Magnificent Monsters

 Title: The Foundling's Tale/ Monster Blood Tattoo Series

                                                  Foundling

                                                  Lamplighter

                                                  Factotum

                                      Author/Illustrator: D.M. Cornish
                                      Previous Work: None

                                      Summary: Rossamünd is an orphan boy with a girl's name and 
                                      some unusual quirks. He lives in the Half Continent where 
                                      everymen and untermen (humans and monsters) live locked in 
                                      constant battle. The monsters kill humans and the humans, in 
                                      turn, kill the monsters and make a tattoo from their blood called a 
                                     cruorpuxnis. As Rossamünd goes on a journey to start his new life,
                                      he begins to suspect not all monsters are evil. But to think such a
                                      thing is a great crime, and could put Rossamünd's very life in
                                      danger.

                                     Rating: A 4.5 because the series feels unfinished.
                                    Awards:
                                    (For Foundling)
  
                                    2007 Aurealis Award Winner

                                    (For Lamplighter)

                                    2009 Aurealis Award Nominee

                                    2009 Locus Awards Top 15

                                    2009 Andre Norton Award Finalist

                                    (For Factotum)
                                    2011 Locus Awards Top 15

                                    Opinion: These books were interesting because I didn't feel like I 
                                    was reading about a made up world or fake people. The author has 
                                    a way of transporting people there, as if he lives there and wants to 
                                    tell you about it. I understood the struggles of the people, and 
                                    while it was a fantastical world, it didn't seem so perfect it couldn't
                                    be real. He even included a glossary and gorgeous illustrations (as
                                    shown below) to increase the reality of the land. However, the 
                                    author did one thing that really annoyed me. You would get 
                                    attached to characters and then they would just disappear. 
                                    Rossamünd would get a letter from them once in a while and 
                                    wonder about them constantly. My favorite character, Threnody, 
                                    was a victim of this method. She appeared in the second book then
                                    disappeared except for one letter in the third book. The author
                                    ended the series making a character disappear; the finale was                   
                                    very unsatisfying. Other than that issue, the books were great.

From Left to Right- Europe the Branden Rose, Rossamünd, and Threnody