The novel itself takes the reader across the fictional country of Zamonia whilst following the first seventeen and a half of Bluebear's twenty seven lives. Along his travels Bluebear encounters the bizarre locals of Zamonia, including Minipirates, Nocturnomaths and beings from the 2364th dimension. If this all sound a little bizarre don't worry, it's meant to.
Moers uses a deceptively simple writing style throughout the course of the novel and whilst this might make many critics think that Bluebear is a children's novel, I actually think that it makes the story flow a lot better, keeping a light and funny atmosphere consistently throughout the entire novel. When coupled with Moers' fantastic Seussian cartoons the novel begins to take on the feel of a combination of graphic novel and full blown prose, which is by no means a bad thing.
The fact the Moers use a style similar to that of a graphic novel through me off at first, but upon actually reading the novel I realised that Bluebear is actually one of the best comedy novels I have ever read. The style is light enough to keep casual readers interested and the jokes are funny enough to keep heavy readers happy.
I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book, at first the Tolkien-esque map at the front of the novel lead me to believe that Moers was going to try and create a massively complex and multi-layered world, then I realised he was just making a joke and I began to enjoy the novel. Whilst Bluebear might not be a masterpiece of fiction it is certainly worth a look, and if like me Moers' whimsical writing style manages to draw you in then I can guarantee that he'll quickly become one of your favourite authors and Bluebear one of your favourite novels.
9/10
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