#a.c.h. smith

[thebibliomancer]

Skeksis funerary spinning

[a-ramblinrose]

  “Nobody saw the owl, white in the moonlight, black against the stars, nobody heard him as he glided over on silent wings of velvet. The owl saw and heard everything.

  He settled in a tree, his claws hooked on a branch, and he stared at the girl in the glade below. The wind moaned, rocking the branch, scudding low clouds across the evening sky. It lifted the hair of the girl. The owl was watching her, with his round, dark eyes.”  ― A.C.H. Smith, Labyrinth: A Novel Based on the Jim Henson Film

[coffeebooksorme]

It's only forever, not long at all.

[electric-lavender-vampire]

Highlights from the Labyrinth novelization-

When Sarah and Jareth meet for the first time when she wishes Toby away, he’s not wearing the black armor: he’s wearing the outfit from Magic Dance.

He’s described as tossing his hair. Literally, this sentence exists: “Jareth snorted, and tossed his mane of blond hair.”

Hoggle is just as Hoggle-ish as he is in the movie.

“The rest of the goblins howled with merriment. Jareth had been their King for as long as they could remember, which was about four seconds at best, and they hoped he would be King forevermore.”

Ralph and Alph.

Jareth is described as “looking quite handsomely fiendish” when Hoggle runs into him and is given the peach to give to Sarah.

Sir Didymus: The Pocket-Sized Pursuivant.

Ludo hollering “SMELL BAD” during the entire Bog scene.

When Sir Didymus is making noise at the castle gates, Sarah says “Now please, Sir Didymus, shusheth thee up.”

HUMONGOUS

TOBY LITERALLY IS DEPICTED AS PUNCHING JARETH IN THE FACE. “Jareth was lounging on his throne, propped up on one elbow. Beside him was Toby. Goblins stood around, watching them play together, and wishing that they had Toby to play with. It looked like fun. Jareth would tickle Toby, and whenever he was within range the baby would punch Jareth in the face. The game had been going on for some time. Jareth chuckled. “Spirited little fellow.” In more senses than one, he thought, but why bother to say it when all you‘ve got in the audience are goblins? He nodded. “I think I’ll call him Jareth. He’s got my eyes.” Toby smacked him in one of them. “And my disposition,” Jareth added.”

“A goblin came running into the chamber, tripped on a chicken carcass, fell flat on his face, and from there delivered his message.”

“Ye Goths and Vandals! Have at ye, then, for the foul blasphemers that ye are of a maiden’s virtues!” —Sir Didymus

The ending includes the Wise Man and his hat snarking at him.

These are just a few of my favorite parts from the book. I highly recommend reading it for yourself to see what quotes you like.

[saffronandperi]

GOBLIN BOOKS

In honor of the goblin trio making their debut on the last episode of Saffron and Peri, I thought it might be fun to list some of my favorite goblin book.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Novelization: Do you like the movie Labyrinth? Of course you do. It probably started my love of goblins in the first place. Maybe yours too. I’m not usually a fan of novelizations, but I did love this one. And it has concept art and notes from the movie, which is a great bonus.

Goblin representation: mischievous and wonderfully designed.

Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak: The book that inspired Labyrinth! It’s about a girl called Ida, whose baby sister was kidnapped by goblins. As with all of Maurice Sendak’s work, the art is absolutely gorgeous. It’s worth a revisit as an adult, for the insights to Ida’s life that you may not have noticed as a child: Her absent father, her distant mother, the weight of responsibility placed on Ida when she just wants to do fun childhood things like play her horn.

Goblin representation: Creepy and secretive

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald: An old one but a fun one. The style may seem a bit dry to modern audiences, but I’d still say it’s enjoyable. And as is the case with many older fairy stories, it influenced a lot of fantasy writers that came after, like Lewis and Tolkien. The goblins in this book are outright villains, who have a plot to kidnap the titular princess, but they sure do make interesting villains.

Goblin representation: evil and hate the concept of toes

Grimericks by Susan Pearson: Like it says on my DevianArt profile, I like rhymey things! This is a book of fun limericks all with monster themes, and there are several good goblin ones in there. The illustrations are by Gris Grimly, who excels at drawing all manners of spooky creatures. I was lucky enough to have Sara read the poems aloud to me, so I can tell you first hand that this is a book made for reading out loud.

Goblin representation: Rhymey and well-drawn!

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti: Christina Rossetti is one of my favorite poets. The narrative poem is about two sisters, and about how one day, despite all the warnings, one of the sisters is tempted into eating goblin fruit. The effects of goblin fruit are disastrous on humans, and many interpret the poem as a metaphor for drug addiction. The version I have is illustrated by Arthur Rackham, but I think originally it was illustrated by Christina Rossetti’s brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Goblin representation: Do not trust!

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente: Anyone who knows me knows that I am a BIG fan of Catherynne M. Valente. This book made my list because of an excellent goblin market scene, but it is the second book in a series. To properly enjoy it, I’m going to have to insist that you read the first book in the series, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. It’s a wonderful series, you’ll love it.

Goblin representation: good at haggling

Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke: Another picture book makes the list! This one is too adorable for words. It’s about a little goblin who lives in a treasure filled dungeon with his best friend, Skeleton. One day, a gang of adventurers (who can’t seem to mind their own business) rush into the dungeon and steal all the treasures. Including Skeleton! Goblin must now go on a quest to rescue Skeleton, but he doesn’t get much help along the way, because as the title says, Nobody Likes a Goblin.

Goblin representation: SO CUTE

The Goblins of Labyrinth by Brian Froud: “Jenan,” I hear you sigh. “Another Labyrinth book?” I’m sorry, I tried to resist! But I love this book. You’ve probably seen some of the pages I’ve taken pictures of for the tumblr. I just love all the goblin design and the fun descriptions of all of them! My favorite page might be the one where they describe the very dangerous art of goblin knitting. Anyway, great for art lovers and fans of the movie Labyrinth.

Goblin representation: very diverse!

Honorable Mentions:

The Harry Potter series has a bank run by goblins, as most of you probably already know. It wasn’t included because they were a relatively very minor detail in a series very rich in world-building.

The Hobbit has a great goblin scene, but with a less sparkly Goblin King. (I’m thinking of saving this book for when I make a dragon book list)

Courtney Crumrin and The Night Things has very well-draw goblins which I really appreciate from an artist’s point of view, but I didn’t really enjoy the stories. I’m thinking of maybe giving it another chance and checking out the next book in the series.

Snuff is a Terry Pratchett book which I haven’t gotten to yet (I’m still on the second book of the Night Watch series) but it’s most likely hilarious and fantastic.

Beyond the Deepwoods is a personal favorite of a friend of mine, but I think I discovered this book when I was at the wrong age group. Maybe others would enjoy it, though.

I am very tempted to include a couple of other Labyrinth books I’ve liked, but I think I’ve done enough for one day.

Happy Reading!

-        Jenan

[a-ramblinrose]

“It pleased him to think of his Labyrinth as a board game; if you got too close to the winning square, you might find a snake taking you back to the start. No one had, and very few had gotten as far as this disturbing girl, who was too old to be turned into a goblin. Jareth examined her face in his crystal. Too old to be a goblin, but too young to be kept by him, damn her innocent eyes.”

― A.C.H. Smith, Labyrinth: A Novel Based on the Jim Henson Film

[thetripleoracle]

'Sarah took a deep breath and set off along the passageway again. A clump of lichen on the gatepost opened its eyes and watched her go. The eyes, on tendrils, had an anxious look, and when she had gone some distance away the clump, swiveling its eyes toward each other, commenced to gossip among itself. Most of it disapproved of the direction she had taken. You could tell that from the way the eyes looked meaningfully into each other. Lichen knows about directions.'

--Labyrinth, the novelization, A.C.H. Smith

[mariakureads]

Book Review: Labyrinth by Jim Henson, A.C.H. Smith

★★★ 1/2 ✩✩

I've had this on my TBR for a really long time so I'm glad to finally have read it!

I always liked the movie but felt like there was something missing from it and so I was hoping that the book would give me something more but oddly enough the book read even choppier, if you can believe it.

Dialogue felt stilted at different moments, scenes were awkward in a way that weren't in the film but in other moments, we got some extra information or more from the character's POV so certain moments made sense to me, like the old lady and the junk, as well as the uncertainty in Sarah during the overall movie thanks to the book. Even Jareth had some POV and it helped explain his character a bit more for me too.

And yet, I still feel like something is missing. Maybe it's the whimsy and fantastical sense of magic from the film but while the book gave me a bit more, it was a fairly good adaptation of the movie sans music.