V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, David Lloyd

V for Vendetta is a 296 page science-fiction graphic novel by author Alan Moore and illustrator David Lloyd. Although the film was based off the novel, there is a much more related script you can read to get that story. This story is quite a bit different from the screen production.

V for Vendetta revolves around the main character V, who is an escapee from the government concentration camp, “Larkhill Resettlement Camp” (for homosexuals, foreign immigrants, political prisoners, etc.). The setting is a “future” totalitarian England, 1997-8–it was published in 1988. The story is about V’s vendetta against the government for placing him and many others in the concentration camp and experimenting on them, against the people who worked at the camp, and also a bit about freeing the people of England from authoritarian rule. Due to the drugs that he was given in the camp, V is for all intents and purposes insane, and at the very least, unpredictable and dangerous in the eyes of the government.

During V’s stay in the camp, he was actually given a small role of responsibility to take care of the gardens and was therefore allowed to order all kinds of chemicals and fertilizers and the like. Using these things, he actually ends up storing them in his room in order to cause a large fire and escape. Once he escapes, he moves into the Shadow Gallery, collecting fine works of art and music (via jukebox) and plans his attack on November 5th. This is where Evey Hammond comes into the mix — a 16-year-old orphan who is about to attempt prostitution as a means to make a living. Unfortunately, she gets accosted by Fingermen, but fortunately is saved by V! This starts their journey through the story and her education on the vendetta. Of course, there are many other notable characters, but I can’t mention everyone.

The story is complex and incredibly well-thought out. The characters each have their own motives for wanting to take down the Leader (Mr. Susan) and his lackeys. The intricate play of human motivation is impressive. One thing I have come to respect about Alan Moore’s writing is the intense amount of back story each character is given; when even minor characters seem to come alive, it makes the larger story that much more believable. Along with the writing, I loved the artwork. The depiction of V in a Guy Fawkes mask — the persona encompasses a bit of what V is all about. He truly is an idea, rather than just a man, which is shown in the slightly different ending the novel had compared to the film.

Although it may seem clichè, my two favorite characters were the Leader and V. The novel really highlighted their insane intelligence and how it affected them personally. Insights into the Leader’s rule and time spent with Fate (government watch computer and program) were fascinating, and V’s time at Larkhill was probably the most interesting single plot line in the novel. I really enjoyed V for Vendetta, and although it’s not my favorite graphic novel, it is definitely in the upper register. For fans of the film (as I am; I love the movie, and will still repeatedly watch it even after reading the novel), I would highly recommend reading it. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie and are interested, I would also recommend the novel — it is a great political statement and fascinating character-driven story.

Crimson Rising by Nick James

Crimson Rising is the 360 page science fiction sequel to The Pearl Wars, the first of the Skyship Academy series by Nick James. I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, just looking for something to spend a $10 gift card on, when I saw this! I was not even aware that the The Pearl Wars had a sequel, so it was very exciting. Anyway, onto the review…

After the showdown in Seattle at the end of Pearl Wars,  Jesse Fisher and Cassius Stevenson realize there is a lot they have yet to uncover about their home planet and family. The Skyship Academy is now basically holding Jesse prisoner, assigning him an older-brother-type gaurd and sentencing him to what basically amounts to a time out. Cassius is now on the run — from his original home of the Unified Party, and also from his original enemies, the Academy itself.

This story jumped straight into the action, similar to the first novel. Jesse, the Pearlbreaker, finds a new red pearl that he is unable to break, or even touch. A new character is brought into the mix — Theo — a young child who is incredibly dangerous and has an even more deadly secret (that I won’t spoil). Along with Theo, Jesse and Cassius have to deal with enemy aliens who are trying to exterminate humanity and take over the planet. They are, what some might call, in over their heads.

Crimson Rising was incredibly fast-paced. The action is well-done and interesting, and even stepped up a notch from The Pearl Wars. Though it had been a few months since I read the first one, the narrative did a great job at bringing me right back into the world of the characters. I loved every bit of Avery and Jesse’s interactions; Cassius, on the other hand… I will say I liked his parts — he is a fugitive on the run from the domineering woman he thought was his mother! However, while I feel Jesse was definitely the main character of the story, I wish I would have gotten more of Cassius’s side.

I would have to recommend reading the The Pearl Wars first, for obvious reasons, and because it was a great start to an intriguing world. Crimson Rising made me want to invest even more time into the world that Nick James created. Learning about the aliens’ home planet and the manipulations of a fascinating and dangerous element, Ridium, satisfied my inner sci-fi desires. If you enjoy sci-fi or post apocalyptic worlds, I would absolutely recommend this incredibly fast paced action novel.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I bought the four book set of A Song of Ice and Fire around Christmas and finally got around to starting the series. Though I actually let my brother start the series around the same time, so I’m waiting for him to finish the second book before me (aren’t I so nice?). A Game of Thrones is an 835 page sort of political-science-fiction-fantasy novel. It’s a little difficult to put into one genre, if you can’t tell. The story is complex and difficult to summarize, and to give a little intro, I stole a bit from the blurb of the book, “here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.”

The story revolves around MANY third person narratives. I would say the true main family this novel focuses on is the Stark family, who are the lords of Winterfell. Eddard and Catelyn Stark are the father and mother of Robb, Jon (Jon Snow, a bastard child), Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. You get each of their viewpoints besides Rickon, who is only three. The story also revolves around the family that basically rules the kingdom — the Lannisters. Though King Robert Baratheon is the true ruler, his wife Cersei and co. seem to actually be running the show. The Starks are good and the Lannisters are bad okay? But wait… what about the POV of Tyrion Lannister, Cersei’s imp brother who is sarcastic and witty and lovable? I think this book handles covering both sides of a disagreement pretty well. Though I disliked every other Lannister, Tyrion held my attention and favor.

Besides the two main families, across the sea, another viewpoint is given — that of Daenerys Targaryen, the sister to the heir of the throne before the Usurper (King Robert) took the throne from the Targaryens. She is young, and to be married to a khas, or a sort of horse-king of the Dothraki. Her brother is hell bent on recovering power and the throne, which is why he practically sells her to Drogo, the horse-king, in return for a promise of use of his warriors against the Usurper. One of the only mentions of something supernatural happens around Dany, which is in part why I enjoyed reading about her. I am truly hoping that magic is explored a little more in the following novels, though I know the books will be enjoyable regardless.

Luckily for those easily confused or interested in knowing more background, there is basically a family history in the back of the book — information about each major family in the book. Once everyone is known, the plot is truly a game of thrones — while King Robert holds the throne, everything is pretty normal, besides the Targaryens plotting to steal back the throne. However, due to the Hand of the king, Jon Arryn’s death, Eddard Stark is summoned to be the new Hand and has to travel away from his home and family. Once in King’s Landing, many things go amiss  and it seems to pit the Starks against the Lannisters, and as they say, here the plot thickens.

Though this book took me quite a while to finish, I would say that I enjoyed it very much. The plot was intensely complex, and the characters were all great (even if some of them were just great to hate). The only characters that I really didn’t enjoy reading were Sansa and Catelyn. I believe that is because Sansa is practically a simpleton who only cares for things young ladies should care for (unlike Arya who enjoys learning about fighting), and Catelyn who just never did interesting things, besides capture the imp. My favorite characters to read were Arya, Tyrion, and Jon. Towards the end of the book I also really enjoyed Daenerys’s parts. The characters were all extremely well-developed and enjoyable to read about (and really, the characters I disliked were fun to hate). I can’t wait to read more about the world that George R.R. Martin created. Overall, this is a solid political-science-fiction-fantasy book. If you enjoy epic fantasy, you will probably like this book. I plan to continue the series in August, as I’ll be reading The Once and Future King and then doing a reread of The Hobbit until then. I also hope to get into the show, which I’ve heard is amazing.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I found this book while helping clean out the costume room for drama in high school. I have always intended to read it, but decided to finally read it over break when I had a free day. It is only 177 pages long, so I figured I could read it in one day. Also, the picture I have is not the cover of my book… mine is actually just typography of the title and author’s name that is really yellow and bent. I liked the used feeling of it, and it was fun to read a book that I randomly found. I also found The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I will hopefully get to that this summer or early next school year.

Besides ‘dystopian sci-fi-future,’ the only thing I knew about this book beforehand was that it detailed a culture where people were entertained a lot. I’ll get to that later. First, I liked how the book started off. It described how babies are decanted (“born” in test tubes) and how each set of babies are treated differently. There are Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas, and Epsilons (I think that’s all of them). Each different type are given a certain treatment based on their predestined caste. For instance, Alphas are treated to the best, while some Epsilons are exposed to sleeping sicknesses and extreme heat to condition them to be able to work in tropical climates. This was really interesting, and set off the story well.

Next, we learn of how the children are hypnopaedically (spoken to while sleeping) conditioned to be consumerists with phrases like “ending is better than mending” and ”the more stitches the less riches”  which leads them to buy new clothes often. Sports are also planned out to be ridiculously intricate, and any sport that doesn’t require a ton of apparatuses is not allowed, because then people wouldn’t have to buy stuff to play. The most important aspect of this society, in my opinion, is the fact that they are always entertained. Being alone or unoccupied is seen as anti-social and extremely negative.

When people aren’t engaging in weirdly intricate games, at parties, or sleeping with whomever they want (monogamy? gross!), they can take grammes of soma. Huxley likens soma to alcohol/drugs without the aftereffect. They have many sayings that are to the effect of, “why care when you can be high?” Ex: “a gramme is better than a damn.” Soma basically lets you go on holiday in your mind. Okay… though I love the societal aspects of this story, I suppose I should let you explore some of that on your own.

The bulk of the story deals with a man,  Bernard, who was born as a physically stunted Alpha, which means he is intellectually above his physical level so he stands out in society. His relationship with Lenina Crowne, a worker in the decanting factory, is explored. They go on a trip to the Savage Reservation in the USA and meet John, who is a savage (Indian). The actual story deals with their relationships, and how each of them either follow or veer from social norms.

I really enjoyed the social aspects of this book. The story is interesting, but I was much more fascinated with the construction of the world and conditioning of people in order to make them ‘happy.’  Huxley chose his points of view well — we get to see things through three(+) extremely different points that highlight the oddity of social norms. This is a relatively short novel and a quick read. If you like sci-fi or are interested in social conditioning, I would absolutely recommend this book to you.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

This is the second book in the Mistborn series; it’s a 763 page fantasy novel. I will warn you now that if you haven’t read the first one (and plan to) you might not want to read this review. I was going to try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there is so much that I might accidentally give away, it’s not worth trying.

This story starts off with Elend Venture as king of the New Empire faced with his father, Straff Venture’s approaching army. Straff’s larger force is threatening to take control of Luthadel. The entire novel deals with the threat of Straff’s army (and a couple other interesting threats) against Luthadel, and how the crew deals with them. Vin is now put on guard duty for Elend — she really explores her power, and learns what it is to be ruthless. Vin has become more confident and Elend is now the one working his way into being confident in his role as king.

We are introduced to a new character in this book — the Watcher. I’ll give a little bit of a spoiler and say the Watcher is Zane, a mistborn who hides and watches Vin and Elend, making Vin extremely anxious. Zane is one of my favorite characters in this book, and although Sanderson did use his POV sometimes, I could have used even more. Zane is supposedly insane, and I really enjoyed his inner conflicts when in the presence of other people. Sanderson explores not only characters outside of the original crew, but other species, as well. Learning about koloss and kandra (mostly kandra, I’ll admit), was fascinating. Drawing it out through dialogue, rather than narrative worked really well. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at Sanderson’s world building expertise.

I was so relieved that this novel was very different from Mistborn. Rather than just continuing the story, Sanderson expands on the world and increases our knowledge of it. It was also interesting to read from the many, many different view points. We get to see things from both sides of the struggles surrounding Luthadel, and some perspectives away from the city. I thought this was an excellent way to keep things interesting, and to break up the monotony of the siege in Luthadel.

Through a few characters’ POV, we see a lot of study surrounding the Deepness.  I love the little excerpts from journals at the beginning of each chapter that had to do with the Deepness (and Alendi and Rashek). Another part of the book I enjoyed was seen through Sazed’s POV (he is one of the people studying the Deepness). His area of study is that of religion, and he has over 300 religions recorded that the Lord Ruler stamped out in order to form the Steel Ministry. Though not much is known of his own religion (Terris), he manages to uncover a lot of things that mention it, which is where we get the story of the Well of Ascension and the Hero of Ages. The Terris (or religious, I suppose) aspects of this novel are amazing — I was dumbfounded at the end of the novel when everything came together (huzzah foreshadowing!).

Just like Mistborn, I was interested in the first couple hundred pages, but not riveted. However, once I got in the tw0- and three-hundred pages, it was a struggle to put the book down. I finished about the last 350 pages in one day. If you enjoyed Mistborn, you can’t not read this. If you haven’t read Mistborn, get on it! It is so worth your time. And trust me, I really haven’t given that many spoilers — nothing you couldn’t get from reading the blurb of the second book… and don’t read the blurb of the third book if you plan to read the series! Anyway, I want to say this book also comes highly recommended. I will be starting The Hero of Ages shortly, and hope to finish it before break is over and I have to go to class again.