I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Kentucky Kaiju by Justin Stewart, Tressina Bowling, Shawn Pryor Published by Apex Book Company on October 18 2016
Genres: Art
Pages: 104
Format: PDF
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: A fun and quirky look into some very creative minds, with an abundance of unusual monsters, both scary and ridiculous.
I’m taking a break from my usual novel reviews today in order to tell you about a fantastic new book out tomorrow from Apex Books! Author Shawn Pryor has joined forces with artists Justin Stewart and Tressina Bowling to bring us a fictional field guide (or is it??), full of monsters from the state of Kentucky. According to Wikipedia, the definition of “kaiju” is “strange beast.” Picture Godzilla and Rodan from those 1950s Japanese monster movies, and you’ll get an idea of what a Kentucky Kaiju might look like.
The artists have taken their inspiration from those cinematic influences, and focusing on some of the more colorfully-named cities and towns in Kentucky, these kaiju were born. Having never been to Kentucky myself, I was surprised to learn that these are actual cities and towns. Wolf Lick, Mummie, Barefoot, Wax and Future City are just a few of the cities these monsters hail from, and it made the book all the funnier.
A couple of my favorites, you ask? I tend to be drawn to the funnier kaiju, and many of them made me laugh out loud. For example, the Rainbow Mallardon, a huge duck-like monster that stands over fifty feet tall and weighs 21,200 lbs, “…whose only power is that it can shoot rainbows from every orifice in its body.” Oh and “Mallerdon also enjoys watching cat videos.” I also loved “Navigator Ace,” a large three-headed eagle who “…can be found flying over state stadiums during presentations of the Star-Spangled Banner, eating red, white and blue popsicles, and listening to Garth Brooks.” It’s all good fun, and each page is filled with eye-catching black-and-white illustrations and a brief description of the kaiju in question. And it wouldn’t be a “field guide” without some pertinent information, like the height and weight of each monster, as well as its city of origin.
Here’s an example of what you can expect to find in the pages of Kentucky Kaiju:
I had a blast with Kentucky Kaiju, and I can only imagine the physical copy will be stunning (I read a PDF on my computer). A feast for the eyes and the imagination, I highly recommend giving this book a shot.
Apex Books is offering signed copies if you pre-order the book here (that means today, folks! The book comes out tomorrow), so check it out.
And be sure to stop by tomorrow for my interview with artist Tressina Bowling! Not only that, but Apex Books has kindly offered a physical copy of the book for a giveaway, so don’t miss it!i
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
It sounds really interesting! 🙂
I’m sooo going to have to find a physical copy of this book. It sounds so quirky and since I only live one state over, you never know when I might run into a Rainbow Mallardon!
Barb (boxermommyreads) recently posted…Special Guest – Author Laura Daleo
I’m still giggling over the 50-feet duck… 😀
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST, by Rachel Aaron (Heartstrikers #1)
They are all VERY large, it’s part of what makes it so funny.
Definitely quirky and a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.
Lynn 😀
Oh man, this sounds like a blast!
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It was a nice change of pace, and so funny:-)
Um, this sounds AWESOME! I’ve always been really into beastiary-type books, ever since I saw my dad’s old school DnD manuals as a kid. Sadly none of the monsters in those manuals could shoot rainbows! 😀
Danya @ Fine Print recently posted…Review: Burning Bright by Melissa McShane
It’s pretty awesome, and beastiary is a great way to describe it:-)
I love the idea of this! I’ve never been to KY either but I can relate to odd city names. I lived in Minnesota for 2 years and I swear I was always driving past small towns with names that made you look twice to make sure you read that right. I
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Oh my gosh, this seems like a fun book 😀 is it just pics of monsters and stuff about them? Or does it have some longer stories too?
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It’s like a travel guide, just brief blurbs about the monsters. The main draw for me was the artwork.
Sounds really creative.
This sounds really creative and a lot of fun. Perfect for Halloween which for me is all year.