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3.06 AVERAGE
3.06 AVERAGE
An interesting story and an interesting delivery that was about 300 pages too long.
3.5 stars. This book reminds me of the fictional Princess Bride book the grampa reads to his grandson in the princess bride. A book with Acton, adventure, and intrigue.
I'm a doc savage, Indiana Jones fan, so this book is right up my alley, conceptually. I like the era (WWI), I like the treasure hunt, and I like the funky text to graphic novel transitions. What didn't work was the clunky dense writing that just goes a bit too far, and there was just a few too many characters to keep straight. You can't just pick this book up and flip through, you need to concentrate and read it. I'm glad I tried it. Not sure I'll read volume 2.
I'm a doc savage, Indiana Jones fan, so this book is right up my alley, conceptually. I like the era (WWI), I like the treasure hunt, and I like the funky text to graphic novel transitions. What didn't work was the clunky dense writing that just goes a bit too far, and there was just a few too many characters to keep straight. You can't just pick this book up and flip through, you need to concentrate and read it. I'm glad I tried it. Not sure I'll read volume 2.
The layout of this book is truly beautiful. Its a mixture of comic panels, text, maps, and illustrations. The eye catching quality of it is what prompted me to pick up this book in the first place. That and one of the authors is Kevin Costner. I was intrigued. The book takes place during the great war but it isn't really set in the European Theater, it follows a group of explorers as they travel all over the world, New York, Tibet, India, Asia, and more. Their fearless leader Major Ogden is looking for a "mythical" city in order to save his brother whose only hope at living is to refind this city that he has no memory of. It's full of adventure, british imperialism, swashbuckling fights, Hollywood actresses, and adventure. While it lags in some parts and can be at times confusing, this book was engrossing. It reminded me of an older British Indiana Jones adventure. A must read for adventure fans.
It was a real effort to get through this. I'm left with no interest in any future volumes.
It is really difficult to describe a book like The Explorers Guild. On the one hand, it's an adventure novel that somehow mashes Jules Verne, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling and Indiana Jones all into one. On the other, it's a graphic novel that somehow reminds me of The Adventures of Tin-Tin, despite not having a youthful reporter nor a rascally dog. But, really, The Explorers Guild is really its own thing, which makes it difficult to review. I loved the narrator, who deigns to give you the information that you need while holding the mystery-solving bits to himself for later. I loved the art, which is simple yet detailed, and inked in beiges and browns, like a vintage comic book might look after years kept in a dusty attic. There are spies and starlets, adventurers and abbots, men in black cloaks and men of war, all thrown together to seek after Shambhala: the mythical city that only admits the worthy. Those that aren't worthy, are driven mad, leaving a trail for our heroes to follow as they seek after the city for themselves. And while it is a commitment at over 700 pages, I think it is well worth the effort.
I wish that I liked this book as much as I wanted to. It wins some points for presentation, as the book itself is a nice thing to look at. The idea of creating a novel/graphic novel hybrid is also creative and interesting. However, I do not feel that the story was very good. First of all, I will admit that I am not a fan of sci-fi or fantasy and "The Explorer's Guild" has elements of both. Secondly, and I don't want to be too pedantic, but this book's complete disregard for history drove me batty. It's fine to blend different eras if that's what you want to do, but "The Explorer's Guild" quite explicitly takes place during the First World War and is full of references to things that were out of period and that drives me crazy.
This book required more effort than I could expend at the moment. It felt like piecing together journals in a Victorian archive. Amusing, but too much work.
Adventure, plain and simple. This novel's biggest boon is that it knows just when and how to play all its cards, and still feel like there's a bit of mystery left even after all the hands have bene played.
Originally published at Novel Escapism
The Explorers Guild marks an imaginative return to old time adventure stories. It is told partly through dense journal prose and partly through the style of a graphic novel. The incredibly creative meeting of the two distinct styles weaves a story of the mythical traveling city of Shambhala against the backdrop of World War I. This novel is not for everyone. It’s dense, archaic writing and length are difficult to maneuver at times and I felt myself wanting more of the graphic novel portions because most of the action happened there, but I have to say that I enjoyed it overall. The story is filled with adventures in far-flung places of the Earth and the characters are memorable. However, it is the beautifully rendered illustrations that really stand out. If you like good adventure stories, check out the unique novel that is The Explorers Guild.
The Explorers Guild marks an imaginative return to old time adventure stories. It is told partly through dense journal prose and partly through the style of a graphic novel. The incredibly creative meeting of the two distinct styles weaves a story of the mythical traveling city of Shambhala against the backdrop of World War I. This novel is not for everyone. It’s dense, archaic writing and length are difficult to maneuver at times and I felt myself wanting more of the graphic novel portions because most of the action happened there, but I have to say that I enjoyed it overall. The story is filled with adventures in far-flung places of the Earth and the characters are memorable. However, it is the beautifully rendered illustrations that really stand out. If you like good adventure stories, check out the unique novel that is The Explorers Guild.
An excellent adventure and one that I really hope continues.