Book talk: The daughter of a diplomat and an artist, Delilah grew up travelling the world. She learned archery in France, acrobatics in Indonesia, how to survive in the jungles of India, and perfected her fighting technique in Japan. She's a member of several royal courts, owns a flying machine, and is a skilled escape artist. She is not someone you want to mess with. So when she winds up in a Turkish prison, she is not concerned. The question on her mind isn't how she will escape or even when she will escape. It's where did the Lieutenant in charge of her interrogation learn how to make such a fine cup of tea?
Rocks my socks: This comic has everything that I look for in an adventure: a strong protagonist, repartee, gorgeous visuals, and tea! Okay, so maybe I don't usually look for the last one in adventure tales, but I was pleasantly surprised by its presence. Delilah is a wonderful, classic action hero complete with an improbable laundry list of skills, moral ambiguity, and foolhardy confidence. I loved reading about her adventures and narrow escapes. Selim is an excellent character as well. He's a perfect foil to Delilah with his lack of adventuring skills, sensible fear in the face of danger, and fondness for quiet and tea. My favorite part was the relationship between the two. They remain travelling companions without a romantic plot and Selim realistically decides to part ways with her to return to a quiet life before realizing he's become too used to the excitement of life with Delilah. Cliff successfully twists conventions of the genre while retaining the tone of a good, old-fashioned rollicking adventure tale.
Rocks in my socks: It was all over so quickly! I want more!
Every book its reader: I'd give this to anyone looking for a good, light-hearted adventure. I'd say it's fine for 5th grade and up.
Extras:
Delilah has her own website where you can read the first two chapters of the comic for free!
Just when I thought I couldn't like the comic any more I found a short comic on Tor that Tony Cliff wrote where the part of Delilah Dirk is played by a cat! A sassy cat!
Source: school library
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff: buy it or check it out today!
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