Review: Face "A Great Comfort Book...Well Worth Seeking Out"

Book review: The Face in the FrostAs far as I know, this is John Bellairs's only non-juvenile book. He wrote seemingly dozens of kids' books, but this is his only "adult" novel. Of course, your mileage may vary-- it opens with:

"Several centuries (or so) ago, in a country whose name doesn't matter, there was a tall, skinny, scraggly-bearded old wizard named Prospero, and not the one you're thinking of, either."

That's one of my favorite opening sentences ever, both for sheer cleverness and for so perfectly setting the tone for what follows. It's one of my favorite books of all time, and a great "comfort book." The story actually gets fairly dark, as Prospero and his friend Roger Bacon find themselves confronting an evil sorceror bent on taking over the world, but it always retains an air of silliness that keeps it from being oppressive (on realizing that Roger plans to turn a pumpkin into a coach for their trip, Prospero exclaims "You can't be serious!" Roger replies "If I were serious, I would never have become a wizard, would I?" and proceeds to charm a squash into an Amish coach using a double dactyl about Byzantine clergymen...). It's an utterly charming little book, and well worth seeking out.

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