The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith illustrated by Charles Paul Wilson III YP FIC RAICHT

When The Boy is taken into The Dark by the Boogeyman (the very embodiment of all that is very very bad himself) it is up to his toys to rescue him. Together a toy soldier, and Indian princess, a teddy bear, a duck on wheels, a jack in the box, a princess, a piggy bank, and The Boy’s dog head into the closet. On the other side they emerge as the real life counterparts of their toy selves and head in search of The Boy and against the armies of the Boogeyman, but will the Boogeyman’s evil be able to divide the toys against each other and stop their journey as soon as it’s begun?

Sort of like a WAY more creepy and action packed version of Toy Story, The Stuff of Legend jumps to an impressive start. It is a classic epic journey with a motley crew of adventurers on a quest. I loved the character interaction and the crooked board game run by an evil mayor was twisted fun. The artwork is superb throughout with the world of the Dark imagined as a mixture of childhood fantasy and nightmare. The use of the yellowish background brings to mind a old faded storybook, which fits perfectly with the books themes. I look forward to future volumes and getting to know the characters in greater detail.

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan YP FIC SHAN

Jebel Rum’s family is famous and respected because his father is the royal executioner. Jebel, however, is a thin runt that is dishonored when his father forgets to even consider him as a possible replacement in front of the entire village. Jebel decides on an insane and foolhardy quest: to go to the legendary cave of the fire god and sacrifice a slave named Tel Hesani in exchange for inhuman powers. However, the quest is so dangerous that almost none have returned alive and there are only legends of those that have returned having completed the quest. Jebel will face death from all sides if he is to complete his quest, but his greatest challenge will be if he can bring himself to sacrifice Tel Hesani, who had become Jebel’s first and only friend.

This is a really fun and exciting dark fantasy in the vein of the old Conan books. The world is a violent, cruel warzone and only the strongest survive. Which is why making the main character a weak runt is so fresh and fun. The characters aren’t super deep, but they are interesting and move the story forward well. You may know Darren Shan from his super successful series The Demonata and Cirque Du Freak. If not then The Thin Executioner is the perfect book to check out Shan’s style, because it is a standalone novel that highlights his strengths. He builds believable and dark fantasy worlds with short thrilling chapters, so even though this a long book you will find yourself tearing through it saying “just one more chapter” again and again. His horror worlds are dark and violent without ever geeting overly gross or depressing. Shan’s work is more aimed at guys than girls because his main characters are male and the focus is often on action and violence, but really any reader that likes dark fantasy that isn’t too dismal will enjoy Shan’s books.