Review: Let's see some more illustrated Monte Cristo books!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2013
Let's get one thing straight: I was a fan of The Boy Who Played With Dark Matter to begin with. It's a fun book, filled with action and enough sci fi elements to keep a geek like me interested, and just a great story in general. Now, normally I wouldn't buy an illustrated book (read: children's book), but since I had loved the original book so much, I figured what the hey, might as well give it a shot. And true to my expectations, it really was toned down and geared towards a much younger audience. So what did I do? I gave it to my son of course! Turns out he loved it, and in a few years I'll probably give him the full story once he's old enough to read it. I was reading like it was my job by the time I was around 6, and by the looks of it, my little tyke is heading in the same direction.I think one of the series I'll give him first is the whole Count of Monte Cristo group from the Holy Ghost Writer, and this book works as a perfect primer to get him interested in the whole shebang. And if I could amend my earlier statement a little, yeah the book has been shortened, but it's still the same great story you would expect from the Holy Ghost Writer, and I think any fan of his writing would find this book a treat. If you have kids, well, that's even better. Now I wish the rest of the Monte Cristo books would be released in an illustrated edition so that my son could get involved in it right from the start. After all, it's not like I'm going to read him the original Dumas book--unless I want him to fall asleep immediately. But now that I think about it....maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea!So to wrap it up, if you have kids, or if you like a much lighter read from time to time, this is a great little book with nice illustrations. Give it a try!