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| Foundling (Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: D.m. Cornish
Publisher: Puffin
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
Buy New: $2.85
You Save: $6.14 (68%)
New (45) Used (17) from $1.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 103643
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0142409138
EAN: 9780142409138
ASIN: 0142409138
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Meet Rossamuenda foundling, a boy with a girls name who is about to begin a dangerous life in the service of the Emperor of the Half-Continent. What starts as a simple journey becomes a dangerous and complicated set of battles and decisions. Humans, monsters, unearthly creatures . . . who among these can Rossamuend trust? D. M. Cornish has created an entirely original world, grounded in his own deft, classically influenced illustrations. Foundling is a magic-laced, Dickensian adventure that will transport the reader.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Not your typical fantasy August 18, 2008
One of the things that appeals to me about the YA genre is the imaginations of setting. The "Adult" fantasy/Sci-Fi genre is so overflowing with cookie-cutter worlds and derivative Tolkien/Martin/Jordan rehashes, that it has become very difficult to become excited about a Genre I grew up on, and once dearly loved. Which is why lately I have turned to the so-called "Young adult" genre for a much need breath of fresh air. Writers like Colfer, Jackson, Nix, and Stroud, just to name a few, have gotten back to the roots of escapism, and made it worth the trip again.
We can now add Mr. C.M. Cornish to that list as well. His Imaginative world with a detailed history is the hook and the surprisingly complex characters who give a depth and tension to the narrative are the payoff. What could easily have been written off as a simple adventure, instead gives some recurring themes of prejudice, and unexpected kindness.
Think of the World as a sort of French/American revolutionary war-era Europe with magic, guns, and monsters. The setting reminded me a bit of the Warhammer games, with its dark overtones and Roman-influenced Empire.
The characters are mostly interesting, and unexpectedly deep. The protagonist Rossamund, is an orphan with a girl's name who ends up being surprisingly tough.(Boy Named Sue, anyone?)There's a wonderful tension between Rossamund and one of his saviors later in the book, which continues in the second book 'Lamplighter'. Also, the main villain in this story(whom I sincerely hope we haven't seen the last of) is not pure evil, and actually shows kindness to the boy now and again.
All in all The Foundling is a good story and a fun read. Come for the fascinating and detailed world and great adventure, stay for the deep characters, and interesting themes.
Oh, And to top it all off? There are pictures! The wonderful illustrations are the icing on an already rich cake.
A good start... July 31, 2008
An excellent world and good characters. A quarter of the book is given up as an encyclopedia, but in the long run I think it will be of good use. Looking forward to the next book, although this one was shorter than I thought it would be.
A good read!
 Despite a glut of world building, this is an original, vivid, engaging introduction to a new fantasy series. Recommended July 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rossamuend Bookchild is a foundling boy with an unfortunate name, about to leave his orphanage for employment out in the wide world. But Rossamuend lives in the Half-Continent, a place with its own lexicon and styles, populated both by men and by monsters who haunt the countryside and oceans and wage an never-ending war with mankind. Bright action, vivid characters and illustrations, and a(n overly) lengthy appendix set this book apart: at once comically larger than life and carefully constructed with plenty of ambiguous detail, The Foundling could benefit from less world building but remains an intriguing, readable novel which reads fairly well on its own and promises an exciting adventure in the sequels to come. I recommend it to all readers, and I look forward to the rest of the series.
The Foundling is not an exceptional book--perhaps as a nature of its premise (which focuses so heavily on world-building), perhaps because it is the first in a series (and Rossamuend has yet to undergo significant growth). There is nothing earthshaking, no marvelous and eye-opening developments, no significant or long-lasting impact on the reader. But even if it is not great, The Foundling is readable, engaging, and vivid--on the whole, quite good. The characters are colorful and humorously faulted, and the author's own illustrations help bring them to life. The plot is a rambling journey across a dangerous countryside, constantly introducing new monsters and new characters to engage the reader. The setting is complex, filled with its own language, species, fashion, and society. Best of all, everything has the potential to be ambigious, including local dialects, complex and secretive character motivation, and above all the nature of monsters--who are perhaps not so entirely evil as Rossamuend initially believes.
With all this ambiguity, a 120 page appendix, and a few too many nouns in the Half-Content's language, The Foundling does suffer a little from a glut of complexity. Cornish is enamored with his own fantasy world, which drags reader attention away from character and plot--sometimes to learn something no more important than the layout of a boat. Luckily, there only a little unnecessary world building, but it would be nice to see the background integrated with a bit more subtlety. Otherwise, this book is quite enjoyable. It's a rare occasion when I pick up a fantasy book series, but The Foundling is a fun story set within a vivid world which makes for a swift, engrossing read. The book has a fairly satisfying conclusion while still creating a promising beginning to the Monster Blood Tattoo series, which is the best of both worlds. I enjoyed it, and look forward to the sequels; I also recommend it to all readers--younger readers will find the text approachable while older readers still find it engaging, and the Half-Continent's complexity opens up a new world for any audience.
Outstanding and different June 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As soon as I finished the Foundling, I was so excited to start the sequel. I can't remember enjoying a book series as much as I am enjoying this one. As another reviewer said, it takes a fresh spin on the fantasy genre and also, it reads like a more adult book than some of the other books in this young adult genre in that these book have their own language and unique elements. There is a depth and complexity to the details of the story that you don't often find. Can't say enough about it. Love it.
Not since Tolkien April 16, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
By this point I think the nation's readers of children's fantasy novels have hit a kind of boredom plateau. You get a new fantasy on your desk and you have to tick off the requirements. Alternate world? Orphaned hero or heroine? School for the extraordinary? To a certain extent, a lot of these tried and true stand-bys are essential to a good book. There's a reason they exist, after all. But after reading a bunch of them, reviewers like myself get a little jaded. Kids think everything's new, so they're more inclined to love the newest sparkly cover that comes down the pike. For us, finding something that is truly original and truly unique is almost impossible. I mean, it's not as if Harry Potter was the first boy to go to wizarding school even. So imagine my surprise when I encountered a truly rare and amazing fantasy world. A place so thoroughly thought out, planned, meticulously recorded, and imagined that it feels less like a fantasy novel and more like the factual memoirs of an alternate world. I'm not exaggerating here. Aussie D.M. Cornish has spent (according to his bookflap) "the last thirteen years bringing the Half-Continent to life." The result is a book that feels like the first true successor to Tolkien I've ever found.
His name is Rossamund Bookchild. Bookchild because he is an orphan raised by a Marine Society and given the same last name of all the children there. Rossamund, normally a girl's name, because that was the name pinned to him when he was left on the steps as a babe. Growing up reading exciting pamphlets recounting daring deeds, Rossamund has a dream of someday becoming a sailor (or vinegaroon) on the vinegar seas where high adventure awaits. He dreams of someday seeing the vicious monsters that constantly do battle with man around the country and must always be kept at bay. Yet instead of a glorious life on the seas, Rossamund is told that he is to be apprenticed as a lamplighter, lighting the roads of the Half-Continent. It's a disappointing blow, but on the way to his new job Rossamund hops the wrong boat and finds himself facing monsters, rever-men, teratologists, bogles, leers, wits, and a host of other characters and dangers. Moreover, has Rossamund always been told the truth about the monsters people fight, or is there more to some bogles than meets the eye?
Normally when an author wants to introduce you to a new fantasy world, the hero is a kid from our mundane universe who is pushed through extraordinary circumstances into a peculiar realm. Rossamund, however, inclines far more closely to the Bilbo Baggins mode of adventuring. He has led a nice sequestered life in Madame Opera's Estimable Marine Society and his journey turns out to be very much a series of adventures, both good an ill, that are new to him simply because he has only read about the wider world and has not yet lived in it. Yes. Fine. Our hero is an orphan as per a million fantasy novels before. But never have I had such a clear sense that a character's parentage is not the point of the series. Phew!
Really, Rossamund is a great hero. Like Taran in Lloyd Alexander's The Black Cauldron series he yearns for adventure. But unlike Taran he's not a brash young man with a braggart's tongue and a desire to enter battle. Rossamund seems to want adventure without wanting to ever hold a weapon in his hands. He's a rather gentle kid. He'd sooner say nothing than say the wrong thing, a tendency that causes the people around him to open up unexpectedly. Which, from a narrative perspective, is keen. Rossamund's growth in this book is not complete, a fact noticed by the sweet bogle that considers telling him the secret of his name. Still, you have confidence in this hero. He is kind and good and that goes a long way when you have to spend a whole book with him.
Another difference from your normal run-of-the-mill fantasy is Cornish's use of female characters. Strong female characters, that is. At first I figured that this would be yet another boy-boy-boy book. But then you meet the character of Europe and it's all up in the air. Europe is the fighting fulgar that meets Rossamund early in his travels and inspires both his respect and his disgust. She kills monsters for a living, which wouldn't be so bad if the first one Rossamund encounters with her weren't such a sweet but stupid fellow. Her moral complexity mixes with a personality that has enough pep and zazz to keep you guessing about her intentions for most of the book. Fighting women in fantasy novels tend to have no sense of humor, but Europe is quite the wit (inside joke) when her innards aren't trying to reject her new organs.
Maybe it's Cornish's Aussie roots, but he has a knack for language that exceeds the norm. His descriptions are nice and no question, but dialogue seems to be his bread and butter. "Don't give me a reason to remember yer name any further, me darlin' chiffer-chaffer." Or calling someone a "prattling hackmillion". That kind of thing. His easy-going language will strike you as almost cockney at first, but closer inspection of the words and phrases used put a very particular spin on the entire affair. His talent for names is nothing to scoff at either. You'll read titles like Sloughscab, Poundinch, Europe, and Licurius, which pour out of the author like mad wild things.
Regarding the sheer complexity of this world, here is my thinking: Cornish is so invested in this Half-Continent he has created, and so clear on every minute and tiny detail involved that you can't help but be swept up in the logic of it all. Even more amazing though is that Cornish describes everyday realities of the realm without making them sound anything but simultaneously routine AND amazing. Everything we learn about Rossamund's world is extraordinary, but Cornish has it so well-planned that it almost feels routine and logical. Not in the boring sense, of course.
Standing at a handsome 434 pages, this book may appear a bit daunting to your average reader. So you can well imagine my amazement when I hit page 312 and found the story to be over. Finito, as it were. The next 122 pages consisted of an elaborate and enticing Explicarium "Being a glossary of terms and explanations including Appendices". Sounds simple, right? Well, it begins with a explanation of pronunciations for certain terms in this book. Then an explanation of italics. And then a list of faux sources used to research this book (which is always fun). The glossary is extensive and you can basically learn quite a lot about the Haacobin Empire in which Rossamund lives, including history, characters, and different kinds of boats if you've an inclination to do so. Of course, at the same time you'll run across definitions like "muck hill: pile of poo", so make no assumptions. The glossary is followed by a guide to the 16-month calendar of the half-continent, detailed drawings of different occupations and what they wear, every boat from a gun-drudge to a main-sovereign, and enlargements of the Half-Continent terrain that is the most frightening and magnificent map I've ever seen in a work of fiction. Stranger still, all the pictures in this book (and there are many) were drawn by the author himself. Aye, me.
The age level is an interesting question here. Our hero is about fourteen, which puts this book squarely in the middle grade/YA realm. There is some violence (one nasty fellow meets his end by getting eaten alive) but it tends to go quickly. For the most part, I'd say that any kid who could handle the Harry Potter books, the The Amulet of Samarkand series, or any of the The Lord of the Rings would definitely enjoy this series and get into it.
But who thinks of these things? Who imagines a world where people bathe their eyes in chemicals to gain unnatural powers? Or who undergo dangerous surgeries to get superhuman abilities? Who imagines something as tiny and delicate as a spoor, a small shape that is blue or white and burned into the skin to denote a person's occupation? D.M. Cornish, obviously. Basically I just recommend this to anyone who wants something wholly new and never seen before. Cornish's imagination will fuel fans for decades to come, should they find this book. Consider it a little-known gem that you'll end up sucked into. Amazing stuff.
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