Vermonia 4: The Rukan Prophecy by YOYO (Vermonia: Book 4)

8/10

When I started reading this series I began at a disadvantage as I began with book four, and as such I feared it would be very hard to get into the story. But due to the quality of the story telling the previous volumes were unnecessary.

At first the ‘novelty’ of reverse reading (ie right to left) was a hindrance but once that obstacle was compensated for the book was a race to the finish and as such was a real page turner.

When it comes to the art work it is of an excellent quality filling every available space and enabling the story to be told almost without words. The author even manages to give the feeling that you are reading a movie. I know this sounds strange but with use of cut scenes and fade to blacks it is the only way I can describe the entire experience.

As to the story line… this is hard to separate from all the other volumes as they are all part of the same story line. And it is clear that the series has been well planned before committing it to print. As a Japanese author this does not surprise me. As one would expect from a story with this sort of planning this volume works as a stand alone book with just enough information about the previous book to enable you to enjoy this book whilst leaving you wanting to know what lead to this part of the story and just enough loose threads to entice you to read the next book.

If this is a typical example of the story as a whole then I as a graphic novel reading novice can hardly wait to read the next episode which I shall be doing very soon. So look out for the other reviews soon.