Corto Maltese: Fable of Venice and Other Adventures
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
Corto, a modern Ulysses whose wanderings in the early decades of the 20th century take him to the most fascinating places on Earth, is a hard-luck, hard-driving iconoclastic anti-hero who values freedom and independence more than wealth and status. In "Fable of Venice," a riddle from a deceased friend plunges Corto into a phantasmagorical mystery thriller that zigzags between the solidity of dreams and the fluidity of reality.
A frantic chase in 1921 Venice ensues, up twisting stairs and down tangled alleys, as Corto vies against Freemasons, occultists, budding fascists, and his friend (suddenly back from the dead) in a mad scramble to secure a mystical emerald that will open the doors of forbidden magic and unravel time and space itself!
In addition, this collection of quintessential seafaring adventures also presents the Corto Maltese classics "The Secret of Tristan Bantam," "So Much for Gentlemen of Fortune," and "The Seagull's Fault," making this book an exciting introduction to Pratt's work.
Pratt
Tim Pratt (genderfluid, any pronouns) is the author of over 30 novels, most recently multiversal space opera The Jewel and the Comet. Pratt is a Hugo Award winner for short fiction, and has been a finalist for Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, and other awards. They publish a new story every month at www.patreon.com/timpratt and post incessantly on Bluesky as @timpratt.org.
More by Pratt
Dean Mullaney
Translated by
Dean Mullaney is the winner of multiple Eisner Awards for his work as editor and publisher at Eclipse Comics. He is the creative director and editor of The Library of American Comics.
Simone Castaldi
Translated by
Simone Castaldi is a Professor of Italian at Hofstra University in New York where he teaches cinema, literature, and comics studies. He is the author of the first in-depth English language study of Italian comics, Drawn and Dangerous (University Press of Mississippi), a book analyzing the intersection of the postmodern arts with Italian auteur comics during the 1980s. He has also published articles and contributed chapters to books on Italian cinema, literature, and comics. In 2020, in collaboration with Dean Mullaney, he completed the translation of Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese, a twelve-volume series for The Library of American Comics (IDW).
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →