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More and more, the graphic novel is receiving the praise and respect it so deserves. From the time when comics were "just for kids" to now, when a timeless manual like Sun Tzu's Art of War can be adapted into a graphic story that follows its namesake's principles through a gritty dystopian future. Kelly Roman and Michael DeWeese do Sun Tzu justice with this exceptional homage.
Kelly Roman was punished, but nothing could punish him like his own conscience did. Once released from prison, he discovered his brother, an employee of Sun Tzu, was murdered. For Shane, there is nothing more important than finding the person behind Shane's death. As he starts to dig, however, he finds the darker and more disturbing world that hides behind the surface of the global economy. No longer about just money and ethics, the obsession with power has led men to do or create things that can never be undone. The face of society has changed through the decisions of man, and one lone person will get to the root of the deepest evil, all in the name of revenge.
I don't want to get too deep into the story behind Sun Tzu's original book because it is just too special, unique, and ground-breaking to steal that opportunity for discovery from you. The story itself could stand alone without Sun Tzu, but throughout the unfolding of the story, you will have little snippets of Sun Tzu's philosophy. Those snippets fold beautifully into the story, guiding you through the key purposes without just reiterating what was already written. Instead, it becomes an interpretation or reimagining. And it is truly something impressive to behold. I had never read Sun Tzu's Art of War from cover to cover in one fell swoop, but I was fairly familiar with it, and this was quite the interpretation and use of those ideas and philosophies. I was pretty surprised with how impressed I was, and I encouraged my husband to read it, who hadn't read the original, and he was equally as impressed. Therefore, this is a great book for anyone who is either well-versed or unfamiliar with the original. It will still have an amazing impact on any reader.
The story is, of course, incredibly violent and graphic. There were times where I was actually taken aback by the violence, but I felt it was all necessary for this particular story; nothing was gratuitous. This does, however, make the book better for older readers who can handle a good amount of violence. I would certainly recommend this story for any reader, especially a gamer, who struggles to find a story that keeps them going from cover to cover. This story with its incredible two-colored illustrations and terrifyingly capturing story will grab hold of those readers in particular. So if you have a bunch of boys who claim to never have found a book they cared about, try this one out- I think they will have a tough time putting it down!
Orphans with potential will still be lost in the system. Their potential turns from something good to something that could lead them down a path of crime. When one man develops a network to funnel those delinquent orphans through the system directly to his island, he changes the fate of these children forever. John Dixon's Phoenix Island is a no-nonsense story about who we are inside... and who we are fated to be.
Carl Freeman lost his parents and became an orphan. Stability is a figment of his imagination as he is bounced from foster family to foster family and state to state. He tries to stay out of trouble and keep to himself, but he has a weakness for bullies. When he sees a bunch of kids going too far, he can't help but step in and do something. Of course the bullies were the sons of very connected people, so boxing champ Carl is deemed the villain in that story. When the judge sends him to Phoenix Island, Carl chooses to see this as an opportunity rather than a punishment. If he keeps his head down and does his time, he will be released with an expunged record by the time he is 18. This is the first big break Carl has ever received and he intends to take it seriously.
Phoenix Island is nothing like he expected. Sure, there are other delinquents like himself, but the guards are not interested in just making sure everyone follows the rules. They are soldiers. And sadistic. In addition, they have picked some favorites out of the group to act as their long reaching arms into the ranks of the orphans. The boys chosen for that detail are exactly like the kids Carl beat up to get put here. It will be hard enough to keep his head down, but when Carl starts to suspect there is something deeper and darker than just vindictive guards, he struggles with his inner conscience. His weakness has always been that he cared about the people around him. At least that is what the system led him to believe. But in reality? Has it made him stronger than the bullies around him?
Phoenix Island looked like a "boy book" and truly turned out to be a boy book. If it was a movie, a 16 yr old Sylvester Stallone would play Carl. He would wear a dirty white tank top and fatigues and run around the island all sweaty and dirty. I am not criticizing this. Honestly? I watch the Rambo series all the time (more than I care to admit). But there is a particular audience for this kind of story. If you have a reader who loves those violent action flicks (I know I do!) with explosions and bad guys and the lone good guy trying to save the world one innocent life at a time, here be your tale. And it was done pretty well, albeit a little formulaic. I really didn't have to predict much about the layout of the plot because it happened just as you would think it would. Again, that isn't to say I didn't like it, because it was certainly enjoyable, but I would have loved a surprise every now and then.
The real winner in this story is Carl. He is truly unwavering in his goodness. Carl actually cannot control himself when it comes to protecting the innocent, even when he knows it will totally and completely ruin his life. He is the epitome of unwavering good guy. A little unrealistic, but it makes for an entertaining story! He is the kind of good guy you can't help but root for and hope he pummels the crap out of the bad guys. I have to say, the fact that he is always in trouble for stopping bullying is my favorite part of the story (and the saddest reflection of humanity). Phoenix Island is an entertaining, kind of predictable story that will certainly appeal to those hard-to-reach boys.
In a world where we are already terrorized by swine flu and avian flu, the idea of those viruses infecting people with the animal genetics they carry is the next step we hope could never happen. In Kat Fall's Inhuman brings that terrorizing thought to life as the humans hide behind the walls and the animals roam around the outside.
Everything from the east of the Mississippi river is abandoned as the Feral Zone. When a biological disaster allowed animal DNA to mutate a human through a bite or contact with blood, the rest of the country realized quickly they had to abandon the East Coast in order to preserve what was left of the humans on the other side. Meanwhile, scientists worked on a cure, but the sheer amount of animal DNA in the human population makes a cure or even a treatment impossible without samples from every mutation. When a human is bitten by an infected human, the first stage of the Farae virus is a high fever that hits them immediately. Then, they begin stage two: mutation. The second stage can last for years, if someone is lucky. As they physically transform into the animal, they still retain human conscience and reasoning. These manimals are still feared by the untouched population, but on the other side of the wall, the lines aren't so black and white. When an infected person finally enters the third stage of the virus, they turn into a Feral. The final change can be so abrupt, they can turn on their loved ones, which is why people are so skeptical of the manimals. But when it is your mother, father, brother, child, or spouse, kicking them out when they get bitten isn't so easy. Now thousands of ferals roam the East and even more people are infected by the virus. Meanwhile their families teeter on the balance of love and self-preservation in small civilizations that scrape by a living.
On the other side of the wall, life is different. It isn't necessarily easy, but it also isn't survival driven like life in the east. Lane is fascinated by the Feral Zone, but terrified by it at the same time. When her father, who usually travels for work and leaves her to fend for herself, is revealed by the government to be a "fetch", she can't believe her ears. Fetches go into the Feral Zone to bring back items for people on the other side of the wall, but their very existence is highly illegal and can result in their execution. Lane always knew her father was an art dealer, but she had no idea he spent his life getting on the other side of the wall to collect abandoned art. Now Director Spurling needs her father to fetch something personal. She is offering full immunity for Lane's father, but first Lane has to find him and get him to do the fetch. But finding someone on the Feral side of the wall isn't easy. In fact, it is the most dangerous thing Lane has ever tried to do... until she realizes she has to do the fetch for her father.
Wow! This was such a fast, fun science fiction novel, I couldn't get enough of it! The story behind the virus was as fascinating as the story of what happens to the people it infects. I loved the contrast between the safe zone behind the wall, the intact humans in the Feral Zone, and the manimals. It really demonstrated a class hierarchy that could rival communities existing today. And the descriptions of the manimals and the ferals is so terrifying and creepy, you can just visuals these animal/humans perfectly! It made the story so graphic and vivid, I couldn't get enough of it!
When Lane started off on her journey accompanied by a green line guard named Everson and a scampish guy named Rafe who makes his living stealing from the guards to deliver to the towns in the zone, I was a little disappointed to see yet another love triangle when I really wanted the action of the story to be the focus. But it actually turned out to be the least offensive and least annoying love triangle I have every encountered! In fact, there was even a point when Rafe outright said, "Ok, I am taking myself out of this silly love triangle!" It was like breaking down the fourth wall for television- if the characters acknowledge the silliness, it makes it not-so-silly! Meanwhile, Everson's "by the book" attitude contrasted with Rafe's "anything goes" attitude perfectly. I loved how they came together to help Lane, protected her, but still did so in wildly different ways. I loved both these boys for very different reasons, and I can't wait to get more of them in the second book. But beware- this ends in a serious cliffhanger, so if you can't wait for the rest of the story, you should hold off until the next book comes out to read this one! This is a good series for strong middle readers through young adult readers. The violence in the Feral Zone is expected, and some of the creature mutations are downright terrifying (I am now having nightmares about weevlings and chimpacabras, Ms. Falls. Thanks for that!), but it is so fast-paced and exciting, it will hold anyone's attention!
When the world falls apart, the power struggle to gobble up the pieces will get ugly. From religious radicals to pseudo-militaries who are nothing more than vicious men with weapons, no one will be safe from the greed and lack of humanity, especially the innocent. To the world at large, they have become the weak to be consumed and disposed of. In The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi, the world couldn't get much uglier.
Mahlia's life has never been easy, but after she was captured by soldiers and her hand was cut off, she was doomed in a world where you don't survive long if you can't take care of herself. Luckily for her, Mouse was there to save her. Now she apprentices for the doctor in their village and scrapes by with a pretty decent life: a job, a friend, and a purpose. But all that changes when a group of soldiers come searching for a wounded half-man (soldier experiments that combined men with animals to create the ultimate fighters). In their search, they hold the village hostage as they hunt, but Mahlia has a secret. She knows exactly where the half-man is. And he is holding Mouse hostage.
When Mahlia and Mouse stumbled upon the half-man who was half-dead, he still had enough rage in him to grab Mouse. Mahlia convinces him to let her get antibiotics at the village in exchange for Mouse, but the soldiers ruin her plan. Desperate Mahlia refuses to lose Mouse, but despite her best efforts, everything goes wrong. Now she is left with Tool, the half-man, and the soldiers have taken Mouse with them. Tool is the only one who knows the world outside their village, and it isn't pretty. He begrudgingly agrees to help her find her friend because if there is one thing he remembers, it is having a true pack.
First of all, you have to know that if you are reading this story thinking it is an extension of Shipbreaker, it truly isn't. It may be set in the same world, but the stories are wildly different (and frankly the setting, other than both being post-apocalyptic, are as well). There isn't much of anything to connect these stories, so I am confused as to why Bacigalupi would consider this the second book in the Shipbreaker series. Still, it was a gruesome and ugly story set in a terrifying world. One thing Bacigalupi doesn't do with his YA stories is hold anything back. They are as gritty as the world he created. That means they are also pretty violent, and if your reader isn't ready for that kind of violence, this isn't the kind of story they should read.
As for the post-apocalyptic literary world, this is a great example of loyalty and friendship in an ugly, ugly world. I liked the story, but not as much as I liked Shipbreaker. The ending of the story also wasn't my style, but it might be fine for you. I would certainly pass this story on to any number of students of mine. It would be a perfect book for a young man who struggled to find a book to hold his interest as the action stretches from the very beginning to the very end.
I hear adults complain all the time about kids playing video games. But what if the world's safety rested in the hands of kids who were essentially gamers, but who were given control of military space ships fighting an interstellar World War? Would you want to pry them off the couch then? Or would you recognize their skills for what they are: soldiers on the front like. S.J. Kincaid takes teens and makes them heros (and villains) in Insignia.
Tom Raines doesn't live your normal life. An invested gamer with an addicted gambler for a father means he bounces from city to city with nothing in the way of stability except his Virtual reality games. His mom left his deadbeat dad for a corporate snake, and on a larger scale, the world in embroiled in an war fought in the stars and controlled by private companies. The times of governments fighting governments and ravaging Earth's precious resources are gone, but the war in space still has its casualties. With the world split in two, companies controlling the world will stop at nothing to win, even if that means implanting computers in the brains of teenagers.
Tom has watched the space war rage on, but he never thought he'd ever have a chance at getting to know Camelot Company from the inside. When he is recruited to join the ranks, he sees it as his one ticket out of his pathetic nomadic life. What he doesn't expect is to become part computer and be transformed into a super human. Add to that the ability to actually make friends and the government becomes the driving force that Tom needed to change his life around. But he is different from his fellow plebes. They are all decorated with special achievement after special achievement, so why is Tom, poor, achievement-less Tom, here in the first place? And how far are these companies willing to go to win this war?
As we, as a society, become more and more "teched-in" we find ourselves trying to juggle the world we once lived in compared to the world we currently live in. Teachers complain about video games the same way teachers when I was young complained about comic books as source of "intellectual decay" amongst our children (ironic if you think about how socially accepted comics and graphic novels have become by now!). And it is no secret that many of our kids love to play video games, so how do we navigate this new plugged in world? We start iPad programs and use apps for "educational" games (because those are deemed acceptable). We have teacher websites and communicate with parents via email and use our SMART Boards. If we have recognized the need to be tech-savvy, why to we begrudge our students the opportunity to play their video games for entertainment? Well, Kincaid wasn't afraid to ask those tough questions in this book.
Insignia isn't just a fun a science fiction novel. It was also an examination into the high-tech lives we lead. How far is too far when it involves our children and technology? Are video games ok? iPads as a means to keep your kids occupied when you need them to be quiet? Video games? Installing super processors in their brains to help fight our wars? We know that is wrong, but it is also hard to find the exact line where we reach too much technology. By using an extreme example like making teens into super-soldiers, Kincaid has invited us to have this conversation, and I can guarantee you it is one children and adults alike will speak of with strong opinions.
As a non-gamer (barring a small college obsession with Snood and Tetris) who is married to a gamer (I so dread the new World of Warcraft expansions), I can see the constant struggle between generations who have never enjoyed video games and generations who do. Like any generational gap, there is tension and people don't see eye to eye. That is the reason I liked this book as much as I did. If you took out the tech and war and "cyborg" effect, you have a simple story about a boy who has never fit in until he found his purpose. Sound familiar? I bet it does, as it is an age old story told in an infinite amount of ways. But that doesn't make this story trite, by far. Instead, it is retold in a way that will get your video-game playing children reading and engaged. The characters are relatable and the story is familiar, but the message is modernly universal. So, ask yourself. How much technology is too much?
