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cuddlesome's review
3.0
I remember really liking this book as a little kid. There were both good and bad takeaways with rereading it a decade and a half later.
I don’t know that it all really holds up, especially with some weird implications towards the end. There was joking/but sort of not joking about a dragon eating King Midas’ daughter, said dragon consequently licking her, the same daughter being betrothed behind her back to someone who’s basically going to come marry her in seven years when she’s presumably an adult. That last thing is contingent upon her being cool with it when he comes a-knockin’ later but it’s done under weird pretenses where Midas is under the impression he’s an old man (he is, in fact, a cursed young magician physically, but also centuries old???? Sure, why not).
Furthermore, this book gets weirdly dark sometimes: Midas straight up kills someone on purpose at one point and a lot of the living beings that he inadvertently turns to gold are described in a horrifying, death-adjacent way, though they are eventually saved.
That being said, it’s a fun adventure story and a classic morality tale that has definitely had a long-lasting effect on my taste in stories in general, so that has to be worth something. The King Midas story has been stretched out and formed to have more in common with Germanic fairytales in its general mythology than its Greek origins (Dionysus is replaced by the aforementioned little old man wizard, there’s a dragon, there’s a witch). There are also just some fun/silly kiddish things like the existence of fruits called flandybakes as a plot device. The main characters, particularly Midas himself and definitely the dragon the Wumbo, are bizarrely nuanced, three-dimensional, and occasionally even morally gray.
Smith’s illustrations are nice and have a lot of personality. I saw that there was a different, newer edition with a different illustrator, and maybe it’s my nostalgia talking, but I much prefer this one.
I don’t know that it all really holds up, especially with some weird implications towards the end. There was joking/but sort of not joking about a dragon eating King Midas’ daughter, said dragon consequently licking her, the same daughter being betrothed behind her back to someone who’s basically going to come marry her in seven years when she’s presumably an adult. That last thing is contingent upon her being cool with it when he comes a-knockin’ later but it’s done under weird pretenses where Midas is under the impression he’s an old man (he is, in fact, a cursed young magician physically, but also centuries old???? Sure, why not).
Furthermore, this book gets weirdly dark sometimes: Midas straight up kills someone on purpose at one point and a lot of the living beings that he inadvertently turns to gold are described in a horrifying, death-adjacent way, though they are eventually saved.
That being said, it’s a fun adventure story and a classic morality tale that has definitely had a long-lasting effect on my taste in stories in general, so that has to be worth something. The King Midas story has been stretched out and formed to have more in common with Germanic fairytales in its general mythology than its Greek origins (Dionysus is replaced by the aforementioned little old man wizard, there’s a dragon, there’s a witch). There are also just some fun/silly kiddish things like the existence of fruits called flandybakes as a plot device. The main characters, particularly Midas himself and definitely the dragon the Wumbo, are bizarrely nuanced, three-dimensional, and occasionally even morally gray.
Smith’s illustrations are nice and have a lot of personality. I saw that there was a different, newer edition with a different illustrator, and maybe it’s my nostalgia talking, but I much prefer this one.
kwichris's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
decembera's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
j_t_tobin's review
3.0
A typical tale of kings, a dopey dragon, a witch, a magician, and a talking mountain that follows and expands the much-known story of Midas and his greed.
This tale borrows concepts from what feels like every fairy tale of its era and mashes them into one story. A cat language, a Seuss-like tree that produces dragon food, and purple goo that rids people of curses. It may keep kids reading, but it's ultimately non-substantive in nature beyond that encouragement to read.
This tale borrows concepts from what feels like every fairy tale of its era and mashes them into one story. A cat language, a Seuss-like tree that produces dragon food, and purple goo that rids people of curses. It may keep kids reading, but it's ultimately non-substantive in nature beyond that encouragement to read.
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