Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

Phoncible Bone, Fone Bone, and Smiley Bone. An unlikely trio of... well, who knows what they really are? Little white cartoony guys, exiled from Boneville and wandering the desert because of Phoncible's ("Phoney") latest failed scheme to grab power as Mayor of Boneville. Turns out, Phoney inadvertently landed himself in the middle of a plot that will decide the fate of the world.

This massive (1300 page!) graphic novel begins as the Bone trio find themselves lost in an ancient valley, where they eventually meet Gran'ma Ben and her daughter Thorn. Over the course of a year, the trio will get involved in rigging the Great Cow Race, discover if dragons really exist, do battle with an ancient witch, uncover hidden secrets, and (of course) save the world. Fone Bone becomes Thorn's loyal sidekick, while Phoney repeatedly tries to find ways to enrich himself at the expense of others. Simple Smiley is the laid-back older brother figure, tolerating his kin while finding time to befriend a member of the enemy tribe. The tale of Bone shows the horrors of war, the dangers of mob mentality, the necessity of fighting for what is right, and the wisdom of learning when fighting is necessary.

Bone is an amazingly deep tale, with an astonishing amount of character development. It's an epic journey on the scale of Tolkein, packed with humor, heart, and a great story to boot. Perfect for all ages!

The Drawing of the Three: The Dark Tower II by Stephen King

Here we go... The first installment in this series came with a slight apology from Stephen King. Something along the lines of... "this could have turned out better in spots, but stick around for book II. Trust me." I trusted him and I'm glad I did. Roland the Gunslinger is no longer wandering the desert wastelands. This time he's wandering the deserted shoreline. But within minutes, he's attacked by giant talking lobsters. Not scary, you say? How about lobsters that chop off many of his vital organs and have creepy screechy voices? See? Roland leaves his first encounter with the "lobstrosities" wounded and in dire need of disinfectant. In his delirium, he stumbles across the first of three doors, and begins to learn more about his destiny. Each doorway leads to another "when" on our Earth. His first stop is heroin junkie Eddie Dean. Or rather, inside Eddie's head. After helping Eddie sneak through customs with a large score of drugs, Roland helps him straighten out enough to survive a gun battle with Balazar the drug kingpin. Eddie is drawn back into Roland's world and must help him to survive. They find a second door leading to Odetta Holmes and Detta Walker, two women sharing the same body in Civil Rights era America. A battle ensues to save Odetta's soul while keeping the trio alive. The third and final door is a desperate last stand for Roland. It's his only hope of saving Eddie and Odetta. King adds a great plot twist to balance the cosmos (at least temporarily... there are five more books to go...)

At this point, the Dark Tower shows great promise as a blend of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and suspense. Not unlike the TV series "Lost" (which may be why I'm liking this so far...)