Walter Moers
Author of The City of Dreaming Books
About the Author
Series
Works by Walter Moers
Zamonien: Entdeckungsreise durch einen phantastischen Kontinent - Von A wie Anagrom Ataf bis Z wie Zamomin (2012) 57 copies
Das Einhörnchen, das rückwärts leben wollte: Zwanzig zamonische Flabeln. Limitierte Ausgabe mit Farbschnitt (2024) 40 copies, 1 review
Qwert: Roman. Mit Kopffarbschnitt in limitierter Erstauflage - Wer Blaubär mag, wird Qwert lieben! (2025) 26 copies, 1 review
Die Schimauski-Methode und andere sensationelle Entdeckungen des erstaunlichen Prof. Dr. Albert Schimauski (2000) 12 copies
Käpt'n Blaubär 2 copies
2007 2 copies
Mi vida en el gran bosque: Más aventuras en el increíble viaje del simpático Capitán Osoazul. (Spanish Edition) (2004) 1 copy
Petit emmerdeur 1 copy
Die große Käpt'n Blaubär Box (4 DVDs) — Director — 1 copy
Käptn Blaubär , die drei Bärchen und der blöde Wolf - Das Musical — Performer — 1 copy
Rumo a zázraky v tmách 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Moers, Walter
- Birthdate
- 1957-05-24
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- comic book artist
comic book writer - Awards and honors
- Phantastik-Preis der Stadt Wetzlar (2005)
Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher - Nationality
- Germany
- Birthplace
- Mönchengladbach, West Germany
- Places of residence
- Hamburg, Germany
- Associated Place (for map)
- Germany
Members
Reviews
Indescribable, mad book, but fun.
A blue bear tells of his bizarre adventures (half of his 27 lives) in a fantasy world of extraordinary creatures. Rescued and raised by mini pirates, taught to talk by Babbling Willows, navigator for a pterodactyl superhero etc etc. Interspersed with snippets from an encyclopaedia about the relevant creatures (shades of Hitchiker's), and plenty of pen and ink illustrations.
The overall effect is like a more adult version of Stewart and Ridell's Edge show more Chronicles, with touches of Python, fairy tales, Munchausen, Gulliver's Travels, Edward Lear and goodness knows what else.
Lovely use of language, quite apart from the extraordinary imagination behind it.
* "A dimension could, for instance, consist of congealed boredom or musical frigidity... there are said to be dimensions in which sorrow is the staple food of creatures that vegetate in little pools of grief."
* "Qwerty oozed majestically"
* A clever description of "equitemporal tunnelling of dimensions" whereby time "can vanish while remaining omnipresent"
* And riding a horse is like moving in time to classical music but riding a camedary is more like a drunk drummer's rhythm.
Also a big book (over 700 large pages) but such fun it's only heavy in the sense of pound and ounces (or Kilos, if you prefer).
Compare this with his wonderful bibliophile's delight, which I reviewed here: The City of Dreaming Books. show less
A blue bear tells of his bizarre adventures (half of his 27 lives) in a fantasy world of extraordinary creatures. Rescued and raised by mini pirates, taught to talk by Babbling Willows, navigator for a pterodactyl superhero etc etc. Interspersed with snippets from an encyclopaedia about the relevant creatures (shades of Hitchiker's), and plenty of pen and ink illustrations.
The overall effect is like a more adult version of Stewart and Ridell's Edge show more Chronicles, with touches of Python, fairy tales, Munchausen, Gulliver's Travels, Edward Lear and goodness knows what else.
Lovely use of language, quite apart from the extraordinary imagination behind it.
* "A dimension could, for instance, consist of congealed boredom or musical frigidity... there are said to be dimensions in which sorrow is the staple food of creatures that vegetate in little pools of grief."
* "Qwerty oozed majestically"
* A clever description of "equitemporal tunnelling of dimensions" whereby time "can vanish while remaining omnipresent"
* And riding a horse is like moving in time to classical music but riding a camedary is more like a drunk drummer's rhythm.
Also a big book (over 700 large pages) but such fun it's only heavy in the sense of pound and ounces (or Kilos, if you prefer).
Compare this with his wonderful bibliophile's delight, which I reviewed here: The City of Dreaming Books. show less
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The City of Dreaming Books is the fourth book in the Zamonia series by German author and cartoonist Walter Moers. This book can be read as a standalone novel, the worldbuilding and plot elements were explained in a way that precludes the need to read the other books first.
This book is a book about loving (and fearing) books. I was hooked on the first paragraph:
How can you not want to read on after a passage like that? So I dutifully sat down with my chamomile tea and read on (actually, I did almost get chamomile tea just to spite the above paragraph). Our journey through Bookholm, also known as the City of Dreaming Books, is lead by the not-so-intrepid saurian character of Optimus Yarnspinner. The book is packed full of illustrations by the author, and I really enjoyed them. They were as interesting as the text at times.
Plot: 3 out of 5.
The plot of The City of Dreaming Books is based, self-consciously, on quite a few tropes. Yarnspinner’s authorial godfather sees to that. Due to the lounge-in-cheek way a lot of the tropes were handled, I found them to be quite entertaining and not at all frustrating or dull. Once you get towards the second part of the book the plot starts to speed up, and events take our clumsy hero by a bit of surprise. Sure, you could kind of guess the direction where the book was heading, but that didn’t detract from my interest at all.
Setting: 5 out of 5.
The highlight of this book is certainly the setting. Bookholm itself is a main protagonist. Moers sees to it that the city and aspects of life in it are exquisitely described. Honestly, the location-as-protagonist approach that The City of Dreaming Books took remined me of China Miéville’s New Crobuzon series ([book: Perdido Street Station|68494] and The Scar being among my favorite fantasy novels). Albeit Bookholm is a lot more sanitary, friendly, and generally less putrescent than New Crobuzon. This book truly excels in the worldbuilding and made me want to wander the streets of Bookholm, hopefully with less naiveté than Yarnspinner.
Characters: 4 out of 5.
Optimus Yarnspinner is the main character of the book, and he is the one telling us the tale. I found him to be an entirely likable character, with good depth and delightful quirks. The other characters were less well defined, naturally, but they made an impression on me in the story. The Shadow King’s characterization was excellent as well. Writing Style: 5 out of 5.
This is the first book of Moers’ that I have read, and I found his style to be delightful. This is all the more remarkable as it is a translation of the German version of this book. It was truly excellent, and while the prose may have been a tad purple, the literary love imbibed by the book rendered it fitting. A rather extreme example of this is:
Thankfully, this is just Yarnspinner quoting his authorial godfather, but the author’s ability to write beautiful prose regarding a cauliflower was delightful. A sample of the typical prose is:
Personal Enjoyment: 4 out of 5.
I really really enjoyed this book. It made me want to move into a comfortable corner with my books and never leave. This passage had me cackling with laughter:
I strongly empathized with this when I closed the book.
Conclusion:
This is where my review ends.
Cross posted on my blog at https://adruidinthedesert.wordpress.com/2023/01/27/book-review-the-city-of-dream... show less
The City of Dreaming Books is the fourth book in the Zamonia series by German author and cartoonist Walter Moers. This book can be read as a standalone novel, the worldbuilding and plot elements were explained in a way that precludes the need to read the other books first.
This book is a book about loving (and fearing) books. I was hooked on the first paragraph:
“This is where my story begins. It tells how I came into possession of The Bloody Book and acquired the Orm.show more
It’s not a story for people with thin skins and weak nerves, whom I would advise to replace this book on the pile at once and slink off to the children’s section. Shoo! Begone, you cry-babies and quaffers of camomile tea, you wimps and softies! This book tells of a place where reading is still a genuine adventure…”
How can you not want to read on after a passage like that? So I dutifully sat down with my chamomile tea and read on (actually, I did almost get chamomile tea just to spite the above paragraph). Our journey through Bookholm, also known as the City of Dreaming Books, is lead by the not-so-intrepid saurian character of Optimus Yarnspinner. The book is packed full of illustrations by the author, and I really enjoyed them. They were as interesting as the text at times.
Plot: 3 out of 5.
The plot of The City of Dreaming Books is based, self-consciously, on quite a few tropes. Yarnspinner’s authorial godfather sees to that. Due to the lounge-in-cheek way a lot of the tropes were handled, I found them to be quite entertaining and not at all frustrating or dull. Once you get towards the second part of the book the plot starts to speed up, and events take our clumsy hero by a bit of surprise. Sure, you could kind of guess the direction where the book was heading, but that didn’t detract from my interest at all.
Setting: 5 out of 5.
The highlight of this book is certainly the setting. Bookholm itself is a main protagonist. Moers sees to it that the city and aspects of life in it are exquisitely described. Honestly, the location-as-protagonist approach that The City of Dreaming Books took remined me of China Miéville’s New Crobuzon series ([book: Perdido Street Station|68494] and The Scar being among my favorite fantasy novels). Albeit Bookholm is a lot more sanitary, friendly, and generally less putrescent than New Crobuzon. This book truly excels in the worldbuilding and made me want to wander the streets of Bookholm, hopefully with less naiveté than Yarnspinner.
Characters: 4 out of 5.
Optimus Yarnspinner is the main character of the book, and he is the one telling us the tale. I found him to be an entirely likable character, with good depth and delightful quirks. The other characters were less well defined, naturally, but they made an impression on me in the story.
This is the first book of Moers’ that I have read, and I found his style to be delightful. This is all the more remarkable as it is a translation of the German version of this book. It was truly excellent, and while the prose may have been a tad purple, the literary love imbibed by the book rendered it fitting. A rather extreme example of this is:
The cultivation of the blue cauliflower is a rather remarkable process. What pays the price in this case is not the foliation, for a change, but the inflorescence. The gardener encourages the umbel’s temporary obesity. Crowded together into a compact head, its countless little buds swell, together with their stalks, into an amorphous mass of bluish vegetable fat.
Thankfully, this is just Yarnspinner quoting his authorial godfather, but the author’s ability to write beautiful prose regarding a cauliflower was delightful. A sample of the typical prose is:
The sun was shining outside. Inside the house I felt oppressed by the lingering presence of my late godfather: the smell of his countless pipes, the crumpled balls of paper on his desk, a half-written after-dinner speech, a half-empty teacup and, on the wall, an ancient portrait of him as a youngster with eyes like saucers.
Personal Enjoyment: 4 out of 5.
I really really enjoyed this book. It made me want to move into a comfortable corner with my books and never leave. This passage had me cackling with laughter:
‘I warned you those books were dangerous,’ he said. ‘Now you’ve read enough of them.’
‘No!’ I shrieked. ‘I’ve only read a fraction of them. I hadn’t the least idea such books existed. I must read them all! All!’
I strongly empathized with this when I closed the book.
Conclusion:
This is where my review ends.
Cross posted on my blog at https://adruidinthedesert.wordpress.com/2023/01/27/book-review-the-city-of-dream... show less
Walter Moers does for food and medicine in The Alchemaster's Apprentice (Overlook, 2009) what he did for books in The City of Dreaming Books. Instead of Bookholm this time, we're introduced to another Zamonian city, Malaisea, where almost everyone is ill (thanks to the tyrannical municipal alchemist Succubius Ghoolion). Ghoolion has a maniacal plan to gain absolute power and immortality, and our narrator - a young and down-on-his-luck Crat named Echo (Crats are like cats, but with the power show more of speech (and universal language comprehension, which comes in handy) falls into his clutches and makes something of a Faustian bargain with the alchemaster (which he spends the rest of the book trying to get out of).
Moers pours detail after detail into the book, creating yet another rich world. But instead of carefully describing books, this time he delves into the culinary and medico-botanical realms, regaling his readers with descriptions of lavish (and lengthy) feasts (and their various components), complex gardens filled with wonderful and strange plants, and recipes for alchemical and medicinal treatments.
The limning of characters doesn't suffer, though, for all the detail in other things. The personalities and quirks of Echo and Ghoolion are well drawn, and several others (including the fyllable-slipping Theodore T. Theodore, lovelorn Uggly Izanuela, and a giant moss-growing Toad) are welcome additions to the Moers dramatis personae.
Imaginative, quirky, and bizarre, made all the more entertaining by Moers' excellent (and creepy) illustrations.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-alchemasters-apprentice.html show less
Moers pours detail after detail into the book, creating yet another rich world. But instead of carefully describing books, this time he delves into the culinary and medico-botanical realms, regaling his readers with descriptions of lavish (and lengthy) feasts (and their various components), complex gardens filled with wonderful and strange plants, and recipes for alchemical and medicinal treatments.
The limning of characters doesn't suffer, though, for all the detail in other things. The personalities and quirks of Echo and Ghoolion are well drawn, and several others (including the fyllable-slipping Theodore T. Theodore, lovelorn Uggly Izanuela, and a giant moss-growing Toad) are welcome additions to the Moers dramatis personae.
Imaginative, quirky, and bizarre, made all the more entertaining by Moers' excellent (and creepy) illustrations.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-alchemasters-apprentice.html show less
This a fantasy adventure story about the adventures of a big blue bear as he travels through an extraordinary land that is filled with giants, trolls, hobgoblins, tiny pirates and giant evil spiders...I could have done without the spiders. Bluebear recounts his adventures of getting trapped inside a tornado, crossing a desert made of sugar, and even traveling to other strange dimensions. If that sounds ludicrous, but that's because it is. The entire story is the height of ludicrousness...but show more it's so much fun...even for we "big kids". It's an adventure story that manages to be both exciting and a satire on other adventure stories. When Bluebear is about to die, and he is rescued at the last moment by a flying reptilian creature; "Deus X. Machina" or "Mac", for short. My old brain learned something new..."Deus ex machina" is a literary term that is sometimes used when the problem with a plot is suddenly solved by an unlikely occurrence. Now you have learned something today also...and my young neighbor is now using the term as much as possible in everyday discussions. If you are older than 12, you will probably find that the humor in this book is lot like Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s zany and satirical, usually making fun at literary things like "deus ex machina"...but it’s also so incredibly light-hearted and silly that it easily manages to work as just a fun tall tale that appeals to the hidden "child" in all of us. I loved meeting all the wacky, crazy characters that Bluebear encountered. I would recommend this if you enjoyed witty adventure stories, like the afore mentioned "Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy", or even "The Hobbit". If you're looking for a fun and unusual children’s book, although I’d say that this is more for older children since it does have some scarier bits...but if you’re looking for a fun, smart, and zany adventure story then "Bluebear" is your man...I mean, "bear". show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 90
- Members
- 12,138
- Popularity
- #1,931
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 285
- ISBNs
- 336
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 104