Customer Reviews

Foundling (Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 1)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Monster Blood Tattoo: Foundling" is being pushed by its publishers as a great original: "fantastical without conforming to the generally accepted notions of fantasy" (by which they mean that it isn't peopled by wizards and unicorns living in a vaguely European, mock-medieval setting.) The book certainly achieves this goal, although fantasy readers will probably take offense at the insinuation that the genre has nothing but princesses and dragons to offer. Even if this isn't the first fantasy world you encounter with "tri-corner hats and flintlock pistols", there is no denying Cornish's originality. The Half-Continent is a world at war: humans and monsters have been fighting for centuries. Biotechnology supplies light, engine power and even, in some cases, superhuman powers. Our hero, Rossamund, leaves the protected, if not fully comfortable, world of the orphanage where he was raised to start a career as a lamplighter outside the city walls. Early in his travels he is diverted from his true path and we discover the Half-Continent and its inhabitants through his adventures. The world is rendered with thoughtful and convincing detail, complemented by the author's own illustrations and an extensive set of appendices (the "Explicarium".)

In truth, "Foundling" is more of a first act than a first book: characters are introduced, mysteries are suggested, the scene is set; but the arc is not complete. I, for one, eagerly await, Act II.

By this point I think the nation's readers of children's fantasy novels have hit a kind of boredom plateau. You get a new fantasy on your desk and you have to tick off the requirements. Alternate world? Orphaned hero or heroine? School for the extraordinary? To a certain extent, a lot of these tried and true stand-bys are essential to a good book. There's a reason they exist, after all. But after reading a bunch of them, reviewers like myself get a little jaded. Kids think everything's new, so they're more inclined to love the newest sparkly cover that comes down the pike. For us, finding something that is truly original and truly unique is almost impossible. I mean, it's not as if Harry Potter was the first boy to go to wizarding school even. So imagine my surprise when I encountered a truly rare and amazing fantasy world. A place so thoroughly thought out, planned, meticulously recorded, and imagined that it feels less like a fantasy novel and more like the factual memoirs of an alternate world. I'm not exaggerating here. Aussie D.M. Cornish has spent (according to his bookflap) "the last thirteen years bringing the Half-Continent to life." The result is a book that feels like the first true successor to Tolkien I've ever found.

His name is Rossamund Bookchild. Bookchild because he is an orphan raised by a Marine Society and given the same last name of all the children there. Rossamund, normally a girl's name, because that was the name pinned to him when he was left on the steps as a babe. Growing up reading exciting pamphlets recounting daring deeds, Rossamund has a dream of someday becoming a sailor (or vinegaroon) on the vinegar seas where high adventure awaits. He dreams of someday seeing the vicious monsters that constantly do battle with man around the country and must always be kept at bay. Yet instead of a glorious life on the seas, Rossamund is told that he is to be apprenticed as a lamplighter, lighting the roads of the Half-Continent. It's a disappointing blow, but on the way to his new job Rossamund hops the wrong boat and finds himself facing monsters, rever-men, teratologists, bogles, leers, wits, and a host of other characters and dangers. Moreover, has Rossamund always been told the truth about the monsters people fight, or is there more to some bogles than meets the eye?

Normally when an author wants to introduce you to a new fantasy world, the hero is a kid from our mundane universe who is pushed through extraordinary circumstances into a peculiar realm. Rossamund, however, inclines far more closely to the Bilbo Baggins mode of adventuring. He has led a nice sequestered life in Madame Opera's Estimable Marine Society and his journey turns out to be very much a series of adventures, both good an ill, that are new to him simply because he has only read about the wider world and has not yet lived in it. Yes. Fine. Our hero is an orphan as per a million fantasy novels before. But never have I had such a clear sense that a character's parentage is not the point of the series. Phew!

Really, Rossamund is a great hero. Like Taran in Lloyd Alexander's The Black Cauldron series he yearns for adventure. But unlike Taran he's not a brash young man with a braggart's tongue and a desire to enter battle. Rossamund seems to want adventure without wanting to ever hold a weapon in his hands. He's a rather gentle kid. He'd sooner say nothing than say the wrong thing, a tendency that causes the people around him to open up unexpectedly. Which, from a narrative perspective, is keen. Rossamund's growth in this book is not complete, a fact noticed by the sweet bogle that considers telling him the secret of his name. Still, you have confidence in this hero. He is kind and good and that goes a long way when you have to spend a whole book with him.

Another difference from your normal run-of-the-mill fantasy is Cornish's use of female characters. Strong female characters, that is. At first I figured that this would be yet another boy-boy-boy book. But then you meet the character of Europe and it's all up in the air. Europe is the fighting fulgar that meets Rossamund early in his travels and inspires both his respect and his disgust. She kills monsters for a living, which wouldn't be so bad if the first one Rossamund encounters with her weren't such a sweet but stupid fellow. Her moral complexity mixes with a personality that has enough pep and zazz to keep you guessing about her intentions for most of the book. Fighting women in fantasy novels tend to have no sense of humor, but Europe is quite the wit (inside joke) when her innards aren't trying to reject her new organs.

Maybe it's Cornish's Aussie roots, but he has a knack for language that exceeds the norm. His descriptions are nice and no question, but dialogue seems to be his bread and butter. "Don't give me a reason to remember yer name any further, me darlin' chiffer-chaffer." Or calling someone a "prattling hackmillion". That kind of thing. His easy-going language will strike you as almost cockney at first, but closer inspection of the words and phrases used put a very particular spin on the entire affair. His talent for names is nothing to scoff at either. You'll read titles like Sloughscab, Poundinch, Europe, and Licurius, which pour out of the author like mad wild things.

Regarding the sheer complexity of this world, here is my thinking: Cornish is so invested in this Half-Continent he has created, and so clear on every minute and tiny detail involved that you can't help but be swept up in the logic of it all. Even more amazing though is that Cornish describes everyday realities of the realm without making them sound anything but simultaneously routine AND amazing. Everything we learn about Rossamund's world is extraordinary, but Cornish has it so well-planned that it almost feels routine and logical. Not in the boring sense, of course.

Standing at a handsome 434 pages, this book may appear a bit daunting to your average reader. So you can well imagine my amazement when I hit page 312 and found the story to be over. Finito, as it were. The next 122 pages consisted of an elaborate and enticing Explicarium "Being a glossary of terms and explanations including Appendices". Sounds simple, right? Well, it begins with a explanation of pronunciations for certain terms in this book. Then an explanation of italics. And then a list of faux sources used to research this book (which is always fun). The glossary is extensive and you can basically learn quite a lot about the Haacobin Empire in which Rossamund lives, including history, characters, and different kinds of boats if you've an inclination to do so. Of course, at the same time you'll run across definitions like "muck hill: pile of poo", so make no assumptions. The glossary is followed by a guide to the 16-month calendar of the half-continent, detailed drawings of different occupations and what they wear, every boat from a gun-drudge to a main-sovereign, and enlargements of the Half-Continent terrain that is the most frightening and magnificent map I've ever seen in a work of fiction. Stranger still, all the pictures in this book (and there are many) were drawn by the author himself. Aye, me.

The age level is an interesting question here. Our hero is about fourteen, which puts this book squarely in the middle grade/YA realm. There is some violence (one nasty fellow meets his end by getting eaten alive) but it tends to go quickly. For the most part, I'd say that any kid who could handle the Harry Potter books, the The Amulet of Samarkand series, or any of the The Lord of the Rings would definitely enjoy this series and get into it.

But who thinks of these things? Who imagines a world where people bathe their eyes in chemicals to gain unnatural powers? Or who undergo dangerous surgeries to get superhuman abilities? Who imagines something as tiny and delicate as a spoor, a small shape that is blue or white and burned into the skin to denote a person's occupation? D.M. Cornish, obviously. Basically I just recommend this to anyone who wants something wholly new and never seen before. Cornish's imagination will fuel fans for decades to come, should they find this book. Consider it a little-known gem that you'll end up sucked into. Amazing stuff.

Picked it up a day or two after it came out. I didn't realize that it was a childrens book, but really enjoyed it. It was a quick read and has set up an interesting world. I must praise the author for his creativeness and can't wait till the next one. I'd even start to say that it compares to Harry Potter but it seemed more complex and more entertaining. A nice summer read for anyone.

It's very difficult these days to write a good fantasy novel. So many of the traditional themes have been so thoroughly thrashed out it takes a truly inspired imagination to come up with anything even remotely original.

It would seem D.A. Cornish has that kind of imagination. From the moment I picked up Monster Blood Tattoo I found myself in a world both utterly convincing in its every detail and completely different to anything I have encountered before. The Wizards wern't invited, it seems. They stayed at home with the Orcs and the Dragons and the Dark Lords. Instead I found Fulgars and Factotums, Foundlings and Skolds, Shrewds and Grinnlings, each living in a world of Flintlocks, Bothersalts, Thrice-Highs and, one of my favourites, "Small Beer". Every aspect of this fascinating new world is described with a masterly hand, from the cities to the lowliest flower, by an author who obviously knows its every blade of grass. The characters are complex, interesting, and totally convincing, from the adventurous Rosammund with his unfortunate name, to the dangerous and deep Europe, the cheerful and dependable Fouracres, and the host of other characters, minor and major who fill the world. It's all real, it's all new, and it's an absolute joy to read.

My congratulations to this first time author. I can't wait to read of our new Lamplighter's first day.

This is the book I've been waiting for. Extremely fun and entertaining. Scary and exciting. A coming of age tale with high adventure, lessons and some great action sequences. I enjoyed this book more then the Harry Potters. The characters are well thought out and very well detailed. The best part is the author detailed the world with maps, pictures and a lexicon at the end of the book. I'm hooked! Can't wait till the second installment of this amazing new series!

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical upon first seeing this book. The title was certainly strange (as my dad later put it "It sounds like a bad sixties horror movie!") and it seemed more like horror-fantasy than just straight-up fantasy. Even when I read the summary inside the book jacket, the book looked like it might be shallow and violent. Then I started to read...and was hooked. D.M. Cornish has created on of the most incredibly detailed fantasy worlds that I have ever seen. The 18th-century vibe and the mix of German and Latin-seeming words and names is fresh and unique. Cornish's illustrations are very well done and add extra depth to the story. And the massive "explicarium"...well, I've never seen such a comprehensive glossary in any book before. MBT (my abbreviated name for the book) shows that the fantasy genre always has room to grow and change, which it does fantastically. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

If you are looking for a good book to read, and don't mind starting yet another series to leave unfinished far a time to come then you should definitely read Monster Blood Tattoo. This book doesn't feel like your stereo typical fantasy novel, it has its own unique feel about and it keeps you turning the pages until the book is done. I thought it was going to be slightly childish since it was in the Harry Potter section at Hastings, not that Harry Potter is childish, but you will find that it is satisfying to adults.

(This Monster Blood Tattoo series is also available in a CD)

Watch out, Harry Potter; there's a new kid in town. He's got a girl's name, a heart of gold, and a mighty streak of bravery considering he's just a poor foundling. Yes, a foundling is an orphan, but, unlike Potter, Rossamund Bookchild grew up in a school for foundlings, surrounded by others seemingly like him. Yet Rossamund is different from the others: he's largely introspective and he harbors a soft spot for many of the monsters that stalk the Half-Continent.

Okay, so there isn't really a new kid in town because Foundling's Rossamund doesn't live in the UK or Hogsmeade, but the Half-Continent has its own thrills. A semi-medieval world full of pirates trading child slaves on the vinegar seas and electrified warriors, or fulgars, fighting monsters in the name of the Emperor, Rossamund's land is intriguing indeed.

During his eventful journey from Madam Opera's Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls to his first job as a lamplighter in High Vesting, Rossamund falls in with a particularly adept fulgar, Europe, and a jolly, quick-thinking postman, Fouracres. Undoubtedly, it will be the adventures of this trio that D.M. Cornish explores in the following books, as Foundling is the first in the Monster Blood Tattoo series. But Rossamund has left behind dear friends at school-all adults, the only ones mature enough to appreciate the boy's heart-who are bound to show up again with their own troubles.

Aside from the exciting plot and lovable characters, what really makes this book is the fact that Cornish is an illustrator. Sketches of characters in fantastic costumes and intricately detailed maps of the empire show up occasionally. Plus, the book contains a glossary of words peculiar to the Half-Continent, charts explaining the imperial calendar, and drawings of the many types of boats.

As you say cheerio to Harry Potter and his friends this summer, hop into a landaulet and get ready to explore the threwdish woods because Rossamund Bookchild is waiting.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want to know what those words mean? Get a copy of Foundling and start reading.

Kudos to Mr. Cornish on reviving a dying imagination - mine. Inundated with orcs and elves, I was ready to move on to something different. Being an avid reader of all things interesting - this one was highly recommended to me. The protagonist - Rossamund, was well thought out, smoothly blended into a captivating story of a different world. I can't wait for the second volume! Illustrations by the author were well done. (I love the name, 'Europe' for a character). Keep it coming, Mr. Cornish!

As a boy who was given a girlish name, Rossamünd has grown up as a foundling expected to become a sailor. When he was chosen to be a lamplighter instead, he grudgingly agreed. Tending lamps along lonely, monster-infested roadways doesn't sound thrilling, but it's a better prospect than staying with other orphans indefinitely.

Rossamünd sets upon his journey alone, with his few belongings strapped to his back. The first leg is a river journey with nasty surprises. After a perilous escape from smugglers, Rossamünd must travel on foot and alone, vulnerable to the monsters known for lurking in the wilds.

Scared but determined, he vows to join his employers as planned. The journey will be more of an adventure than he imagined. With the help of new allies, Rossamünd just might survive long enough to begin a new life.

With rich detail and a fresh voice, D.M. Cornish delivers a promising start to a new fantasy epic. Young readers will appreciate the reasonable length of the tale and the additional "Explicarium" at the end, which contains a glossary, diagrams, and more.

There is enough violence and "big ideas" to make this novel more appropriate to young teens and older, but it's not excessive or unduly disturbing.

Monster Blood Tatto, Book One: Foundling lays the groundwork for a potentially impressive series. It's clear that Cornish has thoroughly built his fantasy "Half Continent," and it will be a joy to further explore this creation.

Also s uitable for adults who enjoy a good fantasy.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
7/21/2006

4½-Books -or- 5-Stars (Amazon)