Here’s another book that I got for free at the NLB Big Book Giveaway! I quite like Moers’ fantasy works (The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is really inventive) so this was an easy pick for me. While A Wild Ride Through The Night is fantasy like so many of his other stories, it’s not set in the world of Zamonia.

A Wild Ride Through The Night starts with 12-year-old Gustave and his ship, which was pursued by a pair of Siamese Twins Tornado. As it’s impossible to outrun the Siamese Twin Tornadoes, Gustave ends up meeting Death and his sister, Dementia. Rather than submit willingly to Death, Gustave decides to face six impossible challenges in hopes of retaining his life. And so he sets off on a wild ride through the night, facing dragons (and naked maidens), looking for the most monstrous monster of all (to pull its tooth out), and more in his quest to live.

To be honest, I managed to guess the ending of the book/figure out what was going on about during the second of the six adventures. There’s a very big clue that pretty much gives away what is going to happen. Still, Moers has a very original take on the six tasks and I still enjoyed following Gustave on his adventures.

This book was apparently inspired by 21 drawings from Gustave Doré, an actual painter. The drawings are beautifully reproduced in the book and it’s interesting looking at the juxtaposition of the drawings and the story. The drawings are pretty dramatic and somewhat dark. On the other hand, the story is rather comic and I never really felt that Gustave was in danger while reading it (also because I guessed what was going on).

Overall though, this was a cute little tale. I think Moers’ Zamonia stories are more fun, but he still managed to inject plenty of whimsy into this tale. If you’re looking for a story of adventure that’s more fun than fearsome, this may be up your alley.