Hellboy: Bones of Giants (Paperback)

~ Mike Mignola (Author), (Author) "When he set eyes on the figure that emerged from the limousine into the moonlit night, Officer Aaron Bruckner nearly wet himself..." (more)
Key Phrases: serpent pendant, frost king, war hammer, Professor Aronsson, Prime Minister, Professor Aickman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

On the frozen shores of Sweden, lighting strikes from a clear sky. The skeleton of a huge man is revealed, its fingers clutched around the handle of an iron hammer. No one who comes to see this marvel from Norse mythology can lift it - no one but Hellboy, who lifts the hammer just in time for lightning to strike again, welding it to his hand, and leading him towards a bizarre series of visions and encounters. Chris Golden, author of the popular Hellboy: The Lost Army novel, makes his return to the character, in a novel illustrated by Mike Mignola, award-winning creator of Hellboy, and production designer of Disney's summer blockbuster, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse; illustrated edition edition (November 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569716102
• ISBN-13: 978-1569716106
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,266,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept Can't Make Up For Flawed Execution, June 14, 2003

By	Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good., February 11, 2003

By	Richard Vang (Garden Grove, ca United States) - See all my reviews

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horror, action thriller, February 25, 2002

By	Richard A. Tucker "Tucker at large" (Pembroke Pines, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.