Monster Blood Tattoo, book 1 - Foundling, by D. M. Cornish

The cover. So cool!

Storyline: Set in the world of the Half-Continent—a land of tri-corner hats and flintlock pistols—the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy is a world of predatory monsters, chemical potions and surgically altered people. Foundling begins the journey of Rossamund, a boy with a girl’s name, who is just about to begin a dangerous life in the service of the Emperor. What starts as a simple journey is threatened by encounters with monsters—and people, who may be worse. Learning who to trust and who to fear is neither easy nor without its perils, and Rossamund must choose his path carefully.

My thoughts: I LOVE this book. I first read it in 2010, just before Factotum (the third book) came out, and again just recently. With Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, it's one of my most favorite series I've ever read. I don't want to compare them, though. This book is just as awesome, but completely different.

I like Rossamünd a lot, he's a wonderful character. He may be "too small and too meek" and have a girl's name, but he handles the things that happen to him with surprising bravery. The book has lots of interesting characters, but he's my favorite.

There are plenty of encounters with monsters, and some mysterious clues to revelations from the next book that are dreadfully curiosity-making. By the end of the book I was desperate to get to the library for the next one and find out what it all meant. (And boy, did it surprise me... but that's another review.)

The world is like steampunk, but really, it's biopunk. The inventions are fascinating and incredibly cool. There are lahzars, people who are surgically altered to have superhuman powers (they must pay for it all their lives). There are ships powered by engines made of muscles. The sea is caustic acid; and it's coldest in the south, because the Half-Continent is in the southern hemisphere of its planet. 

The concept of threwd has to be the single coolest invention I've ever encountered in a fantasy book. Think of that creeping feeling you get when you're outdoors and suddenly feel like you're not alone, like something is watching you, when there's nothing there. In MBT this is pretty significant. (No spoilers. You should read it and find out!)

Cons: To keep this review from being too glowing, I will mention a few things.

The first time I read the book, I was frustrated with Rossamünd for not realizing more quickly that the riverboat captain was lying to him. It drove me crazy. It makes sense to me now, but back then it was exasperating.

The rich language and wonderfully inventive words Cornish created I really like, and I had fun reading it, but some others might have trouble following and keeping track of meanings. There's an explicarium at the back of the book that helps with that, though. I used my dictionary app a lot while I was reading and enjoyed learning the new words. I'm a nerd, LOL. ;)

For parents, since this is a children's book: The author, D. M. Cornish, is a Christian, and while not being overtly religious at all, it feels right, somehow. There's nothing to object to here, unless you don't like the occasional invented curse word or something like that. (On the other hand, if you're not a Christian, you most likely won't notice any difference. It's in the eye of the beholder.)

Amazon
Barnes and Noble