Battle Royale. Ultimate Edition. Volume 1 by Koushun Takami.

May's Review: If you are fan of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, chances are you have already heard of Koushun Takami's Battle Royale, a dystopian-themed book that was originally published in 1999 and also deals with teenaged kids killing each other in a government-sponsored, gladiator-style competition. While a number of people have commented on the similarities between the two books, my review will focus solely on the manga adaption of Takami's book.

First of all, if you are even a bit squeamish about explicit violent acts and/or graphic depictions of sex, then this is not the manga for you. There is a reason why this series comes with a "parents advisory" warning label and let's just say, this story is not for the faint of heart. Within the first 100 pages in the first volume, there were already 3 deaths/murders along with a very unsettling panel depicting a rape scene. The story just comes at you like a sledgehammer with one violent encounter after another that you barely have time to process what is happening, let alone who to root for (note: there is at least 5-6 main characters in the story which gets kinda confusing sometimes because of the similarities in some of the kids' names).

Rather than be disgusted by what I was seeing and reading on the pages, I found myself drawn further into the story as the author and the illustrator carefully inserts mini-stories that examines some of these minor characters' lives before and during the competition. You cannot help but feel intrigued. One thing I noticed is that almost nobody in the story seems to have a happy life with loving parents or other family members. All the kids seem to be "running wild" and engaging in all sorts of criminal activities that was it any wonder that this class of students was picked to participate in Battle Royale?

This book is simply a gory and disturbing blood fest that is hard to put down. You simply want to read more just to learn what would turn your stomach and force you to put this book down. So far, I have finished volume 3 and it looks like I have a very strong stomach for these type of stories.

Here are the rest of the books in the ultimate series (combines the manga volumes in larger sets):

- Battle Royale. Ultimate Edition. Volume 2

- Battle Royale. Ultimate Edition. Volume 3

- Battle Royale. Ultimate Edition. Volume 4

- Battle Royale. Ultimate Edition. Volume 5

Scourge of the Gods, Volume 1 by Valerie Mangin

Scourge of the Gods: The Fall. Volume 2 by Valerie Mangin

May's Review: Both volumes are basically the graphic retelling of Attilla the Hun's military campaign against the Roman empire and its general, Flavius Aetius, set in alternate universe involving spaceships, planets and divine intervention. In volume 1, readers are introduced to the two main characters, Attila who is the brutal warlord who defies his peace-loving father by waging war against the Roman Galactic Empire, and Flavia Aetia, a young Roman girl who is supposedly the reincarnation of Kerka, the Hun Goddess of Chaos. Manipulated by Attila, Flavia innocently reveals the secret location of Rome and is forced to watch as her family and her home planet are destroyed by the rampaging Huns. Rather than wallow in pity and despair, Flavia fights back and sets off an internal power struggle between her faction and the Emperor's forces just as the Huns appear on their doorsteps.

Intelligent and complex, volume 1 is a terrific mix of mythology, history and politics wrapped up in a very engrossing and mesmerizing package. The central theme in the book is clearly the struggle between chaos and order but the underlying theme is the struggle between fate and destiny. In other words, either Rome has fallen before and will fall again or the future of Rome still uncertain even though there is good possibility that it could fall? Yes, I know that it's a very complex philosophical argument but the author does a terrific job of exploring it.

The fate vs destiny theme becomes even more crucial to the storyline in volume 2. Without giving too much of the story away, Flavia's and Attila's struggle against one another is pushed aside as the two of them are forced to join forces when a much larger enemy appears, namely the gods. As it turns out, what they deem as gods are really advanced humans who have manipulated science and technology to give themselves the ability to stop aging, create force fields, etc. As Flavia and Attila fight against Saturn and his fellow gods, the conflict now threatens to destroy the entire universe. The question then becomes, not who will ins but will there be any survivors left in this galactic conflict?

An excellent read for those who like their stories with plenty of action (some of it gory) mixed with lots of political backstabbing that features highly complex characters pondering weighty philosophical issues. Enjoy!

Ender's Game - Battle School
I enjoyed this for many reasons, nostalgia being one and for the simple reason Ender's Game is one of my favorite novels of all time (if you haven't read it, I would highly recommend that you do). This is a decent adaptation, but woefully abridged from the source material. There's so much left out it's only made me want to go back and re-read the novel.

The growing trend to adapt classic novels into this format is one I'm on board with -- it's like waiting for my favorite books to get made into movies. And like film adaptations, sometimes the graphic novel format works, and sometimes it doesn't. It works here ... to a point. For me though, there's just too much good stuff left out for it to really work -- especially for those who have not read the novel. It's those readers who will be short-changed the most.

Ender's Game - Command School
This is an okay adaptation, but leaves way too much out for my liking. You get all the spoilers with none of the richness, complexity and reward that comes with the unabridged novel. This adaptation will rob of you of that experience and ruin the novel, so if you haven't, do yourself a huge favor and please read the book first. The illustrations are a little too simplistic for my taste, and just don't adequately capture the conflicting emotions or white-knuckled tension.

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang

May's Review: Let's be honest here. With all the endless crying and screaming, white liquids with bits oozing from its mouths and noises and all kinds of unmentionable smells wafting from its diaper, how many of us honestly thought our baby sister/brother was actually an alien? In Thaddeus' case, he is absolutely convinced that his baby sister is simply that--an extraterrestrial life form. Unfortunately, no one believes him, including his parents who try to pacify him by giving him access to their credit card. So what happens when the aliens finally appear courtesy of his sister acting an inter-dimensional conduit? Will Thaddeus save the day or will he turn his back on everyone who ignored his warnings?

Read this cute graphic novel that was funny and upbeat. A nice change of pace from the usual flesh-hungry zombie novels that I have been reading of late.