'Stevenson, The Pirate Within' by Rodolphe with art by Rene Follet is a graphic novel biography of the famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

We first meet Mr. Stephenson when he is a young man, but the book provides flashbacks to his childhood. Throughout the book he is plagued by illness, which is presented as the spectre of a pirate. There are books he wrote, places he travelled, the woman he loved.

It's presented well, and the book ends with a timeline of his life. There are references to well known and (at least to me) lesser known works. I liked his imagination having a part to play in the story and I assume he had a pretty good one. The art is a painted style and is quite nice.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This is an interesting novelization of the life of Robert Louis Stevenson, known today for Treasure Island and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

But, in his life, according to this, he was also a travel writer, and he traveled the world, a bit like Mark Twain did, writing about what he saw.

He also fell in love with a married woman, who divorced her husband to marry him.

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The theme, throughout this is that he kept hearing the pirates that he wrote about, stocking him, coming for him. He didn't want to design lighthouses, as his father and his father before him had. He wasn't sure quite what he wanted to do, but he fell into writing, and kept at it.

Interesting take on his life.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

An interesting graphic novel with a cool art style. The story was very interesting as well. Lots going on here.

I picked up Stevenson, The Pirate Within by Rodolphe and René Follet on a whim and was both surprised and delighted by what I found between its pages.

The biographic details reminded me a great deal of Nancy Horan’s Under the Wide and Starry Sky, but the execution was far more convincing and I adored the creativity of the telling. Stevenson’s life provides a brilliant foundation for the narrative, but pairing it with an imagination haunted by its own creations is nothing short of inspired.

Authors often talk about characters who take their stories in directions they themselves don’t anticipate. This volume pays homage to both Stevenson and the relationships all writers have with the characters they create and for that, I salute both the author and illustrator behind it.

Highly recommended to fans of Robert Louis Stevenson, biographic fiction, and graphic novels alike.

A fascinating graphic novel about the life of the author Robert Louis Stevenson.

As well as writing stories of adventure he also lived a life of adventure. Stevenson was beset by weak health and the artists depict these heath problems as pirates. Stevenson's pirates haunt his dreams and sometimes his days as he battles against ill health.

The book tells the story of Stevenson's career, his love life and all about his freinds and family. It is a lively story accompanied by some excellent artwork.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a welcome book for me, being as it is a brief biography of Robert Louis Stevenson. From a father wanting to turn his dreamer of a son into a lighthouse inspector, engineer or lawyer, to the artistic hotbed of France, to America with his older, married lover and on into the South Pacific – all is here in decently painted fashion. Shame about the proof-reading – the captions have him married months before he leaves Scotland for his bride's side – but minor niggles aside, this is almost a great book. I certainly didn't know anything about his tinnitus-styled inner noises, and happily the balance of the book is just right for an even mix of information and entertaining narration. Well worth a look – a strong four stars.

Literary, historical, and well done, this biographical graphic novel belongs on a variety of bookshelves and should be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. High quality work from Europe Comics.