The Unwritten Vol. 03: Dead Man's Knock

Summary: With the upcoming publication of the fourteenth novel about Tommy Taylor, the boy wizard, speculation is running high that Wilson Taylor, the reclusive author, will finally make an appearance at the book launch. Everyone has different reasons for wanting him there, however. While his legions of fans are simply hoping for a picture or an autograph, there is a shadowy cabal of people who can control the world through stories that want him for much more sinister reasons. And his adult son, Tom Taylor, wants to finally confront his father with questions about who he really is and how he relates to the protagonist of the books... a question that's also plaguing Tom's ally, Lizzie Hexam.

Review: Oh my goodness, this story is great. show more And, as much as I loved the first volume, I think it's actually getting better as it goes along. In this volume, we get more and more clues about what's really going on in Tom Taylor's world, and who he is, and what his father can do, and the powers of the cabal, etc. For the first time, I feel like I've got enough information to start piecing together my own theories about how the various aspects of this story fit together, but there's also enough nebulous areas that I know my theories are probably wrong... and the story thus far is put together well enough that I trust Carey enough that the final answers (if and when we get them) are going to be cooler than anything that I'd cooked up.

Apart from the big story elements in this volume, there were a lot of little things that I loved as well. The Harry Potter parallels are obvious, but this volume had some touches of His Dark Materials and other well-loved fantasy novels that I grinned whenever I recognized. The points made in Steven Hall's introduction about the power of stories were nicely phrased, and resonated throughout the rest of the volume. And, maybe best of all, one whole issue was written as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style book that was basically a character study of Lizzie, and wound up being not only completely fascinating, but also engaging in a way that I don't normally get from graphic novels. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Don't start anywhere but at the beginning, but this series should definitely appeal to Fables fans, and particularly to readers of Neil Gaiman, to whom the "power of stories" theme should be immediately familiar. show less

This is the third volume of Unwritten, a series of graphic novels written by Mike Carey, about Tom Taylor who may (or may not) be the physical manifestation of Tommy Taylor, boy wizard and creation of his missing father, Wilson Taylor. (Confused much? Yes, definitely start at the beginning with this series.) This was just marvellous, especially the chapter that was a Pick-a-Path (we called it "Choose Your Own Adventure" when I was a kid) story where we got conflicting and not-so-conflicting stories about one character's backstory, depending on which choices you took while reading. Brilliant concept, and great fun!

The story itself also moved on quite a bit, with Tom coming to terms more with what's happening to him, and his story show more getting, well, "bigger" is the only non-spoilerific word I can think of to describe it. I still love the parallels to Harry Potter, and there's some other great bits thrown in, I particularly loved where magic is explained as being "meta-condrians". (And, yes, it's no better than when George Lucas attempted that particular explanation, but it's tongue-in-cheek post-modernism in this case. Trust me.)

I can't wait to rush out and buy Volume 4 of this great series. show less

This series gets better and better.

What to say ? I don't know what I love most:
Is it the headline of online newspapers, the social network or the anchor following the "Tommy Taylor" story ?
Not really knowing if real-life is impinging on stories or if it's the other-way around ?
The diving in "Tommy Taylor - Harry Potter like" world ?
The interlude in well-know or not not so well known stories ? Ever think of La chanson de Roland or Beatrix Potter in a different way ;)
Or perhaps, it is the "choose your own adventure" immersion masterpiece in the middle of the story, which only serve to enhance the "What would be the impact if our familiar stories were told in small different ways that the one we know ?"

Oh, and the best still have to come, show more they are diving right into the Whale story for the next one ...

A real pleasure, you're in for a fun ride of fantasy, intrigue and literature. show less

OK officially the best comic series/graphic novel out there. It just keeps getting better. In Volume 3 the plot is starting to kick off and we get some big reveals, some dramatic changes. I am well and truly hooked.

To recap the plot so far:
Imagine the worlds best selling fantasy series was never finished, the author disappearing into thin air. Now imagine that was your father and those books star you as the hero and your life is now one round of signings and interviews at fantasy conventions. Bad enough until you realise your childhood was a lie and someone is out to kill you.

The characters are superb, the dialogue spot on, the art beautiful but it's also intelligent, original & playful. The world building is fascinating; where show more stories have power but the rules are murky, where there are secret cabals that may not even be real and the rebels fighting for their lives, fantastical alternate worlds, rabid fandom, conspiracy, murder, mayhem and mystery. It's all there and just enough of the world is shown to keep you at the edge of your seat.

Carey & Gross are still having fun with the idea too. This time round we get character back story as a choose your own adventure tale. It's not only fun it's brilliantly constructed to shade the story based what you decide and suddenly characters motivations are twisted with delightful ease.

I cannot recommend this series enough. I haven’t been as intrigued in a comic series for years and years and I have faith in Carey to pull it off too. It’s going to be a wild ride, don’t you want to get on board? show less

Starts, helpfully, with Dramatis Personae: Tom Taylor, Lizzie Hexam, Richie Savoy, Callendar, Pullman, Ambrosio, Sue Morgenstern, Wilson Taylor

The 14th and final Tommy Taylor novel, Tommy Taylor and the Emerald Telescope, will be out soon. But it wasn't really written by Wilson Taylor - it was written by Callendar's cabal. Wilson Taylor did write a 14th novel, though, and it's Tommy Taylor and the Day of Judgment that will be released on pub day. People on both sides are hoping the book launch will draw reclusive Wilson Taylor out into the open, but is it a trap? Of course.

Pullman kills Wilson, Tom refuses to grasp the truth of his situation, and there's a Choose Your Own Adventure on "the many lives of Lizzie Hexam." Callendar is show more killed.

From the introduction:
The world is made of stories. The world is driven by stories....History is a story. Society is a story. Countries are stories. Your plans are stories. Your desires are stories. Your own memories are stories - narratives selected, trimmed and packaged by the hidden machinery in your mind. Human beings are story engines. We have to be - to understand stories is to understand the world.

"It's said that large bodies, like this our earth, embrace smaller bodies and draw them closer...Well, you are like the earth, my friend. You are a center of gravity. Wherever you go, therefore, things will fall towards you." (Frankenstein's monster to Tom)

"It's what they do best. What they're all about. By controlling our stories, they control our minds. They shape the way we see the world, and that's the only shape the world has." (Wilson Taylor to Tom) show less

Again, it’s pretty hard to describe a series mainly dealing with how stories rule and manipulate the world, without spoiling the stories themselves. But Carey keeps a steady ship in this the third volume. The frame itself is not unique – our heroes are on the run from a hugely powerful hidden organization, trying to save the world while still trying to understand how the world is *really* constructed. Carey seems to be using a zillion urban fantasy tropes, more often than not consciously (I think). But the world building itself, with an endless guerilla war fought in mankind’s stories, is fresh and well developed. Love the Cabal’s intelligence office, full of thousands of people reading novels. Love Tom’s realization that what show more he really is is probably a weapon. Love the crappy excerpts from the fake fourteenth Tommy Taylor book.

Still, I’m rating this volume slightly lower than the previous two mainly for two reasons. The “pick-a-story” gimmick for Lizzie Hexam’s back story could have been good, but isn't really. There are literally only about three choices to be made by the reader and they end up following the same story line anyway. For about nine tenth of it you’re just reading a straight story with the pages out of order. Annoying. Also, Peter Gross’ artwork isn’t quite doing it for me. The frames often just seem a little empty. I would have liked a little more detail, I guess.

That being said, I can’t wait to see where this is going. No question about it, this is a series I’ll eagerly follow to the end. show less

Wilson Taylor does indeed return, as predicted, but he doesn't stick around for long. In fact, he only lingers just long enough to almost explain things to Tom before he gets killed. Thankfully Tom's magic seems to have kicked in, or at least he's started to wise up to things, so that he can start dismantling the secret organization that's controlling everything. Even if he doesn't have any interest in this larger goal it's probably a good idea to take them out before they manage to kill him since they seem pretty hellbent on doing so...