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The Books of Magic #6
The Books of Magic, Volume 6: The Burning Girl
Tim Hunter, the young magician who could become the worlds most powerful mystic, has left his London home behind. First the southwest, where Tim runs into a Native American snake-spirit who teaches him about power. And in the realm of Faerie, the death of Molly OReilly, Tims ex-girlfriend, has been decreed by Queen Titania, resulting in chaos and terror across the land. Suggested for mature readers.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
414 people want to read
About the author
John Ney Rieber
306 books23 followersJohn Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer. He has written for the comics The Books of Magic, Captain America, G.I. Joe and Tomb Raider.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 29, 2023
This book, and this series, is fun.
What started as a kooky but intelligent Harry Potter forerunner (Rowling conceded that she had gained some ideas for her fabulously well to do books from this series published a few years earlier) has evolved into a vehicle to catalogue a metaverse of fantastic subjects.
Tim is traveling in America and Molly is in Faerie and there is just lots to take in as writer John Key Reiber and illustrators Peter Snejbjerg and Peter Gross break it all down for us. They mix in biblical, mythic and cultural references into a pleasing whole.
This time may have gone off the rails some, not as cohesive as the previous issues, but still a solid good time.
What started as a kooky but intelligent Harry Potter forerunner (Rowling conceded that she had gained some ideas for her fabulously well to do books from this series published a few years earlier) has evolved into a vehicle to catalogue a metaverse of fantastic subjects.
Tim is traveling in America and Molly is in Faerie and there is just lots to take in as writer John Key Reiber and illustrators Peter Snejbjerg and Peter Gross break it all down for us. They mix in biblical, mythic and cultural references into a pleasing whole.
This time may have gone off the rails some, not as cohesive as the previous issues, but still a solid good time.
April 28, 2008
This came into the bookstore today and I was like, 'oooh, I read the first book or two from this series when I was seventeen because it was related to the Sandman and I will completely fellate anything related to the Sandman.' I looked online and it's expensive, it's got tons of stars from everybody on Amazon- everybody seems to be fellating it.
So I read it, and it was fine, but sadly I'm a different kid than I was when I was seventeen, and the whole thing about faerie & stuff just seems... less compelling, I guess. It's also totally apparent how much more the gender fluidity in characters in these things used to appeal to me before I got my own gender stuff sorted, so now it's kind of nice but not really the lifeline it was for me when I was a wee bairn.
So... yeah, this was fine, but I don't really care much about fantasy books, and it kind of falls into that category. Also, it is totally weird how it's clearly a collection of sequential issues of a comic book, but that there's no overarching plot that makes it important to collect these specific issues together. Y'know? It's like, parts five through nine of one long arc, then two or three weird single-shot stories.
But whatever, you can get a copy for fifty bucks on Amazon. Shrug.
So I read it, and it was fine, but sadly I'm a different kid than I was when I was seventeen, and the whole thing about faerie & stuff just seems... less compelling, I guess. It's also totally apparent how much more the gender fluidity in characters in these things used to appeal to me before I got my own gender stuff sorted, so now it's kind of nice but not really the lifeline it was for me when I was a wee bairn.
So... yeah, this was fine, but I don't really care much about fantasy books, and it kind of falls into that category. Also, it is totally weird how it's clearly a collection of sequential issues of a comic book, but that there's no overarching plot that makes it important to collect these specific issues together. Y'know? It's like, parts five through nine of one long arc, then two or three weird single-shot stories.
But whatever, you can get a copy for fifty bucks on Amazon. Shrug.
July 16, 2012
When we left Tim Hunter and Molly, Tim had just met a mermaid in the desert, and Molly had been tricked into eating fairy fruit, which has tied her to the fairy realm, meaning she can never return to the mortal world without dying. This set Molly off in a rage and she began to burn, setting fire to everything in Faerie she touched. When we pick up the story with THE BOOKS OF MAGIC 6: “The Burning Girl”, Tim is still on his surreal mind trip journey, stopping first in a ghost town populated by real ghosts, and then finding himself shipwrecked on a small island just outside of Faerie.
Meanwhile, Molly is still burning through the land, setting fire and terrorizing the fairies. She is saved by a horse to whom she’d shown kindness before her burning began, only to find the horse is really the fairy Prince Taik, whom the queen Titania had transformed into a horse long ago, for reasons which Taik was never sure of. But when the voices in Molly’s head return, only to have Molly discover she didn’t bring her medication to Faerie with her, the hallucinations she begins having become all too real as Taik reveals his true demonic nature.
Tim finally gets a raft to take him to Faerie where Molly is desperately trying to save the land from the evil Prince, which, in the end, she does have a hand in doing, and is rewarded by being allowed to return to the mortal world. However, the Queen instructs her, she’ll never be allowed to set foot on the mortal plane--instead, she hovers just inches above it--and she’ll never be allowed to eat mortal food. She can return to the mortal world, she just won’t be able to fully experience or participate in it.
When Tim and Molly return to the mortal world, they find themselves in Minnesota, where Tim has learned Zatanna is performing. He still wants to seek her advice and tutelage in magic, so she agrees to let them stay with her, on the condition they let their families know where they are.
The pair end up spending a month or so with the former Justice Leaguer, but eventually Molly grows tired of Tim’s inattentiveness--he’s never even noticed in all this time that her feet don’t touch the ground or that she never eats with them--so in a revealing of secrets among the court of living gargoyles atop the stadium where Zatanna is preparing for her performance that night, Molly finally tells Tim she’s going back home. And with this somber, touching moment, Book 6 ends.
“The Burning Girl” was very much an adventure story, with a ton of excitement and character development. It’s hard to tell if writer John Ney Rieber has just been making it up as he goes, or if he’s had an idea where he wanted to go all along. There are hints of both throughout this volume. The scope of the series just keeps getting bigger and bigger, too. And the more people Tim meets, the more developed Rieber’s “magic community” becomes.
I’m disappointed that, so far in the series Tim doesn’t seem to have had anything resembling training in how to use his magic. In the beginning, his fairy father told him magic responds to need, and so far that’s been the driving force behind everything Tim Hunter has done, as far as magic is concerned. He never casts any real spells, rarely even seems to put any thought into what he’s doing other than it’s what he needs at that moment, so that’s what he makes happen.
This is a disappointing aspect of the series for me. I would think that, no matter how normal a life Tim Hunter wants to lead, no matter how indignant he can seem at times toward all the magical elements of his life, the fact remains he IS in line to become the world’s most powerful magician. I’d think with something like that hanging over your head, whether you wanted it or not, you’d take the steps to LEARN to use your magic.
The Peters Snejbjerg and Gross swap art duties yet again for this volume, with quality and consistency varying depending on who’s at the pencil. As with previous volumes, Gross’s art surpasses Snejbjerg’s, but in the end both bring good things to the page.
I believe the collected volumes of THE BOOKS OF MAGIC only ran for 7 books, up to the 50th issue (Rieber left with issue #50 and Peter Gross took over the writing for the remaining 25 issues the series ran) . Volume 6 covers issues 33-41, so we’re winding down and drawing near the end of the story Rieber wanted to tell, but to be honest it feels like things are just getting started. Previous books have been interesting, but they told quick stories or stories that seemed to leave little consequence for our hero, but “The Burning Girl” shows such huge change in Tim Hunter’s life from the beginning to the end, it feels like Rieber woke up one morning and said, “Okay, NOW we make stuff happen to Tim.” And it did.
Excellent job. I can’t wait for volume 7.
Meanwhile, Molly is still burning through the land, setting fire and terrorizing the fairies. She is saved by a horse to whom she’d shown kindness before her burning began, only to find the horse is really the fairy Prince Taik, whom the queen Titania had transformed into a horse long ago, for reasons which Taik was never sure of. But when the voices in Molly’s head return, only to have Molly discover she didn’t bring her medication to Faerie with her, the hallucinations she begins having become all too real as Taik reveals his true demonic nature.
Tim finally gets a raft to take him to Faerie where Molly is desperately trying to save the land from the evil Prince, which, in the end, she does have a hand in doing, and is rewarded by being allowed to return to the mortal world. However, the Queen instructs her, she’ll never be allowed to set foot on the mortal plane--instead, she hovers just inches above it--and she’ll never be allowed to eat mortal food. She can return to the mortal world, she just won’t be able to fully experience or participate in it.
When Tim and Molly return to the mortal world, they find themselves in Minnesota, where Tim has learned Zatanna is performing. He still wants to seek her advice and tutelage in magic, so she agrees to let them stay with her, on the condition they let their families know where they are.
The pair end up spending a month or so with the former Justice Leaguer, but eventually Molly grows tired of Tim’s inattentiveness--he’s never even noticed in all this time that her feet don’t touch the ground or that she never eats with them--so in a revealing of secrets among the court of living gargoyles atop the stadium where Zatanna is preparing for her performance that night, Molly finally tells Tim she’s going back home. And with this somber, touching moment, Book 6 ends.
“The Burning Girl” was very much an adventure story, with a ton of excitement and character development. It’s hard to tell if writer John Ney Rieber has just been making it up as he goes, or if he’s had an idea where he wanted to go all along. There are hints of both throughout this volume. The scope of the series just keeps getting bigger and bigger, too. And the more people Tim meets, the more developed Rieber’s “magic community” becomes.
I’m disappointed that, so far in the series Tim doesn’t seem to have had anything resembling training in how to use his magic. In the beginning, his fairy father told him magic responds to need, and so far that’s been the driving force behind everything Tim Hunter has done, as far as magic is concerned. He never casts any real spells, rarely even seems to put any thought into what he’s doing other than it’s what he needs at that moment, so that’s what he makes happen.
This is a disappointing aspect of the series for me. I would think that, no matter how normal a life Tim Hunter wants to lead, no matter how indignant he can seem at times toward all the magical elements of his life, the fact remains he IS in line to become the world’s most powerful magician. I’d think with something like that hanging over your head, whether you wanted it or not, you’d take the steps to LEARN to use your magic.
The Peters Snejbjerg and Gross swap art duties yet again for this volume, with quality and consistency varying depending on who’s at the pencil. As with previous volumes, Gross’s art surpasses Snejbjerg’s, but in the end both bring good things to the page.
I believe the collected volumes of THE BOOKS OF MAGIC only ran for 7 books, up to the 50th issue (Rieber left with issue #50 and Peter Gross took over the writing for the remaining 25 issues the series ran) . Volume 6 covers issues 33-41, so we’re winding down and drawing near the end of the story Rieber wanted to tell, but to be honest it feels like things are just getting started. Previous books have been interesting, but they told quick stories or stories that seemed to leave little consequence for our hero, but “The Burning Girl” shows such huge change in Tim Hunter’s life from the beginning to the end, it feels like Rieber woke up one morning and said, “Okay, NOW we make stuff happen to Tim.” And it did.
Excellent job. I can’t wait for volume 7.
February 14, 2009
Another fascinating tale. The most intriguing part was how "hell" was depicted. It was not fire and brimstone or a crazy horned half goat half human thing (that was in the story but not really in the description of ones hell). No it was simply being faced with yourself was ones hell. The world was re-shaping and you had to choose what world you would create or be in but first you had to face yourself, your higher truer self if you will rather than the self you think you are. And the interaction the different characters had with themselves was really real. One guy couldn't stand himself and so he stabbed himself to death. Another character was utterly depressed and her self asked why she did what she does since it brings her so much unhappiness and she was actually able to listen to herself and change and create a happier place to be simply by being more herself rather than what others were or wanted her to be and another girl had a fairly decent relationship with herself already where the relationship was supporting and friendly but truthful. I guess what I was most impressed with was that this was the hell place simply being faced with yourself as you are. I find that there really is something to that idea having going through facing myself myself.. :-)
February 13, 2022
Rites of Passage II (BoM #32-38). The back end of the Rites of Passage arc is a peculiar muddle (especially as it was collected in the original trades, missing the relatively vital BoMA #2). After more of Tim's psychedelic travels through America, we are suddenly transported to Faerie. We get two amazing issues of Molly, and then the story of Faerie itself, all of which is more appealing than the weirdness at the end of the previous volume. In the end, Molly has a rite of passage and so does Faerie, but does Tim? It's less obvious. But less obvious is sometimes nice in comics [4/5].
Solitaire (#39). One of the pleasures of the original BoM was its deep look at DC's supernatural world, so it's great to return to that here with a look at godly blessings ... and curses. And it's great to have Zatanna back as well and our heroes finally reunited; all around, a satisfying one-off [4+/5].
The Motherless (#40). "Lost Boys" seems to be a recurring theme in Rieber's stories. Here we get an intriguing story of American religious zealots and abandoned children that goes straight to the traditional "loss of innocence". Though we've seen it before, it's a good done-in-one [4/5].
Nothing Up My Sleeve (#41). One of the most interesting characteristics of Tim is that he can be a little sh**. Which is why he's in such danger of becoming Evil Tim. This one-off demonstrates how much that's true, and what massive repercussions it can have on his life, leading the way to Evil-Tim-Dragon land [4+/5].
Solitaire (#39). One of the pleasures of the original BoM was its deep look at DC's supernatural world, so it's great to return to that here with a look at godly blessings ... and curses. And it's great to have Zatanna back as well and our heroes finally reunited; all around, a satisfying one-off [4+/5].
The Motherless (#40). "Lost Boys" seems to be a recurring theme in Rieber's stories. Here we get an intriguing story of American religious zealots and abandoned children that goes straight to the traditional "loss of innocence". Though we've seen it before, it's a good done-in-one [4/5].
Nothing Up My Sleeve (#41). One of the most interesting characteristics of Tim is that he can be a little sh**. Which is why he's in such danger of becoming Evil Tim. This one-off demonstrates how much that's true, and what massive repercussions it can have on his life, leading the way to Evil-Tim-Dragon land [4+/5].
September 4, 2023
At this point, I'm just reading this series to get to the end so I can get back to the Hellblazer books.
A large chunk of this book takes place in Faerie, which I have a hard time caring about. I do appreciate the trope avoidance regarding Tim's girlfriend being trapped in Faerie against her will, and instead of of waiting for her magic boyfriend to come save her, she decides to burn the evil to the ground. It's thematically refreshing but I just don't care about any of the characters in the book. And that was even mostly true when Gaiman was writing it.
If you love fantasy graphic novels with a YA bent that manage to be remarkably progressive for the late 90s/early 2000s, then this series might appeal to you more than me. I'm just not the intended audience, and it has failed to win me over in spite of that.
A large chunk of this book takes place in Faerie, which I have a hard time caring about. I do appreciate the trope avoidance regarding Tim's girlfriend being trapped in Faerie against her will, and instead of of waiting for her magic boyfriend to come save her, she decides to burn the evil to the ground. It's thematically refreshing but I just don't care about any of the characters in the book. And that was even mostly true when Gaiman was writing it.
If you love fantasy graphic novels with a YA bent that manage to be remarkably progressive for the late 90s/early 2000s, then this series might appeal to you more than me. I'm just not the intended audience, and it has failed to win me over in spite of that.
June 24, 2017
This is probably my favorite part of the series, all the scenes that have stayed with me over time.
February 17, 2023
This volume is crazy! Molly’s story is seriously messed up. Tim is losing himself. I am curious to see what happens in the final volume.
February 23, 2010
Timothy Hunter and the Books of Magic is another thing that was blatantly ripped off by famous homeless person, J.K. Rowling.
The Burning Girl is a'ight, but I felt it was weaker than the previous collections I read. To an extent, it lacked touch with the state of being a teenager - which I thought the previous collections captured a little better.
Still, if you're a fan of the series, it's obviously worth reading. It's just not on the same level as Girl in the Box or some of the other collections.
The Burning Girl is a'ight, but I felt it was weaker than the previous collections I read. To an extent, it lacked touch with the state of being a teenager - which I thought the previous collections captured a little better.
Still, if you're a fan of the series, it's obviously worth reading. It's just not on the same level as Girl in the Box or some of the other collections.
Want to read
August 17, 2010La verdad que no tengo ni idea de por qué lo marqué como to-read si me faltan casi todos los tomos anteriores e incluso todavía no leí varios de los que sí tengo, pero hasta nuevo aviso lo dejo como to-read porque vaya a saber uno qué motivos me tentaron a marcarlo entonces...
September 20, 2008
Molly and the realm of Faerie really dominate this book, which makes the action very interesting and exciting. Thumbs up.
October 4, 2009
A sad conclusion, hopefully there will be more.
August 10, 2015
Shit is getting really DARK yo.
June 20, 2016
This is my favorite volume so far. The faerie are fascinating and the stakes are much higher. Molly steals the show, as Tim takes a backseat to her adventures.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews