Book Review: Carnal: Pride of the Lions by Jason Bergenstock and John Connell

Title: Carnal: Pride of the Lions
Author: Jason Bergenstock
Artist: John Connell
Publisher: Sea Lion Books
Release Date: 01/06/2013
ISBN: 0983613168




If pressed, I'd admit that not all anthropomorphic animal books are my style. It took me a while to get into Carnal because of this, but I have to admit... the artwork kept bringing me back. Why? Because it's freaking amazing. As far as the story goes, it's pretty much Avatar mixed with Lion King mixed with a dystopian-esque world.

The first graphic novel in the Carnal series, Pride of the Lions takes place on the continent of New Africa and focuses on three main species of humanistic animals. After the Great War decades earlier between the hyenas and the lions, the victorious and once united lion prides now lay scattered across the land, torn by civil unrest over territory disputes and food shortages. The hyena clans that survived the war were forced deep into the Earth and now live in a massive underground city under the control of a terrible witch. The buffalo race is indifferent to most other species and have walled themselves off from the rest of the kingdoms. Humans have lost their hold on the African territories long ago and live as a simple, nomadic species. The first book opens with Long Eyes, an old sapphire-eyed lion who is determined to save the lion kingdom and rescue his warrior son, Oron, who has gone missing. Long Eyes believes Oron is the key to uniting the prides. A young lioness tracker named Omi is sent out with the protection of two lion brothers to locate the missing warrior, but what they find is something that may unravel the very foundation of life for all species.

For me, the artwork was one of the best parts of this read. Connell is pretty skilled and his artwork brings a really lovely touch to the story. The animal-people in the story are originally descended from humans and witches, so Connell tries very hard to make them both animal and human-like at the same time. Omi's artwork accomplished this part exceptionally well, and I was reminded of the character Neytiri from Avatar mixed in with a little Julie Bell/Boris Valejo.  (And yes, if you're into hot cat girls, Omi is rather nice looking if you don't mind lion faces.)

Story-wise, it took me a while to get into. There's a lot of jumping between points in time, as characters remember things that are important to them and to the story. It does help, however, that there's a pretty good idea here and there's hints at various story lines and plot points. I'm somewhat convinced that some of the magic mentioned in the story might actually be science, although this is just my own personal theory. I'm rather interested in seeing if this is the case, especially since it means that we might get some nice creepy scenes of various animal/human characters slinking around abandoned medical and scientific facilities. (OK, I admit it, I'm a sucker for anything that explores abandoned places.) Even if it is magic and not science, there's still a chance for this, as humans did and still do exist in this series. 

When I did get hooked into the story, I was fully drawn in. The last part of the story was rather surprising and a little sad, but it did serve to stir up my appetite for the next book. I don't think that I'll love this as desperately as I have Storm Born or Pariah, but this was a darn good story with some freaking great artwork in it. It might not necessarily be my thing, but it's incredibly well done.

4 out of 5 stars

(e-copy provided by Sea Lion Books)


Further Reading/Viewing:

*Carnal Knowledge - Interview with John Connell (ComicBooked.com)


This won't be out until next year, but until then you have this lovely trailer to whet your appetite!

Comic Review: Aron Warner's Pariah, Volume 1

Title: Aron Warner's Pariah
Authors:  Philip Gelatt, Aron Warner
Illustrator: Brett Weldele
Publisher: Sea Lion Books
Release Date: 07/24/2012
ISBN: 098361315X





I have to say, if the goal of Sea Lion Books sending me review copies is partially to make me want to own the physical books myself, they're achieving it with a rate that's probably scaring my checkbook. (Not that I don't scare it myself every time I walk into my local comic book store or Barnes & Nobles.) I need this book, just like I needed a copy of the first volume of Storm Born.

Brent Marks, a known Vitro, is desperately trying to live a normal high school life while suffering the slings and arrows of being known as an uber-geek. But, things go from bad to worse when the Vitro community, en-masse, is blamed for a fatal explosion in a military weapons lab and the subsequent release of a deadly toxin. Caught up in a global panic, the Vitros become subject to a groundswell of persecution, as they are declared terrorists and hunted down!


The first issue of the comic was rather slow in revealing its data, and despite the fast pace of the first volume, I'm still left with a lot of questions that haven't been answered. This is to be expected, as you don't give it all up in the first go, but I'm dying to know more about these characters. What exactly are the Vitros? They're smart, but why are they so different? How were they made? Were they really accidental? One of the characters in the series makes an off-hand remark about Vitros being an accident, but somehow I'm not so sure of that.

There's a lot of character introductions here, so you really only get enough to get a basic feel for the more important people. One of my two favorites has to be the super-smart yet somewhat out of touch Franklin, a Vitro that was raised in an unloving and completely isolated environment. As such he has the book smarts yet perhaps not the street smarts to deal with the others. The other favorite has to be the uber-creepy Maudsley, who thinks nothing of manipulating people with nothing but his words... to deadly effect. There's some pretty intriguing characters here and the first issue deals with the brainy Brent, but these two are the ones who truly stole the spotlight and odds are that they'd be the two best characters to watch. If they were real, I'd love to see what an interview with either of them would be like. (Although I'll admit that I'm grateful that Maudsley doesn't exist IRL. That I know of.)

Volume one of this series ends with quite a bang, so I'm glad that I had issue five bundled into my review copy. I'm going to write a mini-review for that, but I'll leave that on the final part of my blog. If you don't want spoilers, you'll want to stop here. If you want to know, read on. Just know that this is well worth the price of admission, and with all of the comics being adapted into movies or TV shows, this would be something that would look good on either screen. Absolutely worth checking out.

(Thar be spoilers, arr!)

Now for the evaluation of issue 5. The first volume ended with our intrepid teens waking to find themselves on an ancient space station. A space station that they soon discover is rapidly deteriorating to the point that they're going to die within five hours if they don't find a way to (if I could quote Tim Gunn) "make it work". This issue has them focusing their superhuman intellects on the task at hand, which is pretty interesting to watch. So far we've seen glimpses of what they can do, but never really any of the actual work in depth. This issue shows us how they might work as a team in the future. The issue is pretty well paced and as a result, is nice and exciting. There's also some great foreshadowing in the artwork by way of a well placed image in the helmet of a space suit (no spoilers on what it resembles!) and Weldele is to be congratulated on this. I'm rather happy that SLB has the same artist doing the artwork, as it allows for more collaboration between the teams and a better understanding of the story than if they'd brought someone else in partway through. (Plus I really dig his style.) Definitely a good followup to the cliffhanger of the first volume.


I know this sounds fangirlish, but this is one of those great indie series that will probably never get the attention it so very much deserves. 




Five out of five stars


(Reader copy provided by Sea Lion Books)

Book Spotlight: Pantheons: The Game of the Gods

Aghast at the amount of Austen you still have left to read? Chagrined that you're only a third of the way through Chaucer? Wish that you could read a book that mixes Greek mythology with good old fashioned teenage exuberance?

Well, put down those required reads (for now, anyway) and pick up this latest book in the amazing Pantheons series by E. J. Dabel: Pantheons: The Game of the Gods!

A year has passed since Isaiah Marshall’s father, Zeus, severed his left arm with white lightning in the tournament. During this time, the Indestructible Diamond has been training hard under the mysterious old man who saved his life. Despite his focus and determination, Isaiah has been unsuccessful in his development of his usage of blue-white lightning, nor has he tapped into the other more potent colored bolts, which his father has mastered. 

The Powers-That-Be have forced the teen gods to finally take part in the Fourth Great War. But fearing death, as they have been cursed with mortal bodies, they’ve decided to compete for the Dominion in a new, professional sport called Tasselball: The Game of the Gods.


Seriously, what about this doesn't sound like a whole bunch of awesome?

Luckily for you, you can not only get this book, but also the first book in the series on Amazon right now. You don't even have to wait for shipping- you can get them directly beamed to your e-reader or computer through the magic of the Internet. There's a free preview of both books for your viewing pleasure! For you fans of Brian Jacques's Redwall there's Albino, a story of a mouse that must find the courage inside himself to fight against an ultimate evil.

Check them out today!

Albino
Pantheons
Pantheons: The Game of the Gods

Spotlight: Albino by E.J. Dabel and Jorge Correa

Hi all! I just wanted to let you know about Sea Lion Book's newest addition to the family, Albino!

The white mouse Albino always believed that he would live with the old farmer William Springer forever, eating Cheddar cheese and enjoying life at the farm. But after he is kidnapped by the street urchin Darl and violently thrown into a raging river to drown, he wakes up in the middle of a strange and mysterious forest and his life is changed forever as he finds himself in a world unlike anything he could ever imagine.


Aided by an odd crow, he begins an adventure filled with action, danger, and ultimately a final confrontation against his worst nightmares.


The ancient and cruel rats called the Ma’aldee are on the move, the Spiritual Guardians of the Land whisper in fear and dread of the coming of Emperor Loucura, Lord of the Ma'aldee.


Only Albino has the power to save the Land.

I've flipped through a preview of the book on Amazon (and you can find that here) and it looks pretty awesome, a mixture of Secret of NIMH and Redwall. (Both of which are things I loved as a kid, although I admit a preference for the movie version of SoN.)

There's artwork sporadically inserted throughout the preview, and while the two images above are nice they don't do the sketches in the book justice. They save the best for the inner pages.

Seriously, how badass does that look? 

Now the book is currently only available in ebook format, so fire up your electronic devices and get cracking!

Press Release: Patrick Rothfuss's The Adventures of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle

Dark, macabre, humorous! This isn't your children's faerie tale!

From New York Times bestselling Author of the Kingkiller Chronicles, Patrick Rothfuss, comes the dark picture-book The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed

ATLANTA, GA January 11, 2012 - Sea Lion Books is proud to announce they will be republishing the critically acclaimed Patrick Rothfuss picture-book illustrated by Nate Taylor, THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCESS AND MR. WHIFFLE: The Thing Beneath the Bed.

Don't let the sweet cover and sugary title fool you, this is NOT a children's book. From the mad mind of New York Times bestselling author Patrick Rothfuss comes a dark tale not for the faint of heart. A story evoking memories of good old-fashioned faerie tales, the main characters are
the cute little girl princess and her outwardly adorable teddy bear, Mr. Whiffle.

The world seems wonderful and good for the duo, except for the monster lurking Beneath the bed.

THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCESS AND MR. WHIFFLE is an odd mix of dark classic storytelling, new age terror, and a macabre sense of wicked humor that leave the reader with three possible endings, each one being darker than the last, letting the reader decide how far they dare to go.

The final ending just might keep your teddy bear awake tonight, or at least start a stuffed animal rebellion. The reprint will include original bonus material and a Q&A with author Patrick Rothfuss.

"Sea Lion Books is very excited to be able to republish this amazing story that is destined to be a classic modern faerie tale," said Derek Ruiz, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Sea Lion Books.

THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCESS AND MR. WHIFFLE: The Thing Beneath the Bed will be released as a soft cover title in July 2012 and will retail for $14.99, (ISBN 978-0-9836131-5-2)




About The Author:

Patrick Rothfuss had the good fortune to be born in Wisconsin where long winters and lack of cable television brought about a love of reading and writing. Patrick had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, and changed his major to Undeclared despite the fact that he had been in college for over three years. After nine years as an undergraduate, Pat was forced by university policy to finally complete his undergraduate degree.... in English. After two excruciating years of grad school, Pat returned to teach at the University he had grown to love as a student. Pat continues to live in central Wisconsin. He still lacks cable television, and the long winters
force him to stay inside and write. The long winters inspired his NYT bestseller, The Killkinger Chronicles: Name of the Wind, and Wise Man's Fear. You can learn more about Patrick at his website: http://www.patrickrothfuss.com




About Sea Lion Books:

Located in Atlanta, Georgia, Sea Lion Books LLC is a newly established publishing house which specializes in all formats: hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market and in urban fantasy and young adult genres. Sea Lion Books LLC recent roster of authors include: International Bestselling author, Anne Rice, Paulo Coelho, New York Times Bestselling authors, Richelle Mead, Richard A. Knaak, F. Paul Wilson and Becca Fitzpatrick. You can visit Sea Lion Books at www.sealionbooks.com



Copyright 2012, Sea Lion Books. All Rights reserved.

All trademarks and titles are the property of their respective owners. The statements contained within this document are considered "forward-looking statements" and may not reflect upon the actual future performance of Sea Lion Books.

Hush, Hush Backgrounds!

I had to share this with everyone. Becca Fitzpatrick and SeaLion Books have some pretty awesome wallpapers that are Hush, Hush themed.

All I know is that they're gorgeous and I know what's going on my computer as soon as I get home.

Yay for contests: Hush, Hush and Sea Lion Books!

Hi everyone! My posts have been a little erratic due to school and a little someone called Irene playing havoc with my electronics, but I'm happy to give you some info on a comic that I think is going to be a "must own" for me.

Like Hush, Hush? Well, I know that I do and I'm pretty excited to see that it's getting the graphic novel treatment. I'm also pretty excited to hear that Sea Lion Books is doing a contest so awesome that I'm just going to post what they wrote word for word since I don't think I could do it without giving a huge fangirl squee.

Did you miss out on the signed graphic novel and 2011 books that bite
purse? Well don't be sad for we are doing it AGAIN and this time it's
BIGGGGGGEEERRRRRR and BEEETTTTTTTEEERRRR. In celebration of the upcoming
release! We thought a graphic novel this epic deserved something extra
special!!!

On our store tab ( http://store.sealionbookstore.com ) you can purchase the
limited edition Hush Hush graphic novel prologue for $10.00. WE WILL ONLY
BE RELEASING 1,000 COPIES AND IT WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB STORE.
So not only is this an important piece to the contest puzzle but you will
be one of a thousand people to own this piece of Becca Fitzpatrick's
history!!! Keep in mind since there are only 1,000 copies of the prologue
being made we need to limit the number of copies you can purchase. It is
limited to 2 copies per person.

Now here is the fun part! Once you receive the book, take a picture of
yourself with it and email the picture to us along with a paragraph as to
why you should be the next to make a cameo in the next volume of Hush Hush!
In this cameo you will even interact with Patch and Nora. NOW REMEMBER I
SAID THAT I WAS GOING TO BE ENVIOUS OF THE NEXT WINNER!!! WELL HERE IS
WHY! The winner will not only get to interact with Patch and Nora in the
next Hush Hush Graphic Novel, BUT the illustrator for the graphic novel
will also IMMORTALIZE you from head to toe in Patch's arms! Your image
will be held lovingly safe in his arms! How awesome is that!!!

SO LET'S RECAP!!!

1. 1,000 limited edition prologues will be available for sale on
www.SeaLionBooks.com. Limit 2 please!

2. Once you receive the Hush Hush prologues you must take a picture of
yourself with it and post the picture on our FB page with a paragraph in
the comments under the picture as to why they should be the next to make a
cameo in the next volume of Hush Hush!

3. The winner gets an interacting cameo with Patch and Nora in Hush Hush
volume 2, and they get a unique one-of-a-kind poster with Patch holding the
winner in his arms.

4. The limited edition prologues will ship the first week of October.

I'm so excited over this that I could scream. I loved the heck out of Hush, Hush and the possibility of getting a picture drawn of Patch (let alone one of me with him) is pretty freaking cool. (OK, so I'm no longer a teenager, but Patch is far older than I am. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Click on the beautiful graphic novel cover above for a direct link to the sale page!

Comic Review: Pariah #1 by Aron Warner

Title:Pariah #1
Author: Aron Warner, Philip Gelaff
Artist: Brett Weldele
Publisher: Sea Lion Books
ISBN: 9780983613

Brent Marks is not a freak. He is one of the Pariah, a group of teens who become extremely intelligent after being cured of a genetic disorder. Although in most ways a normal teen, Brent is considered dangerous and is tracked down by the government who see these kids as an enormous threat. Can he evade them? What do they have planned for Brent and the others?

Aron Warner is the Academy Award®-winning producer of the animated blockbuster “Shrek” series. Mr. Warner joined PDI/Dreamworks in 1997 working as the producer on the animated film, Antz. He is currently in partnership with director Andrew Adamson in Strange Weather where they and partner Jeff Fierson are developing a slate of live action and animated feature films and television shows. He, producing alongside James Cameron, just wrapped the Untitled Cirque Du Soleil 3-D project, which was written and directed by Adamson. Pariah is his first graphic novel series.

The first thing I noticed about this comic was the artwork. Weldele chose to eschew the traditional comic artwork for a more dreamy, lush style. It works well to help the comic stand out, much as the main character of Brent does. It's gorgeous to look at and to me, was one of the best parts of the issue. It's more true to life than the traditional styles are, yet still reminds you that you're reading a comic.

The story of this is so far rather simple in design, which works for and against it. People looking for a ton of action will be slightly disappointed by the first issue since so much of it surrounds Brent trying to fit in at his school and appeal to a female friend. There's an ever present hostility due to the widespread public dislike of the Pariah, but that doesn't really come into play at first. By the end of the first issue I was hooked, but I have a feeling that this isn't going to be as well-loved as your average mainstream comic. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. Some of the best comics have been ones that have taken the comics world by surprise.

Overall this is something that's going to appeal more to readers of comics like Sandman or Bone. As the series unwinds and shows more of its wares I'm sure that we'll see more action, but this looks to be a comic that will appeal more to our human sides than the Michael Bay part of our brain.

3.7 out of 5 stars

(Reader copy provided by Sea Lion Books)

Comics Review: Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Title: Storm Born Vol 1 (Dark Swan book 1)
Author: Richelle Mead, Grant Alter
Artist: Dave Hamann
Publisher: SeaLion Books
Buy it from: Amazon.com
Release Date: 10/4/2011
ISBN: 0982818645




(Note: This review is based on issues 1 & 2 of the series, not the whole volume.)

Eugenie Markham never asked for any of this. Until now, she''s been content with her job as a freelance shaman, battling and banishing Otherworldly creatures. When a prophecy suddenly makes her the Otherworld''s most popular bachelorette, Eugenie finds herself fighting off unwanted supernatural suitors, as well as the evils that begin emerging from her past...

Wow. Just wow. Richelle Mead has been on my list of authors to check out so Sea Lion Book's offer to preview one of her comics was pretty exciting. After all, thousands of screaming fans must mean that she's doing something right, right?

Well, those thousands of screaming fans have to check out the graphic novel adaptation of the first book in her Dark Swan series because then they'll have a little something to scream extra loud about. Storm Born is a perfect example of what you should do as far as book to comic goes.

I haven't read the books (although that's going to change very, very quickly) so I'm not sure if there's any big alterations from the novel, but this was easy to get into and follow along with. I absolutely love-love-LOVE the artwork. It's so beautifully done. It doesn't hurt that I love artwork of redheads. Hamann does a very good job of bringing the characters here to life. Some of the artwork reminds me of the comic series Fables, which is a good thing considering the quality of work you see in it.

Sea Lion Books was gracious enough to allow me to post some of the covers as well as a few pages from the comics. Eugenie (aka Odile) has such wonderful expressions that it's easy to get wrapped up in the story. I do have to warn that there are some adult situations in this volume, although they are very tactfully done. You won't see any full nudity in these comics and any "extracurricular activities" aren't overly graphic. Parents might want to preview this before handing it over to their teens, but this is rather tame in comparison to some of the things seen in other graphic novels out in the market. (Although there is a risk to teens of getting their libraries raided so the parent in question can read the novel format of Storm Born and find out what happens next.)

Story-wise, my curiosity is piqued. There's been a lot of different things in the urban fantasy world, but shamans are rather under-represented. Necromancers or witches? Plenty. Shamans? Not so much. There's a lot of room for Mead to expand in & showcase Eugenie's talents in this series.

So far I've got my theories as to what's going on with certain characters, but I'll have to wait until I finish the graphic novel or book to find out. I'm also sort of predicting some future romantic entanglements, or perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part. (Eugenie's roommate is pretty intriguing.)

My two issues ended on a very big cliffhanger so I'm really looking forward to reading the full volume when it comes out in October. I've been informed that volume 1 will cover the first half of Storm Born, with volume 2 completing the novel.

Fans of Mead will also be happy to know that her much loved Vampire Academy series has also gotten the graphic novel treatment, with the first book coming out this August.


5 out of 5 stars

(Reader copies provided by Sea Lion Books)