Book Review – Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Authors: Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell (Illustrator)
Publisher: Random House
Cover Artist: Chris Riddell
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: September 2008

While “spine” shopping at my local Barnes & Noble, Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf’s dark cover caught my attention and I soon left my local book store, with this book in hand, I was thoroughly anxious to read this new tale.  Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell of The Edge Chronicles fame team up once again to weave a  dark and adventurous fantasy tale, packed with some great black and white illustrations. This new story takes us to a place reminiscent of old London and the characters seem like they left the world of Dickens to live in a far stranger and much darker place. The main character is named Barnaby Grimes. He is a “Tic-tock lad” (a courier messenger who uses the city’s rooftops as a way to speed up his deliveries ). The story overall had good pacing and even though I figured out what the endgame was rather quickly, it was still quite fun to watch it all play out.

The story begins with Barnaby out delivering the correspondence of others when he stumbles upon a overly large wolf and experiences a thrilling fight for his life. The attack then turns to a mystery as Barnaby soon discovers an old friend has gone missing. Barnaby investigates his friend’s disappearance as he finds out Benjamin, a retired coachman, has missed an appointment with Dr. Cadwallader, a new doctor who treats the ailments of city’s poor.

Barnaby then goes to Dr. Cadwallader and ironically gets himself a new job. He is hired to deliver letters from Dr. Cadwallader to his patients, to remind them about their final treatments. Barnaby’s travels take him through the most dangerous parts of town to complete his errands. During his travels he soon discovers that Dr. Cadwellader is not helping the poor, but victimizing them. His treatments appear to be helping his patients but they are also turning them into wolves, not unlike the one Barnaby met previously; a creature that was his old friend Benjamin in a transformed state. 

Through further investigation Barnaby realize  that the generous Dr. Cadwellader is actually an ex-werewolf hunter who has now become a “fine” wolf skin trader, and a murderer. Barnaby bravely foils Dr. Cadwellader’s murderous entrepreneurial plans, and we get one exciting ending to a dark tale, suitable for both the young and old alike. I really enjoyed this story with its dark elements and wonderful black and white illustrations by Chris Riddell, whose illustrations range from black and white drawings to stunning silhouettes.  

There is more to Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf than just a creepy tale and a flashy cover. I believe Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell work extremely well together. It is not often an writer and illustrator execute with such imagination and synergy. This particular tale feels as though it was written by Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe. It also gives of the feel of an old pulp fiction tale one might find in an Weird Tales magazine.  I also enjoyed the fact the authors chose not to dumb down the language. The prose is youthful in voice but also filled with words some young readers might have to very well look up.  Reading should definitely be enjoying, but there is nothing wrong with learning something new along the way. Some authors take a younger audience for granted and think they cannot handle big words or scary themes. This is untrue, as children have the gift of imagination still locked in their hearts and they can enjoy a good spine-tingling tale as well as any adult.  

I would say that Stewart & Riddell have struck gold with this new character and the world he inhabits, and I was very sad to see Barnaby’s adventures end when I reached the book’s last page. I was so excited to find out that the book contained a preview of Barnaby’s next thrilling adventure. I dug into this prose nugget and longed to read more of this new tale, starring my favorite “Tic-tock lad”. It seems nowadays children’s literature is brimming with teenage vampires and young children discovering they are wizards or witches. This story offers us a break from the formulated madness that both Twilight and Harry Potter have spawned. There are still great adventures to have in other worlds with main characters who are not undead or magically blessed. Barnaby Jones, is a lucky chap in a tall top hat, who leaps from rooftop to rooftop, all in a day’s work. A character reminiscent of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist mixed with a bit of Indiana Jones, but still uniquely original in his own right.

I have already purchased the next installment of Barnaby Jones, be on the lookout for my next review of this great series, Barnaby Grimes: Return of the the Emerald Skull.

About PLMII

Philip Lee McCall II or “PLMII” to his legions of manuscript minions has authored several dark fantasy collections. Through the use of poetry and prose, PLMII takes readers on excursions into a dark fantasy realm filled with vampires, werewolves, exorcism, and a lot of other creepy things guaranteed to make you lose sleep. For more information on PLMII visit his website by clicking here.