4
Jan172011
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Mercy Thomson: Homecoming’ by Patricia Briggs
by Carolyn • Posted in 2.5 Star Reviews, Authors A-D, Book Reviews, Graphic Novel, Patricia Briggs, Urban Fantasy
Title: Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (Mercy Thompson Prequel)
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Del Rey/ Dabel Brothers (Graphic Novel)
Publication Date: August 2009
Hardback: 168 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Own Copy
Reviewed by: Laura
RATING: 5/10 – Take it or leave it
BACK COVER SUMMARY:
Mercy Thompson is a walker, a magical being with the power to transform into a coyote. She lives on the fine line dividing the everyday world from a darker dimension, observing the supernatural community while standing apart.
When Mercy travels to the Tri-Cities of Washington for a job interview, she quickly finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a gang war between rival packs of werewolves. And as if fangs and fur weren’t enough, Mercy must deal with the scariest creature of all: her mother, who is convinced that Mercy is making a mess of her life and determined to set her daughter on the right course.
REVIEW:
I’ve never read a graphic novel before, I picked up this book because I’m a huge fan of the Mercy Thompson series and couldn’t resist. If you haven’t read this series yet I would highly recommend that you do so. It’s one of my favourite urban fantasy series, about mechanic Mercy, a walker who has the ability to shift into a coyote.
The book is a prequel and tells the story of when Mercy arrives in the Tri-Cities. How she ended up working for Fey mechanic Zee, moves into her trailer and meets Adam, the alpha of the local werewolf pack. Although this is a prequel, I do believe that to a certain degree it assumes that readers have read the other books in advance.
As a graphic novel there is very little text and the pictures of course do all the talking, but this does mean it is super quick read. It took me no more than an hour or so.
I enjoyed getting an insight into Mercy’s life before the series began. Her first meeting with Adam made me smile and as a big fan of Zee it was great to learn about how she ended up working for him.
However, the problem with illustrations, or when books are transferred to the screen is that you are looking at something that exists in your imagination through somebody else’s eyes.
The book was put together by more than one illustrator and it does show. Don’t get me wrong, the drawings are beautiful, but how Mercy looks changes from one scene to the next, and this annoyed me a little.
There were some drawings where Mercy looked pretty much as I imagined her, tough, lean, long dark hair and tattoos. Then in other drawings she has huge muscles or ridiculous breasts and a voluptuous bottom. Personally, I would have preferred consistency. Also, Mercy with big boobs?!
What I did discover while reading this book, is that I’m a words girl. I missed the descriptions, knowing what Mercy was thinking and the snappy dialogue. Because of this the book almost seemed shallow to me and the story quite simplistic. I kept thinking how I would have much preferred it as a novella.
VERDICT:
An interesting and quick read for Mercy Thompson fans. I’m not sure I would pick up a graphic novel again, even for a quick Mercy fix. This book will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the series, but it seemed to lack something. I’m afraid, I’d prefer a novel any day, but if you’re a fan of Mercy and of graphic novels, then this might be right up your street.
You can find out more about the author here:
This book counts towards the following BCC Reading Challenges:
Book #1 100+ Books In A Year (2011)
4 Comments
I had similar problems with HOMECOMING. While I liked the backstory, I didn't like that art at all. Sometimes it was too dark, other times everybody had crazy eyes. (Adam looked pretty good, though.) I was a bit perturbed that Mercy's mother was hardly in it at all when they seemed to make such a big deal out of her in the summary. I might take a look at the Moon Called graphic novel if it has better art.
Jennifer (An Abundance of Books)
Reply
Thanks for the review! I saw this at the library the other day and wasn't sure whether or not I should pick it up… I was skeptical, and after reading your review, I definitely think I'll pass. There are many more books on my TBR list that seem more appealing.
Reply
I'm not sure I can be bothered with graphic novels, I don't really see the appeal, like short stories really, I prefer the entire novel.
Reply
@Jennifer some of the drawings were beautiful, but some of them were a bit strange really and weren't how I imagined Mercy would look at all. You're right on Mercy's mother – she was barely in it. Odd. But I wonder if graphic novels just aren't my thing.
@Alyssa if it's at the library it might be worth picking up just to have a quick flick through, I think it just depends on whether you like graphic novels or not
@BookChickCity this is the first time I've ever read a graphic novel and I was only tempted by it because I'm a big fan of the Mercy books. I've also been tempted as I've seen Anita Blake has done them too. But I think like you say they're just not my thing – give me a juicy novel any day
Reply