‘Bone: The Great Cow Race’ – Jeff Smith

Last year saw me pick up ‘Bone’ for the first time and I absolutely loved it. ‘Out from Boneville’s’ mixture of ‘epic fantasy meets the real world’ (albeit a ‘real world’ inhabited by tiny people with huge noses...) had me in fits of laughter and when I wasn’t laughing I was left feeling really moved by some of the emotion on display. There was never any doubt that I’d be back to read the second book and the only surprise is that it took me so long to get around to it, I blame Christmas myself...
I got round to it in the end though and am very glad that I did, ‘The Great Cow Race’ is another great read and there is no way that I’ll be leaving it this long before checking out the next book...

The Bones are now settled in the valley with varying degrees of happiness; Fone Bone is still living with Thorn and Granma Ben while Phoney and Smiley are working at the Inn in Barrelhaven. Things aren’t going to remain quiet for long though. Phoney has a fool proof plan to rig the upcoming Cow Race (and get rich quick) and throw the whole village into disarray. If that wasn’t bad enough, there are ominous rumblings in the woods... the rat creatures are ready for war again...

‘The Great Cow Race’ is full of everything that made ‘Out from Boneville’ a real pleasure to read. The characters are as whimsical as ever and it’s fun to see how two of them in particular (Phoney and Smiley) remain blissfully unaware of their situation and seek to impose their personalities on their new surroundings. Smiley Bone doesn’t seem to have a care in the world and makes his mark by being infuriatingly happy at everyone. It’s Phoney Bone who makes for really entertaining reading though with his long running campaign of fraud and misinformation to get rich off the villagers. The way that Smith builds this up over the course of the book is very funny indeed. Not as funny as the sight of an elderly woman defending her title as ‘Cow Race Champion’ though and the totally serious way Smith goes about presenting this situation makes it even funnier. When you add a rat creature attack to the mix, the ‘Great Cow Race’ becomes an event truly worthy of your time!

The bits that really had me going, in all of this, though were the continuing musings and adventures of Fone Bone. There is something really touching about a little guy (with a big nose) who loves Moby Dick almost as much as he loves the heroine Thorn. How is he ever going to tell her though? Writing a love letter is never easy at the best of times and having your muse interrupted by rat creatures ends up making things even more complicated. Fone Bone never gives up though and this makes him even more endearing to the reader.

‘The Great Cow Race’ comes with even more hints of a larger story yet to be told and you’re left with the feeling that big events are just around the corner. I won’t be leaving it so long, this time, before I find out what happens next. ‘Bone’ seems to keep getting better and better, I’m really looking forward to seeing where the series goes next.

Ten out of Ten