ofclumsywords's Reviews (486)

This graphic novel picks up right where the movie ended. Jake is Olo'eyktan and it opens with him looking down over the grave of his human body. It immediately becomes clear that he is still adjusting to being fully Na'vi and not dependent on a machine to make the link to his Avatar. Then we quickly find out that the tensions are still high between the Na'vi and the humans that stayed behind when the rest left back for earth. Jake has to quickly deescalate the tension and it works until we are introduced to the parents of Tsu'tey and his little brother, Arvok. We learn that not all Na'vi are ok with a "Dreamwalker" leading them and they cook up a plan to get their son to take the position of Olo'eyktan as he should have been next in line after Tsu'tey's death. Even though Tsu'tey gave Jake the title as he lay dying, his parents are not convinced. One thing leads to another and Jake and Arvok battle for the title of Olo'eyktan and without Arvok knowing, his blade is coated with a poison to make sure that Jake dies.

When Jake is cut with the blade and the poison begins to take effect on his body he begins to have dreams of being visited by his human self which represents his guilt. He is in the burning Home Tree and visited by the Na'vi that died in the disaster. As he descends more and more into his guilt Eytukan, Neytiri's father and the former Olo'eyktan, visits him to save him from himself. Tsu'tey shows up as well and they tell him that to defeat his guilt he needs to forgive himself. It was a great moment where we get to see Jake finally accept his Na'vi body and give up his old life and forgive himself for things that the other Na'vi have already forgiven him for. It is the final stage that he needed to go through before he can become the Olo'eyktan the People need to rebuild and heal from all the humans have done to them. It was a perfect bridge between the first movie and all that we never got to see in the ten years that happened before the second movie takes place. Jake fully understands his role and that it is ok to show mercy and to be a different leader than what came before. Everything has changed since the humans showed up and the Na'vi do need a "Dreamwalker" to lead them, someone who can bridge the gap between humans and Na'vi. 

This graphic novel picks up right where the movie ended. Jake is Olo'eyktan and it opens with him looking down over the grave of his human body. It immediately becomes clear that he is still adjusting to being fully Na'vi and not dependent on a machine to make the link to his Avatar. Then we quickly find out that the tensions are still high between the Na'vi and the humans that stayed behind when the rest left back for earth. Jake has to quickly deescalate the tension and it works until we are introduced to the parents of Tsu'tey and his little brother, Arvok. We learn that not all Na'vi are ok with a "Dreamwalker" leading them and they cook up a plan to get their son to take the position of Olo'eyktan as he should have been next in line after Tsu'tey's death. Even though Tsu'tey gave Jake the title as he lay dying, his parents are not convinced. One thing leads to another and Jake and Arvok battle for the title of Olo'eyktan and without Arvok knowing, his blade is coated with a poison to make sure that Jake dies.

When Jake is cut with the blade and the poison begins to take effect on his body he begins to have dreams of being visited by his human self which represents his guilt. He is in the burning Home Tree and visited by the Na'vi that died in the disaster. As he descends more and more into his guilt Eytukan, Neytiri's father and the former Olo'eyktan, visits him to save him from himself. Tsu'tey shows up as well and they tell him that to defeat his guilt he needs to forgive himself. It was a great moment where we get to see Jake finally accept his Na'vi body and give up his old life and forgive himself for things that the other Na'vi have already forgiven him for. It is the final stage that he needed to go through before he can become the Olo'eyktan the People need to rebuild and heal from all the humans have done to them. It was a perfect bridge between the first movie and all that we never got to see in the ten years that happened before the second movie takes place. Jake fully understands his role and that it is ok to show mercy and to be a different leader than what came before. Everything has changed since the humans showed up and the Na'vi do need a "Dreamwalker" to lead them, someone who can bridge the gap between humans and Na'vi. 

A great addition to the movie! We get to see the story we already know but now through Tsu'tey's eyes. It is revealed early that Sylwanin, (Neytiri's sister) and Tsu'tey were in love and were to become the next Tsahik and Olo'eyktan, until Sylwanin died and Neytiri becomes the next in line as Tsahik. Sylwanin's death is explained in the deleted scenes/extended versions of the movie and I really wish it hadn't been cut from the movie since it adds a lot more to the story. But in this graphic novel we get to meet Sylwanin and learn even more about her when Tsu'tey contacts her through the spirit tree. 

Another part that was cut from the original movie was Tsu'tey's death. We see him fall from the aircraft during the final battle but we do not see anything more or how Jake becomes the new Olo'eyktan. It is once again a deleted scene in the movies but the graphic novel actually has the full scene in it as well and I am so glad that it was included. It is a very powerful moment and a prefect ending for Tsu'tey who was such a flawed and complex character. This book really does justice for him and I am so glad that it exists. And then, just as an added bonus, his story comes to a complete close when Tsu'tey joins his beloved Sylwanin in the spirit tree and reunited. 

This edition of the graphic novel also included the short story "Brothers". It starts off just as Jake is trying to right his wrongs of deceiving the Na'vi as to why he really wanted to learn their ways. He starts off by reminiscing about the twin brother that died at the beginning of the story (and the reason why he goes to Pandora in the first place) while he is searching for the Toruk. It continues on to show what the movie didn't of Jake actually taming the beast and bonding with it before arriving at the spirit tree to make his peace with the Na'vi. It is a great monologue of him remembering his old life and family while he begins the fight to protect his new family.

By listening to the audiobook, I got to literally hear this book in his own words and it added so much to the already incredible story. Matthew Perry holds nothing back and the reader gets an inside look into his struggles. Its something that he did not need to share with us but bravely did to shine some light on the darkest moments of his life while we were laughing at the TV screen as Chandler Bing cracked another joke. We also get an inside look to how the character of Chandler was born way before he ever booked the show, how he got his iconic role, and the ups and downs of each of the shows seasons. If you need a book that you find yourself laughing out loud to or for a great story of survival and overcoming all the odds I would recommend this book. 

I wasn't kidding when I said that I was excited for this plot to be a multiple book arc in my last review and this did not disappoint! Obi-Wan is separated from his master at the very end of Deadly Hunter and now he has to navigate how to find Qui-Gon all on his own. 

Now that Qui-Gon is gone, we really get to see Obi-Wan's progression of all he has learned in his apprenticeship. He conducts the entire investigation without any Jedi supervision and with the help of Astri, Didi's daughter. Though he lacks confidence during certain parts of the mission, he really does an excellent job. He lets himself take his time to think things through instead of jumping to conclusions and being quick to judge. He lets Qui-Gon's past lessons come back by remembering his teachings as if Qui-Gon is right there next to him speaking them out loud. 

With that being said, it also makes me sad to realize how far Obi-Wan has come and that there are only a few books left in this series. And Qui-Gon's eventual death. Seeing them apart while Qui-Gon is still alive and hearing Qui-Gon say multiple times in this book that he is proud of Obi-Wan and that he knows that Obi-Wan will find him is like a knife in the heart. Their bond is growing stronger and all their past differences are in the past. We get to see each of them really care for each other and worry about the other and getting an inside look to Obi-Wan's apprenticeship is really driving home how much Qui-Gon's death effected him in The Phantom Menace. 

I really cannot wait to begin the next book; and getting to buddy read it (something I tried for the first time here on StoryGraph and was so much fun) made reading this book with so much angst much more bearable. 

I may have to rename this book to: "Quinlan Vos and the Clone Wars". I was not expecting to see so many comics with him in it and I am so glad that I did. Getting to see him in action as a spy during the war and the consistency that followed from the previous Omnibus of his constant struggle with balance of light vs dark was amazing to see. Not to mention all the other characters inside this book. It shows even more action to go along with the show, opening readers eyes to what the Clone Wars really was after not having answers for so many years. One of the main themes are the Jedi questioning the their purpose in the war and there is even a comic in this book of Jedi who have defected because they don't agree with the decisions the Council is making. It was great to see a different side of the Jedi instead of the sometimes blind faith they put into the council where they don't actual question them at all. 

Having never played the game but finding that there is a novelization to it was one of the best revelations I've had. The hype to this is justified and I can see why it is so popular. The only real negatives I had was that Wesker has a POV in the book and it seemed that the mystery of who was attacking the people of Racoon City and what exactly happened inside Spencer house was revealed too soon. The other negative was that I was having a hard time picturing all the puzzles that the characters had to interact with inside the house. I know that it was a main plot point of the game to solve the puzzles to get the next clue or move on to the next level of the game, but they were very complex and for someone who has never played the game or looked up images of the puzzles I got a little lost. Besides that, the book was great. The creatures were familiar (who doesn't like a zombie?) and unique, not to mention the perfect amount of horror to keep you on the edge of your seat!

This is my favorite book in the series so far! So much is finally revealed and we are getting to the bigger plot of the parents disappearance and how the seven families are connected. The fact that something sinister happened years ago when their parents were kids, and at the same summer camp that they all find themselves at was so fun and I want to know more as soon as possible. I am sad that this series is already halfway over. I honestly never want it to end. It is so funny and heartfelt and something I wished I got to read as a kid. The fact that the authors theme of this book on top of the classic horror movie monsters is that its ok for a kid to be exactly who they are is amazing. I find myself relating more and more to Alexander especially when I was his age and I wish I had had more characters to read about like him! 

The reason this got four stars instead of five was mostly for the fact that structure of the book itself was disjointed. We go from issues 19-26 then jump to 32-45 and the reader can tell that there were some things missing. Issues 23-26 continue on from a story that was published way before this one came out and you needed to know what had happened in the earlier ones for it to make sense. I would have even liked to see Quinlan go through his retraining at the temple after losing his memory instead of skipping 3 months ahead from the end of #22 to #23. 

But that's not to say that the actual stories itself weren't great. Getting to exclusively read about Quinlan Vos instead of getting a little bit of backstory of him in The Clone Wars show was the whole reason I wanted to read this. I wish I got a little more about who Quinlan was before he lost his memories and his relationship with Aayla but getting to see them patch up their relationship after the whole story arc with her uncle's death was great. Another great aspect was the fact we get a backstory to Quinlan, not only did we visit his home planet but we also got to meet his relatives and understand more of his power to get a memory from touching objects. Did I mention the fact that through this entire book Quinlan was fighting between the Darkside and Lightside? That was incredible to see the push and pull of Dark vs Light and how Quinlan had to find a balance, which at its core is the whole point of Darkside vs Lightside. It is finally discussed more inside a Star Wars book that does not include Anakin's constant struggle and it was great to see the honesty of another Jedi struggling with it. 

What a cliffhanger! 

Jude Watson has proven before that a multiple book plot like the Xanatos one earlier in this series are the best. She can weave a deeper story by spreading it across multiple volumes and I can’t wait to see where this new one leads. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are back in sync with each other as if Melida/Daan never happened and Obi-Wan is no longer anxious about the past. So of course this is the perfect time for Watson to stir up trouble and once again separate our favorite Jedi Master and Apprentice. I can’t wait for more!