Planet of the Apes

by Daryl Gregory

[celinenyx]

Summary: The war between the apes and the small human part of the city has started. Will the humans be crushed under the endless number of ape soldiers?

What I liked:
- Instead of plunging us deep into action territory, volume two expands the lore and the world
- Through flashbacks we learn more about the history of the characters, and we get internal monologues of characters that only played a minor role in the first volume. Their voices add a new dimension to the story. They all have their own agenda, and it'll be interesting to see how that works out
- Things get really, really bad in The Devil's Pawn. Humans start dropping like flies, and the ape leader Voice Alaya becomes more and more evil
- She even erects work camps for the humans. We all know what happens when you start putting people in work camps
- Even though there are plenty of bad things happening, there is a glimmer of hope by the end
- The art is still absolutely fabulous

What I didn't like:
- Because these volumes are pretty short, and there was so much story to tell, we lose track of some of the important characters
- Some scene transitions were a bit abrupt
- The plights of our characters didn't pull my heartstrings as much as you'd expect. The first volume was stronger emotionally

Verdict: More information heavy than I was expecting, but still high in tension and conflict.