Chaos: Graphic Novel

June 15, 2009
Released simultaneously, these two books demonstrate the difficulty of converting prose novels into graphic fiction, especially when a complicated backstory is involved. Bestselling Christian writer Dekker wrote the YA Lost Books series to fill a gap in the chronology of his adult Circle trilogy, which chronicles a long struggle between the forces of darkness and light in our Earth and a fantastic parallel world. At the beginning of the series, four young people are given the mission of finding the seven missing Books of History to secure the continuity of reality. In Renegade, the hotheaded Bilios uses a forbidden book to transport himself to a small Colorado town, where a dark stranger convinces him that the people aren't real so that it's okay to kill them. In Chaos, young Johnis and Silvie are transported to Las Vegas, into the middle of a scheme by a monstrous Shataiki bat to unite the books and bring his mate into this world so they can spawn. The dynamic but uncredited artwork is good, but these adaptations are too plot dense to be satisfying. Readers may turn to Dekker's novels if they're intrigued by this combination of C.S. Lewis and Stephen King.

May 1, 2009
Gr 9 Up-In this final installment, four young people from a parallel world of swords-and-sorcery travel to contemporary Earth to locate seven lost books and prevent a demonic catastrophe in both worlds. The high point of the book is the dramatic artwork, whether depicting vistas or the villainous bat-creature Alucard (thats Dracula backwards). Apart from that, several factors limit the volumes overall appeal. The story does not stand well on its own, relying heavily on backstory and exposition. There are some amusing fish-out-of-water moments when the heroes find themselves in our strange new world, but the plot is derivative and overly reliant on stock characters and deus ex machina."Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2009
Grades 7-9 Thisfourth graphic novel in the Lost Books series continues the sf battle between the forces of good and evil. Those following the twists and turns in the paths of Johnis and company as they labor to find the seven books and preserve the cosmos may find the pace here kicked up a notch as characters who have disappearedand been thought deadreappear and reveal themselves to be other than what they seem. As always, the airbrushedcolor artwork is fully necessary to understand the action as well as character traits of those on both sides of the battle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)