Review - Mouse Guard by David Peterson
Plunging confidently into the literary genre of small rodent adventures already populated by works such as “Redwall,” “Stuart Little” and “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” “Mouse Guard: Fall 1152” by David Peterson does well in adding of the tradition.
Following the adventures of three guard mice on the trail of a traitor, Peterson’s tale unfolds in a rich fantasy world that plants itself in the trappings of realism. This is not a sword and sorcery kind of fantasy, but a pretty straightforward and non-fanciful tale that of the era — it’s just seen through the eyes of mice who live in little mice cities.
The three guards — Lieam, Kenzie and Saxon — learn of a far wider conspiracy as they race into the woods on a manhunt. At first it is merely a missing merchant, but evidence reveals he is a spy and the trail leads to another city of mice. A terrible conflict looms. At the same time, the story explores some of the lore of the Mouse Guard, bringing it forth into the story and offering a multi-faceted experience that hints at more to come.
The story is deceptively simple and the characters likable, but it all unfolds with a grand form of drama through Peterson’s art. His backgrounds are glorious — meticulous in some places, capturing every crack and flaw in a home or castle, every wisp of life in a forest, and abstract in others,using color and darkness and silhouettes to bring the panels into the same emotional territories as the characters’ souls.
The story is accompanied by further character drawings, explanations, maps and cultural studies of the mouse society. Peterson is heading towards something larger with his work and this debut operates as an engaging entrance to a more complicated world soon to unfold — one that gives a vivid feeling for actual history even as it wraps reality around the charming and the fantastic.
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