The
narrator of the introduction, telling ghost stories, says, “Certainly Hoffmann
believed in the reality of his characters: he had seen Master Floh and had
known Coppelius.” This reference implies Master Floh (from E. T. A. Hoffman’s
novel Master Flea: A Fairy-Tale in Seven Adventures of Two Friends) and
Coppelius (from Hoffmann’s story “The Sandman”) exist in the same universe as
the characters in this novel. “The Sandman” has already been established as
taking place in the Crossover Universe, and therefore both this novel and Master
Flea take place in the CU as well. While the introduction takes place
contemporaneously with this book’s publication, the rest of the novel happens
during the time of Napoleon.
Not a classic like Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo and definitely slow going, but it is worth reading if you can get through the slow parts.
ReplyDeleteThere were also a variety of references to Hoffman's The Sandman in the last few issues of Hellboy in Hell.