Name: Sarah Sammis's review of The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman
Item: The Books of Magic
Rating: 4
Author: Sarah Sammis

Neil Gaiman

John Bolton

Timothy Hunter is taken on a tour of the magical realms by a quartet of fallen mystics.

The Books of Magic

Riley Young

Sarah Sammis

Despite my geekiness, I'm a relatively new reader of graphic novels and manga. This means I missed most of Neil Gaiman's early works and I'm only now catching up. I've read a few reviews of The Books of Magic that suggest reading the Sandman series first but I didn't and that choice didn't seem to inhibit my enjoyment of this four part miniseries.

The Books of Magic is a four part miniseries all written by Neil Gaiman with each volume illustrated by a different artist. They are a tour of the magic characters from the DC universe. Being given this tour is young Timothy Hunter, a British boy with an unhappy family life who wears glasses and has yet to be discovered magical powers. He's basically cut from the same cloth as Harry Potter except that he's likeable and believable. Oh yeah, and he has an owl, made from his yo-yo. Before you think I'm pointing fingers at Rowling (I've read reviews where that happens), I'm not. The ten year old boy with a big destiny is an old story. Harry and Timothy can both give nods to young Arthur Pendragon.

Book I: The Invisible Labyrinth

Illustrated by John Bolton, The Invisible Labyrinth introduces Timothy Hunter and the characters who will help him on his journey to decide between magic or the non-magical world. This book sets the foundations. It defines the rules to magic, introduces Timothy as an understandably skeptic protagonist, and gives a hint at the dangers Timothy will face if he decides to embrace his magical ability.

The best part of this section is how quickly we get a sense of how important Timothy will be. I enjoyed getting to know Timothy and I fell for Yo-Yo the owl. The downside for me was the sheer amount of info-dumping. I know that's part of DC way of doing things but I kept wanting the plot to get started. The Invisible Labyrinth felt more like an extended introduction than the first book.

Book II: The Shadow World

The Shadow World is illustrated by Scott Hampton is a present day (1990) tour of the world as led by John Constantine. This section had a bit of a Neverwhere feel to it with Timothy Hunter and Constantine traveling through the world going from place to place as needed with many short cuts. Timothy begins to see that the magical world while set in places recognizable from the non magical world exist in parallel to the world Timothy has just left.

My favorite part in The Shadow World is the trip to San Francisco. It was the best glimpse at how the people and creatures of the magical world live. Of course living in the Bay Area, I have to be partial to the inclusion of "The City."

Book III: The Land of Summer's Twilight

Charles Vess illustrated the third (and my favorite) book. Here Constantine hands off Timothy to Doctor Occult. Together they cross into Faerie and other fantasy realms. I read this book at the same time I was reading "The Spiral Briar" by Sean McMullen. The two complement each other beautifully. Timothy here learns the importance of knowing the laws of the different magical worlds and the dangers of not following them.

Book IV: The Road to Nowhere

The final book, illustrated by Paul Johnson takes Timothy to the end of time. Unfortunately he's taken there by Mister E who is unstable and dangerous. The ends of days scene has been done many times and it's a logical conclusion to the miniseries. It's also unfortunately tiresome.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed reading The Books of Magic. As an omnibus it's a quick read. I chose to read only one book per day, thus spreading out the experience over four days. It's not my favorite graphic novel that I've read but it's certainly one that will stick with me.

wolfen gray

Yee. This was... weird? 

*scratches head* 

I think you need you know the backstories of specific comic book characters to appreciate the quick intro/cameo and references. since, I'm not, I was overwhelmed. 

Nothing really happens. some random english kid gets told he was magic and then went on an interdimensional road trip across time and space with each of these four trenchcoat dudes who are the same dude just with slightly different coats. and they just meandered through every nooks and crannies of the magical side of DCU. that's it. pretty boring. not a good story. The third issue, on the world of faerie, was great tho.

From the multiple award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman creator of the epic fantasy series Sandman comes a dizzying, breathtaking tour through the beautiful and terrifying worlds of magic! When youngster Tim Hunter is predicted to become the next Merlin the most powerful magician on Earth four mystics decide to show him the worlds of magic, past, present and future. But will Tim agree to take the first steps on his dangerous path? And which of his guides hides a deadly ulterior motive? This fabulous book features the beautiful painted art of John Bolton (Sandman), Scott Hampton (Batman), Charles Vess (Stardust) and Paul Johnson (London?s Dark)!

Kirsten Simkiss

Guys. Guys, the main font for the headlines is PAPYRUS. WHY.

Honestly, this book seemed to be a lot of showing and not a lot of doing. They show you a lot of things through Tim, but there's not really a plot in this volume of the comic. The art is interesting enough, but some of the font choices and font sizes make the text difficult to read in places. While I do recall some characters from other DC Comics, they seemed to be more like cameo's than anything. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this volume was other than to set up the world, which I really feel like could have been handled better. I just didn't enjoy this book.

But hey, that's totally fine. Some people like conceptual stories more than I do. This just wasn't my particular cup of tea. It's interesting enough if it's your interest.

André Nóbrega

This story is quite different from your usual book about magic heroes. It's more of a tour around the main points of magic stories, the past, the future, some magicians and the land of the faeries. This is by no means my favourite of Gaiman's works but it is really worth reading and somewhat surprising, it has almost nothing to do with what I expected it to be, and that was good. The artwork is great, I'd give it the 5 stars.

I should say that I read this too quickly and probably not in the best time to enjoy it. In other reviews some readers suggest the book for Sandman fans, saying that you will enjoy this much more after reading Sandman. So I thought I should state here that I never read Sandman, though I plan on doing so eventually. I might read The Books of Magic again after that.

Andrea Pozo

Kyle Curry

Alex

Darren C.

Scott Nybakken

Ivar K. 

Didi Chanoch

Magnus Dahl

Ahmed Bakr

Jessica

Charles Siboto

Felipe Gamez

From Neil Gaiman, the best-selling novelist and creator of the world-renowned comics title The Sandman, comes a mesmerizing tale of the dangers and opportunities of youth, and its endless possibilities. Illustrated by four of comics' most accomplished artists, John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson, THE BOOKS OF MAGIC collects all four issues of the original miniseries that introduced the character of Timothy Hunter and set the stage for his continuing adventures.Timothy Hunter could be the most powerful magician in the world, but does he really want to be? Guided through the magical world starting at the begining of time by a group of DC Universe magicians, often refered to as the Trenchcoat Brigade (John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult), they attempt to aid Timothy in his decision whether or not to embrace his gift. However, by the time Timothy makes a choice, it may have already been made for him.

Riley Young &
The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

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