Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Flight of Angels -- SIMPLY GORGEOUS



BOOK RECOMMENDATION!

Do you like art? Do you like stories? Then here you go, A Flight of Angels, a graphic novel from Vertigo Comics, written by Holly Black and four other authors, illustrated by the incredibly talented Rebecca Guay. Oh man, is this book beautiful. I wrote a blurb for it, and it is this:


“An angel falls to earth, and capricious fae argue his fate. A Flight of Angels is a dark and delectable weaving of folklore, enigma, romance, and suspense, and so beautiful I want to put it on my wall in a hundred picture frames.” 


The jacket copy can tell you more:


Angels:
Guardians. Messengers.
Warriors. Fallen.

In A Flight of Angels, all these angelic aspects and more are explored in a riveting tale beautifully told in the tradition of The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales. 
A mysterious angel plummets to Earth and lands deep in a dark forest, where his dying body is found by the mystical denizens of this strange place. As the gathered fauns, fairies, hags and hobgoblins debate what to do with him, each tells a different story of who they imagine this celestial creature to be -- a hero, a lover, a protector or a killer. Once all the stories have been told, a final verdict is rendered and the outcome will leave you breathless.

I wish I could scan some pages to post here, but I have to make do with what I can scavenge on the net -- unfortunately not all of my favorite pages, but you can get an idea of how lovely this book is. Look at these, then imagine even more gorgeous, and page after page of it.









One of the coolest things about the art is that for each tale, Guay alters her style to reflect the time, place, feel of the story. You've got to see it.

For what I understand, Holly Black conceived and wrote the "frame story" of the angel falling to Earth, plus one of the tales, and the four other authors contributed the other tales, and the variety is really cool. I love the idea of a supernatural Canterbury Tales type collection. That Holly Black, always coming up with some new awesome thing. Have you heard about her forthcoming novel (with my publisher, Little, Brown, and my editor, Alvina Ling)? I'm so excited about this one. It's called The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which is such a great title. Here's the press release:

NEW YORK, NY [October 5, 2011]—The vampire genre receives a refreshing and inventive new twist through the master storytelling of renowned contemporary fantasy author Holly Black. The bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Tithe and the hugely popular The Spiderwick Chronicles series, will publish her upcoming young adult title, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, it was announced today by Megan Tingley, the division’s Senior Vice President and Publisher. Acquired in a heated, five-house auction by Fiction Editorial Director Alvina Ling, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown will be edited by Ling and release in Fall 2013 as the first in a two-book deal for world English, electronic, and audio rights negotiated with Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary. Already eagerly anticipated abroad, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown will simultaneously release in the UK from sister company Orion in print, electronic, and audio editions.

Conceived of and originally published to great acclaim as a short story, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is set in the not-so-distant future, where the vampire population has surged, resulting in the establishment of Coldtowns, quarantined cities of vampires and humans where predator and prey coexist in a never-ending blood party of revelry. These isolated meccas of debauchery are the pillars of pop culture, with vlogs, live feeds, and YouTube videos constantly streaming from the endless parties at vampire mansions. Drawn into this bizarre and dangerous world is Tana, who willingly enters Coldtown with an infected ex-boyfriend on the brink of turning and a mysterious vampire with a tortured past intent on seeking revenge. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original vampire story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing. 


Holly Black! Vampires! YAY!

You can read the original story HERE!

And here's Holly's blog announcement, with Q & A.

She's also working on a middle grade called Doll Bones, another completely awesome title. This output. Seriously makes me want to up my game. 



Remember: A Flight of Angels, a nice idea for a holiday gift perhaps? 



2 comments:

The Art of Kim Kincaid said...

I'm a student of Rebecca Guay's and after finishing DOSAB, I knew I had to send a copy to her. And here YOU are, promoting her wonderful graphic novel. Like minds...

Nina said...

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait till it hits this side of the planet. =)

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