Bone: Quest for the Spark, Vol. 1

Bone: Quest for the Spark #1

by Tom Sniegoski, Jeff Smith (Illustrator), Thomas E. Sniegoski

A return to the enthralling world of BONE with book one in this gripping spin-off novel trilogy, illustrated in four-color!

Twelve-year-old Tom Elm is just an ordinary turnip farmer from the Valley, but he's always felt destined for something bigger. So when he discovers everyone in his village is asleep and plagued by nightmares, he assembles a band of unlikely heroes. They must fight to preserve the Spark--a divine light born at the core of a vast, dark nothingness called the Nacht. The Nacht is trying to permeate the Waking World with nightmares of the Dreaming, and it's Tom's mission to defeat the Nacht and its most loyal follower, the Constable. If he fails, his family--and everyone--might never wake up again.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2009

About the author

Tom Sniegoski is the name under which Thomas E. Sniegoski publishes some YA and comics.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another adventure set in the Bone universe. This is all new characters. It's set during Thorn's reign. Something in The Dreaming is wrong. A creature called The Nacht is causing everyone to fall asleep, suffering continuously from nightmares. But The Dreaming has called to a young boy and a new band of adventurers to help save everyone.

This first book is all about getting the band together. It's all prologue for the other two books. This is obviously intended for younger audiences, but like Harry Potter, adults will enjoy it too, especially if you are a fan of Jeff Smith's original Bone comics. Speaking of Jeff Smith, he has contributed several illustrations to the prose. The book itself is written by longtime Jeff Smith collaborator, Tom Sniegoski, who also wrote the Tall Tales miniseries.

[Harold Smithson · Rating 1 out of 5]

(edited because I wrote the first review when I was in high school)

Jeff Smith's bone is a comic series that I consider to be the best modern epic fantasy series, and arguably the only good one. I found it during my childhood and was hooked since. I reread part of the series in order to see if it was simply childhood ignorance that made the series so good, and I discovered that, though the series was not quite the masterpiece I had previously thought it was the comic was still good.

I had finished reading the comic and, like any dedicated fan, I wanted more. I checked out some of the side works but none of them were quite as good as the main series. I picked this up up hoping that it would fill my desire for more. I suppose that it did in the sense that it killed any longing I had to see the series continue.

The plot is a rehash of the main series without any of the mysteries that made the comic so compelling. The humor is worse, as is the dialogue and the characters. Jeff Smith's art turns up here and there but it's deeply missed whenever Sniegoski's prose takes center stage. Said prose is flat, making even the most theoretically exciting scenes boring. It attempts to mimic the action and slapstick comedy of Bone's early issues, but those worked because Bone was a part of a visual medium. Lacking the art necessary to pull it off, even to my child self the book came off as eye-rolling and corny.

Now that I'm older I understand more about how the publishing industry works, so I now see Quest for the Spark as an attempt to sell more books to children using brand-name recognition. It's a soulless cash-grab and it really shows.

[Jake Wavra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a fan of the original Bone graphic novels, I was excited to read the new illustrated novel series. I think its a great idea to expand the storyline in novel form, periodically illustrating along the way. The downside is that I felt the writing was a bit blasé. The original Bone graphic novels tastefully incorporated complex themes while targeting a younger audience. Quest For The Spark, however, seemed to have the feel of a poorly written Star Wars movie with Jar Jar Binks as the main character- almost corny at times. Definitely not what I was hoping for.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has a good grasp of the Bone universe and I laughed a number of times. I look forward to the next in the series.

[Jennifer Rayment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake's Review: Mom this is awesome, I really like the new story. I miss hearing about the other Bone guys, but these new characters are interesting too. I really didn't like the dead rat (that's my boy) but everything else was pretty cool. Some of it was a little scary for me though and I wished there were more pictures, like in the original series. I can't wait to read the rest of the series -- when are they coming out -- what do you mean you don't know -- some Librarian you are (mom's note: no I did not slap him upside the head after that comment, but I thought about it). Some of the story was really funny and I liked how the story put funny stuff in after the scary parts, it helped me get my mind off the scary stuff. The pictures are so cool, I wish there were more of them.

Jake's Rating: 9/10

Mom's Review: O.K, I would just like to start off by saying that the dead rat really grossed me out and probably resulted in me giving this the rating I did. But this book isn't written for Mom's so I should really let it go, but ewwww! This is an excellent book for reluctant readers and kids like Jake who are fantastic readers but miss having books with pictures in them. A very creative storyline and good moral lessons will also appeal to Mom's, Dad's and Librarian's. This is a delightful addiction to the Bone world with the introduction of new fun and likeable characters, while at the same time bringing back or mentioning well loved Bone characters. But I'm warning you there is icky stuff involving a a dead rat that just grossed me out and freaked out Jake a little.

Mom's Rating: 8/10

[Geordie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Tom Elm is chosen by the powers of the Dreaming to fight the sinister Nacht, an intangible evil that aims to destroy everything. Together with his eclectic companions he must join the fragments of the Shard, the only weapon capable of countering the Nacht's magic.

This book was pretty much cookie-cutter fantasy, all the more disappointing because it was set in the colorful world of Jeff Smith's acclaimed "Bone" series. I didn't feel like any part of it was original, it felt like it was written with Joseph Cambell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" on one side and TVTropes.com on the other. Tom Elm is just abruptly shoved into being the stereotypical "chosen one". Instead of having to figure anything out, he is railroaded where to go and what companions to take by overly convenient visions. He and his companions were dull archetypes, having roughly one personality trait a piece. Perils happen abruptly and nonsensically to try to enhance the tepid tension. By the end I really didn't care, I wasn't attached to the heroes and I didn't believe they were in any serious risk at all.

The book is actually hurt by being tied to the "Bone" canon, because it is so much weaker than the original. It doesn't help that "Bone" has some great, strong female characters - "Quest for the Spark" has only one, and she's a whiny brat.

The only thing I really enjoyed was the depiction of the Rat Creatures - they were accurate to the original, funny, and we had creative little snippets of their dysfunctional cultures. Everything and everyone else, meh.

[Clayton VanLeeuwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a tough review to write. Just like every one else reading this book, I’m a big fan of Jeff Smith’s epic tale Bone. So seeing this book got me excited. Surely this will be awesome fun just like every other Bone short story. But sadly, it is not. I can boil it down to one thing- the absence of humor. I can tell there’s attempts made at jokes but they are nothing like the masterfully timed, expressive laughs that breath life throughout the original graphic novel. Even Jeff Smith’s illustrations in Quest For The Spark feel flat and forced. One drawing actually depicts characters that aren’t even in the scene. Too bad.

[Kiley Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took three months to read this out loud to a third grader. When we finished the book, he had stars in his eyes and told me that was the best book ever. Five stars from L.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was jam packed full of action and excitement I recommend it. 9/10

[Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a unlikely bunch of creatures setting of in a treacherous journey to save the dreaming. There is a Groot-like lady a human boy and a human soldure, a racoon, one inventor bone and two twin bones, a pair of ridiculous rat creatures, a airship called THE QUEEN OF THE SKY and a dead squirrel. My favorite character is probably the racoon because of his strong apitite for potatoes. Which leads onto my favorite scene of wich two of the rat creatures were hanging off of the anchor of the airship whilst the bone twins and the racoon throw potatoes at them from above. Although I read it over the schools two week holiday it was a delight and it taught me not to take the weird sequels for granted. 4/5 stars.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I plan on reading "Bone" the graphic series this year, I've read one, just received the first 3 in the mail. And the idea of a new Bone story in chapter book form was intriguing. Plus I love Jeff Smith's illustrations.

So, as I've said I'm new to the Bone universe only having read one book at the time of this review, "Tall Tales". I loved it and I know for purest of the series it's not exactly known for being one of the best of the series. So I know I'm in for a treat.

That said, no previous knowledge of Bone is needed for this knew chapter book series. The very little background info I had was explained anyway, such as "what is a rat creature?" Tom Elm, is a turnip farmer's son who one day found a bit of interesting rock in the biggest turnip they ever grew. He has kept it hung around his neck as a good luck charm ever since, not that it's brought him any luck. Tom has lately been having horrible nightmares filled with darkness and shadows in which he is being smothered and drowned and one night the stone shines and saves his life. This is when he and his adopted brother Roderick the Raccoon are told about the terrible evil going on which is invading both the Dreaming and the Waking World, which will continue until it has squelched out the entire world in evil blackness. Tom has been chosen to find other fragments of the Spark (one of which he already has around his neck) and defeat the evil.

In this particular book Tom has visions of him being in a group of eight people setting off for this quest. So following the Sparks visions he and Roderick set off to collect the other six. In the meantime the whole book follows the exploits of all the members of the soon-to-be group of questers as they go about there business. Other than Tom & Randolph, we have a Bone family of Percival F. Bone Explorer Extraordinaire and his two charges Abbey & Barclay who are setting off to find this valley that the Bone cousins have talked about. Then there is a former Veni Yan warrior who is a shell of his former self since his adventures left his wife and children home alone to be killed and now he is a drunk who tells tales of the glory days in exchange for drinks. Finally, and shocking to all other members, the Dreaming insists that two Rat Creatures who are being hunted down by their king for waking him up while stealing his dinner, have also been chosen to be a part of this quest.

The book was a lot of fun. Typical quest fantasy, with a motley crew of creatures found in the world. Tom Elm is a good leader/hero for the group. He doesn't want to be a leader and though he's always dreamt of being a hero one day, the reality of it isn't so much fun. But he's been given the power of the Visions and at first reluctantly and later accepts that he has been given an important job to do and he'd better do it right. He's a humble fellow, but when following the Visions, the others mostly older than him follow quietly as they all know the wisdom of the Dreaming. A fun story with lots of humour, but also quite a dark story, hence my 10+ age recommendation. Intense and scary scenes may frighten some younger children. I know my sensitive son is going to be covering his eyes at the intense bits but I think he'll get through OK and will really enjoy it. There is one Smith illustration per chapter, but some chapters are longish so it made me wish there were more illustrations. There were certain scenes I would have loved to have seen illustrated but it must be tough to pick only one scene to illustrate from a whole chapter. I did catch a blooper in one illustration though. On page 159, when the tree grows out through the middle of the building all of our good guys are watching on one side, but wait a minute Abbey and Barclay are there too. They are not supposed to be, because at that exact moment in time they are up in the sky driving the airship "Queen of the Sky" hopefully coming to the others rescue! Oops. Looking forward to the next book in the series as the Quest really gets going, now that we have all the members gathered together.

[Erich]

It was ok

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe I read somewhere that Jeff Smith expressed some concern over having okayed a sequel to Bone, saying that he considered a "what if' sequel, but later realizing that its existence made it effectively the future of his characters.

Curiously, barely any of his characters are in it - Gran'ma Ben (and Thorn, but she's sleeping) in the prologue and epilogue, while the two Stupid Rat Creatures and Roderick the raccoon are part of the core cast. The rest are new characters, and Sniegoski does a nice job pulling characters from various established aspects of the Bone universe - a stick-eater, a trio of new Bones, and a 12-year-old turnip farmer. The book's plot hinges on a forgotten detail from the Lord of Locusts' possession of Queen Mim (namely, a dragon who didn't side with the other dragons against Mim, and is now returning with evil on his mind, threatening the Dreaming and the Waking World).

The book's breezy, 200 pages will rarely read this fast, even in a children's book, but not entirely engaging. Sniegoski sprinkles in humor and scary bits, but the characters and situations feel too rote to be entirely memorable.

Jeff Smith provides spot illustrations, and they're quite lovely.

[Damon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really wasn't very good. It was obviously targeting a much younger audience (like 7) than I was anticipating, and the story really suffers for it. It's also more of a snippet of a book than a complete story - you can make the print as big as you want and stuff in some pictures - that doesn't make it not seem like you only published the first 3rd of your book. The illustrations are another bad spot, surprisingly - Jeff Smith's stuff is usually very painstakingly rendered, but these look more like sketches, or if not that then like he was in a big hurry or late for something. For the most part, though, even if none of these were the case, the hamfisted writing and overdone plotlines here would still make this thoroughly lackluster.

The book looks nice, though - nice design and the "Bone" on the cover is a really shiny metallic red that you can't tell from the pictures.

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bone book with some of the flavour of the original but none of the magic. Too directed for kids, it feels like a recipe and completely turned me off.

[Tiffanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

wth? WHERE'S THE COMIC!???! this book is crappy. It should be like the last and have it as a comic.

[Rithik · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was one of the funnest books i have ever read

[Hunter · Rating 1 out of 5]

not good

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This did not hold our attention (myself or my 8 year old son). We only made it to chapter 3 and that felt difficult to get that far. He loved the Bone graphic novels, so we were hopeful.

[Jeff Elden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is like loving Froot Loops and your mom comes home with Loops of Fruit cereal.

[Kamiah Marie woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this books

[Art Enyedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The nine volume Bone graphic novel might be the best comic book ever created - it is a masterpiece created, written and drawn by Jeff Smith. So when I saw that there were further adventures of Bone available, naturally I was interested. Big warning sign: this story is not written by Jeff Smith, though he does provide about a dozen excellent full page illustrations. This is a prose children's story, written by Tom Sniegoski, though presumably Jeff Smith had some input. I give Quest for the Spark five stars for its artwork, and one star for its text. The prose is forced and flat, devoid of wonder or wit. It is hard to read, I was hoping something that sparkled like the original Bone, but this reads like fan fiction. It could be used as exhibit A why authors should not allow other creators to touch their original creations.

Tom Elm is a young lad, the son of a turnip farmer. He dreams of adventure, but it seems his life is destined to a humble turnip farmer, just like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Tom has a pet racoon named Roderick. Tom has found a glowing rock that he wears around his neck as a good luck charm. Tom has been having frightening nightmares, but he awakens to a frightening reality - no one else can be roused from slumber. It seems that an evil Nacht hopes to take over the Valley for its own evil purposes.

Abbey and Barclay are young twin Bones. Alas - their parents went off to seek adventure, never returned, and now Abbey and Barclay are apparently orphaned. Abbey and Barclay are being raised by Percival, who happens to have a flying airship. Percival is also about to embark on an adventure, to seek the amazing Valley described by his cousin Fone Bone (from the original Bone graphic novel). Naturally, circumstances result in Percival, Abbey and Barclay flying in the airship to the Valley.

There are two rat creatures - Rat Creature and Other Rat Creature (only rat creature royalty are bestowed names). They want a dead squirrel that was taken from them by the cruel Rat Creature King. Are the risks of angering the King worth the reward of stealing the dead squirrel back? Of course! Things go badly, of course!

A Veni Yan priest spends his life in misery, wallowing in shame and sorrow that he was not at home when Rat Creatures attacked and killed his wife and children.

All of the characters will be united in the Quest for the Spark. Unfortunately, the Quest seems awfully pre-ordained. The glowing Spark stone hung around Tom's neck gives him visions - telling him who he will meet and where. Unfortunately, this plot device robs young Tom of any initiative, he simply obeys the visions he receives from the Dreaming, which tell him what to do next. Tom might be trapped on the roof of a burning building, and his stance is that certainly the Dreaming won't let his Quest end so soon, surely the Dreaming will provide an escape, however unlikely - and his trust is rewarded, of course.

Sniegoski tries so hard to make his characters likeable that his efforts had the opposite effect on me. I found myself indifferent to the fate of the heroes. I recognize that this is meant to be a children's book, and thus the story cannot be too scary, but Sniegoski manages to make everything seem inevitable. Abbey and Barclay's constant bickering isn't charming, it's annoying. Everyone justifiably has reservations about having Rat Creature and Other Rat Creature joining their fellowship, but because the Tom's visions indicate that the Rat Creatures have a part to play, all commonsense is ignored and the message of the Dreaming is followed.

Jeff Smith's artwork is delightful, but it doesn't save the book. Abbey and Barclay appear in one drawing in which they are not present in the novel, so clearly the prose went through some rewrites after Smith had submitted his final artwork.

Perhaps a reader who is new to the Bone universe will find something to like here, but I believe any lover of the original series will find Quest for the Spark to be quite a letdown.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Com fotos em https://osrascunhos.com/2022/11/02/bo...

Depois de ter lido a brutal obra que é Bone, tenho continuado a ler outras histórias que decorrem no mesmo mundo, mas que são tangenciais à obra principal e mais simples em narrativa – como Rose ou Estupidas, Estupidas Ratas. Demorei, no entanto, a adquirir esta por se tratar de uma história ilustrada e por ser escrita por um autor diferente do original (Jeff Smith).

A História

Alguns anos depois dos três primos Bone (Fone Bone, Phoney Bone e Smiley Bone) terem deixado o vale, a escuridão parece alastrar-se chamando um novo grupo de heróis a intervir! Neste caso trata-se de um grupo curioso – um Bone com os seus sobrinhos órfãos, um rapaz camponês com o seu animal de estimação, um padre traumatizado e as duas criaturas (ratos grandes) que se destacam pela estupidez (e interacções divertidas).

A história começa por seguir cada personagem e mostrar o seu quotidiano, bem como a forma como partem em aventura, ou se juntam para participar numa demanda curiosa. Cada um dos escolhidos é insuspeito, e sem características peculiares que pudessem, à primeira vista, justificar o seu papel em tão perigoso destino.

Crítica

Depois de ter adorada a saga Bone, estava receosa de sentir uma mudança em tom ou personagens. Em termos de tom, Tom Sniegoski pega bem na série, intercalando personagens mais séries, com personagens mais desastradas, e aproveita bem as criaturas idiotas criadas por Jeff Smith. Tal como na série de banda desenhada, estas proporcionam os momentos mais relaxados e idiotas que permitem contrapor com a tensão causada pelo perigo que se aproxima e pelos episódios mais movimentados.

Adicionalmente, este autor usa quase exclusivamente novas personagens (tirando as criaturas), o que faz com que se possa afastar de potenciais erros ou incoerências de características. Ainda assim, parece acertar no tom das novas personagens, criando uma dinâmica que parece semelhante ao da série principal e usa elementos da história para criar um sentimento de continuidade, sem precisar de pegar directamente em detalhes que o traiam.

Para além das características narrativas, este volume destaca-se por não ser uma banda desenhada. Em compensação, existem ilustrações de Jeff Smith – o que era, sem dúvida, uma das características principais da série principal. Para além das ilustrações, cada página é acompanhada por um rebordo colorido e separadores de capítulo excepcionais.


Date: Novembro 2, 2022
Author: Cristina Alves
0 Comentários
— Editar

Depois de ter lido a brutal obra que é Bone, tenho continuado a ler outras histórias que decorrem no mesmo mundo, mas que são tangenciais à obra principal e mais simples em narrativa – como Rose ou Estupidas, Estupidas Ratas. Demorei, no entanto, a adquirir esta por se tratar de uma história ilustrada e por ser escrita por um autor diferente do original (Jeff Smith).




A História

Alguns anos depois dos três primos Bone (Fone Bone, Phoney Bone e Smiley Bone) terem deixado o vale, a escuridão parece alastrar-se chamando um novo grupo de heróis a intervir! Neste caso trata-se de um grupo curioso – um Bone com os seus sobrinhos órfãos, um rapaz camponês com o seu animal de estimação, um padre traumatizado e as duas criaturas (ratos grandes) que se destacam pela estupidez (e interacções divertidas).

A história começa por seguir cada personagem e mostrar o seu quotidiano, bem como a forma como partem em aventura, ou se juntam para participar numa demanda curiosa. Cada um dos escolhidos é insuspeito, e sem características peculiares que pudessem, à primeira vista, justificar o seu papel em tão perigoso destino.




Crítica

Depois de ter adorada a saga Bone, estava receosa de sentir uma mudança em tom ou personagens. Em termos de tom, Tom Sniegoski pega bem na série, intercalando personagens mais séries, com personagens mais desastradas, e aproveita bem as criaturas idiotas criadas por Jeff Smith. Tal como na série de banda desenhada, estas proporcionam os momentos mais relaxados e idiotas que permitem contrapor com a tensão causada pelo perigo que se aproxima e pelos episódios mais movimentados.

Adicionalmente, este autor usa quase exclusivamente novas personagens (tirando as criaturas), o que faz com que se possa afastar de potenciais erros ou incoerências de características. Ainda assim, parece acertar no tom das novas personagens, criando uma dinâmica que parece semelhante ao da série principal e usa elementos da história para criar um sentimento de continuidade, sem precisar de pegar directamente em detalhes que o traiam.

Para além das características narrativas, este volume destaca-se por não ser uma banda desenhada. Em compensação, existem ilustrações de Jeff Smith – o que era, sem dúvida, uma das características principais da série principal. Para além das ilustrações, cada página é acompanhada por um rebordo colorido e separadores de capítulo excepcionais.



Conclusão

Este é o primeiro de três volume de uma nova saga que decorre no mesmo Mundo de Bone criado por Jeff Smith. Trata-se de uma história ilustrada que pega no ambiente e nalguns detalhes da história principal para criar uma nova aventura com novas personagens, alguns anos depois, o que lhe permite evitar comparações directas entre personagens ou acontecimentos. Adorei esta leitura, apesar de não ter a dimensão epopeica de Bone.

[Joseph Hamm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original Bone series is arguably one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. This pales in comparison and honestly feels a lot like fan-fiction.

One of the biggest aspects that made Bone so delightful was its vibrant illustrations by Jeff Smith. While it is true that he still drew several pictures for this book, the bulk of the story is in novel form, forgoing the colorful images found within the original comics.

Another aspect that elevated the original series were the characters. Every single character was very unique and it was interesting getting to learn more about them all! In this book, every single character is a one-dimensional stereotype from a better-written story. The only characters who I actually thought were pretty good were the Bones themselves, seeing as how they’re supposed to be over-the-top cheesy. That’s kinda the point of them. The rest of the characters have the “illusion” of depth without anything substantial.

The last aspect of the originals that is absent here is the escalation and mystery of the plot. The first Bone series brilliantly grows from a cute little story about three quirky characters run out of their hometown and becomes a fantasy epic akin to Lord of the Rings. The readers are swept up in the story, and have a lot of questions about what is going on. What’s cool is the Bones have these exact same questions, and since the comic series is told from strictly their perspective, as they learn more about the plot, so too do the readers. In this book, all that mystery and escalation is absent as readers are told near the beginning everything that is going on and it’s more of an ensemble piece instead of the strict focus on the titular Bones.

To sum it all up, this book is eh. Just reread the original run!

[Riley Rowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can say with Confidence that Bone actually works pretty well in an illustrated novel format. Sniegoski manages to utilize and expand the world and lore of Bone to create the start of a fun, if somewhat simple, classic quest storyline; complemented with new characters that fit organically into the world, and prose that allows us to get into the thoughts and feelings of these characters possibly better than the original comics. This is all accompanied by consistently pleasing art from Jeff Smith.

The reason I couldn't give this book a full five stars was because a couple problems involving the pacing and actual content of the art. While the pacing of this story is smooth most of the time, there are several moments where events are covered in a short paragraph or couple sentences, when it feels like they should get a little more buildup and elaboration. Now, while the art is very well drawn and pleasing, there are times where the drawn scenes don't completely match the written scenes; like a color being swapped, characters missing certain features and descriptions, or characters being shown in a scene they actually weren't a part of. While this may not be that big of a problem for a casual reading, once you notice it it's difficult to un-notice.

This is still a very fun and engaging read, despite the few problems that hold it back from being near flawless. I think anyone who's a fan of the Bone franchise will have a decent time with this book, at the very least.

[Jocelyn Bystrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mistakingly thought this was graphic novel; however its more of a 'comic' style novel with great illustrations embedded. Jeff Smith has created a whole cast of fantastical characters in this novel about two surprising settings: the Dreaming and the Waking worlds!

The unexpected cast of characters team up through this first novel on a quest to find the lost pieces of the Spark...

pp 32, 49 & 110 might be three illustrations I'd use to spark an interest and encourage students to check out this series as part of a book talk.

I was certainly intrigued and will check out more in the Bone collection by Tom Sniegoski! I'm wondering if I should have begun by reading original Bone comic book? Will need to find out if its available at Huband Park in September or at VIRL shortly.

[Matias · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book you get multiple views of each character. Every chapter you get a look into each characters life. Each character find each other to reveal their future. There is lots of plots and twists which makes the book super interesting.
The plot is a rehash of the main series without any of the mysteries that made the comic so compelling. The humor is kind of funny, as is the dialogue and the characters. Jeff Smith's art turns up here and creative. Said prose is flat, making even the most exciting scenes pretty bad . It attempts to mimic the action and slapstick comedy of Bone's early issues, but those worked because Bone was made to be funny and a good story with some humor in it.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a little self indulgent to my 20-some year old self who absolutely loved the Bone comics. Honestly, I always felt even then that I was too old to be reading Bone. But I thoroughly enjoyed the animation, the innocent wit and all Jeff Smith’s characters: All three Bone cousins, Thorn, Gran’ma Ben, Lucius and of course the stupid, stupid rat creatures. It was a special comic run.

That what led me to exploring this spin off.
Written more for teens (preteens?), it was satisfying. I’ve had it more a couple of years now and probably only began reading due to being quarantined (thanks Covid).

Ordering books 2 & 3 now. Hope to be able to read these with my own kiddos soon. 😊

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly harmless, and unfortunately has the vague whiff of being forgettable--which is a real shame when you compare it to the original (fantastic, unforgettable) graphic novels. It's obviously aimed at a younger audience, but then, so was the original Bone, and it managed to be something unique at the same time. (Though like Harry Potter, Bone tackles more serious themes as it goes on, almost as if it's growing up with its audience. Maybe this series does too, but...I've got no interest in chasing down the other two books.)

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I bought this thinking it was the first book in the Bones graphic novel series. I'm a huge fan of that series, having given all of them five stars, and I want to collect them. I was both disappointed and excited when I realized this was a novel. I loved being back in this world. I wish that we were following the old characters but this new cast was also fun. I think that the writing was a little stilted but overall it was a solid addition to this world. I don't think I'm going to continue in this series, though.