This is a graphic novel aimed at adults, but I feel that it would cross over to older teenagers.
It is a modern day fairy tale set in an extraordinary post apocalyptic world set in Western North America. The reality that the characters live in is directly affected by all of human life that went before it. Much of the written history in this new world has been lost however it appears to haunt the present. There is strong echoes of the past and references to it, but in a sense it is also devoid from the new world, which seems at points very separate, so much so that even the language has eroded and evolved.
The main character is a female, with several names, she is a skilled hunter and not only catches her pray but also can skin it and prepare the meat. She travels through the pages of this story with her friend/companion a red tailed hawk. Later she makes friends with a wolf. She appears fearless as all around her is death and fighting.
She is instantly likeable, and you are drawn into her world and carried along on her adventure. It reminds me how mundane my own world is, catching the bus going to work eating dinner in front of the TV. Where as in this world by comparison the characters in this modern day fairy tale seem more alive, perhaps because they are on the edge of death.
The story is large in that it appears to come off the page. This has been achieved by the skillful drawings that almost seem three dimensional in places.
My favorite drawing being the archer drawing back a bow so the edge of the arrow appears to come out of the page at you.
For a nice change the story is left mostly for the reader to interpret. It gives the reader a challenge and a chance to use their own imagination. I found it hugely enjoyable not to have every detail spelled out to me.
The illustrations are all hand drawn with ink and must have taken a very long time as the detail is poetic.
This, Meghann's first book, is beautifully drawn and is breathtaking. She has clearly done a lot of research on Western North American history and people. At the back of her book there are a lot of website addresses and more information about the world history images she references throughout the book.
It has been a great experience to escape into another world through this book. I am looking forward to the next one. Volume two, "End's Shadow Caste: In the Shadow of the Wind Walker" is set to release summer 2014. You can subscribe to Meghann's blog at www.endsshadowcaste.wordpress.
Jane Yates
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