The Dragon Pool: A Hellboy Novel

The Dragon Pool was my first Hellboy novel (I selected them at random), and I was not disappointed. Hellboy's personality comes off perfectly, and this is also one of the few stories we see where Professor Broom is still alive, and part of the plot. Abe Sapien is in here too, although he's more of an investigator here than part of the action, but it's forgivable.The highlight here is Hellboy's relationship with Anastasia. Anastasia is CG's baby in the Hellboy verse, and Hellboy's ex. Don't let the ex part fool you, the two still have strong feelings for one another, as this book shows. It flashes back to various points in their relationship, giving you the why and how without distracting you from the main plot.The main plot itself is rather simplistic, but the way it's told is done beautifully. The one spoiler I'll let slip a little is that not all of the creatures in here are bad, and the BPRD is faced with the challenge of getting China, whose human rights record is sub-par to put it nicely, to see them as people in need of protection. There's not a lot of action, but when it happens, it's done very well. It's also nice to see Hellboy not have to pound his way through everything in order to solve the problem.Overall, the Dragon Pool is very much on par with what Hellboy fans want, and then some.

I enjoyed Christopher Golden's "The Lost Army", the first in this series of Hellboy-related novels. This book is even better and every bit as good as Brian Hodge's earlier "On Earth as It Is in Hell", which for me had been the best of this series. I really prefer the books that let you see into the psyches of the characters and not just the chaos and mayhem that pops up when ever the big, red guy is around.It's nice to get to see some glimpses into Hellboy and Anastasia's bittersweet past as a romantic couple and nice to see how much they still care for each other. Unfortunately, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm died off too quickly in the original comics and you only get glimpses of his character in a few of the flashback comics Mike Mignola created about the younger Hellboy. What makes this book so special is how deeply Trevor's character is developed in a book that chronologically takes place just a few years before his unfortunate demise. One could hope that this focus on Trevor Bruttenholm as a character and his obviously close relationship with Hellboy will be further developed in future installments in this series.The real icing on the cake is how suspenseful and exciting this book is. I like when Hellboy is given foes that really give him a run for his money and he really has to work to defeat them. I also like suggestions that he's not totally indestructable. Frankly, characters that can never be defeated or wounded are dull and it makes for some poignant scenes when Trevor worries about the physical and emotional well-being of his 'son'.Definitely a five-star effort all around and I would love for more "Hellboy" novels from Mr. Golden.

The Dragon Pool is not up to the standard of the more recent entries in the series. The writing is not as good, particularly earlier on, and it seems a little sketchy for 350 odd pages.Hellboy has more than one girlfriend that likes to dig up old monsters, it seems, and having discovered something not human this one asks him for help after discovering here be dragons (one big Chinese worm one, lots of smaller instances of the zombie variety).Liz is taking some time out, so it is Big Red, Abe, the Professor and some grunts that get to go and play with monsters, and cover Chinese military types, as well as a village of dragonish people.(call it 3.25 perhaps)3 out of 5

I prefer the graphic novels to the traditional novels, but that might be a little unfair. It is harder to describe a scene than to draw it. Still, this book just didn't meet my expectations. HB's "girlfriend" (also found in The Lost Army) isn't a particularly sympathetic character. I actually found her quite annoying. Hellboy's father Trevor Bruttholm(sp?) is also written badly, acting one way one moment, and in somewhat inconsistant way the next. He doesn't come across as the brilliant man he is repeatedly stated to be. The plot itself is okay, but it just seems to go on for about 60 pages too long, and you can see many of the plot developments coming a mile away. That might be alright if the writing drew me in a bit better, but it doesn't.So, if you are a big HB fan, and have loved Golden's other work, it might be worth giving this one a try, but I can't reccomend it. Try borrowing from a friend rather than purchasing it.

I was quite looking forward to reading this book since I am a fan of Hellboy and I like pulpy hokum in a universe where anything can happen. Imagine how disappointed I was when The Dragon Pool turned out to be meandering and slow and not really that spectacular.An old girlfriend of HB's (not Liz, she's hardly in this) is in trouble in Tibet when she disturbs the lair of the tomb of the sacrificial chamber of the god of the Dragon King or some such nonsense. Basically, Hellboy, Abe and Co. go to Tibet, beat up the Dragon and that's it. But in between there's loads of filler and stuff that could be cut away and affect the story in no way whatsoever. There's also a lot of flashback to some old case that Hellboy worked on that means absolutely nothing and simply shouldn't be there.I really wanted to put the book down but I never quit a book and stick with it till the end always. But it was so boring and completely unexciting. If they want me to buy more Hellboy books they better damn well write them better than this!