LitPick Review
Far in the future, towards the end of the 28th century, after war and desolation, the Conglomerate monopolizes Earth’s resources, corporations, technologies, and nations into one super entity moving through the “Third Golden Age of Man.” What started as an attempt to bring together the best of everything that mankind had to offer turned into a ruthless profit-generating machine, encompassing other planets and killing their inhabitants in a brutal display of force. The Conglomerate’s Enforcer Corps’ mission is to find these new planets and make contact with them, trying peaceful contact but ultimately resulting to violence. Jon, a dishonorably discharged Enforcer, is given a second chance at being an Enforcer when he is assigned to a peaceful first contact mission, guarding the daughter of a high-ranking Conglomerate executive and her team. However, the planet they encounter, Anomaly, is much more dangerous than any on the team had imagined. Anomaly is a place of viruses that eat synthetics and destroy technology, flesh-eating mutants, and a magical being with a god complex. Needless to say, it will be a challenge to get everyone off of Anomaly alive.
Opinion:
This book was absolutely amazing. The storyline followed the stereotypical science fiction story arc, but it brought new life to the standard. The main point of the story delves into the issues of what makes a human human. The humanity of the people in the story is questioned and re-questioned as the characters go through their conflicts. The fact that the story makes the reader question his or her own humanity through the actions of the characters is what is going to make this book a stand-alone classic in the science fiction and graphic novel genres.
The artwork in the book was beyond that of most graphic novels I have read. The people and setting seemed real and absolutely beautiful. With the implementation of the Ultimate Augmented Reality, the story comes alive in a new way I have never experienced before. The UAR allows the reader to see many of the creatures in the novel as a 3D image, using a smartphone or tablet, in the world around them. It also supplements the story with background information and other special extras that make the story come to life. And with the exception of a few small glitches, the program worked very smoothly.
The only issue I had with the entire book was that some of the writing didn’t seem natural. Some of the sentences they had the characters saying came out very choppy and didn’t sound like anyone I know having normal conversation. Also, the book was such a large-sized book that I couldn’t take it anywhere with me. The only time I could read it was when I was sitting down at a table with the book laying out flat. But aside from those two issues, I think it is a wonderful story with amazing artwork that can challenge a person’s mind and morals as they enjoy themselves reading an amazing book. I cannot wait for the next one to come out!
