1624 ( )

Nice prequel to the series. Kind of makes me want to go back and read it all again from the beginning. ( )

The origin of both Tom Taylor and his namesake fictional counterpart told in tandem, as Tom's calculating father purposefully creates the literary phenomenon to coincide with the birth of his child.

To a loyal reader of "The Unwritten", this is an excellent addition to the story. The first six volumes of the main series gradually reveal Taylor's origins, his father's murky motivations and plots, and the relationship between the fictional and the real. At any point after these reveals, this prequel book will be a wonderful fleshing out of all these points -- though I suspect that read it any sooner than that, and it will either spoil the main book, be rather incomprehensible, or both.

The majority of "The Ship that Sank Twice" is spent on the fictional Tommy, growing up in a Harry Potter-esque (albeit with elements of many other popular fantasy properties baked in) world. The pastiche here is splendidly executed, though I feel Carey could perhaps have moved a touch more away from "Potter" specifically to make it feel more its own thing. It can be enjoyed in its own right as a typical coming of age children's fantasy story, where the orphan learns he's Important and comes to term with his Destiny to face the Dark Lord.
The side story, then, is the much more adult and chilling narrative of his author/father (indeed, it could be argued both terms apply to both Taylors....) in the months before and following the birth of his son. The steps he takes to ensure a psychological link in the public between his child and his protagonist are rather past the line of outright sociopathic, and seeing them happen rather than simply being told they did (as is usually the case in the main series) really added a lot of weight to it for me.

"The Unwritten" took a couple of volumes to properly gel with me, but once it did, I was very happy I stuck with it. This book is another piece of splendid evidence that I made the right decision. ( )

The Unwritten tells the story of Tom Taylor and his late father’s series of bestselling fantasy novels that revolve around a boy named Tommy Taylor inspired by his real-life counterpart… or was it the other way around?

I’ve only read two volumes of the main series, but I definitely enjoyed the ever-increasing surrealism as the literary world begins to encroach more and more on Tom’s life. This volume, “The Ship That Sank Twice” serves as a bit of a prequel to the main series as well as a standalone retelling of the first Tommy Taylor adventure.

The book consists of two alternating storylines – one in which Tom’s father begins putting together his plans for a media empire revolving around his son’s “mysterious” origins and another that follows the mishaps of his fictional creation. If the book was nothing but Tommy Taylor’s first adventure, it might feel like a bit of a re-tread; part of the joke of The Unwritten has always been that Tommy Taylor is a more cynical, clichéd analog of Harry Potter.

Thankfully, Carey makes the Tommy Taylor story stand out a bit by playing with the tropes in interesting ways and leavening the proceedings with humor. One of my favorite moments in the book happens when a series of ever-larger animals discover the infant Tommy floating on the ocean and argue over who will get to eat him.

As for the storyline that focuses on Tom’s father, it serves as a chilling counterpoint to the magical adventures of his creation. Tom’s father comes off as nothing but a cold-blooded manipulator, willing to destroy his marriage and the life of his son in the name of a long-term publicity stunt. This thread grounds the narrative and offsets Tommy’s magical adventures with a growing menace.

The art throughout the book is gorgeous, and the layouts are oftentimes dynamic in ways that make the story jump off the page without impacting its readability. Mostly this book just made me want to dive back into the main series so that I could continue experiencing the odd story of Tom Taylor’s life. I definitely recommend this book, although I would also recommend picking up at least the first volume of The Unwritten first to get the full effect.


REALLY LIKED IT

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Net Galley. ( )

I haven't read any of the other books in the series, but this is an interesting introduction. The author character is a huge jerk, and I don't really understand his motivation in manipulating everyone. Maybe that's clearer in the series? But it's a cute idea. ( )