"A bluebear has twenty-seven lives. I shall recount thirteen and a half of them in this book but keep quiet about the rest," says the narrator of Walter Moers’s epic adventure. "What about the Minipirates? What about the Hobgoblins, the Spiderwitch, the Babbling Billows, the Troglotroll, the Mountain Maggot…Mine is a tale of mortal danger and eternal love, of hair’s breadth, last-minute escapes." Welcome to the fantastic world of Zamonia, populated by all manner of extraordinary characters. It’s a land of imaginative lunacy and supreme adventure, wicked satire and epic fantasy, all mixed together, turned on its head, and lavishly illustrated by the author. The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is playful enough for young adult readers, yet as intricate and engaging as any work of literary fiction; it has the plot of a novel and the spontaneity and humor of a vintage comic book. The fast-growing cult of Zamonia will given a boost by the simultaneous release of Overlook’s hardcover of Walter Moers’s new book set in Zamonia, Rumo.

瓦爾特·莫爾斯，1957年生於德國西部，自學成材，德國著名連環畫畫傢和電影劇本作傢。1985年開始在兒童文學雜誌“彩色狗”上發錶連環畫，1988年齣版故事書《藍熊船長海外奇談》，從1990年起為WDR電視颱製作104集藍熊係列兒童節目，從此藍熊船長的形象在德國傢喻戶曉。

莫爾斯會12種語言和各種方言，會彈吉他，會作麯。

1999年莫爾斯齣版瞭第一部長篇小說《藍熊船長的13條半命》，齣版後即在歐美引起轟動，一直高居排行榜前列。該書故事情節麯摺、幽默，涉及的知識極其廣泛，被評論界認為是一部“除瞭性和暴力之外，幾乎無所不包”的“百科全書“。藍熊船長是莫爾斯創造的一個具有“永恒性格”的形象。這部小說使他成為當代德國繼米夏埃爾·恩德之後最重要的兒童文學作傢。還有評論傢把他與道格拉斯・亞當、托爾金、斯威夫特、霍夫曼等著名小說傢相提並論。莫爾斯1999年獲得德國格林文學奬。

2001年，作者又推齣與《藍熊船長的13條半命》密切相關的另一部長篇小說《恩塞爾和剋萊特——一個查莫寜的童話》，同樣引起轟動。