Scott Chantler

The bookish squire and the blowhard knight have another funny little adventure as they get lost in the woods trying to take a child from the first book to his new school. But going in circles becomes the least of their problems when they find themselves confronted by an antagonistic knight and pursued by scary dog creatures called gnolls.

The squire thinks, reflects and grows as a person while the knight keeps things lively with much smiting.

Book Four switches the action from Dessa to her adversary, Captain Drake. To provide the backstory for Drake and his interactions with both Queen Magda and Greyfalcon, the late King's Chamberlain, Chantler again finds a clever and efficient storytelling angle. Throughout The King's Dragon, we follow parallel storylines between Drake's current task (finding Dessa) and a past search undertaken for the King, a mission which left the King dead. Looking at both stories provides more information show more than simply the sum of their parts, because the mission for the King provides commentary on the current mission for the Queen. Chantler uses black & white panels for flashbacks, colour for present day action, at times interleaving individual panels for emphasis even as he raises the reader's (and Drake's) suspicions about what is going on.

This is perhaps my favourite character arc in the series: the bad guy is not one dimensional, we grow to admire his principles even if we're against him for pursuing Dessa, and our growing understanding of the world and the situation actually shifts our allegiances (and his).

Chantler in this book references the Three Stooges, the assassins of the Iron Hand are caricatures of Larry, Moe, and Curly in both appearance and speech. Neither R nor W caught it.

//

Three Thieves offers a strong story arc over seven books, well plotted and set in a fabulist world. Each book has a distinctive subplot while moving the larger plot forward. Events include set pieces (castles & kings, chase on horseback, piracy & floating islands) as well as the through-line of a search for a missing sibling. There is enough here that is original to avoid feelings of recycling or cliche, while at the same time Chantler readily incorporates recognisable elements from classic adventure tales and even pop culture.

Overall, chock-a-block with cliffhangers & plot twists, well written and a good challenge for younger readers while keeping the interest of the older among us. show less

Bix from Scott Chantler is a sparse yet moving graphic biography that I think will appeal very differently to different people.

I am familiar with both Beiderbecke's life and music. He was one of my father's favorites so from a young age I had heard his music and heard about his life. As I got older I read a bit more about his life and realized there is mostly grey with very little black and white about his life. Last year I read Finding Bix which was as much about sorting through the various show more legends and stories about him as it was a biography. I state all of this because I think to a reader such as myself, this new book serves as a powerful statement about Bix, his life, and his legend. For someone who has simply heard of and maybe heard some music of his, I think they will come away with a different feeling. And someone for whom Bix is an unknown will take away something else yet again.

To try to explain, I'll start with what I know, which is what I took from this book. The minimalist nature of the work, from basic drawings to very few words, leaves a lot for the reader to fill in. Knowing a bit about his life, or at least the dominant interpretations about his life, I saw in facial expressions and the placement of people and locations elements of Beiderbecke's life in stark contrast to what a typical biography, graphic or otherwise, might try to draw. The highs were, I think, that much higher for me and the lows were, also, that much lower for me. The images moved me largely because I knew his story for the most part.

For someone only vaguely familiar, or not at all, with Beiderbecke, I think the highs and lows are quite evident but where I filled in gaps with what I knew (or had heard) these readers will largely feel compassion (and sometimes anger or exasperation) with Bix and will want to learn more details to supplement this trip through his life. I do think these readers will still find enjoyment in the book, but not the same as I did.

I do find this ability to appeal to both sides of the coin to be a positive of the book. There are far too many question marks about his life for there to be a truly definitive biography. This works to utilize that fact for those familiar with him, so we fill in the blanks with the story as we believe it to be. It also works for those less or unfamiliar with Bix by offering enough story to frame his life and thus intrigue that reader and, hopefully, to seek more of both his story and his music.

I recommend this to anyone who loves jazz, music in general, and biographies of musicians. Just understand, this is not an in depth biography (I'm not sure there can be an accurate one) but it is an emotional roller coaster ride similar to the short but bright life of Bix Beiderbecke.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Three Thieves is a family favourite now, finally purchased after multiple loans through the city library. Three of us looked forward to the next installment more than once, since we discovered this first book when only perhaps three or four (of seven) had been published, and so enjoyed repeatedly the story, the characters, the drawings, and the world with its touch of fantasy. A new book would be released, we would start at the beginning and read through to the latest, and exclaim all over show more again how we wanted the full story. Once the final book was published, I thought it would be a treat to purchase them all and re-read them in one go. In the past 2-3 years, I read several volumes aloud to W, R read each copy alone.

The story arc is well plotted and set in a fabulist world, vaguely mediaeval-magical but with intrusions from later eras (primarily in technology and architecture). Events include set pieces (castles & kings, chase on horseback, piracy & floating islands) as well as the through-line of a search for a missing sibling. There is enough here that is original to avoid feelings of recycling or cliche, while at the same time Chantler readily incorporates recognisable elements from classic adventure tales and even pop culture.

Chantler's drawing style is pleasingly iconic: heavily stylised serial art, set in panels and with bright colours and sufficient shading and detail for nuance of expression. Each book has at least one joke conveyed entirely in images.

Overall, chock-a-block with cliffhangers & plot twists, well written and a good challenge for younger readers while keeping the interest of the older among us.

Tower of Treasure efficiently sets the stage for the series, introducing us to the main characters, yes, but also (we'll find out later) to some supporting castmembers, as well. A lot of what seems an aside in these first few volumes will prove to be quite important to the major plot. Meantime, there are fun subplots, a glimpse of a magical world, and panels that invite one to peer into backgrounds and smile at jokes and expressions. The skein made of the personal story of Dessa Redd and the court intrigue within North Huntington is here subtly introduced, and will become much more apparent in later books. show less