Voyage of the Basset
   James C. Christensen
   Juvenile Fantasy
  1996 The Greenwich Workshop/Artisan NY USA
   ISBN: 1885183585


"Believing is seeing..." & when Cassandra, who is nine years & eleven months old boards the H.M.S. Basset with her teenage sister & widowered professor father, she is ready to explore the landscape of imagination in search of ancient legends.

In the tradition of Gulliver&s Travels & Around the World in 80 Days, Cassandra&s voyage takes you on a fantastical journey through richly detailed, full-color images of magical kingdoms & seas of dreams.

Familiar faces crop up in Voyage of the Basset & tongue-in-cheek references dot the landscape like porpoise swimming beside the Basset&s prow.

With Renwick St. James & Alan Dean Foster, James C. Christensen & the crew at The Greenwich Workshop have created a superb book of color, line drawings, elegant fonts & spectacular pictures with a story to match!

It is about a time when Science ruled. If something couldn&t be weighed, measured or dissected, it was simply nonsense & therein lies Cassandra&s father&s dilemma. He is a professor of mythology - stories from our collective memory. Nothing tangible, weighable, measureable or dissect-able.

It is also about the same time as Darwin&s journey around the world in H.M.S.Beagle so bear that in mind when you read this luscious tome. Remember Jules Verne, too.

Whenever you settle down with your children or your children&s children make sure you&re uninterrupted & have plenty of time because I got lost in the Voyage of the Basset. The pictures burst with fascinating details, awesome illustrative techniques, fabulous clothes & all sorts of mythical faeries & dryads; dwarves & trolls, ogres & mermaids; dragons & serpents & outstanding landscapes.

You will meet again those fabled beings of old: the Minotaur, Medusa, the Unicorn & the Manticore, the Gryphon & the Harpies for good measure.

There is a labyrinth to follow, acts to balance, details to search & puns galore. I was in heaven!

Lovely, lovely stuff! Grown-Ups, I implore you to add this gem to your library, to your inheritance for your offspring. Your minds, souls & funny-bones will all be the better for it.

Voyage of the Basset is AWESOME!

More from James C. Christensen & Renwick St. James: A Journey of the Imagination
More from Alan Dean Foster: Star Wars &Alien novelizations.
(05/21/00)

Rebecca