The Unwritten: Volume 08 (2014)

Orpheus in the Underworld  (2014)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrator: Peter Gross | Page Count: 176

"He writes the words that he was written by."

The idiom 'nature abhors a vacuum' is attributed to Aristotle (as 'horror vacui'). I can understand the feeling, to a degree, because when confronted with a blank wall in someone's house, I feel that it needs a canvas. But, unfortunately for the world of The Unwritten, nature is less choosy about what it fills its vacuum with, including the space left after Tom's encounter with Leviathan.

Aristotle also taught — in his Poetics (c. 335 BC), a philosophical work looking at dramatic theory and its applications — that acts of creation, in its many guises, including storytelling, are fundamentally acts of mimesis, with each act varying by its medium and its manner.

It may seem like I've gone off on a tangent, but I see every part of what's written above as having relevance to the multi-faceted approach that Carey took with the series. Poetics is a short work, but an understanding of the basic principles that Aristotle was postulating will enrich a reading of Orpheus in the Underworld; and, if it's not already apparent, familiarity with the Orpheus myth will help also.

Nevertheless, both mimesis and myth structure are present whether a reader recognises them or not; most notably in regards to Tom's willingness to enter the land of the dead, a place not found on any conventional map, in the hope of locating and ultimately rescuing Lizzie Hexam.

His friends, meanwhile, have to deal with the fallout in the real world (post-Leviathan wound) - a situation that seems to be rewriting the laws of nature, not unlike Tom once did for Richie.

There's a fun gathering of literary characters; although, perhaps 'fun' is an inappropriate word.

Life is a journey, one in which the destination can only be garnered by walking the path, by stepping into the story unfolding, right to the end, if there is one.

Some of Volume 08 can seem a little meandering, but it's perhaps in part because of the story being further opened like it is, of the path widening to accommodate characters who previously looked to be merely passers-by. Whether or not they stick around after, remains to be seen. I've a feeling that at least one of them will, for as long as the person's 'aspect' is useful to the plot.

The book collects together The Unwritten, issues 42-49.

Individual covers. Click for FULL size: