Down the Mysterly River
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4.5 • 14 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Down the Mysterly River is the children's book debut of Bill Willingham, the creator of the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series Fables. Complete with illustrations by Fables artist Mark Buckingham, it is a spirited, highly original tale of adventure, suspense, and everlasting friendship.
Max "the Wolf" is a top notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)—all of whom talk—and who are as clueless as Max.
Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can't guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he's landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world…
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eisner-winning comics creator Willingham (the Fables series) makes his middle-grade debut with an action-packed and often touching novel (published in a different form by Willingham's Clockwork Storybook collective in 2001) that explores the nature of characters and authorship. Twelve-year-old Max, a Boy Scout and self-professed detective, finds himself in a strange forest with no idea how he got there. He soon meets a group of talking animals who are equally confused about their provenance, including a badger named Banderbrock, a gentle bear named Walden, and the mean cat McTavish. They encounter mysterious hunters called the Blue Cutters, who use their blades to literally cut into the history of creatures, rearranging their pasts to suit the Cutters' desires. Willingham roles out his themes slowly, only fully spelling them out in the final scene, but they don't interfere with the rollicking story, nasty (but fully realized) villains, and heroic camaraderie. Likewise, although references from The Princess Bride to Edgar Rice Burroughs abound, they're smoothly integrated, never letting readers suspect they might be missing a joke. The end result is a stellar example of a novel working both as an adventure tale and as metafiction. Ages 10 up.
Customer Reviews
Down the Mysterly River
This book was amazing by how it was described and thought to be the final copy is incredible and I personally have read it over 3 times and I am still not tired of the book.
Very good!
This is a children's book? I'm 30 years old and enjoyed it. I didn't want it to end. Good book if you want easy reading but still want it to be good! $5.99 is too much in my opinion for the online version of it as I found it in the dollar store (sorry Bill!) but I will definitely keep a copy of it around for my children!
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