Bone - One Fat Book

Just a small programming note: the computer has been acting suspicious lately...I think it wants to die. I have seen this before. I know the signs. Blue screen of death, extra slow, weird random errors, it's all there. It took me about 30 minutes just to get onto Blogger here to make this post. The point is, if at some point there are no new updates for a while it is likely because the computer finally gave up the ghost. I will be back once I replace it. [EDIT: The computer died before I finished this post, I had to post it from work. I can't be making regular blog posts from work, so we may be on hiatus until a new computer has been procured]

Okay, so, book post today. For this post I want to talk about one of the biggest books I have read in a long time: Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith. Now, I know what you are saying. Bone, isn't that a comic and not a book? Well, sure, it was, but now every issue of Bone has now been combined into the One Volume Edition, a 1332 page behemoth of awesomeness. It reads more like a book than any comic I have ever read. I'm calling it a book.

Bone is broken down into three major storylines, nine chapters, and multiple subchapters in each chapter, but there is really one epic adventure of three small Bone creatures. I assume they are called Bone creatures because they look like bones. They are essentially cartoon characters, but they seem to fall into a more realistic valley.

The Valley is full of all sorts of characters: cute talking bugs and woodland creatures, evil rat creatures, a giant mountain lion, humans, and even dragons. Shortly after arriving in the Valley the Bones meet up with Thorn and her Grandma Ben, who have mysterious pasts. As the story continues the Bones begin to unravel the mystery while they embark on their own journey.

Every character is fleshed out and unique. Each one is fun to read in their own ways and Smith's world feels real. As is normal with most epic stories (ie Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, etc) the action starts out small and inconsequential and becomes more and more meaningful and life changing. Jeff Smith has created a new, epic, masterpiece and it really should be read by anyone who likes comics, epic stories, or just a good read. The story is moving and really touched me. I will say, I wish the One Volume Edition was in color, because from what I've seen Bone in color is beautiful. I also was a tiny bit dissappointed with the ending, but I think with anything that takes over 1300 pages and was read over the course of three months, it is hard to really make the most satisfying ending.

Also, I know Jeff Smith has a new comic series, Rasl, coming out now, and I totally plan to check that out once it his trades. Anyway, check this book out, it may be the most value you can get for your 26 bucks.