Unfinished: Sword of Fire and Ice by John Matthews

During the read-a-thon, I picked up The Chronicles of Arthur: Sword of Fire and Ice, by John Matthews. It's a graphic novel illustrated by Mike Collins.

Publisher's Summary: Before the Round Table. Before the great quests, before he was king . . .

Many stories have been told of King Arthur. Young Arthur's days were full of adventures that prepared him for the life that lay ahead. As a boy, Arthur lived in a time and place where all things were possible and the old magic prevailed. Get ready to step inside the ancient world of Albion and see Arthur like you've never seen him before. . .

Why I Abandoned the Book: Yes, indeed, this was Arthur as I've never seem him before. The book starts off okay, giving an alternate telling of Arthur's very early years before he meets Merlin. But on page 11, we are introduced to a large green creature who looks suspiciously like The Hulk. Then on page 16, we discover the "first born," who look like large purple insects with shiny green eyes. It was then that I decided this book was not for me. I guess I'm just too much of a traditionalist when it comes to Arthur.

A Quick Look at Reviews: First I took a look at several commercial book sites. Neither Powell's, Barnes & Noble, nor Amazon had any consumer reviews. That alone is interesting. Maybe no one has read it yet? To be fair, the book came out only a month ago. Two members of Library Thing own the book but did not review it; the average rating was 2.5 stars. Good Reads and Shelfari provided no ratings or reviews. A quick search for blog reviews also turned up nothing.

If you have read this graphic novel, please let me know what you thought. Maybe I missed something. If so, I am willing to give it another try.

Published by Aladdin Paperbacks, 2009
ISBN-13: 9781416959083
Source: Bought (see review policy)