"The Stuff That Dream Are Made Of" and "Death of a Mannequin"

            I loved reading this book, it was very fast paced, had fascinating characters, and asked interesting questions.  This book was such a journey, so much happened, but I was always right there at every plot twist waiting for what’s next.  It was very satisfying, from page to page as well as on the whole.  Each sequence was entertaining within itself, hunting down Sophia and Yvette, escaping on a wagon, dealing with assassins.  But the over arcing story themes fit together in a clear way, Sophia and Atena’s place in the story is clear, as well as the Warlord’s importance, there’s a lot going on in this world and each aspect is given its space and time. 

I also really liked the illustrations, they were so beautiful, the attention to detail was impressive and it really transported you to the world these characters lived in.  A few different styles were seamlessly blended together, the back of the book claims steampunk and art deco, but I noticed Mongolian and ancient Egyptian references as well.  The world and the characters were so beautiful it was difficult to resist them.  When I choose comics to read I won’t pick up a book if I don’t like the drawings.  This book is gorgeous, there are some pages I would frame.  She makes good use of her canvas, the times she uses the whole page are always impressive moments that are in need of fleshing out.  When Maika gets ambushed or when she has a flash back to the slave camps, the full page illustrations make a huge impact, they’re nice punctuations in the action.  The white gutters are fairly consistent throughout the piece, they keep it structured and give a clear sense of the action and reading order.  When Maika is in the Naraka sarcophagus and her subconscious is talking with the monstrum living inside her, the white gutters drop away, shadowy, feathered borders take over, adding to the dream space Maika is in.  When she is able to break out, the strong gutters come back.  This, as well as the ghost version of Maika make the dream sequence very different from the other parts of the book.

In the beginning the book uses flashbacks to establish the relationship between Maika and Tuya, as well as Maika’s curiosity about herself.  This is set against Maika escaping from a lab in Zamora.  I really liked the contrast between the peaceful life she shared with Tuya and the bloody violence that happens during her revenge quest.  This shows the complexity of the character, her capacity for good and friendships, as well as cruelty.  The trade off between the two was well paced and the sections switched off with each other in a smooth way.  There were text bridges between the last frame of one part and the dialogue of the next.  This prepared the reader and heightened expectations for the next part in the book. 

Maika’s relationship with Tuya is central, especially when the ending reveals how complicated this relationship really is.  Just as Maika is making promises to a Tuya she can’t speak to, we learn that Tuya is very conflicted about Maika’s very existence.  The whole book builds up their relationship, Tuya is probably the only friend Maika has had.  She’s certainly the only person Maika thinks she can trust.  How this betrayal plays out later on will be very interesting to read.

I think how the world was revealed, very slowly, was done with a lot of skill.  There is so much going on, the Ancients are planning things, as well as the dusk court, how the arcanics came to be, what’s up with the cats in this world, the destruction at Constantine, and that’s not all of it.  That’s a lot to take in, a lot to learn about, and the author gives you a lot of information about all of this, making it seem so real, but she does this slowly, telling you only what you need to know so that you are never overwhelmed.  This is a delicate balance that every sci-fi or fantasy writer has to deal with.  Your characters are in a world you created, you have to tell your readers about that world, but you can’t get lost in describing a world your reader doesn’t care about.  The author very carefully gives the reader the information they are craving, holding all the rest back until it’s absolutely necessary, never before then.  There are many times when it could have been very easy to go on a long discussion of the history of the arcanics or how the cumaen hierarchy works, but this doesn’t happen, the forward momentum of the plot is never sacrificed for these kinds of details.  Except maybe for Professor Tamtam’s lectures.  I really admired how well the world was introduced, the amount of patience needed to do something like this is hard to keep, but the results paid off so much.

This book married image and text into a beautiful story.  They both complimented each other and each worked towards telling the story.  With all that happens it’s easy to get too wordy, but the images are powerful and are never compromised by the text.  There’s quite a few comics out now with this level of artistry, but this book still stands out as especially beautiful and elegantly put together.      

-Iris Keenan