Jim Henson's Labyrinth The Illustrated Novelization
By Liz Braswell
- Jim Henson's Labyrinth The Illustrated Novelization
-
Author: Liz Braswell
-
Publisher: Titan Books
- ISBN: 9781835419526
- Published: July 2026
- Pages: 224
- Format reviewed: Paperback
- Review date: 14/07/2026
- Language: English
I was fortunate enough to capture the recent 40th anniversary re-release of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in the cinema and took my children to see it with me. As an adult I was able to enjoy not only the nostalgia of the film but also appreciate it with new eyes. The imagination of the sets and puppets, the wry humour of Terry Jones’ screenplay, the subtext of 16 year old Sarah moving into adulthood. Liz Braswell and Andrea Guardino have taken on the tricky task of adapting the film into a large coffee book with illustrations. Have they captured the magic of the original, and the size of David Bowie’s codpiece?
Sarah loves using her imagination to take her away to fantasy worlds. Away from the reality of a remarried father, a wicked stepmother, and a newborn brother that she is forced to babysit. Will no one take this troublesome babe away? Well, the Goblin King can and does. When Sarah realises that her brother is gone, she sets out to rescue him within 13 hours from the Goblin King’s lair at the centre of a dangerous and magical labyrinth. If she is late, her brother will turn into a goblin, and she will forget that he ever existed.
I have read more than my fair share of film novelisations, and the quality is very varied. The likes of Alan Dean Foster made an art of it during the 80s and 90s, capturing the action from many classic genre films, but layered in internal dialogue and feeling into the characters. I certainly feel more now for the poor marine doctor as she is dragged up to the ceiling in Aliens after reading Foster’s adaptation. The key to making a great novelisation is that added depth you get from being inside the head of the characters, but is this something that Braswell does?
Not to the depth they could have. On the surface Labyrinth is a silly visual film full of fun set pieces and songs, but there is a lot more below the surface if you wish to look for it. Sarah is struggling with moving from childhood into adulthood, of taking responsibility. These elements are touched on incredibly lightly, in one scene Sarah comments on how her various labyrinth friends seem to represent aspects of childhood, but that is as far as it goes.
It is with this exploration into the motives of the characters that would have added depth to the story. We learn little to nothing about the Goblin King’s motives. Perhaps the best insight is into Toby the baby as he gets a few bracketed comments about what he thinks is going on. It is these, plus the amusing footnotes, that are the only things that add to film.
With no added depth, what is this version of Labyrinth for? It is more of a fan service, providing a close adaptation for those that love the original. At times it does feel like Braswell is almost narrating set directions (actor looks top left), but this lessons as the book progresses.
It is Guardino’s illustrations that lift the book truly into the fan service. They capture the visual feast that was the film. The realisation of the creatures and sets is wonderful. It would seem that the rights to the actors was not forthcoming as Jennifer Connolly and David Bowie are not present. This does detract slightly from the images, but the wonderful goblins make up for it. The book is designed in a lovely large hardback style, the type of thing to leave on a coffee table.
As someone who reviews, at least in my mind, ever book, TV show, and film that I come across, I was perhaps expecting more depth from Labyrinth than it was ever meant to provide. I have spent too much time in my life pondering the meaning behind why and how Sarah came to be in the labyrinth, was it real or all in her imagination? This book does not explore this, instead it provides an attractive visual experience that steps through a film that many people love. If you want to enjoy more of the film you loved as a youth, this is a sumptuous version to enjoy at your leisure, for more added depth, a making of or academic book based on the film would work better.
Written on 14th July 2026 by Sam Tyler .
Topics and themes
Key Tropes
Tone & Pace
Themes
Setting
General
You may also like
-
![PoisonChris Wooding]()
FantasySimilar:I stumbled across Poison early in high school, and I loved it so much I went on to read whatever other works of Chris Wooding that I could get my hands on. For years I remembered Poison to be this incredible, fascinating novel, so when I picked it up again as an adult I was a little apprehensive. Bu...
-
![Demon RoadDerek Landy]()
FantasySimilar:I’m already a fan of Landy’s previous work, Demon Road shows some of the same great dialogue and riveting narrative that made his Skulduggery Pleasant series such a great read. But his latest offering is definitely darker in tone and content, with murderous demon parents, twisted witches, and even t...
-
![LiraelGarth Nix]()
FantasySimilar:Lirael is a young adult fantasy novel written by Garth Nix and is the second volume in the Old Kingdom Series. The novel is split into three different parts with the first set 14 years after the events of Sabriel and the other two parts set 19 years after. Sabriel and Touchstone are married with two...
-
![Brigands and BreadknivesTravis Baldree]()
FantasySimilar:If you read and review genre fiction long enough you start to be able to tell what the trends are in current fiction. Some of these trends will come and go, whilst others will stick around as their own subgenre. Is Romantasy a keeper? I am not convinced myself, but I do like its cousin the Cosy Fant...
-
![All the Murmuring BonesA G Slatter]()
FantasySimilar:Have you ever sat down and read some Fairy Tales to your children? Not the sanitised versions that we read today, but the originals. If you have, you gave the kids nightmares a s these are stories not about happiness and magic but o f creatures and consequences . If you do something naught...
-
![The Briar Book of the DeadA G Slatter]()
FantasySimilar:I have read a lot of magical books in recent years and the genre is not rigid. There are books that are steeped in magic, the reader unsure what is real and what is fake. Other books like A. G. Slatter’s The Briar Book of the Dead have a sense of magical realism to them. Yes, the witches can curse p...
-
![A Palace Near the WindAi Jiang]()
FantasySimilar:How do you like your science fiction and fantasy? I will admit to being someone who loves a simple and accessible tale, but the genres can offer so much more than this. There are few genres better equipped to take a reader to truly alien places, to worlds that feel like they were designed in a fever...
-
![Grave SecretsAlice James]()
General FictionSimilar:Walk into my house and glance at my bookshelves and you will find an eclectic mix of books. My favourite genres are represented heavily in science fiction and fantasy, but I also have loads of crime, history, biographies and general fiction. This cannot be said of my sister’s shelves that...
-
![Fabulous BodiesChuck Tingle]()
HorrorSimilar:They say that you should never meet your heroes and that is doubly so if they are dead and still somehow able to talk. Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle is all about what it takes to become famous in this world. Do you go down the new route and become an online influencer? Or are you old school relyin...
-
![Together We BurnIsabel Ibanez]()
FantasySimilar:I love fantasy novels, especially when an author takes the genre in a different direction. Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez is a fantasy book unlike the others. The difference is that this fantasy world is based on Latin culture and the dragons are hunted and caught. Once captured this menace is n...
