolph Caldecott, the Kelmscott Press, and art nouveau in its swirling lines, atmospheric shading, and heavy foliage and drapery. Several writers expand the stories of particular ballads, with Midori Snyder concocting a prelude exculpatory of "hard-hearted Barbara Allen" and Charles de Lint furnishing a large, contemporary context for the skeletal (only four stanzas) "Twa Corbies." Ten of the chosen ballads come straight out of Child, the remainder from contemporary folksingers' repertoires; the text of each follows its visualization. Verbally, the adaptations are often clumsy, but Vess' artwork lushly compensates. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (March 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765312158
• ISBN-13: 978-0765312150
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great holiday gift book!, November 17, 2004

By 

Robert Pickering (Twin Cities, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Ballads (Hardcover)

Along with Kaluta and Wrightson, Charles Vess is one the great fantasy artists of today. If you've seen his work in Gaiman's Stardust or Sandman or the Charles de Lint book covers, then I've sure you'll agree.

If you're not convinced yet, then I challenge you to go to your local book store, sit down and read the first story (also by Gaiman). You'll leave with book in hand!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great graphic novel, November 25, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Ballads (Hardcover)

Fantasy and comic book illustrator Charles Vess (see his work on the early Sandman comic books) provides thirteen illustrative stories written by eleven different highly regarded authors that are based on famous ballads. The tales are cleverly conceived as Mr. Vess and a renowned fantasist take a well known verse and turns it into a delightful illustrated story. The original ballad follows the animated tale for those who seek the complete package. The pictures are in black and white, but that brings a historical feel to the retelling of the ballads; thus this enhances the conversion as color would make it prettier, but subtract from the wonderful total affect. A rather different type of anthology, fans of graphic tales will appreciate this marvelous unique collection that contains wonderful interpretations of famous ballads like the Black Fox and Thomas the Rhymer by a who's who of fantasy.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL, December 17, 2004

By 

K. Carroll "Orange Fae" (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Ballads (Hardcover)

This book is absolutely gorgeous and I hope Mr. Vess makes more like it. His stunning illustrations and ability to tell a story through pictures weaves a music all alone. Mr. Vess's art coupled with stories inspired by ancient and new ballads and written by some of the greatest storytellers of our time, such as Neil Gaiman and Charles De Lint, makes for a one of a kind book that can be enjoyed on many levels. A great read for anyone who likes Art, music, good writing or needs some more magick on their bookshelf.