Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated by: Fiona Staples
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Genre: Adult Graphic Novel, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Purchased in paperback
Rating: 4 Bookworms
Recommended by: Kristen @Metaphors and Moonlight
Goodreads
Synopsis
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.
From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.
Collect Saga issues #1-6
I don't typically read graphic novels. There's nothing wrong with them - I've just never been a comic book girl. However, Kristen reviewed the first few in this series and I was intrigued. When I saw a copy while at Powell's with my daughter, I felt it was meant to be and I grabbed it. After finishing it that afternoon, I decided it was serendipitous, indeed.
First off, the illustrations are incredible. They're brilliantly drawn and colored and the detail is so well done. This could be a television show!
Secondly, the story is compelling. We're introduced to a couple who fell in love despite society saying they shouldn't and they're in hiding and on the run. With a newborn in tow.
Thirdly, I like where this story is going. The statements being made against prejudice, blind loyalty, duty to your family and country - well, I liked all that quite a bit.
Lastly, the story is actually being told from the infant's, Hazel's, POC. And it seems she's going to have a pivotal role in history - being a bi-species girl. And I'm eager to see how her life progresses.
I was impressed with how well this graphic novel was able to pull me in and get me invested in these characters. I need to get my hands on the next installments.
This COYER review is actually of a print book but since #COYER Summer Vacation suspended the rules about being ebooks only, I'm including it for my challenge.
***
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Genre: Memoir, Graphic Novel
Source: Purchased copy for my daughter, for school
Rating: 5 Bookworms
Synopsis
Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed memoir-in-comic-strips.
Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming -- both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.
Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom - Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.
My daughter, Sky, read Persepolis in 9th grade for her English class. It had a profound impact on her and she's been bugging asking me to read it ever since. (Sky, I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it.) I think I hesitated because it's a graphic novel and I'm not big on those. But Persepolis was amazing - and very enlightening!
Persepolis is the memoir of a girl growing up in a war-torn Iran. When I hear Iran, I think of the Iran hostage crisis, gas rationing, and the Ayatollah. I think of 'the veil' and religious extremists. Why? Well, mostly because that's what the news told me about when I was growing up. In Persepolis, I got to see Iran from an entirely different perspective.
Marjane Satrapi is from a family that was once very affluent. A family that is proud of the Persian heritage. A family more worshipful of free-thinking than Islam. Marjane attended a French school and dressed similarly to any teenager - until the Islamic Revolution. During the revolution, Marjane's parents protested and spoke against the new regime. They stayed true to themselves and their heritage.
As things escalated and war began, Marjane's parents decided it best that Marjane continue her education abroad. So Marji went to Vienna, with mixed results. I thought it very profound that Marjane said,
"I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the west. I had no identity."
Marjane does an incredible job of imparting her story of being raised to be outspoken in her beliefs, of surviving war, of surviving not having a true identity, and of finding herself. I was delighted that her parents were always supportive of her. They had raised her to be independent, educated, and emancipated and they never tried to hold her back. I was shocked by the horrors of war that she was witness to and the struggle to maintain pride in a country so divided. I was surprised to learn that the fanatical
Muslims are a very small population of Iran - they just happen to hold the power. I was dismayed to learn how those in power abuse it - making martyrdom so lauded. And I was proud of Marjane for doing her best to stay true to herself - being somebody and making her family proud.
Persepolis is a book I'd highly recommend reading. It was historically educational, and enlightening - it definitely changed how I see the country of Iran. And the story is so very relevant today as well. For as Marjane's father said,
"In any case, as long as there is oil in the Middle East we will never have peace."
Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
