Allan Moore's V for Vendetta review by Jesse B.

A young girl is pressed against a wall by a group of policemen who ready themselves for raping and subsequently murdering her. Suddenly, a cloaked figure wearing a smiling mask approaches, quoting Macbeth. The man releases a stream of tear gas and drops off a bomb as a souvenir. He grabs the girl and carries her to safety on the city rooftops. Together they watch as the Houses of Parliament are bombed to the ground. Fireworks follow.

So begins the stunning graphic novel V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. In a post-nuclear war England, a Neonazi group comes into power and establishes a totalitarian empire. All minority groups are sent to "relocation camps" and are systematically exterminated.

Enter "V", a revolutionary bearing a Guy Fawkes mask who devotes himself to the principles of anarchy and aims to destroy the current government and its institutions. V saves the life of Evey Hammond, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and shelters her in his "Shadow Gallery". He grants the girl access to all of the cultural knowledge forbidden by national law. Evey wonders at all of this, but most of all wonders at the mystery of the man behind the mask.

A brilliant analysis of modern society and a disheartening picture of a potential future, V for Vendetta is of a surety one of the greatest graphic novels one will ever read. But if the above material did not impress this upon the reader, let it now be made plain: This novel is not for the faint of heart. Murder, rape and genocide are but a sampling of the heavy topics touched upon by Lloyd and Moore. V for Vendetta is not your standard comic book fare, as the majority of the novel focuses on philosophy, sociology and politics. If one undertakes the reading of this novel, that person should be prepared to experience both disgust and elation. One must remember, "England prevails."
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Next by Michael Chrichton Review by Jesse B.

In a world where cloning and gene splicing are common practices, the possible extension of such tasks into the human realm becomes an issue. This is not the world of tomorrow – it is the world of today. In Next, Michael Chrichton takes a detour from the realm of science fiction to the realm of science fact. While the stories that take place in his novel are extreme cases, they are still theoretically possible with today's technology.

The corruption of the business realm is extending more and more into the realm of science. Studies that would once have gone unquestioned are now traced in order to determine whether their results were manipulated by corporations. This corruption takes a darker tone when experimentation with gene therapy and hybridization become a distinct moneymaking opportunity. The questions of ethics and safety go largely unconsidered as companies secretly bypass FDA protocol.

A gene is synthesized which has the distinct capability to remove addictions to various substances. Nicotine, heroin and even the spending of money are possible for treatment. The market for such a gene is a rich one indeed. Besides, is it not one's duty to serve the good of the public with such a life-saving drug, even if it means bending government policy? Testing on animal subjects has seen amazing results; moving on to humans is only logical.

This is only one of many cases Chrichton analyzes in his novel. In another drift from his usual style, Next is told as a group of short stories with chapters from each one interspersed throughout. The startling conclusion brings all of these stories together. This is one psychological thriller not a soul should miss.

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Fuyumi Ono's The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow A Review by Jesse B.

Yoko Nakajima struggles with her social life in high school. Born with abnormally red hair in a Japanese society where all hair is a shade of black, her peers and tutors believe that she has dyed her hair against school policy and is associating with people she shouldn't be. To Yoko's great surprise, a young man named Keiki walks into her school one day looking for her, telling her that she is his master and that she must come with him for her own safety. Soon Yoko finds herself swept into a fantastical parallel universe. So begins the novel Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono

Separated from Keiki, Yoko finds herself hunted by the government as one of the dreaded kaikyaku, beings from another world who are thought to bring bad luck. Hiding by day and traveling by night, Yoko is forced to fight her way through hordes of demons with only the sword given her by Keiki and a gem which possesses magical healing properties. Eventually though, Yoko's luck runs out and she is only saved from death by a half-beast in the form of a giant rat named Rakushun. Something of an outcast himself, Rakushun joins Yoko and the two set out for the Kingdom of En, where people such as themselves are accepted in society.

A fast-paced novel full of magic, swordplay and demons, Sea of Shadow is the soon-to-be released first volume in the seven volume cycle The Twelve Kingdoms. Originally published in Japan, this wildly popular fantasy series is being translated into English for the first time. Fuyumi Ono spins an enchanting tale that is difficult to put down once picked up. Any fantasy-lover would be truly missing out if he refused to read this book.
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Jacqueline Carey's Banewreaker a review by Jesse B.

In a world torn asunder by the very gods who shaped it, the line between good and evil is difficult to discern; such is the world, Urulat, in Jacqueline Carey's novel Banewreaker. Haomane, the first-born Shaper, has deceived the majority of the populous into believing that only one of Haomane's younger brothers, Satoris, is to blame for the Sundering. The truth of the matter is that Haomane is jealous of the gift Satoris possesses – desire.

In an attempt to obtain the gift of desire for his Children, the Ellylon, Haomane sparks a war among the Shapers' Children that spans millennia. The irony is that at the Ellylon's creation, Satoris offered his gift to Haomane's Children freely only to have it rejected by Haomane out of pride. Still it would be offered, had Haomane not in his wrath wounded Satoris in such a way that his gift could no longer be given.

Banewreaker, book one of two of The Sundering duology, chronicles a key portion of the war waged by the races of Urulat due to Haomane's deception. The key question asked by Carey in her novel is whether desire is as valuable as intelligence. A deeply philosophical text, Banewreaker forces the reader to reconsider what it means to be human.
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