Review: Strange but worth a look
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2013
House of Cartoons, written by James Man, is a strange little fantasy tale about the king of the world. Literally, he is the king of the whole world! As he reaches the end of his life he finds himself wanting to be free of the shackles that come with his position. The book is basically a reminiscence of his life and his daily activities. It's hard to describe the story because, as I said, it is very strange yet I found myself intrigued by it. It's one of those books that I found myself unable to put down because even though I was completely confused at times I thoroughly enjoyed the format and style of writing.  The format is much like that of a poem and if not for that and the fact that the book is only one hundred and seventy-six pages long (on my ereader), I probably would not have finished it. It's not that I didn't like the concept of the story but I didn't find that there was much set-up for it in the first few pages. The reader is basically dropped into this fantasy world with no explanation about it. For me, I think if the author had given a bit more explanation about the world described in the book I would have enjoyed it much more. As it is, I did like what I understood about it. The character of the king is quite well done. He is a pompous little man who is quite unlikeable in his belief that the world revolves around him. His numerous servants do everything, from providing palace gossip to procuring him a "stable" of girls for his enjoyment. As the story moves along the reader starts to find out just how little freedom he has and how much hi servants are working against him. I recommend giving House of Cartoons a try and would suggest that people stick with it and not put it down if they find themselves wanting to quit after a few pages. It will be worth it.