The third volume of the critically acclaimed New York Times best selling new series from the Eisner-nominated creative team of Mike Carey and Peter...
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Jul 24, 2011
Teresa
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Despite the Our Mutual Friend (one of my favorite books) connection, I didn't like this installment nearly as much as the first two. That's probably because I never cared for the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books (my youngest brother read some of them), which is the well-done 'gimmick' in the middle of this book. I didn't follow the directions, but read the pages straight through, just as I was instructed not to do, but doing otherwise would've driven me batty. There's also one big u
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Feb 19, 2012
Emily
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In the third volume of Mike Carey and Peter Gross’s Unwritten: Dead Man’s Knock, we find the gang newly returned from Nazi Germany and the world about to open up the latest, long lost Tommy Taylor novel.
For those of you jumping in late, the premise of Unwritten is that Tom Taylor, a man who has spent his life in the shadow of a Harry Potter-esque character created by his father and named Tommy Taylor, has been dragged into a monumental war. The war, as the reader slowly learns, has bee More...
For those of you jumping in late, the premise of Unwritten is that Tom Taylor, a man who has spent his life in the shadow of a Harry Potter-esque character created by his father and named Tommy Taylor, has been dragged into a monumental war. The war, as the reader slowly learns, has bee More...
Sep 04, 2011
Tyler
rated it:
After loosing me a bit with volume 2, I felt like this volume gained some of its creativity and velocity back this volume. Despite the fact that I'm largely burnt out on stories that are constructed around reality-bending mysteries, there is no doubting that this is a compelling and well-constructed series.
Though this book hinges largely on the release of the 14th Tommy Taylor book (its validity, affect on the lead characters, and the potential return of its author), the centerpiece o More...
Though this book hinges largely on the release of the 14th Tommy Taylor book (its validity, affect on the lead characters, and the potential return of its author), the centerpiece o More...
Aug 24, 2011
Barky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 10, 2011
Tara
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The ingenuity and skill of this series continues to boggle my mind. Are you a reader? Read it. Read it. Read it.
a quote from the intro, by Steven Hall:
Most people don't have the first idea about the true power of stories. I'm sure you know this. I'm sure you do, because you're a reader - you're reading this book right now. You're bound to know a thing or two about it.
Maybe you're the woman on the train who doesn't ever let the raised eyebrows of grey-looking More...
a quote from the intro, by Steven Hall:
Most people don't have the first idea about the true power of stories. I'm sure you know this. I'm sure you do, because you're a reader - you're reading this book right now. You're bound to know a thing or two about it.
Maybe you're the woman on the train who doesn't ever let the raised eyebrows of grey-looking More...
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Jun 09, 2011
Julie
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Only two days until the long awaited 14th Tommy Taylor novel is released! Callendar and his group meet, while the world speculates as to the contents of the newest tome from the pen of the missing writer, Wilson Taylor. Tom is taking a huge risk even being in London, which Lizzie keeps trying to tell him, but he’s convinced that his father is going to show up at the book launch, and there’s a lot of things he would like to discuss with dear old dad. What has Lizzie yanked off a street post, that
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May 07, 2011
Ottery
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 29, 2011
Thomas
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I’m still really excited about this series, as it gains its legs and prepares to jump forward. The characters are starting to become more real, and the underlying story of the entire series is beginning to show. In this volume, we learn more about the cabal of the Unwritten and how they have had their hands in fiction, literature, and manipulation for decades, if not centuries. It continues with the theme of the significance of stories and how they shape our world (the one-shot story about Ru
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Jul 31, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Anybody on Goodreads obviously cares about stories, whether they provide an alternate world for your brain to reside in for awhile, tell you about a historical event or educate you about how to fix a toilet, illuminate people's experiences in beautiful, brutal, or uplifting ways, or just provide an hour or two of amusement. Stories matter, whether people get them from books or not, but reading and the writing of stories has its own power.
The Unwritten knows this deeply, this obvious More...
The Unwritten knows this deeply, this obvious More...
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Aug 03, 2011
SA
rated it:
I could seriously stare at Yuko Shimizu's cover art all day. I read this in issues, not trade, so I sincerely hope all of her beautiful work is included in the trade.
In a way, the interior doesn't do the whimsy and depth of feeling of the cover justice; Shimizu's perspective on Tom is much softer and more reflective than the semi-regularly irritating Tom in the story itself. The Harry Potter-Books of Magic-Inkheart amalgam of the premise grows more interesting the more depth given t More...
In a way, the interior doesn't do the whimsy and depth of feeling of the cover justice; Shimizu's perspective on Tom is much softer and more reflective than the semi-regularly irritating Tom in the story itself. The Harry Potter-Books of Magic-Inkheart amalgam of the premise grows more interesting the more depth given t More...
Apr 14, 2011
Bludhaven
rated it:
This series is really my favourite Vertigo publication at the moment and the third trade didn't disappoint me.
The newest novel in the Tommy Taylor series is anounced and there is much media coverage about it and the author of the books who hasn't been seen in years. The real Tom Taylor is still presumed dead after the prison riot in France. He and his friends make their way back to London and there is finally a meeting between the astranged father and son.
My personal highligh More...
The newest novel in the Tommy Taylor series is anounced and there is much media coverage about it and the author of the books who hasn't been seen in years. The real Tom Taylor is still presumed dead after the prison riot in France. He and his friends make their way back to London and there is finally a meeting between the astranged father and son.
My personal highligh More...
Apr 08, 2011
Emilyn
rated it:
I absolutely love these graphic novels. Things move along at a good pace, they're literature, I like the characters, and I'm continually kept guessing. I particularly liked the "choose your own adventure issue in this volume." I think it would have worked better in the comic book format since it was harder to see the inside near the binding in the graphic novel format.
Tom Taylor is still on the run in the third volume. People think he perpetrated a massacre and then was kil More...
Tom Taylor is still on the run in the third volume. People think he perpetrated a massacre and then was kil More...
May 18, 2011
Niklas
rated it:
As the story and plot thickens, new parallel stories emerge and yet, Mike Carey manages not to muddle things by making this collection of stories complicated; instead, it's growing more complex.
Easily compared with "Sandman", this story branches out towards epic characters and stories, blending literary characters such as Harry Potter and the stereotypical vampire with authors, e.g. Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain.
The story goes on, Tom/Tommy being hunted by diff More...
Easily compared with "Sandman", this story branches out towards epic characters and stories, blending literary characters such as Harry Potter and the stereotypical vampire with authors, e.g. Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain.
The story goes on, Tom/Tommy being hunted by diff More...
May 08, 2011
Bry
rated it:
This installment definitely stretched my mind a bit. A lot of questions are answered - sort of - but it done so cryptically I am still totally confused as to what is happening overall. I just had to put aside this confusion and keep reading. If I tried to figure it out to far I just got even more confused. So at this point I am going on faith that eventually I understand it all!
What made this volume insanely awesome though was that one chapter was a "pick your own story" More...
What made this volume insanely awesome though was that one chapter was a "pick your own story" More...
Nov 06, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
This series keeps etting better and better with every single issue. I love the creativity of the story and the twisting plot, but more than that, I love the visual design of the story. The Lizzie Hexam "choose your adventure" section was a welcome change in the story and the reader got to choose the backstory that they felt was best suited for the direction they wanted the story to go.
At first I hated this story since it was really just a real life Harry Potter phenomenon, More...
At first I hated this story since it was really just a real life Harry Potter phenomenon, More...
May 25, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
This is the third volume in The Unwritten series. It continues the story of Tommy Taylor and includes such adventures as the release of the new Tommy Taylor novel, Tommy's confrontation with this father and his discovery of more details about his purpose.
I continued to love this series. I like that way it blurs the line between fiction and reality and brings into question what is a story and what is not a story. I also love the references I see in the story to Harry Potter. I know it More...
I continued to love this series. I like that way it blurs the line between fiction and reality and brings into question what is a story and what is not a story. I also love the references I see in the story to Harry Potter. I know it More...
Apr 28, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
This is the best of the Unwritten series so far. Very little time is spent away from the main storyline, and the several new intrigues are introduced. Much less time is devoted to the "OMG Internet!" frames, which I appreciated. There is also an entire issue included that was done in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format (which I think won an Eisner) and that is pretty excellent. There are also far more subtle literary references, which I enjoyed immensely.
I like t More...
I like t More...
Apr 06, 2011
***Dave
rated it:
Something happened with this series after the first dozen issues -- it went, somehow, from a fascinating exploration of the relationship between fiction and reality (personified by the Harry Pottereseque Tommy Taylor) and became just another weird, magical, deadly, but not wildly original Vertigo series.
It's not bad, mind you. Carey can definitley write, and Peter Gross does his usual fine workman's job on the art. But the story's gotten too busy, too many parties involved, too much b More...
It's not bad, mind you. Carey can definitley write, and Peter Gross does his usual fine workman's job on the art. But the story's gotten too busy, too many parties involved, too much b More...
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Jan 16, 2012
Jean-Pierre
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Carey and Gross do it again!
Where to begin . . . ? First off, they pull a fast one with both the characters and the readers with the whole 14th book thing. Then we get a lot of insight into Lizzie Hexam though a Pick-a-Story format. Then we get just little greater peak into this story manipulating cabal that's been haunting the title all along. Speaking of the title, we finally get an inkling of what the title of this series is all about, differing greatly from Bill Willingham's specula More...
Where to begin . . . ? First off, they pull a fast one with both the characters and the readers with the whole 14th book thing. Then we get a lot of insight into Lizzie Hexam though a Pick-a-Story format. Then we get just little greater peak into this story manipulating cabal that's been haunting the title all along. Speaking of the title, we finally get an inkling of what the title of this series is all about, differing greatly from Bill Willingham's specula More...
Jan 29, 2012
Craig
rated it:
I used to read this comic in single issues, but finally gave up around issue 11 or 12. Right about the time that things finally kicked into high gear and got interesting... Seriously, this is finally starting to come together and become quite the page-turner. The "choose-your-own-adventure" origin for Lizzie Hexam is something that must be seen to be believed--the complexity involved in putting something like that together for a monthly comic boggles my mind. And Tom finally gets to co
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Jul 17, 2011
Ian
rated it:
This volume is BRILLIANT! The fake "Tommy Taylor" novel which forms a major plot point now is as truly, deeply terrible as the characters say it is. In the actual story, it is said to include "charmless steals from Rowling, Gaiman, Wynne Jones and Uncle Tom Cobley"; the excerpts of the novel we are given contain HILARIOUSLY unsubtle references and tropes lifted from Moorcock, Pullman (also the name of a brutal, charmless character in the actual story!), Baum, and Tolkien! Eve
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Sep 05, 2011
Electric
rated it:
Everything I said about the other two TPBs in this ongoing series applies. a great premise, innovative storytelling and solid artwork. The outstanding issue in this collection is the very innovative "choose your own adventure" style origin story of lizzy hexam. Two negative remarks though: the art is sometimes lacking any additional appeal and does very little for the atmosphere. If you make a "revelation" it might be good that everybode understands what exactly is revealed.
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Jan 17, 2012
Nicholas
rated it:
Another excellent volume in this excellent series, taking the frenzy surrounding the publication of the final Harry Potter books and giving it a new twist of darkness. The background narrative of one of the characters is audaciously presented as a choose-your-own-adventure book (I admit I was mapping out the possible paths on the back of an envelope). This volume did not seem as rich in literary allusion as previous ones, but perhaps I missed it; in any case the plot seems to have jumped into a
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Nov 13, 2011
Nikki
rated it:
Volume 3 didn't blow me away the way the Mr. Bun story in Volume 2 did, but it did keep my attention, and make me look forward to reading more. I liked the Lizzie Hexam Pick-A-Story concept, but wished that it would have had more choice points, and more bad endings. If you're going to use a device like this, I want it to be finely crafted, and not just a fun gimmick. Unfortunately, this one lands a little on the gimmick side of the line, and that's too bad. Still, though, I look forward to readi
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Aug 15, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I'm enjoying this series very much. In this one, I particularly liked the "Choose Your Adventure" section. There is a fresh take on the storytelling I don't often see in graphic novels; I like how the stories weave together. The one thing I'm not liking is how complicated the plot is, and how it gets less clear as I read on. It reminds me of the X Files series that started out fun and became a parody of itself as time went on and it became clear that no one knew where the major (al
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Apr 16, 2011
Alan
rated it:
The whole Tom/Tommy Taylor story appears on the surface to be a riff off of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. The whole story is much more than that, and writer Mike Carey (of the Felix Catsor novels) is beginning to tread deeper into the realm of metafiction. As in the impact of stories on our lives. We finally meet Wilson, Tom's father, and we do get some explanation as to why Tom and the Tommy Taylor books are important. While much is left unresolved this remains a fulfilling read.
Apr 14, 2011
Nithin
rated it:
The Unwritten packs as much suspense, as the TV Show Lost did. This volume continues the franchise with more surprises, revelations, and questions, if that's possible.
There is more character development in this volume, as the first 2 volumes had already the stage. With the release of the 14th final Tommy Taylor book just around the corner, Tom Taylor's hunt for his dad, the Cabal, and Lizzie Hexam's back-story (which was delivered with remarkable skill), Dead Man's Knock ends with a More...
There is more character development in this volume, as the first 2 volumes had already the stage. With the release of the 14th final Tommy Taylor book just around the corner, Tom Taylor's hunt for his dad, the Cabal, and Lizzie Hexam's back-story (which was delivered with remarkable skill), Dead Man's Knock ends with a More...
Oct 23, 2011
Alison
rated it:
Even if you don't want to read this series, track down this volume at your library and find the page with the amusingly terrible rip-off of His Dark Materials. And then flip forward to the other page that looks like that one and that gets in a dig at George Lucas with a reference to "meta-condrians." Totally worth it.
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May 01, 2011
Trina
rated it:
Surprises abound in the third installment of The Unwritten series. I did not enjoy this volume as much as I did the other two however it did do a great job of answering lingering questions of the previous books. It is a wonderful anchor Volume and explains the premise of the book nicely. I will continue on in this series because I am caught the love letter to literature motif.
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Nov 14, 2011
Darth
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What an interesting story! So self-aware, knowing exactly where it sits within the increasingly popular market for juvenile and teen fantasy. I loved the choose-your-own-adventure, especially because the options (whether motivations and actions are good or bad) ultimately lead to the same end. Good and bad are complicated and often hard to distinguish--imagine!
