Customer Reviews

The Crow:Quoth the Crow

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First, let's get things straight. Before you pick up this book, go read James O'Barrs original comic book series. If you like that, then watch the movie. If you enjoy both, pick up a collection of Edgar Allen Poe, or at least read " The Raven". If you survived all of that then pick up this book. Now you are ready. This story is a story of love and revenge. It is about a man doing something he knows is wrong but does it not for good or evil, but to bring peace to his soul. In it, David Bischoff parallels the lives of the characters to the life of Poe and his writings. His unique method of foreshadowing through use of quotations instills the excitement of knowing what will happen next, but to what extent? This in combination with the characters depth makes the book very fun to read. Finally, for all of you who were discouraged or confused by the movies( or just fans looking for a change), this book starts at the beggining of the story and works all the way through. (P.S. For a more bizzarre style, but still a good story, check out Poppy Z. Brite's "The Lazarus Heart".)

A brief synopsis: William Blessing is a famed horror writer, surpassing the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz (who says he isn't a horror writer), and he is also the foremost expert on Edgar Allan Poe. Blessing offers a helping hand to a fellow aspiring writer who apparently never paid heed to the phrase "Don't bite the hand that feeds you". Blessing is murdered and plans are made to exploit Blessing's name by this ambitious writer (who's in cahoots with a local goth gang, if you will, called the Gothetiques). This man also has plans to marry Blessing's beautiful widow, Amy.

This book was such a treat for me. As a long time lover of the film "The Crow", the comics, and the television series, I've been longing to get my hands some of the books written by various authors. So, this was my introduction into the world of Crow fiction, and I wasn't disappointed in what I read. I enjoyed this story thoroughly. I never went into this story hoping to make Shrek's analysis, but I did go into this story hoping to be entertained. The characters were interesting. Though, I wasn't sure whether to like Blessing or dislike him at first, which made him all the more "real" because I feel the same mixed feelings about people in my read life. It didn't have the strongest of storylines, some might say it was contrite, but it was solid, giving it a good read.

Now, for my grievances with this story. The author is a compulsive name dropper. It's nice to know that he did his research in horror films and "Goth" music, but the mentioning of nearly 20 groups and 15 "prominent" stars and writer on one page is far too much. I think the author got a little too enamored by what he things the Goth culture is like. Some of the things he described the Gothetiques doing were just borderline corny. I think the way that he dealt with the characters Mick and Theodore was a bit contrived. However, those were minor things that I could look over.

This will definitely continue to be a part of my library for some time to come.

Very very well written and enjoyable. A must read for sure again and again. The Poe angle added a very wicked touch. All I can say is, that the crow(the man),and crow(the bird)make a awesome tagteam! Revenge is a dish best served cold,and man its north pole SUB-ZERO COLD! I knew I would love this book,once I saw the bird do more that just flap,fly and caw.It didn't take long for the action,and the tone to be set. The characters are well defined,and storyline has a few twists and turns,which only enhances this tale even more! This book would have made a great movie,not crap like the city of angles is. READ THIS BOOK! I qouth ; )

Bischoff succesfully captures the dark, forbidding atmosphere of Charm City in his Crow novel. Who better to become the undead avenger than a specialist in the literature adored by the solar-deprived, irony deficient goth ssubculture? The plot moves along with barely enough time for the reader to catch his breath, and the quite successful skewering of academia (Johns Hopkins is the Worlds Best Univrsity, just ask them.) and the gloom and doom obsessed goth subculture are quite pleasing. Waht could have made it better? Well, Blessing before the incident is somewhat wooden, and I would love to know why his nemesis is obsessed with the Gothique group. Overall, the best Crow novel.

As a Crow die-hard fan of both the comics and the movies, I approached the book series with a little contempt. I was starting to worry that the Crow franchise was getting out of hand; but a book series?!?! Unable to resist the genre, i picked up the 1st installment of the series, "Quoth the Crow". The use of Poe literary excerpts before each chapter as a foreshadowing tool was successful. Birscoff takes risks with mixing his timelines around, creating a movie-like presence to it. The whole novel goes back and forth between flashbacks to dreams to present and into surreal "heaven" states; it's an interesting technique. The exposure of the "gothic culture" within the novel, however, was seemingly unfair and one-dimensional at times, not completely true to the lifestyle that it is. As a Crow story, it holds pretty well, staying true to the basis of the J O'Barr original, and it even challenges the power of the supernatural being in the story, which was an interesting view on the Crow. For those who love the comics/movies, this is one you would want to pick up for a different view on the Crow. If you're a Poe fan, you might enjoy this too. For those new to the whole "Crow" thing, do yourself a favor and rent the movie or pick up the graphic novel/comic series by James O'Barr. END

This is, quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. Bischoff spins a tale in which the villians aren't villianous and you actually hate the protagonist. William Blessing is an annoying immature writer of horror who is also (we are told) a professor of literature. He takes under his wing a psycotic grad student, who instead of writing a disertation is editing a book for his PhD. Now throw into the mix a group of non-threatening drug atticts who also happen to run a publishing company and have a partnership with a professional assasin who wants to be a writer. It is hard to decide what is worst about this novel. The one dimensional, juvenile characters or the blatant rip offs of Edgar Allen Poe and modern gothic culture. For me reading this book was an endurance test, seeing just how much bad writing I could withstand. In all honesty, I have read better stories in on-line fanzines. I was glad that this book was lent to me by a friend and that I did not have to spend $13 on this 277 page monstrosity. If this is the best that the people who own the rights to The Crow can produce, then maybe the whole franchise is better off dead. (Please pardon any misspellings)

A long time ago,I wrote a rather unfavorable review of author Bischoff's Alien novels. Mister Bischoff took the time to respond to my comments, and I was impressed to find an author who at least reads what his readers have to say. Given that, when I managed to pick up a copy of Quoth the Crow, I decided to give it a fair chance, not letting either of his Aliens books bias me. And I must admit, while slow paced, while not perfect ... I liked it. Now I have just come off a old horror kick, re-reading many classics by Poe, Lovecraft, Stoker and the like, so it was nice to see so many references to them. Also, many of my friends exist in the Goth subculture discribed in the books (where similar clothing, listen to same music, read Sandman...), which was an extra hoot. And the story is surprisingly solid, with a likable central figue in the form of William Blessing. One odd note though, while a good author, the constant mentioning of Dean Knootz distracted me, as he is not a Gothic fantasy/horror writer, though mentions of my own favourite author (Clive Barker,) sort of dispelled this distraction for me. And Mister Bischoff, if you are still out there, let me know what you think.

In this fantastic novelization of James O'Barr's, dark avenger, an author, is murdered, and brought back to seek revenge on his killers. No his name isn't Eric Draven, its William Blessing.Blessing is brutally slaughtered by his "best" friend, and his wife, is savagly raped.Blessings Edgar Allan Poe obsession, is facinating, and what happens to Marquette at the end, makes you think.

The only thing I would add is that the publishing company set up by Blessing's nemesis and the goths (using money from selling books stolen from his collection) reminded me of things I've read about White Wolf Games and it's poor relationships with writers. That made me wonder if Bischoff had something against Mark ReinHagen and was taking the traditional author's revenge.

I had fairly high expectations for this book, despite it being a tie-in, as the rest of the series, particularly Poppy Z. Brite and S. P. Somtow's titles were quite good. Also, I lived in Baltimore and was part of the Goth scene that made up the books setting.
I was disappointed from practically the first page. The characters were cartoonish, the plot was uneven and even worse, it was uninteresting.
Even worse for me were the mentions of Baltimore and it's goth scene. While it was at first fairly neat to read mention of clubs I actually went to, along with other local hangouts, neighborhoods and attractions, they were all described completely inaccurately.
The book's description of Poe's graveyard, a fairly important location in the book, and one that would be easily researched, was so utterly incorrect it was both distracting and laughable. While this probably wouldn't be noticeable to anyone other than a local or a Poe buff it was sloppy. Artistic license is one thing, but this was just laziness. A quick (and tax-deductible) research trip to Baltimore would have made this a better book.