4 Followers
6 Following
qwallath

Qwallath

Hi, I'm Odile, a historical linguist from the Netherlands who also likes to write about music, games, and history. Check out my longer blog posts and other writings on Sub Specie.

Currently reading

Signs: an Introduction to Semiotics
Thomas A. Sebeok, Marcel Danesi
Language and Space
Lynn Nadel, Mary A. Peterson, Paul Bloom

The Plucker: An Illustrated Novel by Brom

The Plucker - Brom One of Brom's first fiction works (instead of just illustration), 'The Plucker' is quite succesful. It's an illustrated novella laid in a form that would appeal to older children (large print, lots of pictures), but which contains plenty of dark and gruesome motifs to make it more something for adults. In that respect, it fits perfectly into the children's lit / young adult / adult crosswriting spectrum that is becoming more and more important these days, where age is less important than how well you can handle certain themes.

That said, the setting of this one is a child's world: toys have a life of their own, animated by the 'gusto' of children, and toyland is invaded by a dark spirit - The Plucker itself - from the depths of mythological Africa, out to displace the souls of children to take over their bodies. Main antagonists are Jack - the one in the box - and Mabelle, the sterotypical southern US 'mammy', who deals in voodoo charms as well as basic nanny skills.

The portrayal of aforementioned Mabelle is a fair bit on the traditional side, erring on the side of positive African-American sterotyping, but if you're willing to look past that, 'The Plucker' is a highly enjoyable work, lovingly illustrated by a graphic artist who happens to posess talent for storytelling as well. Recommended for fantasy lovers of all ages, provided they can stomach the dark and gritty.