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A review by crystalstarrlight
Lazarus, Vol. 4: Poison by Greg Rucka
4.0
Bullet Review:
When thinking how to review this one, the one word that popped in my head was "safe". This was a "safe" entry in the Lazarus series. I wouldn't say anything new or exciting is learned - the trajectory of the story goes exactly where you think. It's still enjoyable, but it's nowhere near as exciting as volumes 1 and 2.
Full Review:
The stories really start to branch off as this ensemble cast in 3 different locations reacts to the war. It's been about 3 months since volume 2. Casey Solomon is promoted to a corporal (wow, that was fast!) and is on the frontlines of the conflict; Michael Barrett is going to Stanford, but is pulled out to deal with Malcolm Carlyle's medical condition; Sister Bernard (the nun from Volume 2) has a mission to Cuba to meet up with the doctor who has the cure to Malcolm's disease - and that doesn't even include our usual team of Forever and the family, namely Stephen and Johanna.
To be honest, while this was good, it wasn't astounding. There weren't any really new developments in the story - other than that final page where you learn something about Forever that may be unexpected (it was a surprise - but also not that unexpected either). On one hand, it's nice to not have to flip to the beginning to review the who's who in the families - but on the other hand, so many of the stories go in directions you expect. Stephen isn't a great leader - but duh, Johanna is. Of course, Casey and Michael would turn out to be Chekov's guns - only an inept author wouldn't bring them back up. And while I enjoyed Sister Bernard's return, I felt it was almost too little too late.
It's also sad because I felt we are kinda losing that thread of Forever learning about her history and who she really is. Her role almost feels secondary - even though she's technically the title character. She doesn't find out anything new in regards to the random message she received about her parentage; we see some great action sequences of her, to be fair, but what makes Forever's story most interesting, to me, isn't just her fighting. It's her discovering her background, it's as much her humanity as it is her fighting skill.
This comes across as a harsh critique, but again, this volume is perfectly serviceable and "good". It's just in comparison to what's come before that it pales. Things are gradually happening, there are changes, it's just not as exciting as Volumes 1 and 2.
I am still going to continue this series, as I do still enjoy it. I just hope Volume 5 gives us something a bit more.
When thinking how to review this one, the one word that popped in my head was "safe". This was a "safe" entry in the Lazarus series. I wouldn't say anything new or exciting is learned - the trajectory of the story goes exactly where you think. It's still enjoyable, but it's nowhere near as exciting as volumes 1 and 2.
Full Review:
The stories really start to branch off as this ensemble cast in 3 different locations reacts to the war. It's been about 3 months since volume 2. Casey Solomon is promoted to a corporal (wow, that was fast!) and is on the frontlines of the conflict; Michael Barrett is going to Stanford, but is pulled out to deal with Malcolm Carlyle's medical condition; Sister Bernard (the nun from Volume 2) has a mission to Cuba to meet up with the doctor who has the cure to Malcolm's disease - and that doesn't even include our usual team of Forever and the family, namely Stephen and Johanna.
To be honest, while this was good, it wasn't astounding. There weren't any really new developments in the story - other than that final page where you learn something about Forever that may be unexpected (it was a surprise - but also not that unexpected either). On one hand, it's nice to not have to flip to the beginning to review the who's who in the families - but on the other hand, so many of the stories go in directions you expect. Stephen isn't a great leader - but duh, Johanna is. Of course, Casey and Michael would turn out to be Chekov's guns - only an inept author wouldn't bring them back up. And while I enjoyed Sister Bernard's return, I felt it was almost too little too late.
It's also sad because I felt we are kinda losing that thread of Forever learning about her history and who she really is. Her role almost feels secondary - even though she's technically the title character. She doesn't find out anything new in regards to the random message she received about her parentage; we see some great action sequences of her, to be fair, but what makes Forever's story most interesting, to me, isn't just her fighting. It's her discovering her background, it's as much her humanity as it is her fighting skill.
This comes across as a harsh critique, but again, this volume is perfectly serviceable and "good". It's just in comparison to what's come before that it pales. Things are gradually happening, there are changes, it's just not as exciting as Volumes 1 and 2.
I am still going to continue this series, as I do still enjoy it. I just hope Volume 5 gives us something a bit more.