Magic Moon Novel Vol. #01

By Ben Leary     October 16, 2007
Release Date: October 30, 2006



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein
Translated by:Barbara Guggemos and Stafford Hemmer
Adapted by:

What They Say
Kim is an average schoolboy who hates math but loves to read the latest copy of "Star Fighter." His daydreaming life spirals into a nightmare as his little sister slips into a mysterious coma. A bizarre visitor from the realm of Magic Moon tells him there is a way to free her from the enchantment of eternal sleep. Kim must fly a spaceship, become a knight, fight fantastical creatures, and journey through a freakish world to wake his sister!

The Review
Note: The version of this book reviewed was an uncorrected proof copy; therefore the usual ratings for packaging and text do not apply.

A rare excursion into Europe by TokyoPop hits pay dirt. Giants, dragons, talking animals, starships - how can you go wrong?

Contents: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)

After a disappointing experience with Witches' Forest, it was with some trepidation that I approached Magic Moon. As another fantasy series in the PopFiction lineup, I was expecting more of the same. But I needn't have worried. Those two titles are about as far apart as two young adult fantasy stories can be. Witches' Forest is light fantasy that draws most of its ideas from role-playing games and other works related to role-playing games. Magic Moon is, well, not quite high fantasy, but certainly serious fantasy, drawing its inspiration from fairy-tales and some of the legendary fantasy books.

Let me start by addressing the issue that had me worried most: the adaptation. TokyoPop has hardly set the standard for taste and intelligence in its novel adaptations. So it is with immense relief that I can report that this book is literate, descriptive, and believable in its style. Looking back I can't remember a single place where I was jarred out of the flow or the mood by an awkward or unsuitable sentence. The style is exactly what the story needs and a fine piece of writing in its own right. I can only hope TokyoPop continues to produce adaptations of this quality.

The theme of a child drawn into another world is a familiar one to fantasy reader, but still potent in the right hands. The twist here is that the relation of the two worlds is more important to the story than it would be in a book where the two worlds are kept separate: what takes place in the other world (in this case, the titular Magic Moon) has a direct influence on ours. Also the stakes are higher: the life of a sister.

Something that threw me a bit in the beginning - not necessarily in a bad way - was the discontinuity between the setup and the main story. Early on we get suggestions of science fiction. The protaganist Kim reads space-hero stories. He has a model of a starship in his room. Everything we see primes us for an adventure in space. Even in seeing a man with a white beard our thoughts are turned toward the heavens. And when Kim finds a familiar starfighter outside his home, what can we think of but a journey to the stars? The very title carries overtones of space.

But when Kim crashes the starfighter on an unfamilar world only to find himself surrounded by black knights, we find ourselves in a straightforward fantasy setting with no more mention of science fiction at all. It's hard not to be caught off-balance by the sudden shift. But like I said, this isn't necessarily bad: I liked the idea the more I thought about it. The child entering another universe situation is a familiar one. But it only feels familiar to a reader. A child actually transported to strange universe beyond the stars would feel the setting to be anything but familiar. What better way to communicate that sensation of unfamiliarity than to switch gears just as the story is getting warmed up? But readers who choose their books by genre should be aware of this if they're looking for science fiction.

The story has enough twists and turns for me to be vague about it. Let's just say that it's a good blend of the original and unoriginal. Its chief vice is bad originality, though there's little enough of this: its chief virtue is good unoriginality. We have a quest to save the world from darkness: we have a wise and good wizard: we have loyal companions who carry the comic relief - mild comic relief, mind you; this is serious fantasy after all. But everything is done skilfully, and with enough imagination, to stay fresh. I never felt like I was reading some other story in different words. In fact, I didn't lose interest at any point in the story. There are good twists at the proper times that are very effective. With one exception. It's very, very unfortunate that the one bad twist is the most important one: the climax. It isn't bad enough to go all spoilerish about, but it is a major disappointment. At certain places throughout the book the authors dabble in philosophy. This isn't something I dislike in general, but I do insist on the philosophy being in the first place coherent, and in the second place non-silly. The philosophy here is a variety of dualism that's even more self-contradictory than the dualism in, say, Star Wars. And instead of being a kind of window-dressing for the plot, the culmination of the whole story is something that doesn't, even can't, make sense. It's just this side of a disaster. And that's a real pity considering how good the book was up to that point.

But the ending that follows close on its heels fixes nearly all the damage. I was surprised that a character who has not one word of dialogue in the entire book could move me so deeply. And I was very please to find that the book stands on its own two feet despite being the first book in a series. It's like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The Book of Three: it's a very good self-contained story that leaves you with the promise of adventures still to come. And that's the kind of ending I'm always in the mood for.

Comments
It's not hard to see why this book was such a hit in Europe. Everything a good fantasy needs is here: a well thought-out world, characters fun to root for, a quest that means something, and some great moments that approach myth. The only thing missing is a good head on its shoulders, but even so it has plenty of heart and imagination. If the subsequent volumes can keep up with this one, or even exceed it, then we're in for quite a journey.