Going in I had no clue what Unwritten was going to be about, books I assumed. I was pleasantly surprised with the story and style. One thing I didn’t really like was the main character. There was something about Tom that just seemed annoying. He only really ever talks about how he was left and abandoned by his dad who never said goodbye, did I mention his dad left him? Tom has a little too much angst to go with his abandonment issues. I guess it’s a major part of his life and the story, but it just bugged me. Overall Unwritten was great aside from Tom’s annoying character traits.
2 thoughts on “The Unwritten Volume 1”
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On one hand, I can see where you’re coming from with your critique of Tom’s character; he does talk about his father a lot. On the other hand, many of his mentions of his father are in response to somebody else’s question about Wilson. Tom is repeatedly forced to talk about his father, say, at the convention, and he’s simply sick of it.
And there’s also this: Tom is a bit of a jerk at first. I think he’s supposed to come off this way: ungrateful, dissatisfied, and unlikable. He is the exact opposite of the boy hero that everybody projects onto him. That’s not simply Mike Carey being annoying; it’s part of The Unwritten‘s theme.
I agree that Tom Taylor is a bit melodramatic, but I also think that it has a lot to do with all the parallels between Tommy Taylor and Harry Potter. Harry does that same kind of “I don’t have parents” thing constantly. I think it has the same annoying and off putting feel in Harry Potter too, but I also think that the story itself is interesting enough (in both cases) to redeem the crybaby main character. Maybe Carey and Gross are making a comment on how HP spent the majority of his life loafing around obsessing about his mother and father?