Unwritten 1 - Softcover

Carey, Mike

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401225659 ISBN 13: 9781401225650

Publisher: Vertigo, 2010

Synopsis

Tom Taylor's life was screwed from go. His father created the Tommy Taylor fantasy series, boy-wizard novels with popularity on par with Harry Potter. The problem is Dad modeled the fictional epic so closely to Tom's real life that fans are constantly comparing him to his counterpart, turning him into the lamest variety of Z-level celebrity. In the final novel, it's even implied that the fictional Tommy will crossover into the real world, giving delusional fans more excuses to harass Tom.

When an enormous scandal reveals that Tom might really be a boy-wizard made flesh, Tom comes into contact with a very mysterious, very deadly group that's secretly kept tabs on him all his life. Now, to protect his own life and discover the truth behind his origins, Tom will travel the world, eventually finding himself at locations all featured on a very special map -- one kept by the deadly group that charts places throughout world history where fictions have impacted and tangibly shaped reality, those stories ranging from famous literary works to folktales to pop culture. And in the process of figuring out what it all means, Tom will find himself having to figure out a huge conspiracy mystery that spans the entirety of the history of fiction.

About this title

About the Author

Tom Taylor is more than just the son of one of the world’s most popular authors and the namesake of his most beloved creation, the boy wizard Tommy Taylor. He’s a living weapon in a literal war of words, in which a shadowy cabal uses the power of storytelling itself to shape the world according to their own dark designs. And he was born and bred to close the book on them forever. But now his own story is headed for it’s most dangerous twist yet – a real whale of a tale.
 
In order to harness his extraordinary powers, Tom must sail the seas of one of the greatest stories ever told, and hunt the white whale that has left countless stories of myth and madness in its wake. Meanwhile, his friends are hunted by a dangerous new enemy and facing identity crises of their own. Will Tom’s voyage lead them all to the answer they seek? Or will he drown in the depths of a thousand and one unhappy endings?
 
In The Unwritten: Leviathan, acclaimed storytellers Mike Carey and Peter Gross delve deeper than eve r before into their frightening, fascinating world!

From Publishers Weekly

A taut thriller that slyly plays off the real-world mania for imaginary ones like that of Harry Potter, Carey's new series undercuts the mythology of such all-pervasive media-hyped creations while at the same time hinting at a brilliantly imagined one of its own. Tom Taylor is the son of Wilson Taylor and the unwilling namesake of the protagonist in his dad's wildly popular 13-book fantasy series. The Tommy Taylor cottage industry of movies, video games, and geek-ridden conventions is given an extra dash of drama by Wilson's having mysteriously disappeared years before, leaving a cynical Tom (who inherited none of his millions) to eke out a grubby living at paid appearances. Carey's story (solidly illustrated by Gross) picks up speed fast when Tom realizes some elements of Wilson's stories might not be made up. By the time the first story is done, Carey has not only created a brisk and addictive story, sketched with crafty allusions to classic literature, but also neatly subverted the celebrity-worship manias of fantasy fandom and questioned the very nature of storytelling itself. (Jan.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Vertigo
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1401225659
• ISBN 13: 9781401225650
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Gross Peter