Deep Silence by Jonathan Maberry

On November 15, 2018March 5, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller33 Comments

Publishers: St. Martins Griffin

Macmillan Audio

Publication Date – 30 October 2018

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From horror legend Jonathan Maberry comes the 10th book in his weird-science based horror, thriller, science fiction Joe Ledger series, which takes the reader on a wild joyride through a world gone mad in this five-star adventure.

I have to admit that Maberry is not an author that I have had much experience with before. The only work of his I have previously read was a fun short story that was featured in a volume of zombie short stories he jointly edited with George A. Romero in 2017 that I previously reviewed here. However, I am extremely happy that I decided to check out this latest book as it exposed me to this incredible series, which I enjoyed immensely. I can think of no greater praise for this novel then to say that upon finishing it, I immediately dropped everything and started reading the first book in the series, Patient Zero, which I will be reviewing in the next few weeks as part of my Throwback Thursday series.

I chose to listen to Deep Silence on audiobook rather than read a physical copy. The audiobook format of this book is just under 16½ hours long and is narrated by Ray Porter, who has worked on several other books in the series.

In this latest book, a Russian splinter group have developed a powerful weapon with pieces of alien crystal seeded throughout the planet. This new weapon can cause devastating earthquakes on a level never before seen and has the potential to destroy the entirety of the United States. The weapon also has a chilling side effect: it causes people around the epicentre of the quake to engage in violent acts of madness, from suicide to ferocious attacks on others. The first attack targets Washington, with mass violence erupting around the Capitol building.

America’s only hope may be the top-secret rapid response organisation, the Department of Military Sciences (DMS). For years, the DMS has been the only line of defence against the insane science America’s enemies are utilising and developing in this new age of wonders. From deadly diseases, ancient forbidden technologies, extreme acts of genetic manipulation, the latest forms of cyber and electronic attack, and even weaponised zombies, the DMS, led in the field by Captain Joe Ledger, has managed to stop all these threats and more. Utilising the latest military and espionage equipment and the best and brightest soldiers and scientists America has to offer, the DMS operates just outside the government and can go further than any other agency can.

However, while the DMS attempts to combat this latest threat, they find themselves hindered by a megalomaniac President whose stupidity and paranoia make him more afraid of the DMS than the group unleashing earthquakes across his country. As Joe and his team attempt to hunt down the origins of this attack they must contend not only with a dangerous Russian force but also with agents of their own Government and devices that can drive even the most dedicated DMS agent insane. But as the Russians attempt to force the eruption of the Yellowstone caldera, the greatest threat may come from the creatures the technology was stolen from.

Deep Silence is the 10th book in Maberry’s Joe Ledger series, which started in 2009 with Patient Zero. Maberry has been writing since 2006, with his debut book Ghost Road Blues forming the first book in the Pine Deep Trilogy. Since then, Maberry has written a huge number of books, most of which have a horror theme or focus. Apart from his Joe Ledger series, Maberry is probably best known for his Rot & Ruin series, a young adult zombie apocalypse series. Aside from his fictional novels, Maberry has also written several comics for Marvel as well of a number of non-fiction books, which tend to focus on Maberry’s passions for martial arts and the supernatural.

Deep Silence is an exceptional book that combines together a number of genres, including science fiction, thriller, horror, military fiction and spy thrillers into one very captivating narrative. The end result is a non-stop thrill ride that perfectly utilises the series’s bizarre nature and advanced science to create a devastating threat and a larger-than-life protagonist to face it. There are so many amazing elements to this book, from its continuation of an enjoyable series, to the very weird elements that come into play, to the excellent writing style and enjoyable characters. Once I started reading this book I just could not stop, and it is easily one of my favourite books of this year.

From what I understand, the Joe Ledger series started off mostly focusing on the mad sciences that humans are able to create and use against each other. However, in recent books, the series has taken on a more Lovecraftian vibe, with unknown aliens, space demons and incredibly insane technology. Deep Silence in particular seems to relate back to several of these previous alien technology based novels, as the devices, technology and motives that the book’s antagonists utilise are closely related to the adventures that occurred in previous books. That being said, there is still the continuous use of more advanced human technologies utilised by many of the book’s characters, especially those working for the DMS. All the crazy gadgets that they use are pretty impressive, but none (with one or two major exceptions) are outside the realm of possibility and reflect technologies that could potentially exist. Indeed, in the introduction to Patient Zero, Maberry actually confirms that most of the technology he describes in his books is currently used or could soon be used by intelligence organisations around the world today.

One of the challenges of coming into a series late is the reader’s lack of knowledge about the universe’s background information, lore and the development of its main characters and the extent of their relationships. Maberry does an incredible job bridging this gap throughout Deep Silence, providing the reader with descriptions of previous events, recaps of character descriptions and history and making use of a number of references to previous missions and adventures captured in the other books in the Joe Ledger series. There are also a number of scenes that appeared to be callbacks to previous books, although the author was able to describe the pertinent details of these events. As a result, I was never lost at any point and really appreciated the recaps and detailed descriptions the book’s various point-of-view characters provided throughout the novel. It also made me very curious about some of the previous books in the franchise, and I am now very interested in checking out some of these insane and fun-sounding adventures. As a result, Deep Silence is an excellent book if you want to get an idea of what the Joe Ledger series is all about. At the same time, established fans of this long-running series will be interested to see the significant changes that occur to the book’s main characters, as well as the scenes detailing where the series will potentially be going in the future.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Deep Silence was the way that Maberry presents the book’s narrative from multiple perspectives and across a range of different time periods. Because of this, the reader is given a far wider view of the overall narrative. Not only do they get to see the protagonists attempting to investigate and stop what is going on, but they get to see the antagonists coming up with their plans, discovering and researching their doomsday device over a period of years and then implementing their mission. This also allows the reader to get a far deeper understanding of the antagonist’s objectives and mindscapes in committing these acts and what it costs them mentally and emotionally. Nearly all the fun and eccentric characters working in the DMS get a few scenes told from their point of view. This provides the reader with some high level, but easy to follow, scientific discussions, hacking sequences and the utilisation of incredibly exciting-sounding advanced espionage technology. There is also a focus within Deep Silence of the politics around and behind the DMS, and how the organisation’s leader, the mysterious Mr Church (who is totally an alien, right?), deals with these situations.

While all of the other point-of-view characters are entertaining and it is intriguing to view their sides of the story, the best character has to be the series’s main protagonist, Joe Ledger. Ledger is the extremely dangerous and slightly disturbed leader of the DMS field team, and has been at the forefront of all the adventures in this series. It is interesting to note that Ledger is the only character in this book whose story is told from the first person perspective, which is fortunate because Ledger is one of the biggest smartasses in fiction, especially within the privacy of his head. Nearly every single piece of the book told from Ledger’s point of view is filled with jokes, wisecracks, and exaggerated or sarcastic thoughts. Ledger has some incredibly humorous observations about the world around him, especially the eccentric characters he encounters, and his thoughts are just as likely to be self-deprecating as they are to be insulting about the people he has to deal with. He is also an eccentric being who does some incredibly funny things, from having fun with his opponents to humming the Mission Impossible theme as he breaks into a safe. However, beneath this humorous exterior there is a deeply damaged character who is severely impacted by events that have occurred before and during this series. Maberry spends significant time diving into this character’s history and psyche, which quickly gives the reader, even readers previously unfamiliar with the series, a good understanding of his life and the events that define him. His deep and fractured mind becomes a key part of this story, especially when it encounters mind-altering alien crystal and events beyond the realm of human comprehension. All of this helps create an amazing and incredibly relatable central character whom the reader becomes incredibly drawn to, and as a result, Ledger is one of the best things about this book. Special mention should also be given to Ledger’s combat dog Ghost, who appears in nearly all the same scenes as Ledger and is just as much of an enjoyable character as his owner.

While the mad science elements and characters are great, Maberry has also ensured that this is the perfect book for those action junkies looking for fast-paced thrills. Ledger is an absolute beast throughout this book and engages in a number of fantastic fights in a variety of different scenarios. Maberry channels his love of martial arts through this character and includes a number of detailed and very quick fight scenes as Ledger dismantles his opponents with efficient skill. The other characters are no slouches and there are number of great action sequences I enjoyed. Two of my favourites have to be two separate and extended sequences which see Ledger and DMS’s Echo Team engage in massive fire fights with a range of opponents. These scenes are absolutely incredible and make the reader feel like they are really in the middle of a gun battle. The author takes pains to try and highlight how methodical and calm professional teams can be during battles while also highlighting the various strategies and combat advantages used. The multiple perspectives come into play here perfectly, as the different members of Echo Team engage in various encounters around the main battle, really highlighting what an effective special ops team can accomplish in the field. Maberry enhances the fun and the action to a crazy degree by also utilising the advanced technology available to the DMS agents. This not only includes some insane and deadly weaponry, which is very cool in action, but also other pieces of advanced technology such as drones, body armour, goggles, and enhancements for Ghost that help turn the battles into massive and enjoyable set pieces.

Nothing, however, can top the sheer insanity that unfolds when the book’s antagonists unleash their super weapon against the world. Maberry’s descriptive and skilled writing really brings these scenes to life. The sheer devastation of the earthquakes that he describes is just incredible and very disturbing. But nothing is more crazy or electrifying then the scenes where the people who are affected by the strange energy given off by the weapon go insane and start participating in a violent rampage against themselves or against each other. Maberry pulls no punches here and all the violence is on full display, from terrible acts of violence against anyone around them to disturbing suicides or episodes of self-harm. In many of these scenes the author attempts to get into the head of these characters and watch them slowly unfold from within. This mostly prevalent with his protagonist, Joe Ledger, but other characters’ thoughts are shown. Let’s just say you’ll never look at the Beatles song Revolution 9 the same again. The biggest example of this insanity happens around the Capitol building in Washington DC, and quite frankly it reminded me of the church scene in Kingsman: The Secret Service, with the protagonists stuck in the middle of a crazy mob.

One of the more intriguing parts of Deep Silence is the side character of the President of the United States of America. While this character is never explicitly named in the book, he is clearly supposed to be a Trump analogue. The character is an easily manipulated, short-tempered, Twitter-obsessed moron who puts his own needs far above those of the country he is governing. The resemblance to Trump is uncanny, and Maberry does an incredible job mirroring his arrogance and personality throughout the book. While this character is a great addition by itself, Maberry spends a lot of time exploring how a character like this would deal with the advanced technology and extreme catastrophes that are a major part of this series. The results are frustrating for the reader as they are forced to sit there and watch this character make all the wrong decisions and serve his own agenda or self-interest. It was also very intriguing watching this President go up against the DMS as he routinely targets the department out of fear and ignorance. The new political reality of Washington becomes a major factor throughout Deep Silence, and Maberry is understandably critical about how things are being run and the insanity currently gripping Washington. It was very interesting to see Maberry incorporate the current unpredictable political reality of America into his new book, and readers will be very intrigued to see how this might impact the future of his long-running series.

I listened to the audiobook version of Deep Silence, narrated by Ray Porter. The audiobook version does go for over 16 hours, so it’s one of the longer ones I have listened to lately. That being said, due to its exceptional content, I found myself making a variety of excuses just to keep listening to this audiobook, and got through it very quickly. The audiobook is an incredible way to experience this book, and I would highly recommend it, mainly because of Ray Porter’s narration. Porter absolutely nails all of the characters and provides a number of amazing voices to fully capture the diverse accents and attitudes of this eccentric group of characters. I was particularly enthralled with the calm, cool voice he gifted to the DMS Director, Mr Church, which really reminded me of Tom Hanks’s voice. Special mention should also be given to his narration of the President. The narrator created a fantastic Trump-like voice that fully conveyed the character’s high opinion of himself, as well as his dismissive and arrogant nature. I actually had a visceral reaction when I heard that voice the first time, it was that good. Porter’s narration for Joe Ledger was also perfect, as he does an incredible job portraying Ledger’s high-energy musings and the full tone of his personality. Porter’s voice peaks and rises to meet the full intent of any of Ledger’s sentences, and he is a master at conveying Ledger’s innate sarcasm. At the same time, he is also able to make his voice more serious and subdued during the darker scenes in which Ledger is deep within his head or his memories. This is sterling work from Porter, and one of the best audiobook narrations I have ever listened to. As a result, I highly recommend that the audiobook version of Deep Silence as the best way to experience this novel.

Bestselling author Jonathan Maberry once again takes his audience on a captivating thrill ride in the Joe Ledger Series. Deep Silence provides the reader with an extraordinary and very engrossing story that proves extremely hard to put down. Equally enjoyable for established fans of this long-running series and new readers who have yet to experience Maberry’s work, readers can and will have an incredible amount of fun with this book. Best enjoyed in audiobook format, Deep Silence is guaranteed to make you a dedicated fan of the author and easily gets a five-star rating from me.

My Rating:

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Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton

On September 27, 2018August 19, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller7 Comments

Publisher: Macmillan

Publication Date – 4 September 2018

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From one of the modern masters of the space opera comes a rich and ambitious piece of science fiction that that examines an exciting potential future for Earth and the intriguing adventures that could come as a result.

In 2204 AD, humanity has advanced by leaps and bounds and spread out among the stars. Utilising advanced teleportation technology, next-gen computers and cutting-edge biotech, humanity has created a number of new and varied societies controlled by a handful of powerful corporations. However, everything is about to change. Out in the furthest reaches of human expansion, explorers have found a crashed alien craft. While this is not humanity’s first contact with an alien species, the sinister cargo found onboard the crashed ship reveals a dangerous alien agenda. Determined to ensure humanity’s survival, the Connexion Corporation assembles a task force to examine the craft and assess the potential threat that it could cause. Led by Feriton Kayne, the task force is made up of Kandara Martinez, Yuri Alster, Callum Hepburn, Alik Monday and their assistants. While on paper this group are the perfect people to investigate this potential threat, there is one significant problem: one member of the team is a hostile alien infiltrator. As the team gets closer to the alien ship, secrets from their past are revealed and the future of the human race hangs in the balance.

Hundreds of years later, Dellian and his team of genetically enhanced soldiers are born and raised on a planet, far away from Earth. An alien threat has forced humanity into hiding among the stars and pushed them to the edge of extinction. As the young soldiers grow up, they encounter lessons from the past and discuss the legendary Five Saints who first encountered the invaders.

This is an absolutely spectacular piece of science fiction from bestselling author Peter Hamilton, who has once again created an elaborate and captivating space opera. Hamilton has written a number of large-scale science fiction novels since his 1993 debut. He first gained prominence with the Greg Mandel trilogy, which followed the adventures of a psychic detective in a dystopian future. Hamilton followed this up with his first epic space opera series, The Night’s Dawn trilogy, which focused on souls of the dead coming back and possessing multiple human planets in the far future. He continued with additional space operas, such as the Commonwealth Saga, the Void Trilogy, The Chronicle of the Fallers and the standalone novel Fallen Dragon, as well as the children’s fantasy series, The Queen of Dreams. Salvation is the first book in Hamilton’s brand new trilogy, The Salvation Sequence, with the adventure continuing in the future releases, Salvation Lost and Saints of Salvation.

Salvation is an impressive and compelling read that combines a powerful and well-written story with a brand new, large-scale science fiction universe. This story is told from of variety of different time periods set throughout Earth’s future. The central story of this book is set in 2204 AD and features the exploration crew from the Connexion Corporation examining the crashed alien ship. This storyline is narrated from Feriton Kayne’s point of view and is the only first-person narration in the entire book, except for a short flashback chapter examining Feriton’s infiltration of a different alien spacecraft. Salvation also features five additional storylines that are set across various time periods. Four of these storylines are presented as tales from the other four main characters in the 2204 AD timeline, Kandara Martinez, Yuri Alster, Callum Hepburn and Alik Monday. Each of these flashback narratives is given its own significant chapter; for example the first of these flashback chapters lasts for 140 of the books 526 total pages. The fifth storyline is set far in the future, and features a different group of characters who are living in the aftermath of these past adventures and is told across several shorter chapters. The author makes spectacular use of these multiple time periods and combines them together into an excellent overarching narrative. A significant amount of detail and a huge number of supporting characters are packed into this book, which falls just short of overwhelming the reader but creates the feeling of a massive universe with quite a lot going on.

Each of Salvation’s separate plotlines offers the reader a drastically different story to enjoy, and presents them with several unique adventures in one novel. The storyline in 2204 AD is an intriguing first contact and exploration story that works incredibly well as the overall narrative that ties all the other storylines together. The first flashback storyline is set in 2092 AD and features the story of how Callum Hepburn and Yuri Alster gained their antagonism towards each other. It also shows the earlier days of Connexion and the darker side of their newly formed technology and world influence. This first story is told from the point of view of Callum, Yuri and Callum’s wife, Savi, and features a thrilling spy tale that also reveals the unique and extreme form of criminal punishment that resulted from the new technology. The second of these storylines is set in 2167 AD and focuses completely on Yuri as he searches for a missing person taken by the new and shadowy underworld that has taken shape amongst the stars. This is the first of the flashback storylines to hint that an alien species may have nefarious plans for humanity, and also features some cool examinations of the power and tactics that Yuri and Connexion use.

The third storyline is a complex murder mystery storyline set in 2172 AD that focuses on the secretive FBI agent Alik Monday and presents another fantastic mystery with some unique science fiction elements. The fourth storyline is set in 2194 AD and follows badass mercenary Kandara Martinez as she investigates corporate sabotage on the Utopial home planet. This is a high-action thriller storyline that also examines the Utopials, a human society seeking to create a cultural utopia, while also going into genetic surgery in a big way. The highlight of this storyline has to be the intense fight between Kandara and the mercenary Cancer, who had been a shadowy figure in some of the previous storylines. The final prequel story follows the 2204 AD timeline narrator, Feriton Kayne, in 2199 as he infiltrates the large spaceship belonging to the Olyix, an alien race that humanity came in contact with some years before. This is one of the shortest stories, but it contains the most detailed examination of the Olyix, who have appeared in several of the previous stories.

In addition to the stories set in and before 2204 AD there are also several chapters are set in the far future of humanity. This timeline starts in 583 AA (After Arrival) and features the remnants of humanity as they prepare to fight back against the alien menace that pushed them away from Earth. This is a rather intriguing storyline that examines children being turned into tight-knit teams of soldiers as they prepare for the war to come while also providing some hints about the events of the main storyline. Each of the above stories are fairly self-contained and do an amazing job of showing off the sheer complexity of Hamilton’s new universe, while at the same time providing a series of unique and captivating tales across time.

Each of the prequel timelines has a storyline that could be considered either a murder mystery or thriller. By themselves, each of these storylines is very well written and contains compelling mysteries and action packed sequences that are more than enough to keep the readers hooked to the book. However, the real highlight of these prequel timelines is the way in which the play into Salvation’s larger mystery that is explored within the 2204 AD storyline, namely the identity of the alien race attacking humanity and which of the members of the research team is an infiltrator. I really loved the way that these prequel stories hinted at the main mystery while also exploring the history of the main characters in an attempt to show their personality or a critical point in their lives. The final twists in the 2204 AD storyline are very surprising and serve as a fantastic payoff for Salvation’s overall narrative.

The author has also included a significant amount of science fiction elements throughout the book that are presented in considerable detail. It is fascinating to see Hamilton postulate how Earth may develop in the near future and the advanced technology that they would start to utilise. The multiple timelines also come into play for this element of the book as they allow the reader to see the progression of technology over the years. What is most interesting about this is that the main pieces of technology don’t change; instead the next generations of the same device are revealed throughout the book’s various stories before the technology eventually plateaus at its highest level. The science fiction elements also come into play in several intriguing ways. For example, they allow for some very creative mysteries, including a murder in a house containing teleportation gates that result in the victims being spread across multiple locations, including New York, the Moon, Mars and the Antarctic, creating a murder investigation with several unique complications. The advent of space travel and other technology also allows the creation of some inventive new societies. From futuristic utopias to desolate prison it is absolutely fascinating to watch these societies come together. Overall the science fiction elements are a fantastic part of this book and add some intriguing elements to all of the book’s interconnected stories.

Peter Hamilton has produced another elaborate and powerful piece of science fiction space opera in Salvation. With a new and unique universe that contains some fantastic and detailed new elements and multiple timelines that are combined together into an outstanding novel, this is an absolutely amazing read. Epic science fiction at it’s very best, Salvation comes highly recommended and is a spectacular start to an exceptional new series.

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Runaways Volume 1: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka

On September 13, 2018August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, LGBT+, Superhero, Young Adult1 Comment

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Publication Date – 8 May 2018

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From bestselling young adult fiction author Rainbow Rowell and exciting Marvel artist Kris Anka comes the revival we have all been waiting for, with the return of Runaways.

Years ago, six young friends found out a terrible truth: their parents were members of a supervillain group known as The Pride and were working towards the destruction of the planet. Uncovering their hidden powers and strengths, these friends, genius Alex Wilder, the sorceress Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm), alien Karolina Dean (Lucy in the Sky), mutant Molly Hayes (Princess Powerful/Bruiser), mad scientist offspring Chase Stein (Talkback) and proud dinosaur owner and daughter of two time travellers Gertrude Yorkes (Arsenic with her deinonychus, Old Lace), became the Runaways to escape their parents’ evil plans.

After the death of Alex and all of their parents, the surviving Runaways become family and even brought in new members, including the cyborg Victor, the Skrull Xavin and the time displaced mutant Klara. While the team’s plans to live in peace were often disrupted by their forced heroics, for a time they were happy. But even the best families have a hard time staying together in the Marvel Universe, and following the death of Gert, Xavin’s forced departure for the stars, the events of Murderworld and the elevation of several members to the Avengers, the Runaways have gone their separate ways.

However, one former Runaway has had a hard time letting go of the past. Stealing a time machine, the team’s wildcard member, Chase, has gone back in time to fix his biggest regret: the death of his girlfriend, Gertrude. But being brought back to life several years in the future is tough, and all Gertrude wants to do is reunite with her friends, even if they are now older than her. Chase is his old goofy self, but Nico and Carolina have moved on with their lives, , Victor is now just a head and Molly has moved in with her grandmother. Will the Runaways get together again, or have their subsequent adventures affected their relationships too much? And who is the evil scientist stalking them from afar?

Runaways was a ground breaking series originally released in 2003 that focused on a fresh new group of heroes with no previous connections to other characters in the Marvel Universe. Created by Brian K Vaughan of Y: The Last Man and Saga fame and artist Adrian Alphona, Runaways represents some of their most significant work with Marvel. Runaways was an exciting tale of teenage rebellion which was amplified by the superhero elements. Featuring some incredibly iconic characters, the initial series of Runaways featured a fantastic enclosed story about crime and heroics in Los Angeles with only minimal inclusions from the outside Marvel Universe. Featuring characters who acted in a contrary way to the other superheroes by actively avoiding fights, making fun of costumes and team names (they never actually referred to themselves as the Runaways) and only using superhero monikers ironically, this was a fun series with some clever new ideas.

Following this initial run, the story became a more traditional superhero series, focusing on the adventures of the titular heroes as they fought crime and other threats in LA. There were a series of great adventures during this period, which included memorable events such as the tragic loss of Gert, Xavin’s sacrifice, several team-ups with the Young Avengers and involvements in the Civil War and Secret Invasion crossover events. The series would abruptly end in 2009, and readers would have to wait years to see a significant follow-up. The characters have appeared in several other series, including Daken: Dark Wolverine and Avengers Academy. However, the characters would not significantly return until Avengers Arena, where Nico and Chase found themselves trapped in Murderworld, and Avengers Arena’s follow up series, Avengers Undercover, which saw the return of Alex Wilder. At the same time, Victor would join the cast of Avengers A.I. An alternate version of the Runaways got their own series as part of the 2015 Secret Wars crossover even, and Nico would eventually become a member of the female Avengers team in A-Force.

With the release of 2017s Runaways television show, a new comic series of Runaways was announced by Marvel which saw the first run of the original characters in nearly nine years. This new series is helmed by acclaimed young adult fiction author Rainbow Rowell and dedicated Marvel artist Kris Anka. Volume 1 of their run of Runways, Find Your Way Home, contains issues #1-6 of the series, with a second volume to be released in October 2018.

Runaways has long been one of my favourite series, and is probably one of the best comic examinations of young teenage characters that Marvel has ever produced. As a result, I was very excited to get my copy of Find Your Way Home, and headed into this new series with high expectations. I was not at all disappointed by the result and really enjoyed this new series. This first volume expertly captures the heart and soul of the original series, reunites several fan favourite characters, and skilfully addresses all the tragic events that have impacted this team over the last few years.

The first thing that can be seen in this series is the extreme emotional damage that most of the characters have experienced over the last few years and the strain this has placed on the team. Because of all the pressures in their lives, the Runaways have disbanded and each have gone their separate ways. This appears to have affected team members Nico and Chase the most because of their traumatic experiences in the Avengers Arena series. Nico comes across as very emotionally compromised from the very first scene, while Chase is still obsessed with his greatest tragedy, the sacrifice Gertrude made to save his life. The other Runaways are just as damaged in their own separate ways. Karolina is apparently trying to live a normal life, but while she seems unhappy, she is the most reluctant to re-join the team, and her eventual return results in emotional upheaval between her and Nico. After dying, Gert finds herself alive again in the future with older versions of her friends, as well as an adult boyfriend. She spends most of the volume trying to deal with these significant changes, the fact that her only real family fractured after her death, and the emotional trauma she experienced dying. After his death in Vision, Victor spends the entire series as a disembodied head, and keeps his status hidden for most of the volume as he tries to work out if he wants to remain online and re-join the team. Of all the characters, Molly seems to be the most together, as she is being looked after by her grandmother and is her usually bubbly and high-energy self. However, her behaviour disguises the fact she knows about some of the deep problems happening around her, and her emotional breakdown at the end of the volume is quiet heartbreaking to behold. Overall, the creative team handle these deep emotional issues well, and I really appreciated the fact that they did not deny or shy away from the trauma that these characters experienced in other Marvel series.

Despite the high level of emotional trauma, there are quite a few very nice moments within the book that fans of the original Runaways series will really appreciate. The team coming together at the end of the volume to save Molly and Gert is an amazing moment. After viewing all of the above trauma, it was also great to see the team decide to get back together to become each other’s emotional support. I also challenge anyone not to get emotional during the scene where Gertrude is reunited with Old Lace, as the two mentally connected friends are finally reunited for the first time in years. Once again, the youngest Runaway, Molly, is the heart and soul of the team, and it is great to see that despite her age, she is still one of the most emotionally mature, giving sage advice and actually being the only person to notice the threats around them or the fact that Victor’s head is rolling his eyes at the events around him. I also love that she still has the same Marvel fangirl attitude that she had in the original series, as she spends time wearing Captain Marvel inspired leggings. Here’s hoping she gets to have some fun interactions with the rest of the Marvel Universe as she did before (the issue she spent running around with Wolverine is one of the funniest bits in Runaways’ previous run).

One of the more interesting parts of this volume is that it focuses more on the character interactions than on action or adventure. There really is not too much violence until the end of the book, and even then their biggest fight is against a group of psychic cats whom they do not actually want to hurt or kill. I think that this is a good choice for the first volume, as this allows them to really focus on the characters, while also showing off the difference this series has to a classic comic book story. Despite the lack of action, the series starts with one of the best scenes in the entire volume, when Chase appears in the middle of Nico’s apartment with a mortally wounded Gert. Nico, despite her shock and the implications of what Chase has done, tries to use her magic to try to save Gert. While Nico is a powerful magic user, all her magic is tied up in The Staff of One, her parent’s magical staff that has bonded to Nico’s body. The Staff of One can bend reality to what Nico requests, however, it will only do the specific spell once. This far along in their adventures, Nico has used a lot of spells already, including ‘heal’, and must use a range of more obscure or very specific statements to try and achieve her goals. The first sequence where she uses a huge range of different spells really shows off the unique and in some ways limited nature of Nico’s powers and really shows emotional depth right off the bat as the characters get more and more desperate in their attempts to save Gert, and there is palpable relief when they manage to save her.

This series of Runaways has a new artist at its helm, Kris Anka, and as a result the art style of Find Your Way Home is slightly different from the previous series. It still works well to show off the story, and the depictions of the characters’ superpowers being used are pretty cool. The new character designs are interesting, as Nico, Chase and Karolina are each given a different design to reflect how they’ve aged up since the last series. Nico looks particularly worn and sad at the start of the comic, and is definitely showing off the strain of her adventure. Anka has created an interesting look for Chase, and he now looks like a cross between a beach bum and a mad scientist. The other characters, Molly, Victor, Gert and Old Lace retain similar styles to those they had in the previous series. These similarities make a lot of sense, as Gert has time-travelled from the previous series, Victor is a cyborg head and Old Lace is a dinosaur. The artist has also chosen not to change Molly’s age too much, and thankfully she retains her distinctive looks and hats. One of the highlights of Anka’s work is the dinosaur Old Lace, and quite a lot of the book’s humour can be seen in her funny reactions and antics. Overall, I really enjoyed the new art style of the book and found that the new character designs suited the book’s necessary changes.

Runaways return in top form with this fantastic first volume, which sticks true to the core of the beloved original series while also going off in some interesting new directions. Rowell has created an intense narrative that expertly plucks at the heartstrings and examines all the problems and horrors that this group of young heroes have experienced since their initial run. This is a superb new start to an excellent series. I’m so happy to have my Runaways back, and I can’t wait to see how they resolve some storylines from the original series. This is definitely a must-read for fans of the original series, but this is also the perfect chance for new readers to find out about this awesome superhero family.