Amulet Book Three: The Cloud Searchers [Paperback]

My nine-year-old and I have been following this series since its start and the only thing we don't like is the wait between books.

The illustrations are fantastic. With each book, Kibuishi adds stunning visual elements. In book one, it was simply the introduction to this new world. Then in the second he added walking house and new animal-based characters. In this book he opens a whole new aerial world filled with airships, flying beasts and floating structures. The pictures just keep drawing you through the book, occasionally punctuated with arresting landscape spreads.

The story line is also perfect in several ways. Perhaps the most important is that there isn't anything offensive in the story. I feel perfectly safe handing these books to my kids, and yet the storyline is engaging for adults to enjoy, (even without gore, swearing, or sexual innuendo.) I'm not a prude, but it is nice that I can trust my kids won't come away with another four-letter word in their vocabulary.

The story is well paced with episodes of tension and peril. The story really draws you along page after page in something of a roller coaster ride. However there are a couple deeper levels that continue to haunt the storyline and help keep up a strong sense of suspense. All in all, a great storyline for a graphic novel series.

The Character development is also impressive, and for those who have read the first two books you will appreciate the development of relationships between characters. Especially intriguing is the growing suspicion and tension between the main character Emily and Prince Trellis (a former and perhaps current enemy) as well as a relationship between Emily and the amulet which is somewhat reminiscent of Frodo and the ring from the Lord of the rings.

Seriously, if there was anything I would be critical of in this series, it would be that we can't wait for the next installment. And not to spoil the ending - much like the first book in the series - this one ends in a cliffhanger with many unanswered questions. So we will start our monthly searches for pre-order information for book 4.

I highly recommend this series for anyone with 6 to 12 year olds. We used the first book with our son to help foster a lifelong love of reading and he is continuing to blossom as a reader.

Please note that this review is coming from someone who had received an uncorrected proof and as such, I only have access to the version with the unfinished art. Only the first few pages (1-16) were in color while the rest was in black and white. But for me, it was still quite good and I saw enough to say that the art was well done. I'll be honest here, I'm not this graphic novel's target audience, but there is just something about the book that entertained and maybe even made me look for more.

Kazu Kibuishi is a Japanese author and illustrator best known for his work on the comic anthology "Flight" and he has written and drawn the "Amulet" series with a more adolescent reader in mind. "Amulet: The Cloud Searchers" is the third volume of the series (Stone keeper and Stone Keeper's Curse being the first two) and has been published by Scholastic. Kibuishi has written an enthralling tale of magic, curses, heroism and revelations.

Emily, Navin and their group of resistance fighters are on a quest to find the lost city of Cielis, the floating city that supposedly serves safe haven for the last remaining members of the guardian council. This council had governed Alledia in times past and this magical city may be the last key for survival. They manage to convince an eccentric pilot called Enzo to help them find the floating city and to help them avoid the perils of the journey. Meanwhile, Trellis, the son of the evil elf king has become a hunted prince. For his failures in capturing Emily and her band, Trellis and his companion, Luger is being pursued by a powerful hunter called Gabilan who has a way of neutralizing the magic of the stones. Oh, did I mention that Gabilan is also after Emily and her crew? Seems like old foes may need to band together to avoid annihilation....

"The Cloud Searchers" is a graphic novel that has a charm that appeals to young adults. For some reason, I was reminded of manga (Japanese comic) because of the style of the artwork. There is a lot of detail to them, but there is just something that manages to attract my eye in the way Kibuishi draws his panels. There is a lot of action to be had with this third volume, Emily and Trellis are on a perilous journey that takes them face to face with flying creatures, ancient gargantuan animals that are monstrous and yet they appear so docile. This has always been the charm of fantasy graphic novels to me, the fantastic creatures and the magical places that are only limited by the imagination. Kibuishi keeps the tone rather friendly to his intended reader but even for one who has read hundreds (maybe thousands of graphic novels), I found his efforts quite solid and refreshing in the execution.

As for the story, this goes further into the "Amulet" series as new characters are introduced, new alliances are made, and we see Emily start getting more used to becoming a "Stone keeper". She is developing more control and she becoming more comfortable with his new-found power. Emily is a young girl given power and this volume reveals a secret to the enchanted stones, and what's more, there is a huge revelation on the part of Trellis as there seems to be more to him than fans had expected. New characters are introduced as older ones were fleshed out. I enjoyed the way the writing makes the devices transition into continuity very easily. Kibuishi gives his characters a lot of personality, and I have to say I can tell why many could easily be hooked on this book.

For some reason, some parts of the graphic novel reminded me of "Star Wars episode IV". A pilot in a bar and the scene with Emily and Leon the fox as they practice `defense' just screamed Luke and Obi-Wan with the remote, only this time it was with a bottle. There is some devices to ponder about with this volume, as Emily may have unknowingly become more attached to her stone than she had first thought. Gabilan is one hunter with a lot of tools to counter the attacks of a stone keeper; I did think of the bounty hunter in "Return of the JedI" clashing with the "Witch King of Mordor" for some reason once I saw him. "Amulet" is very rich with fantasy elements and so references to other fantasy installments should be expected.

Many would say that "The Cloud Searchers" may be a `transitional phase' as the series prepares for a showdown. It does do one thing right and that is it managed to get my full attention; Kibuishi's writing had enough rhythm to generate momentum and I found that it was really easy for me to get into its story. This is a credit to the writing, he manages to keep fans invested while attracting new readers into the fold. Hey, I am not its intended audience and it is to his credit that I liked it.

Recommended! [3  Out of 5 Stars]

Recovered and reunited after their adventures in The Stonekeeper and The Stonekeeper's Curse, the Hayes Family, Silas Charnon's helper robots, and Leon Redbeard set out upon their next quest in the struggle to free Alledia from the Elf King: finding the lost city of Cielis, former capital when the five great Stonekeepers who comprised the Guardian Council ruled Alledia. Meanwhile, Trellis, traitorous son of the Elf King has found Luger much the worse for wear after his defeat by Emily and defied an order to return home and be executed, and the Elf King has hired Gabilan the Assassin, an elf with a giant chip on his shoulder to go along with his giant ambitions, to kill them all.

In this book Kazu Kibuishi temporarily sets aside his determination not to resemble anyone else in order to celebrate a couple of his early influences. The scene where an airship is hired is obviously inspired by the similar spaceship hiring scene in Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope and the quest for Cielis is clearly Hayao Miyazaki's visionary Laputa or Castle in the Sky reimagined all the way down to nearly identical airships!

With this volume Kibuishi has finished assembling the cast who will be taking the next step in the saga:

Cielis itself.

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