Birthright Volume 3: Allies and Enemies (Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators)

Birthright Volume 3: Allies and Enemies
(The Birthright series)
Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators
Skybound
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Mikey Rhodes continues his quest to hunt down the four remaining fugitive mages, who fled Terranos for Earth and have lived in exile ever since. His brother Brennan now knows of the Nevermind infecting him, but follows anyway - Mikey's his brother, after all, and he can't turn his back on family. Besides, as he's quickly learning, the truth isn't as black and white as many believe; there may well be good reason the mages deserve death. But their current target, a shadowy assassin hiding in Chicago, may best even the hero of Terranos.
Wendy Rhodes, now in the company of the winged girl (and Mikey's friend and lover) Rya, sets out to find her sons - and finds herself up to her neck in magic and forces she can scarcely comprehend. Can Mikey still be saved, or is it too late for him and the world of Terranos... and if Terranos falls, what will Earth's fate be?
Meanwhile, the imprisoned Aaron Rhodes continues to defy the authorities to protect his children - but Agent Kylen promises leniency if he talks Mikey into peaceful surrender. Little does he realize the man's hidden agenda...

REVIEW: This third volume continues the action-filled, often dark tale of Mikey, the lost boy who became a broken hero. Brennan now has his own magical secret, and his awareness of the Nevermind only makes him more determined to stick by and help his formerly-younger brother. Meanwhile, the boys' parents become caught up in their own Terranos-tainted entanglements; this isn't a story that leaves the "grown ups" by the wayside like so many fantasy adventures. More twists arise, and more of Mikey's backstory of his time in Terranos comes to light via flashbacks. A revelation at the very end almost made me waver on the rating, but I'm willing to trust the creators to see where things are going. Hopefully, Volume 4 appears on Hoopla soon...

You Might Also Enjoy:
Fairy Quest: Outcasts #1 (Paul Jenkins) - My Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review
100 Cupboards (N. D. Wilson) - My Review

Birthright Volume 2: Call to Adventure (Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators)

Birthright Volume 2: Call to Adventure
(The Birthright series)
Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators
Skybound
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Mikey Rhodes was an ordinary boy - or so he thought, until he was abducted into the magical world of Terranos to fulfill a prophecy by slaying the evil god-king Lore, slave of the twisted Nevermind. Many years later (but only one year on Earth), a now-grown Mikey returns home... but not as the victor he told his family. As tool of the Nevermind, he hunts down five escaped mages with the help of his (formerly older) brother Brennan, who remains unaware of the corrupting force poisoning Mikey from within. Meanwhile, Wendy finally believes that the barbarian "madman" found by the FBI was indeed the child she thought her husband had killed - and, with the help of Mikey's Terranos-born friend and lover, sets out to find her fugitive son.

REVIEW: The story of fallen hero Mikey, his faithful brother-turned-sidekick Brennan, and the shattered Rhodes family continues to be filled with action, magic, twists, and some truly emotional moments. Brennan begins to see what his brother has become, yet cannot bring himself to lose faith in the Mikey he knew. Back with the parents, a new team of agents with an unknown agenda step in to take over the case, just as Wendy and Agent Brooks begin to believe in Mikey's wild tales... helped by the arrival of the winged "gideon" woman Rya, Mikey's former friend from Terranos and mother of his unborn child. I had been afraid that this would be a "boys only" tale, with women relegated to back-burner roles, but Wendy isn't going to be left at home to pine and grieve, and neither is Rya. This volume delivers another interesting and engaging tale, violent at times but toward a purpose, not simply for the sake of it; indeed, Mikey's fall from grace can be tracked to when he finally learned to kill in pursuit of fulfilling the prophecy everyone told him he was destined to fulfill. I look forward to discovering where this story is going.

You Might Also Enjoy:
A Princess of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs) - My Review
The Dark World (Henry Kuttner) - My Review
Un Lun Dun (China Mieville) - My Review

Birthright Volume 1: Homecoming (Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators)

Birthright Volume 1: Homecoming
(The Birthright series)
Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan, creators
Skybound
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: The day young Mikey Rhodes disappeared was the day the family shattered. Many suspected his father, Aaron, of killing the boy and hiding the body... even his wife Wendy. Only Mike's older brother Brennan stuck by the broken man, refusing to give up hope. One year later, the FBI summons the Rhodes to their offices. A strange man, dressed and armed like some bizarre fantasy barbarian, was found by the highway... and, according to fingerprints, that bearded man is the boy Mikey. He claims he was abducted to a fantasy world to fulfill a prophecy by destroying an evil lord, and has returned to Earth to hunt down five mages who might let that evil take root on Earth - but is he telling the truth, or has he been corrupted by the very entity he was prophecized to destroy?

REVIEW: Birthright offers a nice twist on the usual "Earth kid gets whisked away to become a hero in another world" story, showing the devastation left behind as his family struggles to come to terms with his disappearance... and the changes that being forced into a warrior life can wreak on even the nicest boy. Deep within the heart of the battle-hardened and compromised man he has become, Mikey is still a little lost boy at heart who wants nothing more than to go home, and he's not about to let anything get in his way. Meanwhile, Aaron refuses to let this opportunity to reconnect with his son slip away, even if it means becoming a fugitive, and Brennan (once the older brother, now just a kid beside his Conan-like sibling) can't help falling in as an impromptu sidekick, still somehow hoping that his broken family can be mended... though even he begins to wonder if he truly recognizes Mikey anymore. Flashbacks show the young Mikey's journey and its inauspicious start in Terranos, introducing characters that look to come into play in future volumes. It's an interesting story, moving at a fair clip, with great artwork (that leans a little gory at times, as a warning to younger or more sensitive readers.) I'm looking forward to the next volume already - I'll have to see if Hoopla has it available yet.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Everworld: Search for Senna (K. A. Applegate) - My Review
King: The Graphic Novel (Joshua Hale Fialkov) - My Review
Shadowbloom (Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan) - My Review

Ink and Bone (Rachel Caine)

Ink and Bone
(The Great Library series, Book 1)
Rachel Caine
New American Library
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: From birth, Jess Brightwell's life has been defined by books - contraband items outside the all-powerful Great Library, which has controlled the flow of information worldwide for centuries. His father's trade in illegal original tomes puts Jess and his family in constant danger, with the Library's well-armed High Garda and cruel, alchemy-powered automata mercilessly hunting down traders. While Jess loves books, he cannot reconcile himself to dealing with the often unsavory clients of the family business... which is why Jess's father has decided that he'd better serve the Brightwells as an insider, joining the ranks of the Library to learn of new treasures and impending threats. Much as Jess has learned to fear the Library, he can't help but be excited: after all, to the average citizen, the Library represents the knowledge and wisdom of the ages, the bright light that guides all of humanity toward a better tomorrow, and just think of the countless books hidden away in the archives! But Jess soon learns that the gilded cover hides a rotten heart, as he's plunged into a world where nobody can be trusted and no secret is safe.

REVIEW: If knowledge is power and power corrupts, does absolute control of knowledge corrupt absolutely? Rachel Caine posits a near-future world where alchemy is real, exploited by master librarians to limit the vital resource of information. Several familiar assumptions (particularly for "Western" readers used to English- or American-centered stories) get tweaked, here; English-born Jess was proud of how intelligent his childhood spent around illegal books has made him, only to realize he's barely average compared to the rest of Europe, who themselves pale in comparison to Middle Eastern nations who have had centuries longer to enjoy access to the Great Library's fruits (it having been founded in Ancient Egypt.) As for America, it's essentially a police state, considered a lowlife hotbed for rebels and Burners, a violent faction espousing the dangerous view that human lives should matter more than books. No institution has clean hands in this world, and no characters here are free from faults or sins. Jess must navigate a maze of traps, not just those set by his stern, borderline-cruel teacher Wolfe - a man who also has a hidden past and his own agenda and who isn't above endangering lives to pursue it. Jess's upbringing among criminals serves him in surprisingly good stead as he finds himself surrounded by untrustworthy peers and questionable superiors, not to mention his own family and their contacts who make periodic demands of him; Jess's twin brother Brendan, who aims to follow in their father's illegal footsteps, proves a strange mix of ally and rival. It's a trial by fire for Jess and the rest of the students he's training with as they compete for a limited number of openings within the Great Library, all for their own reasons. The tale moves at a good clip, with several turns (many of them dark), setting up what looks to be an intense series. Once in a while, Jess seemed a little naive given his background and what he should've already known, but on the whole he made a believable, if flawed, character, as did the rest of the cast. I expect I'll pursue the next volume in the series, at least.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Red Rising (Pierce Brown) - My Review
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review

The Accidental Highwayman (Ben Tripp)

The Accidental Highwayman
(The Kit Bristol series, Book 1)
Ben Tripp
Tor
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**+ (Bad/Okay)

DESCRIPTION: Orphan Kit Bristol thought his prospects were looking up when he was bought from a circus by Master Rattle, to serve as house boy and errand runner for the nobleman. Little did he suspect, until he found his master dying of a musket wound on the kitchen floor, that Rattle was really Whistling Jack, notorious highwayman of the English countryside. He thought he was doing Rattle a favor by dressing in the highwayman's costume and riding Midnight, his horse, to throw pursuers off the trail. By donning the mask and boots, Kit has not only made himself a target of a ruthless colonel, but has taken up obligations he knows little of, obligations tied to the fairies of England and the schemes of their mad king. Now the fate of a halfblood princess, a former circus colleague, and England's fairies and humans alike rest on this accidental highwayman's young shoulders.

REVIEW: It looked fun and lightweight, an old-school yarn of highwaymen and magic. Early on, that's what it seemed like it would be. Kit's young and naive, but he does his best when confronted with his master's true occupation. Then he faces his first challenge, rescuing the halfblood fairy Princess Morgana from a marriage to England's young king-in-waiting George III, and the story grows shaky as it relies on too many coincidences and last-minute deus ex machina saves while Kit proves inept at basic tasks (though, to be fair, nobody tells him enough about fairy magic for him to anticipate its effects - then they often berate him for not knowing.) Before long, the inexperienced boy finds himself caretaker of not one but two overemotional and helpless women - one of them the self-same fairy princess, whose inexperience in the real world I could buy but whose utter ineptness about her own powers (plus her general uselessness for most of the story) I just couldn't swallow. Yes, this was written in the style of the 1700's, but for a twenty-first century audience... I would've hoped we'd be a little beyond the cliche of the helpless damsel(s) in distress who must rely on a man, even an underaged man, for protection and guidance. There's supposed to be a budding romance between Kit and Princess Morgana, but none of their interactions are anything but stilted, full of stereotypical girlish mood swings and boyish obliviousness and confusion, with not a smidgen of chemistry or genuine affection. There are also a number of fairy folk flitting about, who behave largely as comic relief (particularly in their light-up behinds, which seems like the kind of silly detail a younger target audience would enjoy more but which gets far too much page time in this longer, slightly more grown-up story) but also can pose serious threats, if somewhat watered down by ridiculous appearances. The tale lurches along, veering from plot point to plot point as Kit wavers between clever hero and bumbling idiot, before coming to a drawn-out finale that really drives home how helpless women are and how lucky they should be that they have an English boy to save them. I never did connect with the characters, who too often seemed like flimsy plot constructs, and I only enjoyed their adventures in fits and starts, not helped by the forced faux-period storytelling style. I liked a few of the period details, and now and again the tale gained interest and momentum, but it never lived up to its potential.

You Might Also Enjoy:
The Misadventures of Maude March (Audrey Couloumbis) - My Review
Bloody Jack (L. A. Meyer) - My Review
Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) - My Review