Origins

Truancy #0

by Isamu Fukui

Fifteen years ago, the Mayor of the Education City was presented with an unwelcome surprise by his twin six-month-old boys. As the Mayor reluctantly accepted the two babies, he had no way of knowing that they would change the city forever…. Raised in the comfort of the Mayoral mansion, Umasi and Zen are as different as two brothers can be. Umasi is a good student; Zen an indifferent one. They love their adoptive father, but in a city where education is absolute, even he cannot keep them sheltered from the harsh realities of the school system. But when they discover that their father is responsible for their suffering, affection turns to bitterness. Umasi and Zen are thrust onto two diverging paths. One will try to destroy the City. The other will try to stop him.

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Novels

384 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2009

About the author

Isamu Fukui is a student at New York University in New York City. His first novel, Truancy, was published to rave reviews and garnered significant publicity, including two interviews on National Public Radio and features in The New York Daily News and Esquire.com.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umasi and Zen are twin brothers who are alike in many ways: they both suffer under the cruelty of the school system, they both have a father whose too caught up in his position as Mayor of the city to properly care for them, and they both are shocked when they realize their father is the one causing all of their misery at school. Despite these similarities, Umasi and Zen are complete opposites. Zen has never really fit in with the educational structure - instead he decides to cut class and receive failing grades. Umasi, on the other hand, is a straight A student who strictly abides to his teachers. After learning of their father's betrayal, the brothers split up on two different diverging paths: Zen utilizes his anger to form a rebellious group of students called the Truancy, while Umasi struggles to grow stronger in a city of chaos.

Although my rating for Truancy Origins and its predecessor Truancy is the same, Truancy Origins was slightly better, for various reasons. Fukui seems to be developing his skills as a writer and is improving gradually; he's decreasing repetition, expanding his characters' development, and of course, making his fight scenes even more intense. This novel would have been worthy of at least 3.7 stars if Fukui didn't possess one major flaw: not streamlining.

The plot of Truancy Origins was stronger then the one in Truancy. That being said, it could have been even better if Fukui shortened up the book by about 50-100 pages and cut out unnecessary action sequences or random side story lines. At times it seemed like a bad, rambling fan fiction - with chapter after chapter being added simply to keep the readers entertained. The story lost some of its fluidity because of its massive length, which hopefully Fukui will correct in his next upcoming book, Truancy City.

[Thebubbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this book in my opinion was a little better than the first one. I had read Truancy about 1 or 2 years ago and after seeing Truancy Origins in the library I was surprised because I didn't even know that Truancy was part of a trilogy (I know what you're going to say: duh it's a trilogy where have you been?). At first, I was kind of hesitant to read it. It had been so long since I read the first book that I thought that I would get completely lost in this one. But I realized later that you can read the first two books in any particular order and still have a clear understanding of what's going on; actually, I'm glad that I read the prequel and reread truancy because it gave me a better understanding of the series as a whole.

Isamu Fukui did an excellent job on this book and I believe that after taking about two years to write this prequel, his writing skills greatly improved. I have to admit, when I first read Truancy and looked at the back, I was surprised that the author was only 17 years old. I really enjoyed the stories of the two brothers Umasi and Zen and found that I liked both of them (even though Umasi was my favorite). You can learn a lot of life lessons from this book and it teaches you some amazing proverbs about honor, wisdom, ambition, love, fighting, humanity, and restraint which is intriguing seeing that it's all coming from a teenager. I also felt like it expanded more on the story and it's concepts instead of the excessive fighting that was displayed in Truancy. The action scenes in here are brief but climatic; a fighting style similar to Japanese manga. It opened my eyes as well to notice how much Umasi and Zen reminded me of ying and yang. This novel reveals the past of these mysterious characters creating a mixture of empathy, suspense and sadness until the very end.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE SPOILER PRUDES WHO THINK THAT ONE SENTENCE FROM THE BOOK IS GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE WHOLE PLOT*


As you may well know, I am a sucker for dystopia, and Truancy is no exception. Truancy Origins helped me to answer most of my questions. I really enjoyed this book. The fight scenes are awesome, the dystopia makes me geek out, the cliffhangers are intense, and the connections to the first book tie everything together nicely (such as Jack being Tack and Suzie's dad). However, the one thing that keeps me coming back for more is Fukui's characters. Some people claim that Fukui cannot write, but I beg to differ. Truancy is one of the only series where most of the characters are not stock characters. Even the Mayor, Zen's (Zyid's) enemy, is not all bad. Fukui is really capable of showing the good and bad of all people. You cannot tell who the real good and bad guys are sometimes. He also develops his characters nicely. Most of his main characters are dynamic and round. Can you say that about most YA books these days? Also, you begin to doubt that the education system is really bad until BAM! You read something that makes you shiver. That is what I love about Fukui's writing, it makes you think. The only thing that I would have changed is I would have given more details about how bad the education system is before Zen started the Truancy. I will have to say that I liked the first won better, but this was a great and neccessary part of the Truancy.

Overall: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Normally, I would say the cover is bad, but it serves its purpose. I'm sure that Fukui didn't really care about making a beautiful cover.

[Christine Gaza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I had a student lend this to me (sorry Sruthi!)…and I may have given it one star, but it was written by a 15 year old, and I respect how well done it was for someone at that age. I thought there was too much action and not enough backstory. I liked that Umasi eventually redeemed himself even if it was through negative means. However, I didn't really understand WHY the government was so terrible or WHY Zen was so upset. The overall language to me seemed kind of forced and disjointed. Sorry Sruth, but I shall never tell a lie about a book :)

[Catherine Liu]

Overall I did like the book. As most literature that is geared toward teens lacks the symbolism and literary rubbish that I hate. For the most part it is a book that is composed of the angst that teens feel toward the education system and how they manipulate students in order to maintain power and authority. It is very well written considering that the author was only 15 at the time. It was a very interesting read to observe how two people: identical twins reacted to their surroundings and how they became twisted as they reached beyond the threshold and into the abyss. The two character, Zen and Umasi are as different as can be, which in reality is not very realistic nor do I like this plot point. However overall the book was interesting enough. Unfortunately none of the books that I have read in the recent past have really pulled me in, not even Catching Fire. This book leaves an aftertaste of slight disappointment even though I do acknowledge the youth and inexperience of the author.

[Cooper Mumford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was only better than the first book was, as it answered most of my questions, but at the same time, giving me new questions which will be answered in the third book, which sadly is not out yet. But this book is about the history of the two most mysterious characters in the original book, about whom most of my questions were, and the farther I read, the more questions were answered, so, once more, I could not put this book down. Some of the characters from the previous book were also included, like the main character, however, he wasn't really in the book, but it answered some questions, and there were even more characters incorporated into the book, making it only better. All in all, this is the best book I have ever read so far. I can not wait for the last book.

(TWO BOOKS)

[Arynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book more than it's predecessor... Which I believe was released first. However, this book is a prequel to Truancy.

The book was quite easy to read and very descriptive. A little hard to visualize what this city would look like and I kinda wish there was some sort of map or something to show the districts. I was, however, able to visualize my own images to go along with the story and the fight scenes were very imaginable. I really enjoyed the way the various characters are introduced. I wish I read this one first, so I could get the story in chronological order rather than in the order of publication. It helps everything make a little more sense.

I think there's one more book to this series so I'm looking forward to seeing how the story ends up playing out!

[Sybelle van Erven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that explains some of the things written in the one before it. I did not realize it, so I read this one before Truancy. I am positive that changed my experience, but not in a negative way. I think you could read tham in any order. Just know the author's intent is for you to read this one after the first one. I just totally love the "evil" twin/"good" twin thing he worked out in here. It definitely shows how "bad" people can have very good reasoning and how you can agree with them on many levels. Again, if you un/home school, read it!

[Aubree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can be read with or without its companion "Truancy". It is supposed to be a prequel. Despite his age Fukui manages to create a compelling story. He is able to balance three, sometimes more, seperate stories at the same time while not creating any confusion. The fight scenes in this book read like they're out of an action movie, easy to follow and full of twists. He makes sure that anything that happens seems entirely plausable and the view of education that Fukui creates is eerie. Hopefully our society never comes to that point.

[Nick Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I finished Truancy Origins for the first time, this is the first thought that popped into my head: Oh my gosh how is it even physically possible that a book can be this good. I'm not joking. Truancy Origins is a must-read, with well written action scenes, a compelling plot, and amazing characters. Isamu Fukui has really outdone himself this time, writing a sequel even better than his compelling debut, Truancy.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the City, The Mayor rules all, including the school system, but he's troubled. He has just discovered that the higher government has assigned him to take care of two twin boys, Umasi and Zen. He is worried because they will have to be put into the school system and treated like all the other students. Unable to let them know, the boys live life like all other children, until one day when they discover that their father was behind it. They both run away, Zen to form the Truancy in order to destroy the school system, Umasi to stop both the Mayor and the Truancy.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was pretty amazing. I was told it was like the Hunger Games. Um, no. It's not like it, minus the dystopian society and rebellion, but it's still just as good!

I was so sad while reading, seeing how brothers become enemies.

Anyways, psyched to read Truancy, and then Truancy City! :D

[Wendy Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

killer streetfighting scenes, a war, and how the weak have to grow up. only regret is that i didn't read the series in order.

[Smaug the Unmerciful Editor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a pretty heavy book, but kind of goofy at the same time. In Truancy #1, Umasi has a lemonade stand when Tack sees him for the first time, and that's OK. It's just a weird thing to have, a quirk. But in this book, #2, which chronicles Umasi's and Zen's rises to power, they didn't really give a reason for the stand, just that Umasi likes lemonade and to put it in the next chronological book.

I wasn't very fond of Umasi or Zen. They didn't pull on the ol' heartstrings or anything, they just made me wince a lot and try to hold in vomit as they gruesomely beat up people. Isamu stuck in a few people for Umasi to interact with and supposedly gets taught something through or by them, but I didn't really see that, even when they TOLD me he learned from them.

The whole violence aspect of this book is way overboard. There's uncountable gut-punching, crotch-kicking, and beat-up, knocked-out bodies. It's almost savage in that way. If you want something, beat up the person who has it. Also the child abuse in here was really disgusting. Rothenburg abuses his son, physically and emotionally, and the cops think of killing vagrant kids as a sport.

I really only read this book because it had a katana on the cover, or else I never would've picked it up. If you read the first book, this is probably something you'd want to read, but other than that, skip it.

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book, I thought it was the 1st book in the series. And while it technically is, I didn't expect to find it marked as "Book 0". Anyway, this series was probably the best series I ever read. I can't believe how underrated it is, it blows my mind. I read this book and "Book 2", because I thought it was the second book in the series (it's the 3rd). I really need to reread this series because I read it a long time ago and decided to wait long enough before rereading that I forget everything that happens in it. So I can read it again as if I never read it in the first place. It was THAT good. I'm definitely getting to that point where I can read it again (and read the second book in the series this time around).

[Walter Lindwall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favorite of mine that builds upon the success of the previous novel. It is clear the author learned much from his previous book, while expanding upon the personalities and motivations of existing characters, introducing new and compelling characters, and setting up major stakes for the final book in the trilogy.

[Ayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my all-time favorites. It is one of a kind and I have never read anything like it.

[kat wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

an action film in book form and just as good as i remembered it from 10 years ago

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book, thinking that this is the first book of a series. It turns out, this is the sequel to the first book. I don't know what to feel about that, because, in a series, I always read the books in order of when it was published.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to reading the first book of the series.

[Tass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love the Truancy Origins! It was exciting and full of anticipation, it's so surreal. We have different opinions on how this book affect us while we were reading and that's okay. So here's my review:

This story was not only exciting, it was suspenseful! It went at a good pace and grabbed the reader's attention eagerly. I'm so happy that I spent my Sunday morning reading this! I'm very satisfied by the book and feel like it went so right, and everything fell into place evenly. A little disappointed Umasi didn't kill Edward right where he had him, perfectly humiliated and ready to death, but it doesn't matter because you see this side to Umasi that still goes on strong. Umasi is a round and dynamic character and I enjoyed his point-of-views greatly.

Zen is a flat character, but his point-of-view was still very enjoyable to read. He had made little progress, but we don't get to see that till the end of the book where he realizes he just might lose his brother forever and he tries to savage it by saying all that nasty stuff; but nevertheless, it didn't work out.

All and all, Zen and Umasi are definitely my favorite character and I'm so glad we got see why Tack's father lost his position. Aha, at least the mystery has been solved :D

Anyways, gave this book a five star. It's a great read and totally worth it!

[Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting YA book about two brothers who are brought up in “Education City” As they become teens they learn that the entire purpose of the city is to research the effects of discipline policies in education, such as punishing the whole class for the actions of one student. Zen runs away and begins a uprising called the truancy where he uses violence to try and take down the Educators. The brother Umasi wants to take a more passive approach but cannot convince his brother. The brothers learn how to survive outside of the system. The book is told from the perspectives of both characters and it is interesting to learn about their discoveries of an oppressive system and what they decide to do about it. The book did leave me wanting more.

[Haroun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usami and Zen. Two twin brothers that were given to the Mayor of Education City to be taken cared of. Fifteen years later the Mayor has young well-mannered boys, one who is overactive and one is quiet, who like everyones' elses kid is trapped in a twisted version of education or so he thought. One day Zen discovers that his father, the Mayor, has been in charge of the City his whole life. Disgusted Zen leaves the system and becomes a uneducated homeless child, a vagrant. There he begans his master plan to distory this corrupted city once and for all that is if he can defeat his most difficult adversary.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Truancy, you know there is a story about not only how The Truancy was founded but also the two brothers, Zen and Umasi. This book gives us the origins of both.

This is a corrupt society that preys on its children. Fukui has created a violent world that pits children against the society that is trying to rule and confirm them.

This installment answered many of the questions raised by the first and raised others that will hopefully be answered in the third. A good companion to the first.

[Jeanne Boyarsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book better than "Truancy" and "Truancy City." THere was still a lot of fighting and violence. The difference is that I knew which parts were important plot elements and which parts I could gloss over. And it was nice seeing how the characters all got to the point that they did. There was a little overlap with the timeline of Truancy towards the end, but not much.

I really liked seeing how the lemonade stand came to be and Usami's journey. Same for the albino "miladi" and Noni.

[David Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truancy Origins was a fantastic book! I really enjoyed the in depth story line and the amazing character development. It was hard to put the book down because of the suspense at the end of each chapter, but that is also what made it so exciting when you go to pick it up again. The story follows the life of two twin brothers one with the brains and one with the brawn. The detail made you feel like you were right next to them watch everything happen, this is honestly one of the best books I have read!

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-designed, well-thought-out prequel to "Truancy", "Truancy Origins" adds more to the somewhat foggy backstory of the original book. I read "Origins" before "Truancy", and frankly, I'm glad I did. I felt if I hadn't read this, I would have been lost in Truancy. Fukui ups the ante for the final book in the trilogy by giving his readers a taste of what life was like for Umasi and Zen before they were set on their diverging paths.

[Medina]

I actually liked this one much more than Truancy. I may have to go back and read it again. I also think that this is now a series that I need to have in my room for my boys. I think that they would really love it. I normally feel that prequals are odd and feel a bit contrived but I will have to eat my words on this one. I wasn't thrilled to read it at all I only read it because once again when I start a series I feel the need to finish it and well it was a series. I was wrong.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the prequel to Truancy. It tells the stories of Zen and Umasi and how the truancy started. It gives you lots of different views in the lives of sevral characters but ties back nicely to the lives of the twin characters. It is a classic battle of good and evil with a good and unexpecting twist. Absolutly amazing book by a good up and coming author.

[Dracolibris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get into this book. I think I read 6-8 others while slofgging my way through this one. But now that I am finished, I am glad I did. Things definitely picked up along the way, and for fans of martial arts, anime, or the new movie Kick-Ass, this would be a good recommendation.

[Jessica Qua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story compelling enough to want to read the other Truancy book. The author has come up with a plot that is shocking and powerful. However, I felt that the execution of the plot, character formation, and writing style were not as good as I had hoped. In other words, the story is interesting, but the writing itself is a little underdeveloped.