Bone Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm

The story progresses, and things are getting a bit darker. After spending time rebuilding Granma Ben's farm, the unusual band of adventurers are settling into more normal routines. At night, however, the ominous warnings continue. Thorn dreams that she is a princess, and is lured over by a shadowy man in a cloak, who looks and sounds like the mysterious villain introduced earlier in the series. However, when she gets to him, the cloak is thrown back to reveal Fone Bone. Fone, meanwhile, has his own strange dream. Borrowing from his favorite book, Fone dreams he is on a ship hunting the great white whale. When they finally spot him, however, he turns out not to be a whale at all, but a red dragon.

The next morning, Smiley and Phoney Bone show more are rounded up by Lucius, to head back to Barrelhaven and work off their debt to him. Meanwhile, Thorn and Fone talk about confronting Granma Ben over the secrets she is holding. A storm moves, and as it breaks, two conflicts also crash around them: Thorn angrily confronts her grandmother, and Lucius and the boys are chased by rat creatures. The boys get away when Smiley goads the horses to pull their cart over a cliff. Fortunately, they crash into a river and survive. Meanwhile, Granma Ben storms out into the rain to avoid Thorn's questions. Thorn and Fone chase her, and they are surrounded by rat creatures. In desperation, Fone calls out to the red dragon for help. Although Granma Ben tries to muffle him, the dragon does come, and they are saved.

Granma is finally ready to give some answers. She explains the history of the area: in this valley there once was a great kingdom ruled by people, called Atheia. The dragons ruled the mountains on one side, and the rats on the other. The rats wanted the valley, so they went to war with the humans. Eventually the war ended with the people still in control of the valley. Then the rats began attacking again, but this time they were smarter and crueler. The ruling family had to flee, and hide with the dragons, but in the process, the king and queen were killed, leaving their daughter behind. Thorn was that daughter.

In Barrelhaven, Phoney and Smiley have returned to their old antics. Phoney bet Lucius that he could do more business in the bar, forgetting that the whole town hates him. When he is losing the bet, he further alienates the town with insults, and unthinkingly wishes the dragon were there to protect him when the crowd gets unruly. The men are instantly arrested by the word, and demand more details about this dragon. In the hubbub, a mysterious figure takes Lucius aside and gives him a signal. The story then cuts to the bad guy, who is creepier every time we see him. This time, the crowd of locus comes swarming around his head for a little chat, before flying off on some unknown errand. He then walks up a rickety rope bridge to a cave, where he reports to a voice. So, creepy cloak guy is not the head boss. This volume ends with Granma Ben informing Thorn and Fone that she has received word that things have changed, and they need to go. They pack their belongings - including a sword and shield - and leave their house.

A lot of background is divulged in this book (making my review rather long). Some secrets are answered, but many more remain to be explored. The villain is increasingly fascinating and scary. The plot deepens, but the humor remains. Each volume adds more layers to its characters, and builds my attachment to them. The world is building out, too, as we learn more about its history and domains. I am quite intrigued by this story, and eager to read the next installment. However, I will start screening them before I read them to my girls. Affairs are getting darker, which works to make the story interesting to me, but might be too much for my little ones. This series may need to be one they read when they are older. I'll have the books ready to go for them, though, because I am on board and look forward to reading the next volume. show less

Much more interesting than I was prepared for. The throw-back youthfulness and simplicity of the artwork, and the fantasy genre of the material, had set me up for the kind of story that isn't usually up my alley, but the character work and the subtext of both the dialogue and the artwork made for a fun and eventually fascinating read. By the time I finished this, I wished I'd started at the beginning and was itching to read the rest.

This is another masterpiece in the collected bone series. This book answers some of the questions that readers have from reading the previous two volumes, but does not answer enough to take away from the overall mystery that has been built. The beauty is that it intensifies the mystery aspect of the story instead of taking away. When certain plot points are revealed it feels like we are more invested in the characters and want to know the rest of the details that are being hidden from us by the master craftsman of writing that is Jeff Smith. In some creator-owned series after awhile it seems that the artwork begins to take a hit (which was a fear since this became a popular series where Jeff Smith could have been asked to work for other show more comic book publishers) but it never does. It keeps the same high level of artistic whimsy that the original volume and the second one held. I highly recommend this and the previous volumes if you want to see how one can successfully create a mystery over a longer period of time without giving all the cookies away. I think almost anyone of any age could enjoy this book if given the chance and one looks past the "graphic novel" aspect that seems to irk some people. show less

This third collection of Bone comics is the first that I have read in its original black-and-white format. I read the two previous volumes in the colorized editions from the Scholastic GRAFIX imprint. While I respect author/artist Smith for realizing his vision in the independent black-and-white comics market, and at the hazard of offending purist afficianados, I have to say that the comic is more attractive, readable, and compelling with the high-quality colors of the later reprints.

As far as the story goes, it takes a major turn in this segment: the "serious" fantasy plot about the political history of the valley, and the roles of Rose and Thorn in that history are revealed, along with more detail about their foes. None of these show more revelations should come as any great surprise to the attentive reader, though, and none of them are in any way contrary to fantasy conventions. All of this plot explication comes at a price, which is that of considerably less comedy. There is still a humorous parallel narrative about the Bone brothers' return to the Barrel-Haven tavern, and the development of Fone Bone's poetic talents continues amusingly on page 120. But on the whole, there is more action and intrigue, and less of the wry humor that was so characteristic of the earlier books.

The "Moby Bone" dream episode is supposed to be a highlight of this volume, and it certainly did its job well enough. But I thought it paled next to the more elaborate and involved dream sequences in Sim's Cerebus.

The final page advises readers that we have reached the "End of Part One." Even though the plot proper seems still to be barely getting off the ground, this does seem like a reasonable point to pause. show less

This is the third book in the nine book Bone series by Jeff Smith. A great addition to this series, I thought this was the best book yet.

The Bones are still in the valley trying to eke out a living. In the beginning of the story they are all helping Thorne and Gma rebuild their house. Smiley Bone and Phoney Bone eventually have to leave to settle their debts in town. A surprising secret is revealed about Thorne's identity and Fone Bone and her are plunged deeper into a strange quest.

I loved this book. Loved how the storyline is starting to tie together and how the plot is thickening. There are a lot of great characters here, it is a lot of fun to read and at times very funny. This book wasn't as humorous as previous ones, there are show more more dark things happening here...but it was still a lot of fun.

Overall still loving this series of graphic novels. Wonderful drawings and a wonderful storyline that keeps getting more interesting and complex. Can't wait to read the next book in this series. show less

They're all in the thick of it now. I like rain as a backdrop, and a good portion of this one is set in the rain. This volume also sets up the stakes and all the exposition stuff we'll need to know for the rest of the series. It's not super riveting in those parts, but they're necessary. And the stuff in the first half like the chases in the rain is exciting, too.

Unlike many other graphic novel series, this one continues to deliver. This volume sees the introduction of some very interesting back story, which then serves to build the tension between the two apposing sides. My only issue is with Thorn's outfit selection thus far; call me a prude, but running around in the wood getting chases by rat creates and tunics that go halfway down your thigh really don't seem like a likely mix.