The Books of Magic Kindle & comiXology

This is an unfortunately overlooked gem from Neil Gaiman. Neither Harry Potter nor Dr. Strange portrayed the world of magic as intricately and beautifully as this tale of a teenage boy learning about the mystical world of the Vertigo/DC universe. It's not really for children, as this graphic novel has some dark content. Promethea was never this good.

* * * * * CONTENTS AND OVERVIEW * * * * *This over-sized hardcover collects The Books Of Magic #1 to 4, which were originally published as a miniseries consisting of four double-sized prestige-format issues back in the early nineties. Written by Neil Gaiman, this series features Timothy Hunter, who becomes a magician apprentice under the wing of occult powerhouses of the Vertigo/DC Universe, such as John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult and Mister E. The plot revolves around Tim Hunter having the potential to become the greatest mage of this age and the forces of good and evil disputing the young boy to attract him to their side.This series presents a journey to the present, the past and the future of the Vertigo/DC magical universe, visiting distant realms such as Faerie, Camelot and Hell among others. If you are familiar with DC history, you'll love to to travel through and relive all of its magical glory. If you are new to it, you'll be inebriated with infinite realms of posibilities and at the end of the tale you'll want more. Neil Gaiman makes and excellent work condensing decades worth of occult DC history into a compelling story appealing to a wide audience.* * * * * ABOUT THE ART * * * * *Each one of the four chapters is gorgeously illustrated by a roster of top artits consisting of John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson. The art is truly amazing, fully hand-painted, with a scope of ambition that matches the grandeur of the tale at hand. Each artist has a very distinctive style ad vision but they all work perfectly when put together into this epic tale.* * * * * ABOUT THE EDITION * * * * *This is a very handsome, high quality book. I'm glad to see that DC/Vertigo is putting a serious effort into improving its Deluxe editions line.- The paper stock is glossy and heavy weight- The printing quality is great, with sharp and accurate art reproduction.- The book features a fully printed hardback under the dustjacket (unlike many of DC/Vertigo HCs that sport an awfully cheap black cardboard presentation).- It's a solid glued-binding volume. Of course a sewn one would have been better, but there's very little gutter loss, so it's fine.- The extras consist of 8 pages of Charles Vess and Paul Johnson art and sketches as well as Neil Gaiman's outline of issue 3.- The book includes a 2-pages intro by fantasy and science fiction writer Roger Zelazny from 1993.* * * * * CONCLUSION * * * * *Great story, beautiful art, high quality edition, a book definitely worth of your money. And if you are into the DC's New 52, you will be amazed to see how relevant this series still is in DC's current continuity, as Jeff Lemire's Justice League Dark draws many elements from it.

In the Books of Magic, Neil Gaiman integrates every important mystical character and concept from the DC comics Universe into an introductory course for one boy, a boy who has the potential to be the most powerful magician of the day, a 'chosen one' if you will. He defines just what magic is, what you can use it for, and what using it may cost you in the end.The artwork in this book is incredible, richly detailed and vibrantly colored by each of the four artists. And the writing itself, being done by Neil Gaiman, is of course exceptional.If I have one complaint about the book, it's that it spends too much time discussing the dangers of magic, and too little seeing the benefits. The story is about offering Tim Hunter a choice about whether he wants to become a magician, and with all the doom and gloom he runs into it seems like a loaded choice. Still, this was a fun journey through time and space, that I can recommend to anyone.

Magic, Owls, good vs. Evil.I reread this recently, it was so good!Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller, and clearly a gentleman.Many of the topics are cherry picked from this series and later appear in Harry Potter, did Neil complain? Nope, he went on and kept creating. And his works continue to enthrall. Truly a well of ideas. British writing at its finest.The illustrator did a great job, and I wish this had been more than a four issue mini series. Neil, since you are revisiting Sandman, how about some more tales of Tim Drake too?

Neil Gaiman is one of those authors who just draws you into the worlds he creates. Best known in the comic world for his work on the Sandman this is another series of his that just has to be experienced and enjoyed. Welcome to the world of Tim Hunter. Tim is nothing special at first glance. He is just a boy trying to make his way in the world but he doesn't know what his future holds for him. Enter "The Trenchcoat Brigade" - The Phantom Stranger, Mister E, John Constantine, and Dr. Occult. These four members of the world of Magic in DC take Tim on a tour throughout the DC Universe. Tim will travel with his various guides from the beginning of time to the end meeting some of the most powerful and important characters of magic and mystery. Before all is said and done Tim will even spend some time with Death from the Sandman series. I hate reading reviews that tell you everything so I won't do it here. Just remember when you enter a world by Gaiman as soon as you say yes you are have given yourself over to the world he has created for you. If you read and enjoy this book there are other graphic novels from the series that was launched from this book. If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman it is just something you have to have. Enjoy.

In fairness I read this roughly 20 years ago and it was awesome. This was my first e-comic/graphic novel, and I was very impressed. The story is deep and philosophical, the quality of the images was lovely, and the cinematic transitioning was perfect. Oh, and full disclosure, Neil Gaiman is my second favorite author.

This is the edition written by Neil Gaiman, published by the now-shuttered Vertigo (sadness). Love it. So good and indie.

Read it years ago and couldn't resist getting the hardback. Okay, at first glance the story from the early 90's (bespectacled, pre-teen boy whose last name ends in '-er,' discovers he has incredible magic abilities and during the course of the story gets himself a pet owl) makes you think that Neil Gaiman should have sued the arse off J.K Rowling. However, even if she did (emphasis on 'if') nick the basic set up it's no matter as there is no other resemblance between the two stories. BoM would make a great tv series but the superficial similarities between Timothy Hunter and Harry Potter probably makes it almost impossible.

Enjoyed this but had to buy the paperback version as couldn't read the Kindle edition as the illustrations etc didn't fit the screen.

Great product. Love it. Believe I have received value for my money. Great work amazon. Very pleased with the purchase. Would definitely recommend this to a friend.

An amazing work which obviously inspired J. K. Rowling's Hurry Potter works a lot.

Harry P's edgier predecessor, scripted by the incomparable Neil Gaiman on a fabulous whistle-stop tour of myth, legend and the DC Universe.