Reviews

A Wild Ride Through the Night by Walter Moers

elliwir's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

savazelena's review against another edition

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5.0

reading for the 3rd time to annotate for my boyfriend❤️

ra22ouille's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was such a fun listen! I had lots of laughs from the humorous narration and the weird and wonderful cast of characters. Felt like a dark Phantom Tollbooth. 

The ending wasn't as strong as I hoped but it was cute and left me satisfied.

The griffin was such a brief character and that felt strange compared with Pancho Sanza the horse. 

kassiopeia8's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Müsste länger sein

picklestar's review

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4.0

Incorporating drawings from 19th Century French illustrator Gustave Dore, A Wild Ride Through the Night tells of a magical night in the life of twelve year old Gustave. On cheating Death when his ship is sunk, Death issues Gustave with a set of tasks in order to win back his life and his soul, tasks with take him through a dream-like world filled with dragons and damsels, giants, fantastic creatures and monsters beyond imagination.
Intertwined throughout the text are Dore’s illustrations and it is these beautiful works that make the story come alive for me. While Moer’s himself would have certainly be able to do justice to the story using his own quirky comic illustrations, the choice to use Dore’s instead shows his love for the artist’s work. The concept is beautiful and unique, and makes what would be otherwise a fairly ho-hum coming of age story of a boy into a simple, fun and wondrous tale I would happily recommend for readers of all ages.

eva_ave's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

3.75

luisasm's review

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5.0

A far cry from Moers' usual stuff, but still so entertaining. It's short, but it's funny and manages to make a classic knight quest fresh and exciting. And the illustrations, of course, are great, since the book is based around them. It even makes the ending (which, spoiler, is one of the most used endings ever) seem acceptable. The whole things reads like one giant surreal painting. A nice little read.

matthewwester's review against another edition

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4.0

The first Walter Moers book I read was The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, which is insane (in the best sense of the word), full of imagination, wandering.

This book was similar in its imagination. What makes this book different is that its fantasy is built upon the actual sketches of mid-19th century artist Gustave Dore. For a while, that little injection of reality caused me to overanalyze all the imagery. But at some point you just gotta accept the plot as it comes. I'm glad Moers did this fun little project.

I enjoyed this book. I would recommend a person start with 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear and if they like the style, then check out this book.

thegoodmariner's review against another edition

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5.0

Brilliant. The concept of taking disparate sketches from a 19th century French painter and tying them into one cohesive plot is clever enough. But Moers turns it into more than a sensical narrative. He makes it a beautiful, witty, fantastic adventure that is impossible to put down. This was the first book of his that I read, but there will be more. Oh yes, there will be more.