Graphic Novels – The Geeky Bibliophile

The Last Sacrifice is a tie-in to Hart’s Dominion Trilogy, telling the story of what happened to Janie Tenner. Readers of the Dominion Trilogy will recognize her as the sister of Chelsea Tenner, and will recall her relating the story of Janie’s abduction to Zoey in The Last Girl. In this graphic novel, we learn what happened to Janie after she was taken.

I’m the type of reader who always wants to know more, so I was excited to read Janie’s story. Knowing what happened to her satisfied my curiosity immensely, and rounded out the series nicely, in my opinion.

The artwork throughout is beautifully done, easily conveying Janie’s horror, fear, etc. and giving the written words far more depth than they would have had, alone. I was amused to see a character who had a very strong resemblances to a certain actor, but it definitely set the mood for that character’s actions, so it worked for me.

A word of caution: you really shouldn’t read The Last Sacrifice as a stand-alone story. I’ve seen many reviews with readers opining that it didn’t make sense, or was too vague about what happened previously, giving lower ratings as a consequence. I can understand the frustration these readers must have felt because if you read it as a story that stands on its own, it’s not going to make sense to you. This graphic novel was never meant to be read as a stand-alone, however, as it gives a small slice of a much larger story. In order to fully appreciate this story, you really need to read the series, as well—otherwise, you’re most likely bound to be confused and disappointed.

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Goodreads Giveaways and the author.

Authors: Joe Hart, Stuart Moore

Illustrators: Michael Montenat, Andrew Dalhouse, Chris Summers

Title: The Last Sacrifice: The Graphic Novel

Series: The Dominion Trilogy

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Graphic Novel

Published: January 4th 2017 by Jet City Comics

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Book

Acclaimed novelist Joe Hart (The Last Girl) brings the engrossing dystopian paranoia of his popular Dominion series to the comics page in collaboration with award-winning comic book writer Stuart Moore (The Zodiac Legacy) and celebrated illustrator Michael Montenat (Clive Barker’s Hellraiser).

In the near future, with the world’s female population on the brink of extinction, teenager Janie Tenner is taken by the sinister National Obstetric Alliance. Desperate to escape and reunite with her missing sister, she finds an unlikely ally: grieving father Tom Vincent, whose own daughter has disappeared.

But will Tom lead Janie out of the darkness to the promised land…or into a fresh new hell on earth?

Other books in the series:

About the Authors

Joe Hart was born and raised in northern Minnesota. Having dedicated himself to writing horror and thriller fiction since the tender age of nine, he is now the author of nine novels, including The River Is Dark, Lineage, EverFall, and the first two books in the Dominion Trilogy, on which this graphic novel is based. When not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising, exploring the great outdoors, and watching movies with his family. For more information on his upcoming novels and access to his blog, visit http://www.joehartbooks.com.

Stuart Moore is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. His recent writing includes EGOs, an original comic book series from Image Comics, and The Zodiac Legacy, a major Disney project created and cowritten by Stan Lee. His comics work includes Wolverine Noir, Namor: The First Mutant, Firestorm, and the graphic novels Earthlight, Para, Shadrach Stone, and Mandala. He also wrote the novelizations of Marvel’s Civil War comics series and Disney’s John Carter film. He contributed two series, Teach and Out with a Bang, to the launch of the online comics app Stela.

Michael Montenat graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and proceeded to play the fine art game for years. Now he has come back to what got him into art in the first place: illustration and comics. His clients have included IDW, Top Cow, Legendary, MonkeyBrain Books, Spacegoat, Darby Pop Publishing, BOOM! Studios, and Universal Studios Japan.

Author photos and bios via Amazon.

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Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Now, in her first-ever graphic novel, Gabaldon gives readers a fresh look at the events of the original Outlander: Jamie Fraser’s side of the story, gorgeously rendered by artist Hoang Nguyen.

After too long an absence, Jamie Fraser is coming home to Scotland—but not without great trepidation. Though his beloved godfather, Murtagh, promised Jamie’s late parents he’d watch over their brash son, making good on that vow will be no easy task. There’s already a fat bounty on the young exile’s head, courtesy of Captain Black Jack Randall, the sadistic British officer who’s crossed paths—and swords—with Jamie in the past. And in the court of the mighty MacKenzie clan, Jamie is a pawn in the power struggle between his uncles: aging chieftain Colum, who demands his nephew’s loyalty—or his life—and Dougal, war chieftain of Clan MacKenzie, who’d sooner see Jamie put to the sword than anointed Colum’s heir.

And then there is Claire Randall—mysterious, beautiful, and strong-willed, who appears in Jamie’s life to stir his compassion . . . and arouse his desire.

But even as Jamie’s heart draws him to Claire, Murtagh is certain she’s been sent by the Old Ones, and Captain Randall accuses her of being a spy. Claire clearly has something to hide, though Jamie can’t believe she could pose him any danger. Still, he knows she is torn between two choices—a life with him, and whatever it is that draws her thoughts so often elsewhere.

Step into the captivating, passionate, and suspenseful world of The Exile, and experience the storytelling magic of Diana Gabaldon as never before.

I haven’t read a graphic novel in a very long time (or even a comic book, for that matter), so I had forgotten just how enjoyable something like this can be to read. There is a downside, though. I read through the first five chapters so quickly I decided it was best to set it aside for a bit and read something else, so as not to finish it too quickly. (If you’re a fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, you can easily understand why I would wish to linger a bit before finishing the story!)

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I will simply say that reading the story from Murtagh’s and Jamie’s perspectives and being able to see things through their eyes, rather than Claire’s, was quite interesting. I was horribly disappointed to reach the final panel and see that dreadful phrase… “the end”. I wanted to see more, for the story to go on, to perhaps reveal something that was known only to Jamie and never revealed to Claire! Ah, well. All good things must come to an end, I suppose. (But there’s no harm in wishing for more, right?)

The story itself was, of course, very well written. I was very impressed with Ms. Gabaldon’s ability to condense the many events that happened and make it fit within the framework of a graphic novel. Of course, this would not have been possible without the beautiful artwork of Hoang Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen is incredibly talented, and his illustrations truly made the story come alive. His artwork combined with Ms. Gabaldon’s writing made The Exile enjoyable to look at, as well as enjoyable to read.

I highly recommend this to fans of the Outlander series… it is definitely a must-have addition to your Outlander collection!

Author: Diana Gabaldon and Hoang Nguyen (Illustrator)

Title:The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

Series: Outlander #1.5

Published: 9/21/2010 by Del Rey

Rating: ★★★★★

This review was originally posted on Goodreads on March 18, 2012.