A review by zare_i
The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

5.0

Timothy Hunter is potentially most powerful magician in current era. As such he represents the ultimate weapon for both Good and Evil forces and whoever brings him onboard will gain the upper hand.

This is why four mystics - Constantine, Dr. Occult, Phantom Stranger and Mister E - decide to introduce the wonderful (and extremely dangerous) world of magic to Timothy and in doing that bring him to the Good side (although what exactly is good and what is bad is left for interpretations - Mister E is one very scary guy and proof that not everyone standing on side of Angels is actually an angel).

Story is collection of "travels" that Timothy takes with each mystic - to the past, present, world of faeries and finally trip to the future to the very end of the time and space.

Dialogs are great, and it is clear this was written by the novelist. While Timothy is amazed at what he sees and people and creatures he comes across it is clear he is very wary of responsibilities and possible high cost of messing with magic. This brings him in discussion with the four mystics (or as Constantine calls them TrenchCoat Brigade (since he considers them to be reckless as a famous charge of Light Brigade)) that reveal to him complexity of the magic worlds, rules that binds the magic world and great dangers lurking in the shadows.

I wont go into more details, I can only say if you want very rich narrative with gorgeous art (to be honest one of the reasons ..... scratch that, main reason I bought this graphic novel is because of John Bolton - quality of the story and ambient were a huge plus overall) filled with occult and mystery then this is book for you.

Highly recommended.