Customer Reviews

City of Light, City of Dark: A Comic-book Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This comic book formatted fantasy myth is based on sun phases that make summer and winter solistice. The Kurds, an ancient people who dwell in darkness, allowed humans to occupy their island (New York) if their power (housed in something small, like a token) is returned by 12/21 (winter solistice) so that days can become longer. The Kurds hide it again every year on 6/21 (summer solistice) so that days can become shorter. If the power is not returned by 12/21, total darkness will prevail. Move that idea through several generations to modern day, and you've got a very interesting story. It sounds confusing and bizarre, but Avi makes it work. His versatality astounds me.

This is one of my favorite Avi books. It is told in a comic book form, but don't let that fool you. It would have been just as good if it had been writen as a novel, but the black and white pictures really add depth to the story.

I thought this was an astounding and ingenious book. There are people called "Kurbs" and they own an island and have a lot of POWER. Unfortunately, after an accident that caused him to be blind, a man wants to take the POWER for himself and the token in which the POWER rests. He keeps ordering his assistant to get the token, but the assistant marries the woman with the token. Then a boy finds the token while being attacked by pigeons, and then the rest of the story turns into a fast-paced adventure involving the token. Read the book to find out more!

My 11-year-old son read this book, who is not much of a reader in the first place, except for Harry Potter -- and he found it exceptional. This is the first book that he he continued reading until it was completely done. The story is based on a boy and girl, trying to recover a gold token hidden by the "Kurbs". Once they find it and return it to the "Kurbs", society can continue living on Earth. In the meantime a blind neon sign builder is trying to capture the token in order to light up his neon signs. Granted it was basically in a comic format, but the story line was interesting enough to keep his interest. He is now reading "Man From the Sky" also by Avi, and finds it just as intriguing. It's good to know that there's an author out there to catch the interest of an 11-year-old.

When a token that controls the fate of Long Island is lost it's up to one girl, Sarah Groff, to get it back. It's the 45th day of the 13th moon; the humans come to an island. The island is owned by the Kurbs, creatures who thrive on darkness. The humans ask for permission to live on the island. The Kurbs say yes but on one condition, every year the humans have to find the Kurbs' power source. The humans granted one person powers to find the power. When a "Neon Light Genius", Mr. Underton, finds out about the Kurbs awesome power he is determined to find it. He figures out who is the one who carries out the sacred "power source ritual." He makes his right hand man meet the woman. His right hand man and the woman fall deeply in love and have a baby, they name her Sarah Groff. Mr. Underton takes the baby and forces his right hand man to live a new life, start over. Sarah grows up thinking her mother is dead when she gets in a giant mess containing her father, mother, the token, and Mr. Underton. Does she find the token? Does she find out about her real mother? Those are questions the book will answer. I thought this book was a real "page turner." New questions kept popping up. This book was a giant comic, which made it even better. The author Avi can take a place and make it seem like another world. I also thought the book was suspenseful, you think that something is going to happen and something completely different happens. That's why I loved this book so much.

I really didn't find anything outstanding (or particularly bad) about this graphic novel. There are many good graphic novels, such as _Maus_, but this is not one of them. The "graphic" aspect is nice in places (such as the cityscapes), but overall is uninspiring. The "novel" aspect tells a story that is entertaining, but lacks depth in the characters. The story is also presented as something of an allegory, but it is not at all clear to me what it could represent -- any ideas I came up with did not sync with the complete story. While I'm a grown-up, I do read a fair amount of childeren's literature, and I don't feel that this would really appeal to any age group (other than those trying to find an easy way out of a book report). However, I'm not saying it's a bad book; I gave it 3 stars because it's just average.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and depth of this story. I shouldn't have been because AVI stories are top notch. The illustrations (in black and white) at first seemed sparse, but as I got into the story they were very expressive. The characters were well defined. I am delighted to have found this beautiful and touching story. It was great. And not just for youngsters either - I am in my 60s.

City of Light, City of Dark is a comic book novel by Avi. A comic book novel is a novel that is like a big comic book. I gave it a nine because it has a good storyline. I think it has a good storyline because Avi mixes present day New York city with a wonderful fantasy that kept me spell bound for hours. The book is about the Kurbs, a strange human-like race that lent the island of New York to the people under one condition: that a chosen one MUST find the Kurb's power; it is hidden in a normal, everyday, bus token; and find it before 12:00 PM on December 31st, every year otherwise the island will freeze over. I would have given it a ten, but the comic pictures are not so great; they are practically(did I spell that right?) just curved, bent, and straight lines. Take Sarah(or Elizabeth) for example. She looks just like her mom, except smaller. My Internet address is HotrodSafa and my server is America Online.