"StarCraft: Ghost Academy, Volume 1".
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I've never played Starcraft, so I read this black & white graphic novel without knowing what to expect.
The novel starts out with a congratulatory letter from the Psi-Ops Division of the Terran Dominion. We quickly learn that the Dominion has several enemies and the best defense is a specialized group called Ghosts - people with psychic abilities who are trained to become covert operatives.
Here are the main characters of Blue Team:
Lio Travski: A low-performing trainee and recovering "hab" addict. His power allows him to psychically use machines and cloak his presence from them.
Kath Toom: A trainee who wants her teammates to work better together. Her power isn't really discussed in this issue.
Gabriel Tosh: He has the ability to remote view (see inside areas without physically being there). He wants Team Blue to work and doesn't have patience for people who operate independently and ignore their teammates.
Aal Cistler: This young upstart is a mere 4.5 on the PI scale, which normally would keep him from being in the Ghost Academy, but his father is the Treasury Minister for the Dominion. His arrogance and disregard for his teammates makes him a liability.
Nova Terra: The highest rated psychic on the team (PI 10), Nova is quick to act and not so quick to plan. While her powers are formidable, her lack of teamwork is Team Blue's greatest weakness.
Most of this novel is spent watching each of these characters interact on and off the training grounds - like the scene in the movie S.W.A.T. where everyone does the hostage scenario and talks about it afterward.... Read more ›
The novel starts out with a congratulatory letter from the Psi-Ops Division of the Terran Dominion. We quickly learn that the Dominion has several enemies and the best defense is a specialized group called Ghosts - people with psychic abilities who are trained to become covert operatives.
Here are the main characters of Blue Team:
Lio Travski: A low-performing trainee and recovering "hab" addict. His power allows him to psychically use machines and cloak his presence from them.
Kath Toom: A trainee who wants her teammates to work better together. Her power isn't really discussed in this issue.
Gabriel Tosh: He has the ability to remote view (see inside areas without physically being there). He wants Team Blue to work and doesn't have patience for people who operate independently and ignore their teammates.
Aal Cistler: This young upstart is a mere 4.5 on the PI scale, which normally would keep him from being in the Ghost Academy, but his father is the Treasury Minister for the Dominion. His arrogance and disregard for his teammates makes him a liability.
Nova Terra: The highest rated psychic on the team (PI 10), Nova is quick to act and not so quick to plan. While her powers are formidable, her lack of teamwork is Team Blue's greatest weakness.
Most of this novel is spent watching each of these characters interact on and off the training grounds - like the scene in the movie S.W.A.T. where everyone does the hostage scenario and talks about it afterward.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I was a bit underwhelmed by this book. The artwork is very good, but the writing is rather flat. I did not find myself really attaching to any of the characters or caring much about them. The basic storyline works along the lines of a kind of B5 psi-corp operation where people with psychic abilities are pressed into govt' service for their own 'good'. All of this is pretty stock sci-fi stuff, its just not implemented in a very interesting way in this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is my first Manga although I've read a few graphic novels. The artwork is decent, although sometimes the action sequences are a bit too confusing to follow because of the lines to show movement. Women are drawn with extraordinary big breasts and perfect form-fitting jumpsuits. Men are drawn remarkably buff. Everyone seems to have scraggly hair and/or goatees.
Ghost Academy I is about an academy where kids who show PSI powers (called Ghosts) are forced to go regardless of their parents' wishes. We're given some insight that not all is clean at the Ghost Academy and they're doing experiments on children.
We are introduced to Team Blue, Nova, Tosh, Kath, Lio and Aal, who are put into a team and are training for combat. We get a lot of "As you know, Bob..." as the students go through indoctrination intended to clue the reader in. We get this not once, but three times in the form of flashbacks, dreams and other rather novice plot devices that pull the reader out of the story and lull us into sleep as certainly as some of the Dominion lectures.
Even so, there are shreds of interesting things to pay attention to. Nova's story is interesting, if cliche, and the kidnapped Colin along with his murdered father, who will undoubtedly appear as an arc in a few later books.
I'd probably give this a 2.5 if I could, but I don't think it deserves a 3. No doubt people who like Manga will probably enjoy this, but the storyline and cliche characters are lacking when compared to other fantasy and science fiction novels.
Ghost Academy I is about an academy where kids who show PSI powers (called Ghosts) are forced to go regardless of their parents' wishes. We're given some insight that not all is clean at the Ghost Academy and they're doing experiments on children.
We are introduced to Team Blue, Nova, Tosh, Kath, Lio and Aal, who are put into a team and are training for combat. We get a lot of "As you know, Bob..." as the students go through indoctrination intended to clue the reader in. We get this not once, but three times in the form of flashbacks, dreams and other rather novice plot devices that pull the reader out of the story and lull us into sleep as certainly as some of the Dominion lectures.
Even so, there are shreds of interesting things to pay attention to. Nova's story is interesting, if cliche, and the kidnapped Colin along with his murdered father, who will undoubtedly appear as an arc in a few later books.
I'd probably give this a 2.5 if I could, but I don't think it deserves a 3. No doubt people who like Manga will probably enjoy this, but the storyline and cliche characters are lacking when compared to other fantasy and science fiction novels.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Serene
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Starcraft Ghost Academy is about perky and precocious academy cadet Nova. She and her team of fellow young adults are studying how to become psionic soldiers. Nova is a fairly generic comic heroine. Tall, blonde, her greatest strength: a heckuva lot of natural talent. Her greatest weakness: she isn't a team player. The story has the usual teen angst: fitting in, being heckled by classmates, a kid with a drug problem, and the perky idealistic school girl sidekick. Nova herself has a terrible past which we learn in flashbacks.
I found this a light and somewhat entertaining read. Nova is likeable, and the academy, while not very original is well portrayed.
However, the art, I felt was a big detraction. I can tell the artist is male, right away, because of his poorly drawn faces. I don't know why it is, but male artists tend to have faces as a problem area, and you can really see this as page after page of really badly drawn faces. This combined with pendulous breasts on the female characters and skin-tight costumes seemed a gross contrast.
Adolescent and teen boys might like this. However, the fairly unoriginal plot, and rather badly drawn faces, didn't enthuse this reader. If a better artist had been recruited, this might've earned at least another star. Check out the cover, and the picture of the main heroine... And you'll see what I'm talking about.
I found this a light and somewhat entertaining read. Nova is likeable, and the academy, while not very original is well portrayed.
However, the art, I felt was a big detraction. I can tell the artist is male, right away, because of his poorly drawn faces. I don't know why it is, but male artists tend to have faces as a problem area, and you can really see this as page after page of really badly drawn faces. This combined with pendulous breasts on the female characters and skin-tight costumes seemed a gross contrast.
Adolescent and teen boys might like this. However, the fairly unoriginal plot, and rather badly drawn faces, didn't enthuse this reader. If a better artist had been recruited, this might've earned at least another star. Check out the cover, and the picture of the main heroine... And you'll see what I'm talking about.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tropey but interesting
First, I know very, very little about StarCraft. But the book itself provides more than enough grounding in the universe to be able to follow the story. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Seven Kitties
3.0 out of 5 stars
I've read better
So first off, I have to say, the only reason I got this book was because I really enjoy the game. If this was a stand-alone book with no media tie-in, I wouldn't even bother. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Singed Phoenix
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ghost academy
This is more of an establishing story for the team. It lays the ground work for future work. The art isn't that bad, story needs a little work. Read more
Published on October 29, 2010 by CLH
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre at best
In interest of full disclosure, I've never played a Starcraft game, so I'm not familiar with the lore or story behind this manga. Read more
Published on October 21, 2010 by maxmasa31
4.0 out of 5 stars
What's up with all the haters?
What I want to know is, why are there so many people reviewing this manga when they haven't even played StarCraft? Seriously? Read more
Published on October 9, 2010 by Jonathan D. Kershaw
3.0 out of 5 stars
fun stuff
This is a very light manga based on some game I'm not familiar with. The characters are as archetypal as you would expect, but I was surprised by the brisk pace and enjoyment this... Read more
Published on July 22, 2010 by The Lone Wolf
2.0 out of 5 stars
Meh....
Almost everything about this book is average. The story is nothing special, the illustration actually leaves a LOT to be desired, and I couldn't get into the characters at all. Read more
Published on April 22, 2010 by J. Thompson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unimpressive
This Starcraft "manga" is done in a classical manga-esqe fashion with similar panels and art style. However like the worst of manga, this unfortunate attempt at that art form does... Read more
Published on April 6, 2010 by A. Chong
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nova Learns To Become A Team Player
When Nova Terra witnesses the brutal assassination of her parents, she unleashes her telekinetic powers in a burst of angry energy. Read more
Published on April 3, 2010 by J. B. Hoyos
1.0 out of 5 stars
Useless Release
"Star Craft: Ghost Academy" strikes me as an odd series to release. I know Star Craft is one of the most popular video games released, but it never had much of a story that would... Read more
Published on March 24, 2010 by Kevin T. Rodriguez
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