161 reviews for:

Foundling

D.M. Cornish

3.72 AVERAGE


In which Rossamund leaves the Foundlingry for Winstermere, and meets the wonderful, fearsome Europe for the first time.
Sublime!

Well here's another very imaginative author! I thoroughly enjoyed the world Cornish has created and the main character - a boy who will be a hero. Altho' I was originally a bit sorry that nearly a quarter of the book was given over to his explanarium -- I ended up working my way through it and enjoying the added information. His pencil and charcoal illustrations are stunning. I will look for the second in the series and definitely obtain a copy of this for our school library.

Good story, not scary like I was told(but that was from an 11 year old), but I'll have to finish the trilogy.

It took me a little while to get into this book but I ended up enjoying it enough that I'm currently reading the next one. Cornish has a nice sense of character and action, and the world he creates is interesting with its elemental struggle between human and monsters. However, he really takes his world creation a bit too far. The glossary and appendix takes up a quarter of the book and it only gets worse in the sequel. He makes up all these words for different things and people that are really not necessary and just make things confusing and difficult to read.

Hm, tak tohle byl pořádný přešlap.
adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

An absolutely foundational text of my teen years, fundamentally changed my brain chemistry. If you want a fantasy book with detailed worldbuilding, then my god. My GOD. This book has almost 100 pages straight of just the glossary, the cartography the illustrations - just a labour of love top to bottom from an extremely talented man.

D.M. Cornish spins a gripping world of regency-era monsters and an economy based around their slaughter, focusing on a vulnerable young teenager who is swept up in all the little corners that make up this world. The character arc is in flawless lockstep with the worldbuilding from beginning to end, and finishing it left me desperately hungry for more.

The series loves its strong female characters, not in the 'power fantasy girl' sense, but in genuinely bold and striking personalities that have massive influence over Rossamünd. They are the characters that stick, more than any other in the story. It's novel, but well appreciated.

It's not a particularly breezy read, there's a lot of dry lore exploration, almost no real escalation (quite a bit of the payoff for all this book introduces is in book 2) and very very different from your typical fantasy; this is a book that slams the buttons of a particular type of reader. And that reader is MEEEEEE

Why do I secretly hate Rossamund? Why can't I quite get into this book? Why can't I read the word "vinegaroon" without going to get some salt and vinegar chips? GAH!

Okay, I take it back, once it really got going, I totally got into the plot. I'm excited to see what's next for "Little Man".

Der Findling ist der erste Teil der bereits komplett erschienen Monster Blood Tattoo Trilogie. Die Übersetzung fand ich äußerst gelungen. Nirgendwo gibt es seltsam formulierte Stolpersteine und da der Stil sowieso etwas altmodisch und mit vielen Fantasybegriffen gespickt ist, war es so wahrscheinlich sogar leichter zu verstehen.

Was das Buch zu etwas Besonderem macht, ist ganz klar seine Gestaltung. Bereits am Anfang findet sich die erste Karte, auf der man die Reise des Helden nachverfolgen kann. Im Anhang folgen noch weitere Karten, die für’s Verständnis nicht nötig sind, aber schön anzuschauen. Außerdem bekommt man ein Gefühl dafür wie viele Gedanken und Planung der Autor in seine Welt gesteckt hat.

Jedes Kapitel wird von einer Charakterzeichnung begleitet, so dass man am Ende jede der wichtigen Figuren mal durch die Augen des Autors (die Zeichnungen stammen nämlich von ihm) gesehen hat.

Leider muss ich zum Inhalt des Buches sagen, dass sich die Geschichte zwar leicht liest, aber nicht hängen bleibt. Ich mochte die Figuren und die Welt, doch nichts davon hat mich fasziniert oder ist mir großartig im Gedächtnis hängen geblieben. Die Fortsetzungen werde ich demnach wohl nicht mehr lesen.

Womit das Buch beeindruckt, ist sein hundertseitiges Glossar. Man kann nicht nur unzählige Begriffe nachschlagen, sondern sich auch intensiv über die Monster Blood Tattoo Welt informieren. Von einer unterschiedlichen Zeitrechnung bis zu verschiedenen Schiffskörpern wird so ziemlich alles erklärt und gezeigt. Um die vorangegangene Geschichte zu verstehen, ist all dieses Wissen nicht nötig, aber wer sich in die Welt verliebt hat, wird sicher Spaß daran haben noch viel mehr über sie zu erfahren.


This was a fast moving "quest" type book. It would make a good read-aloud for boys. I liked it better than Ranger's Apprentice. I am putting "Lamplighter" the next one in the series on my to read list.