Book Review: Time of the Faeries by Joseph Corsentino

Book:  Time of the Faeries (Afterlight:  The End of the World series) by Joseph Corsentino, 98 pages, full colour graphic novel.

Source:  From the author via Bewitching Book Tours.

Synopsis:

Time of the Faeries: Afterlight is a four-part graphic novel series that explores the origins of the Faeries, the evolution of Angels and Vampires from a common Fae ancestor, and their own unique adaptations to the modern world. It follows the alliances and tensions that develop between these three species as they struggle to protect human civilization or shape it to their will. The Afterlight follows several lines of cause and effect, revealing possible versions of the Apocalypse at the hands of all three species.

In the first book, Afterlight, End of the World, we begin at the end with the Angel Apocalypse: a dying Earth, ravaged by war, now hosts only a few scattered pockets of humanity. These last survivors are being hunted to extinction by starving Angels, their energy consumed so that the Angels might live. Below ground, a small band of shape-shifting male faeries called the Phelans struggle to protect the last collection of human life in Los Angeles and a mysterious young girl who may hold the key to their survival. Above ground, as the winged forces amass to complete their genocide, a lone Angel named Halyon struggles to understand what went wrong, and why her race now hunts the very people they were charged to protect. 

My Thoughts:

Time of the Faeries is a stunning book.  The photographic illustrations are incredible - I can't imagine the hours spent photographing, editing, Photoshopping and tweaking these photos to get the amazing effect.  Then to think that this is only the first book in this series - what an ambitious project!  The dark tones and moody lighting of the photos perfectly reflect the dark and bleak story being told.

I found that I loved savouring this book and the pictures.  The story was engaging, but I wanted more.  I could see that Corsentino was building the post-apocolyptic world and how it got that way in this installment.  There was a lot of description, which I am hoping is world building and that there will be more interaction in the next installments.

One of my biggest complaints was the actual text.  I received this is digital form and read it on my computer to get the best effect - an ereader would never do this book justice - but in making the text look worn and weathered, it was also difficult to read at times.  This completely stopped the flow of my reading in several places.  Hopefully, this is not an issue in the print copy.

The imagination displayed in this story is different and rich - it is the year 2078 and the Angels are killing off the last of the humans because the Angels believe they need the human's energy to survive.  It is interesting to cast the Angels in such a negative light, and to show humans as their victims and I love it when people create new mythologies.  I look forward to seeing how the Faeries fit into all of this.

I would recomend this book for those who like graphic novels and for those who like fantasy and are looking for something very visual.  This is not a chidren's book, however, and is probably best suited for young adult and adult readers.