Once there was a goblin king who endeavoured to keep his subjects safe from the growing advancement of the ungoblin world. So he built a great structure where all goblins could live in safety from the outside world. Eventually this became the only place goblins could be found; this was the Labyrinth.

The Goblin Companion is the accumulation of forty-three dusty, mouldering notebooks dating from 3000 B.C. created by a goblin of some talent but, unfortunately, little concentration. Painstakingly restored by the eminent goblinologist, Brian Froud, these pages are full of goblin diagrams, footnotes and facts. ( )

Having read Trolls earlier this year, it is clear that Froud was trying out a new format presentation with the Goblin Companion., as it was a big departure from the Lady Cottington series and the Runes of Elfland. Froud presents us with a compendium (compact of course to reflect his small subject matter) that introduces a variety of the goblins of the labyrinth. Each has their own unique personality and story, even though there is a certain stylistic unity among the creatures. As per usual, the illustrations were top-notch, as Froud clearly found a lot of interest among his goblin variations, bu I would hae enjoyed slightly more robust textual content, as many of the creatures barely got an introduction! ( )

Good history... ( )

A good book for the coffee table; the artwork will keep you flipping the pages while the snippets of stories will make you smile. ( )

A clever little book comprised of sketches Brian Froud did during the making of "Labyrinth," with text by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. ( )