My thanks to Abrams/Abrams ComicArts for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of the graphic novel adaptation of Olivia E. Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower’ in exchange for an honest review.
It was adapted by Damian Duffy with art by John Jennings, the team that had previously adapted Butler’s ‘The Kindred’ as a graphic novel.
I had read ‘Parable of the Sower’ last year for the first time and found it a deeply moving novel. Therefore, I welcomed the opportunity to read and review this adaptation expecting that it would be an excellent way to introduce the work to a new generation.
However, I consider the most important aspect of a graphic novel is the art. In this case NetGalley members were presented with a very rough and unfinished work, no coloration and many panels were just very minimal sketches.
Even though there was a disclaimer that it was unfinished I am perplexed as to why the publishers didn’t either wait to closer the publication date or update the NetGalley files when a more polished version was available.
As a result I could initially only review what I saw rather than imagining the finished product. As much as I consider ‘Parable’ to be a dystopian classic and was somewhat familiar with the story having recently read, it was very hard to understand what was going on. Now was that because the source material doesn’t work as a graphic novel or was I overly distracted by the incomplete art? It was hard to judge.
I was also looking forward to reading Nalo Hopkinson’s Introduction but this also was missing from the eARC.
Edit 28 January 2020: While I could only give 2 stars after reading the unfinished ARC, I did download the Kindle sample on the day of publication. This gave me both the opportunity to read Nalo’s moving Introduction and to view 17 pages of the finished artwork, which was excellent. Thus, my amended rating is 4 stars and I hope in the future to purchase my own copy of this important graphic novel adaptation.
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