Qwert, the latest novel by Walter Moers, tells the story of the Gallert- Prince from the 2,364th Dimension, whom we already got to meet in The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear. While he appeared there only as a minor character, Bluebear’s best friend, he now gets his own grand starring role.
But Qwert isn’t the only familiar face: it’s well worth having read The Island of a Thousand Lighthouses and, of course, The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear beforehand. That feeling of “Oh, I know them!” is simply too delightful.
Qwert falls, once again, through a dimensional hole* and lands on the continent of Ormea, inside the body of the Zamonian fictional hero “Prince Kaltblut,” whom we also already know. With no experience whatsoever in being a knight, he stumbles from one adventure to the next, rescuing maidens, fighting dragons – everything a knight typically gets up to in pulp fiction.
The chapters, which the author calls “Aventures” here, could each stand alone as short stories, much like the ones the Wolpertinger Rumo loved so dearly in Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures. The Aventures hurl us from one adventure into the next, yet a common thread always runs through the story: tightening toward the end, making everything seem hopeless, before a heroic deed leads to a happy ending after all. Just as a proper hero’s journey should look.
“What doesn’t kill you doesn’t necessarily make you stronger, but at least it doesn’t kill you.”
— QWERT, Walter Moers
The book brims with the invented words Moers is famous for; the dialogue is fresh and fluid, neither trivial nor overly highbrow. The characters come across exactly as I imagined them. The humor is thoroughly Moers-ish, mousy and mischievous, and I laughed and giggled, held my breath, and in the end closed the book with a satisfied, full heart.
Moers has clearly let loose and had a great time writing: you can feel it on every single page.
And how wonderful is Snowstorm, by the way! The little riding-worm is definitely my new favorite character.
QWERT
Walter Moers
*I have read that this is supposed to be the dimensional-hole fall triggered by Bluebear’s push in the Dark Mountains.
The copyright for the cover image as well as the quote belongs to the publisher.