I’ve been trying to start this review for months, but nothing has ever felt right. I started reading Amulet just before the 5th book came out, and had a hard time getting a hold of the 4th and 5th in my library because they were always checked out. If that’s not a great endorsement, then I don’t know what is! I don’t even remember how I became aware of the series’ existence, but after I did, nothing was the same.
For the next five weeks, I will be reviewing each of the five books in the series (not sure when 6 comes out). For these reviews, I’m going to re-read all three of the originals and read for the first time books 4 and 5.
Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
192 pages, full color
Published by GRAPHIX
Amulet 1: The Stonekeeper is one of the best graphic novels I have read. It immediately shot its author, Kazu Kibuishi to the top of my graphic novel heroes list with Doug TenNapel. There is something incredibly inspiring about this book for me. To a certain extent it is the kind of book I would want to make outside of funny things.
The book starts out on a somber note with a family losing a father. This is a happy family, but roads are icy. The opening is interesting because it shows loss and death right in the opening, and even after only a few pages, you feel it too. not only that, but many young adult novels will imply loss and allow the reveal over time, but this shows—right at the beginning—that loss will play a strong role in the rest of the story. And as sad as it is, the openness is intoxicating.
The story quickly jumps 2 years into the future where we meet our family again moving into an old family home. The mom has tried to provide as best she can, but things just aren’t working in their favor. As they’re moving in, the daughter, Emily, finds a room with mysterious mechanical works and a large portrait of the long lost Silas Charnon, her great grandfather. One thing leads to another and Emily discovers a mystical amulet.
That night their mom is taken by a creature in the basement, and they follow into a different realm and thus begins an amazing chase to retrieve their mother. Along the way, Emily is being helped by the amulet around her neck in both advice and strange powers. They meet a team of robotic characters that helps them along their way: a rabbit named Miskit, a crotchety old cod named Cogsley, and a fretting robot named Morrie—just to name a few.
Without ruining too much of the plot, Kibuishi has an incredible talent for widening a story. Much like the characters in the novel, the reader is whisked away into a much wider world. You can see and feel the history of the world as the story progresses. It makes every page more fascinating than the next.
And as deep a history as the world has, the same can be said for the story itself. Kibuishi does not spend a lot of time spelling out the meaning or any of the lessons. Like I said before, he doesn’t shy away from loss, but even more so he delves into the cravings of power, adolescence and more. There are plenty of subtexts for all ages to get something out of this story.
But not only are there great thematic elements and a good story, but the artwork is fantastic. On every page, as an artist, I felt blown away. I feel like I could read through the book hundreds of times and always come away with some new piece of just how he does what he does. Every page is beautifully rendered in full color and on a nice glossy paper that really give the book a high quality feel, and at a low price point the whole thing feels like a great investment for my library. I can’t wait to read through these books with my kids!
Next week, I’ll be doing Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse, so stay tuned!