Customer Reviews

Hellboy: Bones of Giants

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a diehard Hellboy fan, I like this book. I still can't believe I'm saying that! To tell the truth, I didn't want to have anything to do with this book. Then I ran out of Hellboy stuff to read, and when I had already re-read everything... I bought this book with the preconceived notion that it would, excuse the term, Suck. To my chagrin its a great read. Ultimately its Golden's tactful use of Hellboy's and Abe's(his gilled sidekick) relationship that sealed the deal on this one. The way Golden has them interact, you can feel the cammaraderie just seep through the pages. If you like Hellboy, and you like Abe, then you'll enjoy this book.

Christopher Golden has taken the wonderful characters, Hellboy and Abe Sapien to the frozen north to deal with Nordic legends and horrors who refuse to stay dead. In his second opportunity to put prose to these otherwise graphic characters, Golden has made the text richer with the frigid melancholy, desperation and dark night horror. He's not Mike Mignola, but that's not a bad thing. His descriptive qualities and pacing are well suited to Mike's paranormal investigators. I've never read such violent yet stirring renditions of the age of the great gods of the north. In bits that rush dizzyingly onto the pages, the death of an ancient world is replayed, while Hellboy tries to fit together the pieces of an ancient puzzle to solve his, and the world's, current dilemma. The horror is gripping and the threat is colossal.This is a fun book but it's also good fireside tale of legends, battle and the price paid as the result of petty greed. Once again Hellboy is up to his goatee in trouble. This is not the first time but it's certainly a different set of circumstances and they weigh heavy on him. He's come to expect that.

I've been a fan of Paranormal investigator Hellboy ever since he burst onto the comic-book scene courtesy of creator Mike Mignola and publisher Dark Horse Comics, so needless to say I was thrilled when Dark Horse announced that he would be the star of a series of Novels by Horror author Christopher Golden. The enthusiasm waned a bit (Actually it died...) after I read the first book, Hellboy: The Lost Army; I didn't care for it, so I saved The Bones of Giants and the short story collection Odd Jobs for later. Guess Odd Jobs will get put on the back-burner AGAIN, 'cause I really didn't think Bones of Giants was much better.

The concept is great- Hellboy is called in to investigate the discovery of a gigantic corpse in Sweden, which turns out to be the remains of the Norse God of Thunder, Thor; Hellboy picks up Thor's hammer Mjollnir, is struck by the lightning the hammer can summon, and finds that not only is the hammer now fused to his right hand, but he's now also the unwilling host for the essence of the "Thunder-Bearer"; Good thing, though- It seems as if Thor isn't the only Norse Deity to be making a comeback; Thrym, a vengeful Frost Giant, has also risen from his grave, and he's looking for a do-over of Ragnarok, the legendary "Twilight of the Gods", and it looks like only Hellboy and his fish-man partner Abe Sapien can stand in his way.

If Mignola had handled this in the comic, it would have been solid-gold. Here it just seems stagnant. I really have nothing bad to say about Christopher Golden's writing; He gets the job done, but his style just didn't do anything for me. Avid readers will know what I mean- There are some Authors whose books you just hate to put down, and some whose books you just hate to pick up. For me, Golden falls into the latter category. The only reason I was even able to muster up the resolve to finish the book is because I had no choice! (I finished the last 50 or so pages in the Dentist's office waiting for the Novocaine to kick in.) To his credit, Golden did manage to make the final showdown interesting, but it still wasn't enough for a recommendation. The book has dozens of spot illustrations by Mignola, and although he's hands-down my ALL-TIME FAVORITE artist, they're not his best work, and serve more as mood-setters than actual representations of what is going on in the story at any given time. Kudos to Dark Horse for trying something different, though. The paperbacks are a great idea, especially with the Hellboy movie looming for Summer of 2004, and I'd love to see more, but please give another Author a try...? Maybe Poppy Z. Brite, Edward Lee, or Jack Ketchum?

This is a significant improvement. Mignola even states in the introduction, 'Chris is a better writer now than he was 4 years ago'. This would certainly seem to be the case. Perhaps a better editor, too. Gone are the dumbed down kindergarten sentences. The characters are handled better.

Oh yeah, and Hellboy becomes HellThor. That is pretty groovy. Mjolnir, Frost Giants, dwarves, and lots of running around in Sweden, which is certainly a pleasant change of setting.

If you were put off by The Lost Army, don't be - this book is considerably better.

I am a Hellboy fan. It is important to know that. This book had a good plot that was well thought out. The banter was very Hellboy and lots of fun. I loved how Abe was portrayed. I think it is an excellent read. Of course the artwork by Mignola was awesome, too.

Gripping stuff. I have no prior experience of Hellboy or BPRD work, but no introduction was required. This is a great alternative read. Great action. Paranormal conflicts. No need to have read prior Hellboy work, you'll enjoy this book

This book is full of monsters. Hellboy, Abe, Garm, Dark Elves, Giants, etc. It is one long slugfest broken up with occasional spots of character development and story advancement. But mostly it's just Hellboy kicking mythical monster butt. And that's a good thing.

Not everyone will like it, but if you enjoy Hellboy or you like Norse mythology or you just like reading fast-paced stories, this is for you. Personally, I thought it was great fun.

P.S. It's based on Hellboy the comic, not the movie. So if you're only familiar with the film, expect some small differences. But you don't need to be a comic fan to enjoy this. I'm not.

Did I mention it's got a ton of monsters?

I have already been a fan of Gellboy so I may sound a little biased. However, when I first saw this book I was a little leary of reading it. I was greatly mistaken, The writing was excelent and extremly well done. If you like this book I may also reccomend the book Odd Jobs. They are bot great reads.

Mike Mignola's HellBoy is one of those cool comic book creations that I look forward to on the semi regular basis that new material is published. Each new series is inventive and clever, some more than others. However.......this new novel by Christopher Golden, the second in a series, does not offer as much in the way of thrills as the comics do. It is a fun novel to read and contains many interesting ideas.

First thing that is most important to let everyone know, from a fan of Hellboy, Hellboy and Spawn....compare apples and oranges. Both are fruit but are not alike beyond that. Don't listen to anyone who says contrary. Unlike Spawn, Hellboy is not some whiny self-pitying creature and has more heart than Spawn by a long shot. He's was born a demon, is a demon and accepts that but accepts also with ease, no brooding in some dump of an ally, that he can defy his heritage.

This novel though I have to admit is not as detailed as the previous Hellboy novel, is still plenty of fun. A heavy read? No, deffinetly not a heavy read. So just read and enjoy. And within a week you can get back to your heavier reading.

Again, this is not like Spawn. X-files, sure with a little of Doc Samson thrown in. But Spawn, no. The two should not even be mentioned in the same sentence unless to dinstinguish the two. No exggaterated capes to trip on from Hellboy. Just a normal overcoat.