I'm constantly amazed with Kibuishi's artistic skill. Downloaded an advanced reader copy of the book thanks to NetGalley (dancing with joy was involved) and lost my breath with the artwork on the opening pages. From the start, we follow a young Max and an elfin friend and see there's a bond between the two and for Max, a strong sense of justice and doing right. When Max's elfin friend and family is jailed, he rushes to the prison to set them free and, tragically, puts them in an aircraft that's fired upon and attacked. Declared a traitor, Max vows for revenge and the ball starts rolling for a major battle.

As with the prior book, a darker tone prevails along with the murky mention of time traveling and <I> memory </I> traveling. A map has been added to the end pages which helps depict the areas our characters travel to and combined it makes for an epic and addictive series. Prior concerns of Kibuishi not being able to handle the narrative arc were put to ease, he's got a knack for slowly but methodically revealing a plot where you're never too sure what can happen next. Top it with the artwork and readers will keep turning the pages for more.