Artful: A Novel

Written by Peter David

Oliver Twist is one of the most well-known stories ever told, about a young orphan who has to survive the mean streets of London before ultimately being rescued by a kindly benefactor.

But it is his friend, the Artful Dodger, who has the far more intriguing tale, filled with more adventure and excitement than anything boring Oliver could possibly get up to. Throw in some vampires and a plot to overthrow the British monarchy, and what you have is the thrilling account that Charles Dickens was too scared to share with the world.

From the brilliant mind of novelist and comic book veteran Peter David, Artful is the dark, funny, and action-packed story of one of the most fascinating characters in literary history.

With vampires.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491508787

Peter David

Peter David is a prolific writer whose career, and continued popularity, spans more than twenty-five years. He has worked in every conceivable media—television, film, books (fiction, nonfiction, and audio), short stories, and comic books—and acquired followings in all of them.

Reviews for Artful

[ellelainey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book ? Artful
Author ? Peter David,?Nicole D'Andria,?Laura Neubert?(Contributor)
Star rating - ?????
Cover ? Gorgeous!
Would I read it again ? Yes!
Genre ? Comic, Historical, Vampire


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


This was a wonderfully authentic take on the Artful Dodger storyline. It had the accents, the gritty feel, the backstory and the intrigue to be a great addition to the Oliver Twist story we all know and love, with some exciting new twists that fit surprisingly well. Historically, it was brilliantly accurate in both accent, feel and storytelling, keeping that old penny dreadful feel without going into the gore, which would have eliminated any YA lovers from reading it.

I loved that it took place after the events of Oliver Twist, giving us a timeline that fit into the familiarity of the old story while rooting us in the timeline of the new. I had a soft-horror feel to the illustrations that was brilliant, while maintaining an easily readable text, font and format of storytelling. The illustrations themselves were gorgeous. Perfect for the era and eye-catching, while perfectly illustrating what was happening within the story.

There was a lot of familiar stuff in here that we're not used to associating with Oliver Twist or the Artful Dodger, but I loved it. It felt right for the era, the story and made sense from the way it was told. We had a 'narrator' who wasn't really given a name until late in the story, but it was intriguing to watch it all unfold and figure it out as I went along.

The addition of vampires, Queen Victoria, Van Helsing, the Baker Street Irregulars, Bedlam, Spring-Heeled Jack and Jack the Ripper might have felt like overkill for another story, but the way they were seamlessly drawn into this story made so much sense that I never questioned having so many memorable and familiar characters in one story. They were all era-appropriate and explained cleverly, at the end, so much so that I only enjoyed the big reveal all the more for the surprise of it all.

The evolution of Fagin, the clever twist at the end, the cunning and yet vulnerable side of the Artful Dodger that we saw, along with the exploration of Drina's part in the story all came together to make a brilliantly pulled together original plot in a stunning wrapper.

[Daniel Paolone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The fun references to other novels and the historical setting made this thriller especially fun!

[thewallflower-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a nice little fan-sequel to Oliver Twist… with vampires.There actually isn’t much Oliver Twist stuff in there, so you don’t necessarily need to know that story to get this one. On the other hand, if you don’t know anything about Oliver Twist, why would you read this? Without it, it’s a silly story about old-timey London where a street-smart urchin meets a princess-in-disguise and a junior detective who work together to stop a London vampire takeover.I’m a fan of Peter David so I ate it up, even if I did have to refer to Wikipedia on occasion. If you like Tigerheart, you’ll like this, since both are mash-ups of classics. And it’s more cozy than than the subject matter would indicate. Although David used Dickens characters and writing style (which he does amazingly without being anachronistic or dull), he avoids the bleak and stark mood that feels like a smokestack shoved into an jilted old lady’s heart. Reminded me of the first few (good) chapters of Great Expectations.It’s a solid three stars. Satisfying, but only worth picking up for the component items (i.e. if you like mash-ups or Dickens or vampires or Peter David or Oliver Twist).

[ibeth_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am tired of vampires. But I read Artful anyway because I didn't realize at the beginning that it would have vampires in it, and then I wanted to see how it ended. The characters were engaging. The Dickensian prose was fun in places, particularly when it commented on the present in the guise of commenting about Victorian England, but it did seem overly wordy in places. I checked out the book via Kindle Unlimited, but it would have been worth paying for; I did pay for the audiobook and am glad I did, as the performance was quite good.

[heylu-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

*This was read thanks to the Kindle First program, though that does not influence the rating or following review. *

Before I get into the crux of my review, I would like to say that it was tough coming up with an adequate star rating for the book. I think a target audience of young (ages 10-17) males would give it 4, or possibly even 5 stars. Young female readers might rate it at 3 or 4, while others reading more critically may peak at 3 stars. As such, I felt a strong 3 stars was a good compromise. Now, onto the review!

I am a big fan of Alternative History/Alternate Universe stories and retellings. The idea of magic and the preternatural having always coexisted beside the mundane and scientifically proven is one I hold dear to my heart. Make it a period piece, and you've definitely got me hooked! This particular genre niche is severely lacking in good material. The last really good book that exemplifies the genre would have to be Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell," which is one of my favourites, despite its length and slow build. So, when I say I was excited to find and read Artful: A Novel, you'll have to understand that I was excited not because it was an alternate, or companion, telling to Oliver Twist, but because it was a book that may actually fill the genre void.

Jack Dawkins, better known as The Artful Dodger, stars as the titular hero of the novel. He manages to escape his expulsion to Australia only to land himself in a royal conspiracy involving vampires and princesses. He meets a mysterious young woman, whom he nicknames Drina, and as we all know, once you name something, you're attached. So it was in this case where Artful defends newly found Drina against a man believing her to be a prostitute, then against one of the prostitutes with whom he is on friendly terms. After all this rescuing, he bares his soul to the guarded young woman over a small home cooked meal. When she decides she would like Artful to take her on a tour of London, they discover a young man has been asking after Artful. They run off in search of him and are led on a journey through London streets, psychiatric asylums, and courts.

The premise is typical and the plot predictable. Characters fulfill their archetypal roles, never straying into murky waters. It's a very safe read, which is why I would recommend it to young males, especially those who are a bit wary of reading. As enjoyable as it was, when reading it as a quick, simple, "popcorn" read, I cannot fully endorse it as a good read for young girls. The females we see in the novel are all in need of rescuing. They are also clearly separated into two categories - the "whores" which are undesirable, and the "virgins" which are the ones worthy of love and attention. That this is a book better geared for young males, rather than females, is made abundantly clear on the second page when the narrator comments on Oliver Twist's tendency to cry/show emotion, "Whatever circumstance confronted him, his default reaction was to burst into tears, which makes him seem to us -- not with the intention of disparaging the fairer sex, but still -- a bit womanish."

In all, it's a fast and simple read that would greatly appeal to young male readers, but beware of recommending this book to girls.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just about everyone has read Oliver Twist (often not by choice at school but whatever) and, as much as we all love little Oliver with his cloyin…er, sweet disposition, let’s be honest, Jack Dawkins AKA the Artful Dodger is really the more interesting character. In fact, one has to wonder why Dickens never gave young Dawkins a story of his own. In an attempt to rectify this oversight, author Peter David has done just that – given Dodger his own story, Artful, in which the Artful gets to avoid being shipped off to a penal colony, fight vampires, and save the British monarchy while always remaining a true cockney gen’leman, top hat and all. David, best known for his graphic novels, does an admirable job of imitating Dickens’ style in the beginning and in terms of verbiage. Problem is Dickens’ books were serialized in the newspapers and he got paid for each serial part so more words, more money. Plus, he was one heck of a writer writing about a specific time period with which he was all too familiar. Imitating his style isn’t always a good thing not least because, judging from the results here, it’s hard to maintain. David manages to keep it going for the first couple of chapters, then the story sort of devolves into a 20th c. American buddy chase set in Victorian England. Or maybe a very wordy graphic novel. Granted, kind of fun but my willing suspension of disbelief just ain’t that flexible. It felt almost like two different books jammed together and this uneven pacing made it hard for me to maintain my interest – on the upside, it meant that this was an easy book to put down for long periods of time and pick up without feeling any need to reread parts. On the downside, it meant it was an easy book to put down for long periods of time. That’s not to say, I hated the book. I’m not one of those purists who demand we never mess with great literature. No panty-bunching here – the way I see it, beloved fictional characters exist only within the pages of their books and, if other writers use their names for fun and profit, fine, since they are not the same beloved characters. I enjoyed David’s sense of humour at least in the first couple of chapters although it became less evident as the action ramped up – thing is, though, it was hard to get that same adrenaline rush from a run-away Brougham as you might get from, say, a runaway bus or muscle car. And mostly when things crash here, it’s less ooh, big fireball and more aah, poor horsey. I did kind of appreciate that whole twist here (c’mon, we were all thinking it) of Fagin being a vampire – turns out him just wanting to eat up Oliver, that adorably sweet little tyke, might have been true literally as well as figuratively. And the Artful Dodger is an interesting and likable lad in whatever book he’s in. I also will admit that I had kind of lost any interest in vampires since they became so bloody non-bloody so it was nice to see them here being more true to their blood-sucking roots. So would I recommend this book – maybe if you’re looking for a vampire tale with humour and some action. Or if you’re a really big fan of David’s work. Mostly though, I would suggest giving it a pass but definitely read his other stuff.

[dokfintong · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Part of the problem is that I am a bit tired of Famous Books plus Monsters. I laughed at Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and have read a few more of the sort, but do we need Dickens and Vampires? The larger problem, however, is Mr. David's attempt at a Dickensonian voice. Regardless of whether the text would have worked in the 19th century, it does not work for me now. Far far far too wordy. Try the online chapter before buying.I received a review copy of Artful by Peter David (Amazon Publishing) through NetGalley.com.

[bj3568 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel is similar to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Rather than retell the original story, the author has taken a minor character from Oliver Twist as the main character in a story line with vampires trying to overthrow the monarchy. I have read several novels of this type - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Jane Slayre, Little Vampire Women, PPZ - Dawn of the Dreadfuls, PPZ - Dreadfully Ever After. All of these novels were okay, and Artful falls into that category. It is a light read, has some character development, and has a plot (how ever strained). It won't be on my list of things to read again.

[rosenstern · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant interpretation of Dickens' Oliver Twist, told from the more dynamic character- The Artful Dodger. The characters are given more depth and high adventure follows. Involves vampires, but not the kind that sparkle. The future queen of England also plays a role and our very own Artful rubs elbows with the highest of nobility.

[unreachableshelf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a terribly fun book, with shades of Douglas Adams and George MacDonald Frasier as well as Peter David's typical talent for humor in fantasy.

[rigfield_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely a book with a niche appeal. Its not literature, but it is an interesting retelling of a colorful character from literature - the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist. Don't go into it with any expectations, just go with it - and it can be a rather fun way to pass the time.