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Clockwork Angels Graphic Novels #1
Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel
Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Other lives are epics.
Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions in order to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious gift: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories—and ultimately her own.
Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales—and much more—that follows Marinda as she strives to change her life from a “mere sentence or two” to a true epic.
Based on the world they previously introduced in Clockwork Angels, Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart take the graphic novel to new heights with this adaptation of the best-selling book Clockwork Lives.
Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions in order to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious gift: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories—and ultimately her own.
Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales—and much more—that follows Marinda as she strives to change her life from a “mere sentence or two” to a true epic.
Based on the world they previously introduced in Clockwork Angels, Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart take the graphic novel to new heights with this adaptation of the best-selling book Clockwork Lives.
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2015
5 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Neil Peart
89 books513 followersNeil Peart (pronounced /ˈpɪərt/) OC, (born Neil Ellwood Peart) was a Canadian musician and author. He is best-known as the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush.
Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada (now part of St. Catharines) working the occasional odd job. However, his true ambition was to become a professional musician. During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band and dropped out of high school to pursue a career as a full-time drummer. After a discouraging stint in England to concentrate on his music, Peart returned home, where he joined local Toronto band Rush in the summer of 1974.
Early in his career, Peart's performance style was deeply rooted in hard rock. He drew most of his inspiration from drummers such as Keith Moon and John Bonham, players who were at the forefront of the British hard rock scene. As time progressed, however, he began to emulate the jazz and big band musicians Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Peart is also a pupil of jazz instructor Freddie Gruber. Peart has received many awards for his musical performances and is known for his technical proficiency and stamina.
In addition to being a musician, Peart was also a prolific writer, having published several memoirs about his travels. Peart was also Rush's primary lyricist. In writing lyrics for Rush, Peart addressed universal themes and diverse subject matter including science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, as well as secular, humanitarian and libertarian themes. In contrast, his books have been focused on his personal experiences.
Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada (now part of St. Catharines) working the occasional odd job. However, his true ambition was to become a professional musician. During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band and dropped out of high school to pursue a career as a full-time drummer. After a discouraging stint in England to concentrate on his music, Peart returned home, where he joined local Toronto band Rush in the summer of 1974.
Early in his career, Peart's performance style was deeply rooted in hard rock. He drew most of his inspiration from drummers such as Keith Moon and John Bonham, players who were at the forefront of the British hard rock scene. As time progressed, however, he began to emulate the jazz and big band musicians Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Peart is also a pupil of jazz instructor Freddie Gruber. Peart has received many awards for his musical performances and is known for his technical proficiency and stamina.
In addition to being a musician, Peart was also a prolific writer, having published several memoirs about his travels. Peart was also Rush's primary lyricist. In writing lyrics for Rush, Peart addressed universal themes and diverse subject matter including science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, as well as secular, humanitarian and libertarian themes. In contrast, his books have been focused on his personal experiences.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 15, 2017
Canada is a land of exceptional exports—maple syrup, TimBits, hockey, Rick Moranis—but perhaps none is greater than the national treasure that is the progressive rock trio Rush. Nearly fifty decades into their career (okay, nearly 50 years; it just seems like longer), a band should not be able to produce an album as vital and hard-charging as Clockwork Angels. While it lacks a killer single in the vein of Freewill or The Spirit of Radio, it is, as a whole, one of the more entertaining (musically, lyrically, and vocally) albums in their catalog, a better and more adroitly executed concept record than (dare I say it?) 2112. In fact, I would venture to say that—
Wait, what? Why are you interrupting?
I’m supposed to be writing a review of the graphic novel adaptation of the book adaptation of the album, not the album itself?
Ah, right. My bad. Well, then, that changes everything.
The graphic novel adaptation of the book adaptation (which I have not read, incidentally) of the Rush album Clockwork Angels is a direct violation of the hit Rush song “Show Don’t Tell” from the 1989 album Presto (which includes all-time top-5 Rush song “The Pass”): there’s a lot of talk about exciting things like cities of gold, mystical carnivals, crazed anarchists, and pirates, but not a whole lot of showing whether those things are as cool as they sound. Sketching out such concepts without delving into detail works marvelously well in song form, where emotive and rhythmic resonance adds heft and weight; on the page, however, talking about such things, particularly in the simplistic and overtly preachy style of Candide sans the satire, without giving us more action, more excitement, and more depth makes for an unsatisfying story despite the promising premise. Shoehorning in as many lyrics as possible, not just from Clockwork Angels but from other Rush albums, doesn’t help, leading to a stilted narrative style that never really flows.
We'll round up from 2.75 stars.
Look, I love me some Neil Peart, but if you want to devote reading time to something that sprang from Peart’s brain, you’d be better served checking out Far and Away: A Prize Every Time. Or, just go listen to the album and work on your air drumming.
(For those who have read the novel—worth a read? Maybe they just didn’t do a great job of adapting that to graphic form. There’s certainly potential here…it’s just not realized in this medium.)
(For those who are not devoted Rush acolytes…well, it’s not my fault you’re deficient as human beings.)
Wait, what? Why are you interrupting?
I’m supposed to be writing a review of the graphic novel adaptation of the book adaptation of the album, not the album itself?
Ah, right. My bad. Well, then, that changes everything.
The graphic novel adaptation of the book adaptation (which I have not read, incidentally) of the Rush album Clockwork Angels is a direct violation of the hit Rush song “Show Don’t Tell” from the 1989 album Presto (which includes all-time top-5 Rush song “The Pass”): there’s a lot of talk about exciting things like cities of gold, mystical carnivals, crazed anarchists, and pirates, but not a whole lot of showing whether those things are as cool as they sound. Sketching out such concepts without delving into detail works marvelously well in song form, where emotive and rhythmic resonance adds heft and weight; on the page, however, talking about such things, particularly in the simplistic and overtly preachy style of Candide sans the satire, without giving us more action, more excitement, and more depth makes for an unsatisfying story despite the promising premise. Shoehorning in as many lyrics as possible, not just from Clockwork Angels but from other Rush albums, doesn’t help, leading to a stilted narrative style that never really flows.
We'll round up from 2.75 stars.
Look, I love me some Neil Peart, but if you want to devote reading time to something that sprang from Peart’s brain, you’d be better served checking out Far and Away: A Prize Every Time. Or, just go listen to the album and work on your air drumming.
(For those who have read the novel—worth a read? Maybe they just didn’t do a great job of adapting that to graphic form. There’s certainly potential here…it’s just not realized in this medium.)
(For those who are not devoted Rush acolytes…well, it’s not my fault you’re deficient as human beings.)
December 12, 2021
“A life without risk is a life without... life!”
This had some interesting elements like a wannabe steampunk 1984, but ultimately the plot was too slow, too dull, and the protagonist was too naive to carry it well.
The premise was certainly an interesting one and it excited me into thinking this would become a new favourite of mine. Alas, the plot struggled throughout to be anything more than a meandering mess of random plot points. It posed questions which it failed to answer and attempted to have us believe everything happened so easily and coincidentally for the protagonist. Even during the moments where “bad” things happened to the protagonist they weren’t particularly bad. It all felt meek and wishy-washy.
However, the art was exquisite. Absolutely beautiful, although I wasn’t surprised by that; it was illustrated by the talented Nick Robles, after all. The art was brilliant enough to keep me reading even when the plot proved itself to be mediocre.
Although, there were some fantastic quotes in it like: “The best place to start an adventure is with a quiet, perfect life... and someone who realises that it can’t possibly be enough.” and “A single person in a perfect world is little more than an identical grain of sand...” Despite how great those quotes sounded, the dialogue was much too simplistic. In contrast with the fantastic narrative it seemed too childish. Yet more evidence of the potential of this graphic novel being wasted.
This had some interesting elements like a wannabe steampunk 1984, but ultimately the plot was too slow, too dull, and the protagonist was too naive to carry it well.
The premise was certainly an interesting one and it excited me into thinking this would become a new favourite of mine. Alas, the plot struggled throughout to be anything more than a meandering mess of random plot points. It posed questions which it failed to answer and attempted to have us believe everything happened so easily and coincidentally for the protagonist. Even during the moments where “bad” things happened to the protagonist they weren’t particularly bad. It all felt meek and wishy-washy.
However, the art was exquisite. Absolutely beautiful, although I wasn’t surprised by that; it was illustrated by the talented Nick Robles, after all. The art was brilliant enough to keep me reading even when the plot proved itself to be mediocre.
Although, there were some fantastic quotes in it like: “The best place to start an adventure is with a quiet, perfect life... and someone who realises that it can’t possibly be enough.” and “A single person in a perfect world is little more than an identical grain of sand...” Despite how great those quotes sounded, the dialogue was much too simplistic. In contrast with the fantastic narrative it seemed too childish. Yet more evidence of the potential of this graphic novel being wasted.
November 30, 2015
Beautiful art, but a lackluster story. Perhaps would have been more meaningful if I knew anything at all about the album this is meant to supplement?
January 18, 2016
I haven't read the original book yet. The dust jacket copy ends with the following: "...Clockwork Angels: The Novel is a remarkable, innovative story unlike any other." The graphic novel is a not particularly remarkable or innovative Steampunk-wannabe* retelling of Candide, without the sarcasm and irony. There's even a Commodore Pangloss, ferchrissake. How did this get so many 4 and 5 star reviews?
I hope the book is better, but that hope is dimming.
*Airships! Gears on the first page of each chapter!
I hope the book is better, but that hope is dimming.
*Airships! Gears on the first page of each chapter!
August 11, 2016
The story is based on Rush's Clockwork Angels album. I'm not really a Rush fan and know nothing about their music outside of Tom Sawyer and Limelight. But I have to say, Kevin Anderson has crafted an intriguing story. And Nick Robles paints a beautiful world.
Owen Hardy is a small town kid who yearns to see the world. So he hops a train and heads to the big city. There he meets the Clockmaker and the Anarchist. One forces order upon the world while the other creates havok in the name of freedom. Owen then leaves on a series of adventures to explore the rest of Albion and live his own life.
Owen Hardy is a small town kid who yearns to see the world. So he hops a train and heads to the big city. There he meets the Clockmaker and the Anarchist. One forces order upon the world while the other creates havok in the name of freedom. Owen then leaves on a series of adventures to explore the rest of Albion and live his own life.
February 4, 2018
I read this graphic novel, as I suspect most people did, because it's based on the (excellent) Rush album of the same name. That album tells the story of a young man traveling through the steampunk world of Albion -- inasmuch as a piece of music can be steampunk -- seeking adventure and self-actualization in the face of an oppressive society. The album, being an album, provides a vague overview of the story, not having the time to flesh out any given scene. This lack of detail is fine for a rock album, where the story can exist in the periphery while individual songs focus on general themes and ideas. That it's one of Rush's best albums makes any narrative shortcomings all the more forgivable.
Those same narrative shortcomings plague this graphic novel, however, and they are much more glaring once you've removed Neil Peart's drums, Geddy Lee's bass, and Alex Lifeson's guitar. The story is something of a travelogue, following the generically distinctively named Owen Hardy from his small town to the edge of the known world and beyond. A travelogue, though, perhaps more than any other type of story, really needs time to dig into each stop on the hero's journey -- to meet the characters and see the sights, to experience the local flavor, to tell a contained story within this new setting before moving on. Clockwork Angels, though, barely snaps a few photos before hopping on the tour bus and heading to the next destination. Granted, Kevin J. Anderson is trying to fit this story into a six-issue comic run, which doesn't leave much room for telling this kind of story. But then, someone decided to try to tell this story in that format, and it wasn't me.
The lack of narrative detail is exacerbated by the occasional montage, where a series of disconnected images are paired with narration along the lines of, "I had many great adventures..." We're told that great adventures happened, but we never see them. We're introduced to a number of characters, but we never really get to know them. We're told of great conflicts between the Anarchist, the Wreckers, and the Watchmaker, but we barely learn anything about it. We're teased with hints that there's more to the story than it seems, that there will be some sort of narrative-reshaping denouement, but it never really happens.
In fact, there is precious little world-building in this graphic novel. So much of what makes the story interesting is the structure of this world -- where everything is orchestrated by the Watchmaker, where every step of everyone's life is prescribed, and where order and conformity rule the day -- but we never get much sense of what life is like in Albion. As much as this is supposed to feel like a theocratic dystopia, it never much feels like one. Outside of a brief reference to arranged marriage, life in Albion just kind of seems like life. In the abstract, it seems like an oppressive world, but in practice it seems kind of pleasant. Owen Hardy is one of the few discontent people in all of Albion, it seems.
In theory, this pairing of material and form should be a match made in heaven; a series of adventures set across various steampunk settings is ideally suited to the comic book form. But when confined to six issues, there's no room to do this story justice. Each issue of this series could fill its own six-issue run. On top of this, the half-drawn, half-painted art style doesn't suit the material very well. To some extent this is personal preference, but the resultant images feel soft and vague. A steampunk world, so full of gears and pipes, calls for clean, precise lines. I finished the book yesterday, but I can't recall any of its imagery.
Predictably and understandably, the book quotes fairly liberally from the album, dropping various songs' lyrics into characters' mouths. Beyond this, Anderson sneaks in lyrics from other Rush songs as Easter eggs for diehard fans. These references feel perfectly natural about exactly as often as they feel awkward and clumsy. Oddly, the references to other Rush albums are more often the ones that work, perhaps because they've been given the most care to not seem out of place. As understandable -- or even necessary -- as it is to quote Neil Peart's lyrics in the book, the writing is so overstuffed with these references that it no longer feels like writing. Perhaps an illustrated edition of the albums liner notes would have been a better idea.
As a huge fan of Rush generally and the Clockwork Angels album specifically, I'm glad to have a (marginally) deeper understanding of that album's narrative and world. The graphic novel clarifies or invents last-chapter events that are all but absent from the album, and it completely recontextualizes (or undermines) one of the songs. There is a novel, also by Kevin J. Anderson, on which the comics are based, and surely that delves deeper into this world. If anything, though, this graphic novel has put me off of reading the novel rather than whet my appetite for it. I guess I'll just listen to the Rush album again. Shame.
Those same narrative shortcomings plague this graphic novel, however, and they are much more glaring once you've removed Neil Peart's drums, Geddy Lee's bass, and Alex Lifeson's guitar. The story is something of a travelogue, following the generically distinctively named Owen Hardy from his small town to the edge of the known world and beyond. A travelogue, though, perhaps more than any other type of story, really needs time to dig into each stop on the hero's journey -- to meet the characters and see the sights, to experience the local flavor, to tell a contained story within this new setting before moving on. Clockwork Angels, though, barely snaps a few photos before hopping on the tour bus and heading to the next destination. Granted, Kevin J. Anderson is trying to fit this story into a six-issue comic run, which doesn't leave much room for telling this kind of story. But then, someone decided to try to tell this story in that format, and it wasn't me.
The lack of narrative detail is exacerbated by the occasional montage, where a series of disconnected images are paired with narration along the lines of, "I had many great adventures..." We're told that great adventures happened, but we never see them. We're introduced to a number of characters, but we never really get to know them. We're told of great conflicts between the Anarchist, the Wreckers, and the Watchmaker, but we barely learn anything about it. We're teased with hints that there's more to the story than it seems, that there will be some sort of narrative-reshaping denouement, but it never really happens.
In fact, there is precious little world-building in this graphic novel. So much of what makes the story interesting is the structure of this world -- where everything is orchestrated by the Watchmaker, where every step of everyone's life is prescribed, and where order and conformity rule the day -- but we never get much sense of what life is like in Albion. As much as this is supposed to feel like a theocratic dystopia, it never much feels like one. Outside of a brief reference to arranged marriage, life in Albion just kind of seems like life. In the abstract, it seems like an oppressive world, but in practice it seems kind of pleasant. Owen Hardy is one of the few discontent people in all of Albion, it seems.
In theory, this pairing of material and form should be a match made in heaven; a series of adventures set across various steampunk settings is ideally suited to the comic book form. But when confined to six issues, there's no room to do this story justice. Each issue of this series could fill its own six-issue run. On top of this, the half-drawn, half-painted art style doesn't suit the material very well. To some extent this is personal preference, but the resultant images feel soft and vague. A steampunk world, so full of gears and pipes, calls for clean, precise lines. I finished the book yesterday, but I can't recall any of its imagery.
Predictably and understandably, the book quotes fairly liberally from the album, dropping various songs' lyrics into characters' mouths. Beyond this, Anderson sneaks in lyrics from other Rush songs as Easter eggs for diehard fans. These references feel perfectly natural about exactly as often as they feel awkward and clumsy. Oddly, the references to other Rush albums are more often the ones that work, perhaps because they've been given the most care to not seem out of place. As understandable -- or even necessary -- as it is to quote Neil Peart's lyrics in the book, the writing is so overstuffed with these references that it no longer feels like writing. Perhaps an illustrated edition of the albums liner notes would have been a better idea.
As a huge fan of Rush generally and the Clockwork Angels album specifically, I'm glad to have a (marginally) deeper understanding of that album's narrative and world. The graphic novel clarifies or invents last-chapter events that are all but absent from the album, and it completely recontextualizes (or undermines) one of the songs. There is a novel, also by Kevin J. Anderson, on which the comics are based, and surely that delves deeper into this world. If anything, though, this graphic novel has put me off of reading the novel rather than whet my appetite for it. I guess I'll just listen to the Rush album again. Shame.
October 2, 2025
If you can get your hands on a copy of this book at this point, consider yourself lucky. However, with that being said… it doesn’t really live up to the hype.
Don’t get me wrong, the artwork is beautiful. It’s great to see the world of Clockwork visually come to life. The character designs are nice and match the steampunk genre. The steamliners, Crown City, the circus, all of it looks gorgeous.
Here’s where I have my critiques… First off, this was first produced as a six issue limited series by BOOM Studios and it shows. This always should’ve just been a single graphic novel. In my opinion, graphic novels should be a near 1:1 adaptation of a book/story. They took the story of Clockwork Angels and condensed it into six chapters. The story feels rushed. You lose the feeling of each of Owen‘s adventures and what he learns from them because they all go by kind of quickly.
Overall, this is definitely worth a read if you loved the original story. But you may be a little disappointed with the finish product. I believe this is why they made “Clockwork Lives” a full length graphic novel that never had single issues.
Don’t get me wrong, the artwork is beautiful. It’s great to see the world of Clockwork visually come to life. The character designs are nice and match the steampunk genre. The steamliners, Crown City, the circus, all of it looks gorgeous.
Here’s where I have my critiques… First off, this was first produced as a six issue limited series by BOOM Studios and it shows. This always should’ve just been a single graphic novel. In my opinion, graphic novels should be a near 1:1 adaptation of a book/story. They took the story of Clockwork Angels and condensed it into six chapters. The story feels rushed. You lose the feeling of each of Owen‘s adventures and what he learns from them because they all go by kind of quickly.
Overall, this is definitely worth a read if you loved the original story. But you may be a little disappointed with the finish product. I believe this is why they made “Clockwork Lives” a full length graphic novel that never had single issues.
December 27, 2024
i love rereading the infernal devices series
there’s something comforting about rediscovering Will’s secret, Jem’s illness, Tessa’s character development and the whole automaton plot. The number of tears i shed while reading this series ovee the years can fill an entire institute. Perhaps London Institute😉
I can not wait to go visit london, the clockwork angel in my hand, visiting the Thames river and the light wood house
there’s something comforting about rediscovering Will’s secret, Jem’s illness, Tessa’s character development and the whole automaton plot. The number of tears i shed while reading this series ovee the years can fill an entire institute. Perhaps London Institute😉
I can not wait to go visit london, the clockwork angel in my hand, visiting the Thames river and the light wood house
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
Meh. Interesting idea but shoddy execution. Lacks any subtlety and is rife with clunky dialogues & terrible exposition. The second half of the book has a few compelling pages which rescues it from being completely terrible.
Overall this book gave a very amateur vibe. Maybe the medium makes it worse and the original novel is better written. But I'm not keen to test that hypothesis.
Overall this book gave a very amateur vibe. Maybe the medium makes it worse and the original novel is better written. But I'm not keen to test that hypothesis.
July 19, 2019
The art was gorgeous. I really enjoyed the scenery, steampunk ships and fantastic cities. However, this is more of an adventure for your eyes than your mind. The characters were predictable and the ending felt unsatisfactory given the philosophical questions explored earlier.
December 7, 2021
I keep trying out graphic novel versions of books, and for the most part I find that I like regular fiction sooooo much better. This graphic novel is fine. I just prefer to read words that make my mind make pictures rather than looking at a comic book. Peace.
June 19, 2017
I think I may want to read the actual novel(s) now.
March 5, 2018
I enjoyed this one, but it left out a lot from the novel version. It was a good companion, but I wouldn't pick it over the full novel.
September 16, 2021
Great compliment to the novel
January 1, 2017
Heaven save me from white boys trying to find themselves (apparently to the tunes of Rush).
April 5, 2019
I really wanted to like this.
I read the novel it is based on about six years ago. At the time, I described the book as being, "...not without merit" - practically the definition of praising with faint damns! I find myself similarly ambivalent about the graphic novel version.
I didn't particularly like the artwork; I found it too arty. I read one of the chapters as a digital comic when it first came out and it looked OK on the iPad where I could enlarge each panel to fill the screen. In printed form, however, I found the artwork cramped and fussy. I think it needs the space to breath. The story as been edited somewhat to make it fit the graphic novel format but, at times, it felt a bit too heavily edited and I suspect that if I hadn't known the story from the novel, I would have struggled to follow the flow at times.
Having said that, I think the comic format suited the episodic nature of the story. Also, the intrusive Rush references that so annoyed me in the novel didn't bother me so much here. The preface suggested that more Rush references had been added into the art but I didn't really notice them on first reading, so they are clearly placed with more subtlety than the sledgehammer and crowbar method that was used to insert lyrical references into the novel version.
More of a three and a half than a four star review but, overall, I liked the graphic novel better than the book.
I read the novel it is based on about six years ago. At the time, I described the book as being, "...not without merit" - practically the definition of praising with faint damns! I find myself similarly ambivalent about the graphic novel version.
I didn't particularly like the artwork; I found it too arty. I read one of the chapters as a digital comic when it first came out and it looked OK on the iPad where I could enlarge each panel to fill the screen. In printed form, however, I found the artwork cramped and fussy. I think it needs the space to breath. The story as been edited somewhat to make it fit the graphic novel format but, at times, it felt a bit too heavily edited and I suspect that if I hadn't known the story from the novel, I would have struggled to follow the flow at times.
Having said that, I think the comic format suited the episodic nature of the story. Also, the intrusive Rush references that so annoyed me in the novel didn't bother me so much here. The preface suggested that more Rush references had been added into the art but I didn't really notice them on first reading, so they are clearly placed with more subtlety than the sledgehammer and crowbar method that was used to insert lyrical references into the novel version.
More of a three and a half than a four star review but, overall, I liked the graphic novel better than the book.
January 28, 2016
I picked this up solely because of the name Neil Peart on the cover.
Rush has this reputation for being weird as a libertarian band and a trio. But they rock so I thought I’d take a chance.
The storyline is about a kid who rebels against society.
This society is different because it is ruled by the Watchmaker, who plans everything in society down to the minute.
I wanted to like it, but couldn’t. The conflict was too cartoonishly black and white, and the hero had no real agency. It was like he was under the influence of his own watchmaker. I read that this was inspired by a song. I guess that explains its lack of depth.
Rush has this reputation for being weird as a libertarian band and a trio. But they rock so I thought I’d take a chance.
The storyline is about a kid who rebels against society.
This society is different because it is ruled by the Watchmaker, who plans everything in society down to the minute.
I wanted to like it, but couldn’t. The conflict was too cartoonishly black and white, and the hero had no real agency. It was like he was under the influence of his own watchmaker. I read that this was inspired by a song. I guess that explains its lack of depth.
June 3, 2016
So like others say I found the artwork beautiful! The story was lacking though, it wasn't terrible by no means. It lacked depth, it felt like it was written too "simply" like it was written for children, if I had gotten my hands on this when I was about 7 or so I probably would have thought it was the best thing...although the content of the story wasn't what most parents would find to be appropriate
August 26, 2016
I found it to be an interesting take on the world created by Kevin J. Anderson in novel of the same title. I did feel that it was a little rushed and the characters weren't developed as well as they were in the novel. I do understand that a comic book doesn't have the full abilities as a full fledged book, it still would have been nice if the pace was a little slower and there was more development of characters and events.
February 6, 2016
I didn't really expect a graphic novel based on a Rush album to be all that great and it's not. The artwork's pretty good. The steampunkish adventure tale is limited. It works better as song lyrics...
May 23, 2017
An interesting piece for those of us, like myself, missed the original comic book series. I enjoyed the story in the novel, and to see the world Peart and Anderson imagined depicted this way was a special treat.
February 5, 2016
Story was okay but the art was amazing.
October 8, 2016
Candide not done very well. The art was OK but static.
Read
January 23, 2018I love this book. It told the story based on an album from my favorite band. The main character is a young boy who feels he is living a boring life. He disobeys the leaders order, and goes on a grand adventure re-living his mothers story.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews