A Castle of Enchantment - Bookwyrm Chrysalis Review

books:


	• Castle Waiting Linda Medley Fantagraphics Books, 2006 - 472 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Castle Waiting is wonderful!

I have been a fan of Castle Waiting and Linda Medley for years. I was so excited to see this compilation. She is an amazing storyteller with very lovable characters. She has a wonderful wit and sense of humor in her storytelling. Two-thirds of this collection are previously published graphic novels, The Brambley Hedge and The Lucky Road. I was a little disapointed that there was not more "new" material in this collection. However the last third is a wonderful story involving Sister Peace a nun with a most unusual order. Sister Peace's story is so fun and a beautiful tribute to friendship and rebellious women that it is worth the price of the whole book just for this story line. I hope others who enjoy this book know that the story continues and you can buy more Castle Waiting from the publisher.

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An amusing foray into the fantastic

I only recently started reading comics, despite being a reader of fantasy and sci-fi for close to 20 years. I guess I just missed out on the right influences when I was younger... One day, in an exploratory mood at the comic store, I happened to pick up one of the back issues. Most of the comics I've read so far have been more mainstream stories or modern fantasy (my favorites include Sandman, Fables, and Y: The Last Man at the moment) and I've sort of been looking for more traditional fantasy. But one of the reasons I stopped reading fantasy in the last few years was that it had become so formulaic and--might I say this horrid word--sexist. So this turned into a very pleasant surprise. Without thinking much about it, I bought the book. It did not disappoint, either. Imagine, finding both a nice little fantasy story book AND one written by a woman who knows how to tell traditional fantasy/fairy tale stories without falling completely into boring stereotypes of men and women, all in one go! It was indeed exciting.

I have read some indications that this is a feminist book. I would not go that far, as I don't think just because something deals more with 'women's topics' makes it inherently feminist. Women can be sexist, too. But in this case, the characters--both male and female--do show much more depth than you usually see in fairy tales or traditional fantasy. And more importantly, the book focuses on topics that are normally not dealt with in fantasy and that are generally considered women-centered. Specifically, these include domestic violence, pregnancy, and motherhood. Realistically, these subjects can touch all of our lives and we can all relate from our different perspectives. This all makes for interesting reading.

Some of the other reviewers have commented on the fact that the collection does seem to have two distinct sections: the first half which focuses on telling the stories of the current inhabitants of Castle Waiting, and the second half that focuses on stories about the bearded ladies (which are being told by one of the current residents). I'd agree that the first half is better, but I enjoyed the bearded ladies tales, as well. Besides, I think the first half is good enough to justify the entire book. It's nice to read about characters you can't help but like, even if you know they're a little idealistic to exist in the real world. It's fantasy, right?

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A Castle of Enchantment - Bookwyrm Chrysalis Review

Wow did it take me a long time to get a copy! This book does not seem to be widely distributed, and I finally got it at the library, but you really want to try to get this reprint edition, as it also contains a prelude comic about the origins of the castle. The reprint is also much longer than the original TPB that I found.

This book is a collection of tales that reads like a bunch of intertwined short stories. It's hard to tell if later books have more of a "plot," but it's perfectly fine without an overarching story. We begin with the tale of Lady Jain leaving her home and follow her to Castle Waiting, where she hopes to find a safe haven to have her baby. There she meets an assortment of characters from "Beaky" (as the anthropomorphic horse knight likes to call him) the stork butler to Iron Henry the woodsman, who's heart is held together by iron bands after the death of his son.

Unlike many traditional American comic books, Castle Waiting is a character-driven story with lots of heart. The stories circle around the ordinary lives of those who live there, showing that there is little difference between talking horse-men, storks, and humans.

Since this is also a comic book, we of course need to talk about the art. Now, personally, when it comes to American comics, I want full color. So I'm a little disappointed that the book has a black and white interior. You just don't see B&W a lot these days, because it isn't that much cheaper and readers are going to be expecting color interiors.

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Only the Beginning

I have collected, read and loved the Castle Waiting stories since their humble self-published comic book beginnings in the mid-1990's. While I thoroughly enjoyed the comics the first time that I read them, it wasn't until I re-read them several years later that I realized a depth of meaning to the story that I had been blind to before. Best suited for younger readers? Hardly. I bought this volume to give to a friend who is discovering "how to be a hero in your own home" at the age of 38. This is an all-ages read, in the best sense of the term.

It's a shame that readers new to Medley's work judge it without an awareness of the fact that it was originally published--over the course of ten years--in serialized form, and suffered from the vagaries of a number of different publishers (from Medley's editorial in issue #14, 2002):

"...When my former publisher insisted that I interrupt the current "boring" storyline of Jain's moving into her own room at the Castle with "a new storyline, and a new Number One!" I seriously doubted both the wisdom and the motivation of the idea. Nevertheless, I agreed to move up SOLICITINE, which I originally planned to appear in an upcoming story/timeline break, with the addition of the framing device of Sister Peace telling the story to Jain while killing time on a rainy day. Now, I care far too much about my characters and their stories to short-change them for anybody's marketing gimmick, so the story was told exactly as I intended it to be told. In the end, I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I hope at least some of you caught on to the fact that the story was about more than just bearded ladies; and that the beards were about more than just facial hair, as well..."

Obviously, some readers won't. I did, and the Solicitine Sisters are my favorite part of the book! Kudos to Fantagraphics for being the publishers to finally do justice to Medley's work, but I do wish they'd labeled this one "Volume I". I'm looking forward to the release of Volume 2 next year.

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First Graphic Novel

This is the first graphic novel I've read and I must say I'm impressed. The build quality of the book is fantastic; rough-cut pages, vinyl spine and an attached silk bookmark.

The story itself is very entertaining with many likable characters. The drawings are simple yet detailed at the same time. The author has done a great job with these line drawings to create depth within each drawn cell.

The only downside to the book is that you can read it too fast ;)

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The multiple Harvey and Eisner award-winning fantasy is now collected in one volume!

The 450-page Castle Waiting graphic novel tells the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, Castle Waiting is a fairy tale that's not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil?but about being a hero in your own home.

For the first time, Fantagraphics' Castle Waiting collects the entire story into one mammoth volume?and includes the concluding chapter written and drawn especially for this volume.

Wittily reinterpreting the Grimm Brothers classic tale "Briar Rose" (Sleeping Beauty) as a story of love, enchantment, and sibling rivalry, the opening chapter "The Curse Of Brambly Hedge" sets the stage for the story.

In the second chapter, "The Lucky Road," Lady Jain's fairy-tale life turns out not-so-happily ever after, as she leaves to search for Castle Waiting, a wondrous, mythical refuge where "all are welcome." Jain soon finds the castle is very much a home as well as a refuge, and learns to fit in with its eccentric inhabitants as she discovers how she can help them bring the lonesome, dilapidated place back to life.

The third chapter, "Solicitine," tells the story of Peaceful Warren, a young woman destined and determined to live an unconventional life. From the barroom to the circus to the convent and beyond, this chapter is a tale of an extraordinary adventure, an extraordinary friendship, and of making a place for oneself in the world.

An artist with 20 years' experience in comics and children's books, Linda Medley lavishly illustrates Castle Waiting in a classic visual style reminiscent of Arthur Rackham and William Heath Robinson. Blending elements from a variety of sources?fairy tales, folklore, nursery rhymes?Medley tells the story of the everyday lives of fantastic characters with humor, intelligence, and insight into human nature. Castle Waiting can be read on multiple levels and can be enjoyed by children and literate adults.

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