Malice (original 2009; edition 2009)

I don't really read a lot of horror novels, but this one caught my eye in the library. Perhaps it was the picture of the eerie man with a mangled hand on the front cover, or maybe it was the foreboding title. Either way, I thought it looked interesting, so I began reading it. Malice is about two kids, Seth and Kady, investigating how Luke, one of their friends, disappeared. Looking for clues, they find out about Malice, a comic book. Rumor has it that if you gather up the right materials and say the right words, Tall Jake will come and take you away. In order to try and save their friend, Seth and Kady do the ritual, and this is where the amazing adventure begins.
The beginning of the book starts of a bit slower to try and explain all the ghostly activities happening around Luke and other victims, but the action picks up very quickly. The book is extremely well planned and thought-out. Truly, Malice seems like an alternate universe you could be teleported to. The characters, places, and events are all very realistic. The author makes great use of foreshadowing to foretell of events to come, but subtly enough so that not everyone can find it the first time around.
One of the only complaints I had about this book was the drawings. I couldn’t understand which character was which or what was going on until I looked through it three or four times. In my opinion, I think Wooding could have done a much better job than the artist just describing the action.
Once I picked up this book, I could not put it down. This must be one of the top three horror books I have ever read. The cliffhanger ending hooks you for so much more, and you can bet I’ll be running out to read Havoc, the ending to this amazing series. ( )

Malice exists, and glimpses can be had of what happens there in a comic book of the same name. After Lucas wishes himself into the story, Seth decides to follow. It is a battle just to survive. Kady, searching for Seth, discovers that the world of Malice has links to the real world as well. ( )

Chris Wooding, author of Malice, grew up in Leicestershire. He started writing books when he was only sixteen, and had an agent by the time he was eighteen. When he was nineteen he had already signed his first book deal. When he left college, he began to write full-time, and has been doing so professionally his whole adult life. Now thirty-two, he has written sixteen books, some of which are Havoc, Poison, and The Fade. All of his books have been translated into twenty languages, won various awards, and they’ve even been published around the world! He writes for some films and television, and has several projects in developments. He has travelled in many places around the world. He’s gone all over Europe, North America, Scandinavia, South East Asia, Japan, South Africa, and even lived in Madrid, Spain, for some time. When he wasn’t travelling alone, he spent his twenty’s touring with some bands and saw UK and Europe from the back of their van. His family tree can be traced back to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, and he now lives in London.

Malice is half comic, like the sequel, Havoc. In the book, the main character, Seth, finds out from one of his friends about a comic book, called Malice. Then his friend disappears and dies in the comic. Seth and his friend Kady try to find more information. Seth goes to Malice, the place in the comic, and becomes friends with Justin, a boy in Malice who helps him throughout the whole book. Seth wants to find out how to stop Tall Jake, ruler of Malice, but he didn’t know how. So he decides to go to the Oubliette, a dangerous underground maze where there is rumored to be a wise woman, Skarla. Kady, outside in the human world, finds out that she’d been inside Malice before. She decides to find Seth, and goes to the Oubliette to find him. She finds both Seth and Justin, and they find Skarla at the bottom. They learn about Tall Jake’s enemy, the Shard. Seth decides to go back to the real world and find it, leaving Kady and Justin to find Havoc, a group of rebels who stand up against Tall Jake.

I started to read this book, and I couldn’t put it down. It was incredibly written, and I loved the fact that it was part comic, making it easier to visualize the characters and the plot. Chris Wooding also knew the right time to put in the comics, and they were well drawn. I would rate this book 5 out of 5. It was an amazing book, especially if you like action, comics, and graphic novels with adventure.

This book was a birthday present from a friend of mine. He loved The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray. I couldn't ge tinto that book, so I was a little hesitant about this one.

Malice follows Kady, a cute American girl living in England, and Seth. After their friend Luke disappears, they go on a scary and dangerous journey to find the truth behind the rumors of Malice -- the world and the comic book.

This book is really dark. From the cover art and the decription, it really didn't surprise me. However, I wasn't ready for some of the children in the book to die so casually. Granted, the characters in the book take it rather hard; however, Wodding writes it as though it is a normal occurance . . . Well, I suppose, in Malice it is.

I found it interesting that once inside Malice, the world takes on a steampunk type style. The automations are run on something other than steam; however, the concept of the creatures all being automations and made of cogs was very steampunk. It gave the world depth. Something about it also made it feel darker.

I love using the combination of graphic novel and regular novel! It defintiely gave it a unique reading experience. It also allowed the reader to share an experience with the characters in the book. Reading through the graphic novel/comic sections made me feel as though I was one of the unfortunate children to pick up a copy of the comic, Malice.

This was a good book! I really enjoyed it. Currently, I am trying to track down a copy of Havoc, but I'm having no luck! ( )

Really cool spooky fantasy that has sections in comic book format. It's not as beautifully illustrated or inclusive as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but it's a halfway decent comic and does advance the story. It's about a boy who vanishes inside a secret horror comic book, and his friends try to, first, find out if he's alive in there, and second, get him out alive. Pretty cool! There's a lot more to it than I originally expected, and it is clearly a first volume in a series (argh). I also love the three-dimensional cover! (it is sculpted plastic) ( )