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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Curse of the Bogle's Beard by Siobhan Rowden (view source)
Revision as of 10:59, 25 May 2012
, 10:59, 25 May 2012no edit summary
For a first novel, Bowden forced herself to do very familiar things, in her own way. The pickle factory, once Barnaby deigns to visit to learn the family trade, has to match up to Willy Wonka's, and almost does, with the help of a comedy song - that and the Damien Hurst gag made me laugh the most as an adult. The balance between family life and fantasy, and between traditional and gross-out, are both cleverly done - partly as for once the mum goes with the boy on his quest.
So while there is common ground here with lots of similar wacky frolics (bodily functions, peculiar science, multiple fonts) this series opener is a flashing bright advert for what might come, while being a self-contained bounty of its own. The plotting is very clever, and even the first two pages alone were able to suck me onto a very different path to the surprising pleasures I were was to find later on.
I must thank the kind publishers for my review copy.
