Synopses & Reviews
Illustrated and presented by one of the leading artists in modern fantasy, here are the great songs and folktales of the English, Irish, and Scottish traditions, re-imagined in sequential-art form, in collaboration with some of today's strongest fantasy writers.
Here are New York Times bestseller Neil Gaiman with "The False Knight on the Road"; popular mystery author Sharyn McCrumb's version of "Thomas the Rhymer"; acclaimed children's writer Jane Yolen with "King Henry" and "The Great Selchie of Sule Skerrie"; popular novelist Charles de Lint's contemporary reworking of "Twa Corbies"; Bone creator Jeff Smith with "The Galtee Farmer"; Emma Bull's version of "The Black Fox," and much, much more.
Introduced by award-winning editor and writer Terri Windling, and finished with full lyrics and discographies of the classic versions of these songs and tales, The Book of Ballads is an event in the worlds of fantasy and graphic storytelling alike.
Review
"A cloth of rare delight."
James Gurney, author of Dinotopia
Review
"If you're a fan of both traditional folk music and comic books, there's no way you should miss [this]."
Dirty Linen
Review
"Vess's work is as slyly subversive as the young Rossetti, Morris, and Burne-Jones . . . and it has captivated large audiences for many of the same reasons. By wedding mythic and folkloric material to a distinctly modern form of visual storytelling, this artist is keeping myth alive, and creating a magic all his own." Terri Windling
Review
"A cloth of rare delight."
--James Gurney, author of Dinotopia, on The Book of Ballads
"[Vess's] exquisitely detailed art delightfully recalls the Pre-Raphaelites here, Aubrey Beardsley there and elsewhere Winsor McCay or Gustave Doré...Here Vess reaches the peak of his art, standing proudly with the 19th- and early 20th-century illustrators who influence him."
--Publishers Weekly on The Book of Ballads
"If you're a fan of both traditional folk music and comic books, there's no way you should miss Charles Vess' Book of Ballads."
--Dirty Linen
"Vess's work is as slyly subversive as the young Rossetti, Morris, and Burne-Jones . . . and it has captivated large audiences for many of the same reasons. By wedding mythic and folkloric material to a distinctly modern form of visual storytelling, this artist is keeping myth alive, and creating a magic all his own."
--Terri Windling on The Book of Ballads
Review
"A cloth of rare delight."
James Gurney, author of Dinotopia
Review
"...exquisitely detailed... Vess reaches the peak of his art, standing proudly with the 19th- and early 20th-century illustrators who influence him."
Publishers Weekly
Review
"If you're a fan of both traditional folk music and comic books, there's no way you should miss [this]."
Dirty Linen
Review
"This artist is keeping myth alive, and creating a magic all his own."
Terri Windling
Synopsis
Acclaimed fantasy artist Charles Vess collaborates with Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, Emma Bull, Sharyn McCrumb, and several others on a collection of traditional ballads and folktales adapted to graphic-novel form.
Synopsis
Now in trade paperback, a unique collection of ballads, folktales, and magical sagas, retold in graphic-novel form by an all-star cast of modern fantasists
About the Author
As an illustrator and collaborator,
Charles Vess has worked with Neil Gaiman on the World Fantasy Award-winning "Midsummer Night's Dream" issue of
Sandman; with Charles de Lint on children's books and illustrated novels; and with Jeff Smith of
Bone on the
Bone prequel
Rose. Vess has won the World Fantasy Award twice. He is currently illustrating a special limited edition of George R. R. Martin's bestselling
A Storm of Swords. He lives in rural Virginia.
Table of Contents
"Introduction," by Terri Windling
"The False Knight on the Road," with Neil Gaiman
"King Henry," with Jane Yolen
"Thomas the Rhymer," with Sharyn McCrumb
"Barbara Allen," with Midori Snyder
"The Three Lovers," with Lee Smith
"Tam-Lin," with Elaine Lee
"The Daemon Lover," with Delia Sherman
"Twa Corbies," with Charles de Lint
"Sovay," with Charles de Lint
"The Galtee Farmer," with Jeff Smith
"Alison Gross"
"The Black Fox," with Emma Bull
"The Great Selchie of Sule Skerry," with Jane Yolen
"Discography," by Ken Roseman