Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (artist)

Genre: graphic novel, science-fiction
Pages: 160  
Published: 2012

Synopsis:
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. 

From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults. 

Note: This review is for volume one, but my opinion of the series has been influenced by the fact that I've just finished volume two.

Review:
Strangely enough, I had harbored a vague desire to start the Saga series ever since it started appearing at the top of "Best New Graphic Novels" and "Best Sci-fi" lists on Goodreads a few years ago.  I think most of my initial hesitation stemmed from the fact that the cover of this first volume is a bit odd; it features alien breast-feeding.  (Admittedly, the cover for the forthcoming Book One collection is even less subway-commute-friendly). 

 In retrospect, I am so glad I overcame my shallow scruples.  Truly, never judge a book by its cover!  Saga is one of the most sophisticated, psychologically complex, ridiculously readable, and funny series that I have read in my long career as a bibliophile.  After finishing this first volume, I returned to the bookstore and splurged on the next four volumes--an unheard-of thing for me, since I tend to avoid buying brand-new books for my library unless I absolutely have to own them.  Well, I absolutely had to purchase the Saga series, because I quickly realized that these are graphic novels I will want to reread and flip through again and again.   

Our protagonists are Marco and Alana, a recently and happily married couple.  Unfortunately, their love is star-crossed to say the least: their two home planets (Marco's home world being a moon, technically-speaking) have long been locked in a fierce war and Marco and Alana, as former soldiers, have both betrayed their respective armies and planets by deserting and running away together.  

At the start of the series, their little family of misfits on-the-run gains a new member when Alana gives birth to a baby girl, Hazel.  I adored the evolving, complex, and genuinely lovely relationship between Marco and Alana and especially their early adventures in parenting the newborn Hazel.  Unfortunately, most of the rest of the cast of Saga are not feeling the love, and so the new family must constantly flee from danger.   

The governments of Marco and Alana's respective planets are eager to kill the lovers before the masses find about their treasonous and interspecies relationship (both sides are indoctrinated from a young age to loathe and dehumanize their enemies), and they are also keen to get their hands on Hazel.  Among the seemingly endless assortment of characters who seek to murder Alana and Marco and kidnap their child are the prince of a robot kingdom (no Prince Charming, he; he has a television monitor for a head, a frightening case of PTSD, and an arm which can transform into a cannon), an assassin (endowed with the strange moniker "The Will" and always accompanied by his beloved Lying Cat, a large feline who can detect when a person is lying), and another fierce contract killer with whom the aforementioned assassin is hopelessly in love.  This anatomically interesting individual (pictured left) is called "The Stalk."  As much as I enjoyed Alana and Marco's storyline, I also loved every panel featuring the two assassins.  Admittedly, intergalactic assassins have been an enduring interest of mine ever since I first saw the sangfroid, awesomely-outfitted Boba Fett in Star Wars.  These two are really well-developed characters, especially The Will, and once Saga is complete, I totally think that Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples should create a spin-off series featuring the assassins, the organization who gives them contracts, and their adventures before they begin hunting Alana and Marco.  

While the series is so original that it largely eludes comparisons, Saga does incorporate some of the same elements which can be found in the immortal Star Wars--morally ambiguous and intensely likable characters, spaceship pursuits across the galaxy, diverse alien species, and, not least, its sense of humor.  

My favorite character--if I must pick just one--is certainly Alana, whose wit also provides much of the comic relief of the series. 

This young woman is fiercely protective of her family and a tough fighter, but also obsessed with this one book where not many things actually happen, but the characters hang out and talk about philosophy and random things.  It sounds a bit like An Imperial Affliction, the book with which Hazel is obsessed in The Fault in Our Stars, only not about cancer and less depressing.  As a book lover, I related to this.  Also, again, Alana is funny.  Her dialogue is riddled with ironic quips and the kind of snarky remarks that everyone else only wishes they were able to think up on the spot.  (Personally, I usually come up with that perfect wry observation or comeback in the middle of the night five days after the occasion in which I might have employed it.  *Sigh.*)   I adored Marco as well, and Hazel--who, despite being only a few days old during the actual action, is the narrator of the story--but Alana and The Will (one of the assassins) were really the stand-out characters among a stand-out cast of characters, for me.

Finally, the art of this series is really spectacular.  While Vaughan's writing brims with sheer humanity and his plot focuses on universal themes of love, warfare, family, and blurred moralities, Fiona Staples depicts a colorful, outlandish galaxy in which few things are familiar or comfortable for the reader.

  While some of the panels may seem bizarre or off-putting to the average reader who flips through the first volume's pages, the story and the characters are such that I feel they will immediately captivate anyone who gives this graphic novel a fair chance. 


Rating:

   

Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma Volume 3

Genre: shounen science fiction
Artist/Manga-ka: Kumiko Suekane
Rating: T+ for older teen according to Viz
Pages: 200


My Take:

Shiro Kamiya, the sole human student at St Kleio's Academy, a private and heavily guarded boarding school attended by the clones of historical figures such as Napoleon and Florence Nightingale, has just undergone the shock of his life after encountering an older research assistant who looks uncannily like him.  As the clones' talent Expo begins and millionaires from around the world pour onto the grounds to poke sticks and observe the clones in their 'natural habitat', Shiro finds himself questioning the one thing he thought he was absolutely sure of: his own humanity.  To make matters worse, he soon also finds himself locked in a room with Mozart.  (Not a happy fate.)

Meanwhile, the clones are frantically making last minute preparations for their big presentations.  The revelation of Rasputin's 'project' concerning the Almighty Dolly, the deity-like mascot the student clones have adopted, shocks every clone in the auditorium into silence, just before the building catches fire and assassins burst onto the scene to annihilate the St Kleio clones once and for all.  Students and visitors alike rush to flee the school, but it doesn't escape Napoleon's notice that some of the assassins look eerily familiar...

This volume definitely kick-started things up again.  The psychological aspect of clones is delved into somewhat and there are more than a few shocking twists.  Lots of action; a lot less pointless fan service.  The events towards the end are definitely going to leave me obsessing until the fourth volume comes out-- which won't be until October!  So, next week I'll be reviewing a different manga for the Mega Manga Challenge.  I'm open to suggestions, but was considering finishing Fullmetal Alchemist (I'm on volume 16) or else starting the first volume of Black Butler.  Any opinions?

Art: 5/5
Premise: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Overall Rating:

Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma Volume 2

Genre: shounen science fiction
Artist/Manga-ka: Kumiko Suekana
Rating: T+ for older Teen according to Viz Media
Pages: 200

My Take: 

The second installment of Afterschool Charisma opens only days after the first volume left off... Shiro Kamiya, the only 'human' student at St Kleio Academy-- a futuristic school designed to enlighten and prepare the clones of historical figures such as Joan of Arc and Albert Einstein for their destinies-- is still reeling from the attempted suicide of one of his classmates.  The circumstances surrounding the murder of President Kennedy's clone are somewhat revealed, and a shadowy group of assassins emerge with plans to kill every last one of St Kleio's teenage clones at the upcoming talent Expo (think academy open house).

On a lighter and considerably more ridiculous note: Rockwell, the Academy's director misses the school helipad but drops in for an extended visit at St Kleio's anyway.  The lucky guy assigned to be Rockwell's guide and entertainment... Shiro, as he's the only student not busy preparing the clones' Expo.  Rockwell comes across as a pretty much hopeless idiot.  His antics with Shiro and his mysterious adopted 'daughter', Pandora, really lightened up the ominous mood.  Not so his obvious contempt for clones... or the bizarre cult-like club meetings which are swiftly taking hold of the entire student body.

Okay, remember Dolly the Sheep-- the first animal clone ever created?  The clone students of the Academy keep miniature Dolly key chains as charms, hoping some of the sheep's good luck will rub off on them.  In this volume, that tradition evolved from something kinda cute and cool to something vaguely creepy.  There are fewer story developments overall in this second volume, but overall I remain impressed and enthralled with this series.  The twist ending is a great and terrible cliffhanger!  My jaw literally dropped open; I probably looked like an astonished cartoon character.

Hitler is my favorite character.  Yeah, I never imagined I'd be saying that, but it's true.  He needed more screen (panel?)-time, but what we do see of his tween-age clone only intrigued me further... Joan of Arc was kind of the "featured character" in this volume, as she's on the cover, and I did feel like she was developed a lot better than in the previous volume.  Once again, though, the girls' main purpose in the story seems to be fan-service (that's strutting around looking sexy, if you're not familiar with the manga-lingo) and freaking out.  Grow a spine, Queen Elizabeth!  And don't even get me started on Florence Nightingale.  I miss Marie Curie, though Rasputin is an interesting addition to the student body.  (Teenage Rasputin= considerably creepy.)  Let's see... Mozart may or may not be stark raving mad.  There's some romance in this volume, though not much; this is shounen.  Overall, this series is quickly becoming one of my favorite manga.  I mentioned this in the last review, but I LOVE the art.

Art: 5/5
Premise: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Overall Rating:

Mega Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma Volume 1

Genre: shounen science fiction
Artist/Manga-ka: Kumiko Suekana
Rating: T+ for older teen according to Viz
Pages: 208
My Take:

Shiro Kamiya is always the odd man out at St Kleio Academy, a futuristic private boarding school which is exclusive to say the least.  All of the other students are clones of history's most famous-- and infamous-- men and women.  Shiro, whose father is a professor at the Academy, manages to befriend the teenage Napoleon and develops a crush on outspoken Marie Curie.  Still he struggles to understand the tight-knit and clandestine society that has emerged around the St Kleio clones.  His classmates live secluded lives where their natural abilities for leadership and greatness are carefully honed and encouraged.  Failure to pursue the footsteps of their 'originals' is not an option.

When Marie Curie dares to question the school's authority and chooses to pursue a musical talent-- which, according to history, she should not possess-- she is suddenly spirited away to a mysterious 'musical school' which Shiro and the others begin to suspect is in fact something far more sinister.  Meanwhile, the first clone ever to graduate St Kleio-- the clone of President Kennedy-- announces he is running for president on live television... only to be shot in the head in the exact same manner of his progenitor, the first Kennedy.  As the campus erupts in panic, the same question is running through every clone's mind: Are they doomed to repeat history?  Can they possibly outlive their predecessors, or are they nothing more than regurgitated DNA, destined to achieve nothing more and nothing less than their originals?  And what of the shadowy group of assassins who have contacted the St Kleio institute, promising to annihilate every last one of the clones they have created?   

This manga has a fantastic premise.  The story seized my imagination and my attention and didn't release either of them until I turned the final page, only to read a volume finale which is shocking to say the least!  As for the characters, in manga the protagonist is often one of the weaker characters (go figure, right?), but Shiro is much more than a bobble-head going through the motions-- his gripping concern for Marie Curie and the others is immediately evident.  The vast variety of the historical people whose clones cavort through the halls of St Kleio is endlessly fascinating and amusing.  You really haven't met irritatingly all-knowing and uncanny until you've conversed with the teenage Sigmund Freud or fenced against Wolfgang Mozart.  Hitler is without a doubt my favorite of the clones.  Like Marie Curie, he seems to defy the expectations of who and what the scientists who created him expect him to be.  Instead of a monster capable of committing genocide, we are introduced to a big-eyed younger boy who is ostracized by the other clones for the crimes of his original, yet claims he would never hurt a fly.  Hitler seems friendly to Shiro, and yet there's something vaguely eerie about the kid as well... I can't wait to see how he is developed in future volumes.  Mozart is another great character: so arrogant and talented, yet it becomes clear that he is in fact tortured by some terrible secret.

If I were to name one complaint, it would have to be that most of the female characters seem rather shallow compared to their male counterparts.  An example is Queen Elizabeth's clone wailing about how she doesn't want to die an old maid like her original when there were clearly, come on, much more pressing matters at hand.  Marie Curie is the exception to the rule, and Joan of Arc has promise.  Overall, the translation is pretty much flawless and the art superb.  I liked the larger panels and appreciated also how close the manga-ka's artistic rendering of the clones was to how they might have actually appeared as teens.  I am now officially obsessed with this series and physically need to get my hands on the next volume!

The rating system for manga will be slightly different:

Art: 5/5
Premise: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Overall:

Review: Wild Child by Mike Wells

Genre: YA novella-- science fiction
Pages: 110 (kindle e-book)
Buy this book on Amazon for 99 cents

Synopsis:
Briana Fox is the wildest girl in school. She and Kyle have been close for a long time...almost lovers. Kyle is afraid that if he pushes her, he'll have his heart broken and lose his best friend. When Briana discovers a mysterious 'power drug' in an underwater cave, two government agents are desperate to find the source and turn Briana into a human experiment. Will Kyle risk everything to protect his love?

My Take: 
 *I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, which I have given below.*


Kyle's father may be skeptical of his son's long-time friendship with Briana Fox, but steadier, more down-to-earth Kyle is enchanted by Briana's impulsive and often reckless personality.  So when Briana's wild streak leads her to swim across the boating zone of a local lake-- ultimately into the path of a spinning boat propeller-- Kyle desperately searches for her, all the while fearing the worst.  But far from being grievously wounded, Briana soon resurfaces from the depths of an underwater cave, claiming she's never felt better in her life.  For she has discovered a puddle of something deep at the bottom of the unknown cave, a kind of natural "super drug" which may have the power to save lives...or ruin Briana's forever.  It's like they always say: There definitely must be something in the water.

Wild Child is an immediately engaging story, about novella length with short chapters, but with enough excitement and intrigue for a sprawling science fiction novel.  However, the short length works perfectly, as high school (almost) sweethearts Briana and Kyle's uncanny encounter with a mysterious natural drug which proves to have bizarre effects when drunk, turns into a battle with CIA agents.  From there the action and suspense winds down abruptly with a spectacular and utterly surprising conclusion-- all of this within less than a quarter the length of many books.  I must applaud the author's ability to tell such a story and develop such fully-realized characters as Kyle and Briana over the course of so few pages!  Briana was one of the most unpredictable characters I've ever read about, though her actions are in many ways understandable.  Kyle was a subtler character, but it's easy to admire his devotion and love for Briana-- I'd count myself very lucky indeed if I had a friend who'd make the kind of sacrifices and risks he does for her. 


A cool thing about this book: indie author Mike Wells had actually given away all 200 print copies of Wild Child after his move to teach in Latvia (he currently teaches at Oxford) due to the astronomical costs of international shipping.  He was understandably surprised to find that printed copies of his book were, and are, being sold on Amazon, completely unknown to him at that time!  Clearly Wild Child is indeed, as Mike Wells says, 'the book which refused to die'.  Today it's being sold in e-book and Kindle formats on Amazon, and is currently available for only 99 cents!  That's a superb deal for a superb short novel with a real killer of an ending!  And finally, I must briefly express my love for the cover: Briana's character, her hair, and her expression could not be more perfect! 

Cover: 5/5

Premise: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Genre: YA, science-fiction
Page Count: 400 (hardcover)
Published: January 11th, 2011 by Razorbill
Recommended for: absolutely anyone, even readers who don't normally like sci-fi
*Disclaimer: Review copy provided by Penguin in exchange for honest review-- thanks*

(from Goodreads):
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next. Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming. 


My Take: 


Across the Universe is an immediately engrossing, all-consuming debut novel which had me scrambling to keep it with me at all times whilst I was voraciously devouring the story.  This clingy-ness led to awkward situations in which I was discovered smuggling the book along in the pocket of my jacket or in a tiny travel bag alongside a toothbrush, but I do not regret it for a moment.  There are many YA books, there are many science fiction books, dystopia books, and even a fair amount of books which take place aboard a spaceship (to say nothing of certain cult television series).  But none of those ships are as enormously complex and intricate as the bizarre society to be found aboard the spaceship Godspeed; and very few of the books populating the rapidly-expanding YA fantasy and science fiction shelves of bookstores are as intriguing, fantastical, and altogether amazing as Across the Universe.  


Normally I tend to gravitate towards character-driven books.  This novel is primarily plot-driven, and world-driven, given the genius of Beth Revis's Godspeed setting, but I loved the characters, too.  The story is told from alternating points of view, that of Elder-- the young leader-to-be of Godspeed who feels conflicted and suspicious of whatever secrets his mentor Eldest isn't telling him; and Amy, a teenage girl who long ago chose to be frozen for the next three hundred and one years in the hull of Godspeed with her parents, and in doing so left her life and love on Earth behind forever.  The premise of the sacrifice that Amy has had to make-- literally leaving everything behind on Earth to colonize an unknown planet-- is a great one.  The dreams and memories and worries that Amy experiences while between the realm of living and death give her, as well as the book, depth beyond that of a dystopian love story aboard a spaceship bound for a new planet.  

Amy and the other passengers are caught in a sort of coma-like sleep, except that her heart isn't even beating, she isn't breathing.  Across the Universe kept me thinking and puzzling over the possibilities of a not-so-distant future long after I finished the book: how many people might choose to become frozen cargo aboard a ship like Amy's in order to wake up hundreds of years later, if such a thing was possible?  Would it be worth leaving your life on Earth behind, and what would you do if you were suddenly wrested from your long, long sleep into a bizarre and foreign society where you were considered an outsider at best, and a freak at worst?  I absolutely had to ask everyone I know, though I received quite a few odd stares in reply. (Must have been something to do with the way I kept waving the book under their noses and loudly reading passages from its pages in the check-out line of a holiday-crowded mall.)  

I feel Amy's incredible dilemma-- that of literally being stuck between the Earth she knew and the new world, Centauri Earth with no end of the journey in sight-- is one of the most captivating to be found in a YA novel-- or any novel-- for a long time.  I could go on and on about this book-- about how I loved the way the story unfolds, and the complexities and details of Godspeed's inhabitants' lives, and just literally everything, even the painful (though delicious) cliffhanger ending.  I just discovered that Across the Universe is the first book of a new trilogy, and the prospect of reading more of Beth Revis's fantastical, brilliantly-constructed world and beautifully-realized tale is an exciting one to say the least.  I simply cannot recommend this book enough.

Review: Virals by Kathy Reichs

Genre: YA science fiction
Page Count: 464 (hardcover)
Released: November 2010
Recommended for: fans of Bones, fans of the Maximum Ride series

(from Goodreads): Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends they're a pack. They are Virals. 

My Take:  


I've only ever seen glimpses of the TV series Bones over my mom's shoulder, so I didn't begin reading Virals with any especially high expectations the way some of the hardcore fans I know might.  After finishing Kathy Reich's first YA novel, though, I'm definitely going to catch the show over winter break.

Protagonist Tory Brennan is one smart girl.  She's the niece of Bones star Temperance Brennan-- which is only mentioned, say, a dozen times in the first half of the book. ;)  Not-so-casual name-dropping aside, Tory's story is fast-paced without skimming over details the way the Maximum Ride series often does.  I've heard Tory compared to Max, and the series to James Patterson's Maximum Ride before, and I have to say I agree. There are more than a few similarities: kids who somehow have animal DNA which gives them supernatural powers... even the cover shot of Tory running through the woods reminded me of Max running from the Erasers.  Anyway, end of drabble.  Long story short, Virals is like a smarter, better-plotted Maximum Ride, with a murder mystery thrown in for good measure. 

Tory's friends Hi, Shelton, and Ben add some humor and sidekick-ing to this potent mix of crime, science, and teenage rebellion.  Together they make up Tory's Pack-- I like how she is the unquestioned leader-- but alone, they're not really brilliantly realized characters.  Hardly more than a hint of romance, for those of you were wondering, despite the three guys.  The action shoots off on the first page and hardly even pauses for breath during the 463 pages that follow.  I read this book in less than two days-- it's a quick read despite its thickness.  The chapters are fairly short, too, once again reminiscent of Max Ride.  The twist ending caught me completely unawares.  

All in all, I really enjoyed Virals-- it was one of the most fun books I've read all year.  I think I'll be passing this one along in an upcoming giveaway, so stay tuned.  

My Rating: 4/5 

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Page Count: 304 (Hardcover)

Published: May 2010 by Scholastic

Genre: YA, science-fiction, dystopia

Recommended For: fans of far-out science fiction

Synopsis: Set in an apocalyptic future where rising oceans have swallowed up entire regions and people live packed like sardines on the dry land left, DARK LIFE is the harrowing tale of underwater pioneers who have carved out a life for themselves in the harsh deep-sea environment, farming the seafloor in exchange for the land deed.
  
The story follows Ty, who has lived his whole life on his family's homestead and has dreams of claiming his own stake when he turns eighteen. But when outlaws' attacks on government supply ships and settlements threaten to destroy the underwater territory, Ty finds himself in a fight to stop the outlaws and save the only home he has ever known.

Joined by a girl from the Topside who has come subsea to look for her prospector brother, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and begins to discover some dark secrets to Dark Life.  As Ty gets closer to the truth, he discovers that the outlaws may not be the bloodthirsty criminals the government has portrayed them as. And that the government abandoning the territory might be the best thing for everyone, especially for someone like Ty, someone with a Dark Gift. 

My Thoughts: Dark Life is without a doubt one of the most unique books I've read in a long time, setting-wise.  It's sort of like the movie Water World meets Heroes meets the old Wild West movies-- you've got pioneers living on ocean-floor fish farms, driven to find new free land after the government and overpopulation made the surface world all but unlivable.  There are a band of mysterious outlaws-- sort of sub-sea pirates, really, called the Seablite Gang-- attacking the settlers' homesteads and destroying the complex system of their underwater homes.  And then we have the revelation that many of the children who were born sub-sea or have lived there for most of their lives have adapted to their environment and developed powers-- called Dark Gifts.  At times the nature of these Dark Gifts could be a little beyond far-out... bordering on beyond belief.  Yes, I realize this is sci-fi, but the author didn't really offer a valid explanation for why these kids are developing these incredible powers.  I wish Kat Falls (another author namesake!) had expanded a little more on all that.  

The book's first-person narrator, Ty, draws you immediately into the action of the plot, which kicks off on the first page and doesn't cease for a single paragraph until the very end.  The break-necked pace and colorful inventiveness of the story world really draw a reader in, and I can't imagine anyone being unable to put down this engrossing read for more than a few minutes.  (I'm very guilty of reading it under my desk at school.)  Gemma, the Topside girl who Ty meets on an apparently abandoned submarine, is one tough girl-- I really loved her backstory and the way she was determined to survive in the underwater world she was utterly unfamiliar with.  There's a hint or two of romance between Gemma and Ty, but the pages are mostly devoted to Ty's thwarting the Seablite Gang.  There are quite a few plot twists, but I saw most of them coming a mile away.  

I recommend Dark Life for the amazing, intricate dytopia world and as a quick, fun read.  It's not the most memorable book I've read this year, but all in all, I definitely enjoyed it.  The sequel, Rip Tide, has just been announced and will be released sometime in 2011.  I will definitely be looking forward to re-submerging into Ty's undersea world.  

Overall Rating: 4/5