The 13 and 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear

Cafe Society
1

I picked this up at the library recently, without any knowledge of it, based on the cover and the quotes on the back. It’s one part Hitchhiker’s Guide, one part Harry Potter, and at least one part unique.

A baby Bluebear is found floating in the sea by some minipirates, who take him on until he outgrows their ability to care for him, and then they drop him off on an island. Adventure ensues.

I just finished, and still have mixed overall feelings, but I wanted to make a pro/con list while the book is still fresh in my head.

PROS:

-I absolutely loved the illustrations, especially their frequency. I don’t understand why more books aren’t heavily illustrated. Especially whimsical ones like this.
-I really liked the concept of the Duel of Lies. I could almost see something like that working on Comedy Central, in a more moderated format, of course.
-Flying around saving people with Deus X. Machina
-I liked Tornado City a lot, for some reason. I can’t explain it but it was my favorite part of the book. I really enjoyed the stories of how the individuals got there.
-I liked the Bollogg dream conducting.
-I generally liked how the book tried to stay fun and lighthearted.
-The Troglotroll. Never trust a troglotroll. Ak-ak-ak!

CONS:

-I’ll say it right off the bat: it was too long. Even with the illustrations and large font, this book shouldn’t have been over 500 pages. It was over 700. Most of the other cons are related to this.
-The encyclopedia entries were a little excessive and pointless at times. I wish it would’ve been saved for more crucial moments and relevant information.
-The nearly endless descriptions of characters (errr, species?) that NEVER entered the plot was downright frustrating. I almost quit when Bluebear got to Atlantis and there was something like 30+ pages of descriptions of all the different species who lived there, most of which are never mentioned again.
-Toward the end of the book, the illustrator seems to have gotten sick of his job. The illustrations - which, in general, were AWESOME - got less frequent and more pointless. A little more than 3/4ths of the way in, there’s a full-page drawing of a simple, cartoony lightning bolt coming out of a manhole.
-There was kind of no plot . . . there was a very vague notion that Bluebear was trying to get to Atlantis, but it never really says why, and once he gets there he leaves with another ~150 pages left.
-And the #1 con . . . there was virtually no development of the main character at all. I just read 700 pages of his exploits and I can’t tell you a damn thing about him other than he’s a bear, he’s blue, and he has an encyclopedia in his head. I’d’ve liked a little more substance there.

Overall, as of now, I think I’d call it a good book that could’ve been great with a heavier-handed editor, and a modicum of plot and character development.

2

The Wikipedia article talks about Moer having “written his first Bluebear story”, which possibly indicates that it’s intended more as a series of adventures that really aren’t intended to be read straight through like a book?

3

This wiki article, and the cover of the book, call it a “novel” which they tend not to do for short story collections.

4

Walter Moers is generally a bit hit and miss – he’s occasionally got brilliant ideas, but they are rarely related to any sort of greater whole, other than him tossing all of them in a bag and labeling the collection ‘Zamonia’. As a result, most of his stories are rather fragmented, and all in all just fail to go anywhere. When it works, you’re in for a joyride, when it doesn’t, it’s just a laundry list of various oddities. He’s also got a tendency towards the overly whimsical. Personally, my favourite of his is The City of Dreaming Books, which works better as a coherent whole than most of his other books (though I haven’t read them all).

As for the ‘first Bluebear story’, the character originated in a German children’s TV show called Die Sendung mit der Maus (the show with the mouse), both in animated and live puppet form, telling stories of his adventures to his three grandchildren; possibly this refers to The 13 and 1/2 Lives being the first story in book form.