Digital-re-read: BALTIMORE: Or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

In my new guise as a person getting to know the different e-reading devices on the market, I've gotten the chance to plow through books, both old and new, through use of several convenient e-readers.

I wanted to talk about a book I've become re-fond of, and that is the wonderful collaboration between Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola, and fantasy author of great renown, Christopher Golden.

This 2007 book, BALTIMORE: Or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, from the Bantam Spectra imprint of Random House, is a force to be reckoned with. Still. And this is my second time reading it. The creepy text is complimented by black and white illustrations by Mignola, an assortment of random images: a toy soldier, a crumbling statue, a shadowy beast... just enough to whet your appetite and shape the images already clawing their way into your mind as you read.

I was wondering how the black and white images would appear on the Kindle that I chose to read this book on. They looked as crisp as they did in the beautiful print edition that I have. The many levels of gray shading offered by the e-reader was a perfect match for this type of artwork accompaniment. If the illustrations were in color it may have been a loss, but they were not in this case. I thought it looked pretty good.

 Either way, if you go digital or find the printed book, it is a great gothic story of an ancient vampiric evil, awoken on a bloody World War I battlefield, where it swore to take vengeance on the man responsible...one Lord Baltimore.


Follow the tales of three friends of Baltimore as they meet, exchange stories, and try to determine what has become of their tormented friend and warrior.