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Taking Care of God
Based on the short story by Hugo Award–winning author Cixin Liu! One mysterious day, over twenty thousand otherworldly spaceships settle into stable orbit around Earth. Six months later, in a certain Asian village, a young girl named Zhihan discovers an old man who fell from the sky…but the strangeness doesn’t end there. Soon, many more elderly drifters in peculiar outfits begin descending all over the world, claiming they created human civilization. Now it’s humanity’s turn to take care of their Progenitors—but as Zhihan will soon learn, accepting God into your home isn’t such a simple matter…
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2024
14 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 26, 2024
I found the story to be moving and profound. I liked it. I like the message of caring for older people and thinking of everyone as your family. It feels like a very human story.
October 1, 2024
3.5 stars
This had a good sci-fi story, but the ending fell a little flat. I think if the ending was fleshed out just a tad more, the story would have hit better. This adaptation does make me curious for the original prose, however, only if the ending contains more.
This had a good sci-fi story, but the ending fell a little flat. I think if the ending was fleshed out just a tad more, the story would have hit better. This adaptation does make me curious for the original prose, however, only if the ending contains more.
April 29, 2024
I have not read the original story by Cixin Liu, but the way it is adapted here by Jun Yokoyama feels very naive and simplistic. It seems that the manga should be targeted at a young (under 12 yo) demographic. The art is nice though, but I wonder why Yen Press picked this up?
April 5, 2024
A short read, the story feels kinda rushed here and there, but the message behind it is very wholesome.
April 25, 2025
Open and pretty sad ending. I was left wondering who came to Earth at the end, the Progenitors' race, some seed the children had created, or one of those evil races the Progenitors mentioned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2025
I found it hard to follow in places. I do really enjoy some graphic novels (including manga), but in this case, I think I would like the original story better.
February 1, 2025
When I read the name of the title I was expecting more. It took me awhile before I started getting into it. It was a cute read and it did have some moments.
July 10, 2024
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
Mysteriously one day, a layer of circular space ships appeared in Earth’s atmosphere but did little else to impact the day to day life on the planet. After the initial shock, humans went about their business, until one day, the little ships started sending down their inhabitants. The elderly people, termed progenitors, needed a place to go and people to care for them. With a promise of a government subsidy, many families took in one or more progenitors. The government was sure they would, in exchange, receive technological advances from these wizened older humanoids. Zhihan, meanwhile, was untrusting and disgruntled, just as her grandma was at first. With few resources for her family, how could she expect to keep another mouth fed?
This definitely seemed like a story that had a lot more depth as a prose novel and asked far more introspection of the reader, but in this particular adaptation, most of the ethical considerations were not present. This became a story about a young girl with a hard family life and who is not very communicative, which is doesn't make for as interesting of a main character in a graphic novel. This society has forgotten about a lot of its citizens, so there are some ethical questions that could be raised but the text doesn't let itself go very deep. Rather, it kept the questionable material in the background of panels and hoped readers pick up on it. The cartoony illustrations detract from what possibly was a more serious tone in the novel.
Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
Mysteriously one day, a layer of circular space ships appeared in Earth’s atmosphere but did little else to impact the day to day life on the planet. After the initial shock, humans went about their business, until one day, the little ships started sending down their inhabitants. The elderly people, termed progenitors, needed a place to go and people to care for them. With a promise of a government subsidy, many families took in one or more progenitors. The government was sure they would, in exchange, receive technological advances from these wizened older humanoids. Zhihan, meanwhile, was untrusting and disgruntled, just as her grandma was at first. With few resources for her family, how could she expect to keep another mouth fed?
This definitely seemed like a story that had a lot more depth as a prose novel and asked far more introspection of the reader, but in this particular adaptation, most of the ethical considerations were not present. This became a story about a young girl with a hard family life and who is not very communicative, which is doesn't make for as interesting of a main character in a graphic novel. This society has forgotten about a lot of its citizens, so there are some ethical questions that could be raised but the text doesn't let itself go very deep. Rather, it kept the questionable material in the background of panels and hoped readers pick up on it. The cartoony illustrations detract from what possibly was a more serious tone in the novel.
Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
February 26, 2024
This is my first graphic novel. It’s like a new medium with its own rules and conventions which I don’t yet understand. Frankly, I don’t know what the story is about, even though I read Cixin Liu novels before and could follow their plots. Not this one, but I think that might not be the author’s fault.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews