Spill Zone and Decelerate Blue, or YA Dystopian Graphic Novels Are Harsh

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you saw that I read a nice stack of graphic novels and comics during this last Saturday's 24-Hour Readathon. Two of them were dystopians and they've both stuck with me for days.

Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland have created Spill Zone, which actually comes out today from First Second. It's about Addison and her little sister Lexa, two of the survivors of a horrible something that happened in Poughkeepsie, New York. They now live alone/together in a cordoned-off area just outside the abandoned not-exactly-a-ghost-town. Lexa doesn't speak and Addison financially supports them by sneaking back into town and taking pictures of the derelict buildings and frightful creatures -- but never the people who have been left behind, the ones who hang almost-lifeless in the air with creepily glowing eyes.

In a time where we now have to face the possible prospect of nuclear war, a town that has been destroyed by some sort of bizarre radioactive substance is not the easiest subject to read about. But Addison's story is compelling, Lexa's is perplexing, and this book definitely will leave readers yearning to know what happens next. I did have to tell Z (almost 13) that he couldn't read this book. He asked if it was because of blood but, no, it was because of the super high amount of foul language. It seemed entirely appropriate for the plot and the characters but it's not something I would put in front of a tween or younger teen. This one definitely skews older YA or adult even.

A few weeks ago I got a surprise package from First Second with YA graphic novels in it. One of them was Decelerate Blue by Adam Rapp and Mike Cavallaro, a beautiful book with blue edges and black and white art. It's about a future where nothing matters but speed and brevity. All food is preprocessed, all books and films are condensed. Even language is as brief as possible. Lives are run by a corporation and, as you can guess, not everyone is thrilled about this. Angela is only in high school but she already knows that this life isn't for her. She wants something different and she finds it by accident when she stumbles into the lair of the resistance.

The beginning of this book seriously had me stressed! The frantic conversations, each sentence of which ends with the word "Go", made me feel rushed and irritated. Angela's frustrations came through clearly, as did her immediate relief once she found the resistance. The ending was heartbreaking but the ultimate message of appreciating each moment balanced that out somewhat. As some of us participate in small rebellions and resistances of our own these days, this book seems particularly relevant.

Speaking up today to keep these from being our tomorrows,

K

New Release: The Obsidian Blade

I'm trying to branch out a bit in my science fiction reading so I accepted a review copy of The Obsidian Blade, the first book in a new YA trilogy, The Klaatu Diskos, by Pete Hautman. This was a story with lots of action, compelling characters and a truly world-threatening situation. It was a quick read though it deals with some weighty issues.

Tucker is a teenager who becomes very confused when his father disappears off of the roof of their house and he sees a shimmering in the air at the very spot where it happened. But his dad returns an hour later, walking up the street with a strange foreign girl in tow, acting like nothing happened. When Tucker's mom then starts exhibiting strange emotional symptoms, he wonders if there is something to those unearthly shimmering disks in the sky. There's only one way to find out ...

This book has a bit of everything -- time travel, future dystopia, mysterious beings and hyper-advanced technology. It incorporates a lot of different elements but I was definitely able to keep up with it all. Tucker was a great character, as was his uncle Kosh. Their actions were fully supported by their experiences. I wasn't quite as happy with Tucker's parents. His father's emotional distance and motivation were both suspect. And some readers might be put off by Hautman's use of religious and biblical events in the father's story. The plot line of Tucker's mother's mental illness and diagnosis bothered me too. I still would like to know what has happened to all of them, though, so I will look for the next book in the series when it comes out.

Sticking to one timeline,
K

New Release: Sapphique

I'm not a huge reader of dystopian fiction but was intrigued by Catherine Fisher's Incarceron earlier this year and found that there were elements that made it a decent fit for me.  Next week the sequel, Sapphique, will be released and I think this pair of YA novels are well worth reading.  Together they are a complete story of hope, endurance and discovery.  (Note: Sapphique is not a stand-alone novel.  You will be very confused if you try and read it on its own.)

These two books tell the story of two places -- the prison Incarceron and the world Outside.  Finn has grown up inside the prison but never seems to entirely fit in.  He has seizures and strange visions of another place but doesn't know what he is seeing.  Claudia has grown up Outside as the prison warden's daughter.  She is brash and confident and engaged to a real boor.  When Claudia starts becoming suspicious that things in the prison aren't as they've always been told, she starts on a journey that leads her to Finn.  Together they must save everyone in both worlds from a prison that is sentient, vindictive and lonely.

These stories are part fantasy, part steampunk and are definitely YA.  There is a very pleasant resolution at the end of Sapphique and I was caught up in many of the issues that it explored.  I thought the worlds were well constructed and I will be looking into Fisher's previous novels as well.

Peering into other worlds,
K


Support our site and buy Incarceron and Sapphique on Amazon or find them at your local library.  We received an advance reading copy of this book.

"Finn had been flung on his face and chained to the stone slabs of the transitway."

I've been following Lenore's Dystopian August (which is awesome, by the way!) and decided to participate at the last minute.  I scored an ARC of Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (due for release at the end of December) and it happens to be the sequel to a YA dystopian novel.  The first book is Incarceron and I borrowed it to read during our vacation.

First, let me admit that I've always thought that dystopians weren't my thing.  It's not that I don't think that they're good books but I tend to think of them as bleak and depressing.  However, Lenore's focus on the genre has helped me pick out the ones that are the right fit for my reading tastes.  In her last dystopian feature month, it was Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey.  And now, after choosing Incarceron, I think that my niche is the fantasy dystopia.  It's not as bleak if it's not your own world that has gone to seed!

Almost two hundred years ago, the people of this society took all of their criminal and antisocial members and put them together in an enclosed prison that has an artificial intelligence.  The prison was meant to direct the inmates into reformation and the creation of a utopia.  Not surprisingly, something went wrong and the prison turned into a hell of warring tribes and limited resources, all managed by a dissatisfied AI.  Finn is the member of one of these tribes but isn't quite like the other inmates.  He has no memory before three years ago and thinks he may have come from the outside world.  Claudia is in the outside world and is about to be married off to someone she detests.  Her father is the warden of Incarceron and she believes that unlocking its secrets will free her to live a different life.

This was a very compelling story.  I still found it a bit depressing but the world was also fascinating and I can't wait to learn more about it in Sapphique.  There are pretty intense issues of loyalty, trust and survival ethics in this book and I can only imagine that they will get more hairy in the next part of the story.  Lenore told me that it goes in more of a high fantasy direction which I wouldn't have seen coming so I'm intrigued!

Returning to my happy place,
K


Support our site and buy Incarceron on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We borrowed our copy from the library.