I think that complements the prequel status of the book as the artwork implies a story from further back in time, more removed even from the already fantastical world of the Bone books.įor any fan of the Bone series I would recommend this book. Part of that difference in tone is also due to the art by Charles Vess which is fantastic, but has more a traditional fantasy or medieval age look to it than the art that Smith did. So there is almost none of the light-hearted adventure of the first few Bone books (that helped to inject some humor into the series as a whole). Unlike the existing Bone books, this story is entirely weighed down with the knowledge of what is to come. Having thought about it I would save Bone: Rose for after reading the existing Bone saga, there are pleasures in reading Bone: Rose even knowing how it will wind up. It's an interesting prequel - having read the Bone saga itself, there is not really suspense in reading Bone: Rose, and if one read Bone:Rose before reading the existing Bone saga one would remove some of the greatest reveals of that epic.

Bone: Rose is a prequel that fleshes out the story of Gran'ma Ben as a youth ( i.e., Rose), a story that weighs heavily on the Bone saga proper.īone: Rose follows the story of Rose and her sister Briar, who are princesses in the Valley. It's a great sprawling story with a powerful conclusion. Is there any recent fantasy series in recent memory as beloved and praised as Bone? Jeff Smith began writing about the Bone cousins in 1991, but it was probably the publication of the books in color versions by Scholastic that truly launched Bone into the pop culture.

Rose by Jeff Smith