The book, which is on this year’s National Book Award long list, is
at times both moving and hilarious. Spurge is not just an unlikely
hero — it’s hard to know if he’s a hero at all. But that only makes
the finale of this political satire all the more surprising.
—The New York Times Book Review
Anderson’s latest foray into middle-grade fantasy is executed with
the all smarts and finesse his fans have come to expect. Joining
him on this storytelling adventure is Yelchin...Yelchin’s black
pen-and-ink illustrations, in Medieval style, capture the humor and
fantastical details of the text, as well as Brangwain’s changing
view of goblins. Biting and hysterical, Brangwain and Werfel’s
adventure is one for the history books.
—Booklist (starred review)
Together, Anderson and Yelchin craft something that feels
impossible, a successfully unorthodox epistolary, pictorial, and
prose narrative that interrogates the cultural ramifications of
unchallenged viewpoints and the government violence they abet even
as it recounts the comedic blunderings of a spy mission gone wrong.
Monty Python teams up with Maxwell Smart for a wrestling match with
Tolkien—splendid.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
With the look and feel of medieval lithographs, they include
touches of humor, whimsy, irony, and menace; as such, they are well
suited to both the acerbic wit and the affecting tenderness of
Anderson’s prose. The result is a fantasy that couldn’t feel more
real, obliquely referencing a political climate marked by a lack of
civility, underhanded diplomacy, fake news, widespread bigotry and
prejudice, and the dehumanization of marginalized people.
—The Horn Book (starred review)
Told in narrative and illustrated pages—Werfel’s experiences and
Spurge’s visual dispatches back home—the story by Anderson (Feed)
and Yelchin (Arcady’s Goal) blends the absurd and the timely to
explore commonality, long-standing conflict, and who gets to write
a world’s history.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Sophisticated, witty and sharply political, the book tells of the
elf Brangwain Spurge and the goblin Werfel, two scholars from
feuding kingdoms who are swept into a maelstrom of espionage,
deceit and prejudice.
—The Wall Street Journal
The satirical tone is reminiscent of Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of
Unfortunate Events,” while the format is similar in concept to
Brian Selznick’s work; Yelchin’s black-and-white ink drawings
reveal the viewpoint of the visiting Elfin historian, contrasted
with the text descriptions from Werfel’s viewpoint. A
relevant...message on the importance of perspective and finding
common ground. A good choice for most middle grade shelves.
—School Library Journal
This comic spy story addresses prejudice and cultural
misunderstandings in a unique way, and could complement both
historical and political discussions in the classroom.
—School Library Connection
A brilliant, satirical take on cultural chauvinism, objectivity and
war and peace, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge is witty, wise
and wondrously unique.
—BookPage
[A] smart and smarting history with its consequential warning:
Truthfully recall the past to change the future.
—San Francisco Chronicle
This beautifully crafted, thrilling fantasy entertains even as it
offers a powerful lesson about national narratives, the power of
myth and the difficulty of acknowledging "the other." A perfect
novel for our times.
—Buffalo News
All I can say is that it’s a book for our time. An unreliable
visual narrator. A Cold War, Middle Earth, buddy comedy. Art that
looks like the lovechild of Hieronymus Bosch and Terry Gilliam. You
know. One of those.
—A Fuse #8 Production (blog)
For me, however, the cream of this middle school crop is The
Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, illustrated by
Eugene Yelchin. This masterly political satire in the form of a
fantasy novel feels more relevant to our current political strife,
two years into the Trump administration, than any book published
this year.
—School Library Journal (blog)
This hilarious political satire details a thousand years of
animosity between the elves and the goblins.
—People Magazine
Hidden among Yelchin's ornate illustrations, Clivers' posturing,
Spurge's sneaking and Werfel's confusion is a surprisingly humorous
tale of misunderstanding, betrayal, miscalculation—and the power of
preconceived notions. As both nations hurtle toward a new chapter
in diplomacy, Yelchin and Anderson offer a sly commentary on who
really gets the last word in history.
—Virginian-Pilot
If Hieronymus Bosch and Terry Gilliam had a love child, it couldn't
be more twisted and brilliant than the silent visual sequences
you'll find on these pages.
—NPR Books
Snarky, clever, and brilliantly executed, this is my number-one
favorite book of the year.
—The Booklist Reader
“Anderson and Yelchin’s fable of goblins, elves, and the cultural
brouhahas that put their respective nations on a war footing is
accessible, darkly comic, and rewarding.”
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
“What a fun wild crazy smart gorgeous book! And oh! that art —
insanely beautiful.”
—Jon Scieszka, first U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s
Literature
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
