Smith, Jeff: Old Man's Cave
Old Man's Cave (2007)
Author: Jeff Smith
Illustrator: Jeff Smith
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 128 (trade paperback)
Series: Bone #6 (33-37)
A showdown with the rat creatures and a secret ceremony by moonlight; revelations and battles: The Bone cousins are in the thick of it again!
The thrilling BONE saga continues in book six. As war spreads through the valley, the Bone cousins join Gran'ma Ben and Lucius at Old Man's Cave to make a stand against the rat creatures.
But not everything goes as planned. By the end of the book, Phoney Bone is strapped to a stone altar and about to be sacrificed; Thorn is lying lifeless nearby; and the rumblings of an earthquake suggest that the Lord of the Locusts is about to be released. Fone and Smiley Bone must do something drastic to save their friends.
Why I Read It: Next in a series.
In this volume, we finally, FINALLY, figure out why the Hooded One wants to find Phoney Bone. I rejoiced because question has been bugging me for the ENTIRE series thus far. Seriously, what could he want with that stupid guy? But the answer I was given kind of... confused me. At first I thought: "Wait, wut?" Then I thought it was all kind of funny. Then it felt sort of anti-climatic, but still mostly funny. Then I got over it and thought it was just funny.
But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. Overall, this volume kept up with the darker tone picked up in the third volume and we get a closer look at the war that's been going on between the Valley people and the Rat Creatures. Thorn is still mad at Gran'ma Ben and thinks she can't be trusted because she lied about something kind of important. Her distrust of Gran'ma Ben frustrated me, even though I felt like she had good reason to be wary. But I love Gran'ma Ben! She's awesome!
Oh, and the inclusion of the "stick-eaters", who are basically a group of warriors/monks/priests people? Super mysterious and BADASS. I hope they play a bigger role later on.
Final Verdict: This series still impresses me with its ever-widening scope of a story and I like that it's maintained a darker tone while still being kid-friendly. There were some awesome revelations in this volume (actually, it feels like there have been awesome revelations in pretty much EVERY volume since the third one). The ending perplexed me a bit, but I still liked it; it was just an odd mix of funny during a very serious moment.
Cover Commentary: This one actually kind of confuses me because Gran'ma Ben is actually much more regal in this volume, as opposed to this feral looking version we're privy to. But oh well.