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May 05, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

You can like the first book in a new fantasy series. You can love a first book in a new fantasy series. You can compare that book to the works and worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien or Philip Pullman, if you’ve half a mind to do so. But no matter how much you love a book, when you see that its sequel is a whopping 711 pages long you may find yourself somewhat reluctant to pick it up. I’m a busy reviewer. I get sent a lot of books to read and I’m only able to review a tiny portion of them. If a boo More...

7 comments like (9 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2011

J.Elle rated it:

When a book has somewhere close to 100 pages of an appendix with definitions and explanations of terms and things found in the book, I draw the line. Thumbs-up D.M. Cornish for creating an amazing new world. Thumbs-down for making it nearly impossible to understand unless I devote serious, and I mean SERIOUS, time to reading that cumbersome appendix (which I refuse to do). Which then means, I am half confused for a good three-quarters of the book. (And COME ON, is anyone DYING to know all ab More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 04, 2008

Tama rated it:

Heck, what can I say about a book that has made me excited about reading again? Waiting eagerly for the next installment like a young child? There's just something very magical about this series, and this book has only continued that, broadening the world and making the story only more deep and disturbing.

Following orphan Rossamund as he becomes a Lamplighter in the Most Serene Emperors service, it quickly becomes more apparent than the first book that something is truly rotten in th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Bonanza rated it:

These two books (Foundling & Lamplighter) have been the most fulfilling, unfulfilling stories I've consumed in quite some time! (That being written with sincerest of compliment intended.)

These may be dark for small children, and most assuredly too imaginatively detailed for those little ones. In the sense that it takes place in parallel, aged world similar to our own in history, but not... and the author introduces each chapter with definitions of words/things that exist only in this More...

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Jul 17, 2010

ICPL added it

I’m love-love-loving this Young Adult fantasy series even though this second book was gigantic (715 pages). A great high-fantasy tale with a gripping plot and characters that are more than just Harry Potter -slash- Tolkien spinoffs. Lamplighter two finds bookish Rossamund beginning his apprenticeship lighting the lamps that keep the Emperor’s highways somewhat safe from roaming bands of monsters (bogles). He’s joined in this new book by a headstrong girl and meets up with old friends from the f More...

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Jul 28, 2009

Olgy rated it:

This book review of LAMPLIGHTER was originally posted to the CCF site. It's re-posted here with permission.
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The second book in D.M. Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo series, Lamplighter, is as engrossing as book one and should grab middle grade students' attention just as much. [ISBN: 978-0399246395; Putnam Juvenile; May 1, 2008; Ages 9-12]

Lamplighter has enough adventure-filled pages to keep boys interested in reading it. With the addition of Threnody to the More...

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Oct 06, 2010

Thermopyle rated it:

I want to like this book more than I actually did. D.M. Cornish has built an intriguing world world almost over-filled with minute detail and glimpses of deep histories. Also, I'm a sucker for books like Anathem or Dune that make extensive use of made-up words. Yes, this is one of those books with a large glossary and a definition at the start of each chapter.

As much as I was interested in the world-building on display, I found the plot sluggish and the characters and their journey t More...

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Nov 22, 2008

Jeremy rated it:

This series kind of reminds me of the beginning of the Philip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' trilogy in the choice of world setting. There is a mish mash of mideval and renaissance culture cues that make things familiar to the reader. Good ploy. Hmm. Anyway, this series is turning into a real keeper. The suspense is well paced, although the main characters prime internal conflict, a failure to understand the world around him, moves forward at a frustratingly slow pace. The author dropped like seve More...

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Jan 16, 2009

Kendrawesome rated it:

I have to say, I really enjoy the world that Cornish has created--a dark fantasy land sorta merged with 18th-century contrivances (guns, lamps, etc.). It's most akin to the Abhorsen series (Garth Nix), except set 200 years earlier--what with the constant threat of monsters (instead of the undead) but replete with magic. Except in this tale, the magic is pretty much all a surgical enhancement--sorta gives it a steampunk or cyberpunk vibe.

I think it's great that Cornish has given enoug More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Ms. Library rated it:

I wanted to like this series more than I did: However, I had a hard time finishing it. I had to make myself sit down and read it. It felt more like an assignment than a joy, which is not really what I am looking for in a fantasy novel. I understand that some sections of books, especially high fantasy, can drag on a bit. However, I never truly connected to the characters, and I would often drift off to think about other things. The style was a bit dry, and although the world-building was ex More...

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Nov 25, 2008

Deb rated it:

I really like this series, but man. Any words that are created for this series are really well explained in the book, the 100+page dictionary in the back is just redundant and heavy. This is the first time I've had to give a book minus stars for portability. It's a YA book! Harry Potter-sized tomes should be the exception, not the rule!

/rant, beginning of review:

In this book, Rossamund finishes his Lamplighter training months early because his whole class is hustled onto More...

1 comment like

May 16, 2009

Shari Mulluane rated it:

There is plenty to love about this book and the series so far. Aside a vivid world, even pacing, and an easy to follow single PoV there are great illustrations, done by D.M. Cornish, sprinkled throughout the book and an extensive glossary (110 pages) in the back in case you lose track of all the unusual terminology. There are also some things that concern me given the recommended reading age of 12+. Some readers (by no means all) are going to be put off by the extensive world building. Most of t More...

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Jan 21, 2009

Jessica rated it:

2nd book in D.M. Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo series. The continuing story or Rossamund Bookchild was great. I am unsure, however, if what age group this series is written for. I think any book with a 100 page glosssary at the end is a bit in-depth for kids who may give up with so many unfamiliar words. I, on the other hand, got lost in the world of The Half Continent. I recommend it highly for adults and smart teens.

Also how long am i gonna have to wait for the 3rd book? Fact More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Ollie rated it:

Rossamund finally begins his apprenticeship as a lamplighter. His job requires that the lamplighters venture out daily to light and extinguish highway lamps. Tension mount as monster attacks begin to occur more frequently, the admittance of the first female lamplighter apprentice, the increase of strange events and the discovery of mysterious secrets. There are monsters everywhere, lamplighters are also fighters, killing every bugaboo, bogle and nicker in sight. Rossamund secretly challenges s More...

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Sep 16, 2009

K T rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 03, 2009

Brooke rated it:

Just as in the first book of this series, I'm very much impressed with the world-building (every element of this fantasy culture is garnished, guilded, and fully fleshed-out, down to the cuffs on the characters' outfits) but the sucker was too darn long. Slow pacing, a rather predictible plot (seriously, why do benevolent leaders employ sinister underlings who always, always overthrow them?) made this book drag on for me. The Big Reveal at the end was something I had been counting on since the More...

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Nov 20, 2011

April rated it:

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as I did the first but still a solid tale.

The story takes up directly where the first book leaves off and gives us some new characters to be interested in with a couple of the old ones still around. Again, each chapter begins with the definition of a new word. One of the things I like about this story is the careful consideration Cornish has put into worldbuilding. The clothes and buildings and characters are all very evocative and are helped More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Emily rated it:

Hehe, a fabulous second installment in the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy. I find that more often than not, the middle part of trilogies is rather dragging; and while there *were* a few short periods of time (within the story) that things were moving slow, it would always pick back up with a theroscade or some other danger, heh.

I stayed up until 2am reading the last of this book, and let me say, it really ended how a middle book ought to. **MINOR SPOILER** The situation of the protagonis More...

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Apr 16, 2009

Cheryl rated it:

A great second book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series by Cornish. Orphan Rossamund Bookchild begins his training as a lamplighter. On his first day along the Emperor's highway they encounter monsters chasing a carriage filled with passengers. The lampligher trainees know as lampsticks and the senior trainers help the passengers fight off the deadly attack. The passengers are women teratologist--monster hunters with the gift of witting. One of their number a young girl is coming to join the More...

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Oct 21, 2009

Kelly rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jun 15, 2011

Amber rated it:

Started trying to read this book to my husband but kind of struggled with some of the vocabulary so he read it to himself and I got it on CD and listened to it on my iPod which was a convenient way for me to multitask and still get lost in the world of Rossamond and his trials as a Lamplighter. I love this book so much that I now want to buy the first and will definitely buy the next one when it comes out, can't wait to have the whole series on my book shelf so I can revisit Rossamond's world ag More...

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Sep 08, 2009

Kim (magicsandwiches) rated it:

Book two in the Monster Blood Tattoo cranks the wheel a few more notches. It chronicles Rossamund's apprenticeship as a lamplighter and his adventures once he finishes. You'd think the job of lamplighter would be a little more benign, however it's anything but. You never know what can happen on the road, lighting lamps, and with the kinds of friends that Rossamund makes (whether he wants to or not), you REALLY don't know what's going to happen. All I can say is, when you finish this book, yo More...

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Dec 08, 2010

Mark is currently reading it

So far this series has vastly out-performed expectations. I'm very happy I found this book at a going-out-of-business book store. I'm also quite happy that the owner let me know that this is the second book, prompting me to find The Foundling online (Amazon.com rules) and reading that one first. I like the fact that the main character isn't a "hero". He doesn't think much of himself even while he's able to get through situations that would best many of the hero's he reads about and More...

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Apr 25, 2011

J rated it:

it took me a little longer to get into it, but it was still quite good. my biggest beef is the 'big reveal' at the end of the book--it's something i had been anticipating since the very early part of book one, and something i was sure of shortly after. as he hints and implies not-so-subtly throughout both books, by the time they have someone come right out and name it, i'm thinking everyone--rossamund especially--is a blithering idiot for not guessing it way way earlier. aside from that, h More...

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Nov 18, 2010

Robin rated it:

This is a very, very special book.

For those of you always looking for something to fill the Harry Potter hole, this blows everything else away - completely.

Our hero, Rossamund, is now a Lamplighter in training. Lamplighters are a branch of the military whose job it is to light the Emperor's highways, and help keep traveler's safe.
The fortress where he lives and trains, is as large and mysterious as Hogwarts ever was. Although there is no magic, there is Alchemy More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Shanoon rated it:

I feel this book renewed my love for fables of adventure, and monsters. I must admit, its sheer size - though I am not one to run and hide from a book of over five hundred pages - taunted me. I admit to having read smaller books and becoming bored, yet with this series, it simply wouldn't allow it. I was captivated by the masterful storytelling (though as having read the first volume, I don't know how I doubted it would be less), and characters. I have to say above all my favourite to be Numps, More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Sue rated it:

What a great story! This book is the second in the series 'Monster Blood Tattoo' and it brings us into the second phase of the lead character's life - Rosamund Bookchild - as he begins his apprenticeship into the life of a lamplighter. It really does help if you haven't put too much time inbetween the first book and this, as the world that D. M. Cornish has created -although tantilizingly familiar - is completely topsie turvey and he writes it with such conviction that it exists that you reall More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Michelle rated it:

So, from the first book right to the second I jumped in expecting wonders; and got something I was not all together pleased about. The fun added words in the first book grew and though it was not hard to pick them up it came at times; bothersome as you needed to look into the pages to recall what something meant. It got to the point I felt it was breaking on another language all together then English.

However aside from that you again had a large wonderful world and secrets unfolding More...

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Dec 22, 2010

Janette added it

I loved the first book in this series, Monster Blood Tattoo, so I was eager to read Lamplighter and see if my theories about the main character were right. (I'm pretty sure they were--but I still don't know yet. I guess I'll have to read book three to see for certain.)

Rossamund is a very likable character as is Europe, the monster slayer. I enjoyed seeing these two characters again and spending more time with them. I didn't like the other main character/sidekick in this book, Thr More...

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Jan 04, 2011

Bill rated it:

(NOTE: Since I think of these books as a whole, I have posted the same review in both Foundling and Lamplighter)

I adore D.M. Cornish's The Foundling's Tale (formerly known as Monster's Blood Tattoo) series, which includes the books Foundling, Lamplighter and Factotum. It has oft-been described as Dickens-like tale of an orphan's through through an 18th-century-like, biopunk world...with monsters.

Biopunk? Think steampunk. But instead of gears, steam, and blimps...technology ba More...

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