I did my semi-annual library order of new graphic novels recently and have been slowly going through them. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth has already been recalled by another patron, so I had to move it to the top of the list, only to find that it’s by far one of the best in the pile.
cover
Published last year, the book is by Isabel Greenberg, a London-based author. This is her first full-length graphic novel.
It’s not an encyclopedia–it is, however, a collection of myths and stories about “early earth”–a time before our recorded history (but with events and peoples much like we find in our recorded history. Some of the myths are familiar–we see them in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The book would have us understand that the early earth myths were first (the reader can decide if these stories survive in the Jungian collective unconscious or whether certain events repeat a bit)).
The book is about storytelling, but the real joy is that Greenberg is a master storyteller herself. I blew through this book and loved it all. The art is a great complement to the stories, with lovely lettering, clean lines, and a masterful use of color.
It’s so good, in fact, that I’m willing to forgive its small flaws–it has an appendix, for example, with some background stories. As this is actually organized as stories–with stories within stories–and not as a document, it doesn’t really make sense to have an appendix. Those tales could have been folded into the others. However, I was thrilled to see the appendix when I came to the end of the book today–it meant there was more to read!
Highly recommended! I can’t wait to see what she does next. I’m also going to have to go find her graphic short fiction, for which she’s won an award.
