Didn't see that one coming. But you're going to have to go read it yourself. I am working through the Foundling's Tale and just finished the second book. What a ride! On the one hand, I respect the author's meticulous detail creating a world with people and monsters. Characters with place names from our world (I caught Europe and Idaho amongst others. On the other hand, the print is small and no detail can be missed or you are missing the whole scene. The back third of the book is the background, glossary, etc. I put this creation on par with Middle Earth. ( )

Good Reads Summary: Rossamund Bookchild stands accused of not truly being a human at all, but of being a monster. Even the protection of Europe, the Branden Rose-the most feared and renowned monster-hunter in all the Half-Continent-might not be enough to save him. Powerful forces move against them both, intent on capturing Rossamund- whose existence some believe may hold the secret to perpetual youth.

My Review: Talk about spoiler alert in the Good Reads Summary! I thought this was a fitting end to the trilogy although things moved a little slowly before the big build up at the end, but I did like how everything rounded itself out satisfactorily. ( )

The second book in the Monster Blood Trilogy finds us once again immersed in the Half-Continent world, where Rossamund has taken up his sworn duties as an Imperial Lamplighter on behalf of the emperor. A life of high adventure and dangerous escapades soon loses it's appeal as the responsibilities of ensuring the illumination and safety of the highway roads becomes a daily battle to stay alive against the monsters the run rampant in the wild. Furthermore, a conspiracy surrounding the mighty fortress, Winstermill, where all new lamplighters are trained causes Rossamund to doubt not only his future career in the imperial forces but his loyalty to the humans is also called into question.

Once again, I am in awe of the sheer amount of details and thought that Cornish has put into his world building. If the explicarium is any evidence of his labour of love, then the trilogy itself is the crowning achievement of all his boy hood years spent drawing and dreaming. This is a series worth investigating if you can appreciate the vast amounts of new terms, lingoes, and ideas that the author creates, but be forewarned, it is a world like none other. ( )

Continuing from where we left off in the previous book Rossamund finally joins the Lamplighter corps. He's in training and finds friends, a girl joins the corps and gives him mixed signals and he also finds enemies. We finally find out more about him, and he finds that all is not what he believed.

It's an interesting story, that did occasionally get bogged down in detail but was still an interesting read. I did sometimes wish that the author didn't try to reinvent the english language as he went, but it did add to the atmosphere. I would suggest having both this one and the first book nearby for reference purposes. I'm now curious what happens next. ( )

This is the second book in the fabulously titled "Monster Blood Tattoo" trilogy by Australian writer and author David Cornish. It follows on straight from the first book, with Rossamünd as an apprentice lamplighter. He continues his knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong (right?) time, and continues to attract difficult but fascinating women, in this case Threnody, a young woman who chooses to leave her privileged life to be independent from her overbearing mother. We find out more about Rossamünd's background, and some of our suspicions from the first book are firmed up.

This time the constant new names and words grated more than the first book (eg, an adam's apple is a gourmand's cork, which is cute, but wearying after the 20th or so definition), and it did have the usual problem of a middle book: the hero sits around, waiting for the excitement of the third (and final) instalment of his tale. Still, the good bits were good, and I did like the illustrations as usual, so a solid 7/10. And I'm bothering the library for the third book, which they've just added to the catalogue. :) ( )