Silver Diamond, by Shiho Sugiura

Tokyopop has given Shiho Sugiura's inventive fantasy Silver Diamond a deservedly beautiful production, with color pages and detailed notes on the meaning of the character names.

Rakan is an orphaned (or is he?!)-- but refreshingly non-angsty-- teenage boy in our world, with an overgrown garden and a highly unusual past. Chigusa is a mysterious young man from another world, with an organic gun, a very weird and clever healing power, and a whole lot of angsty past. When Chigusa appears in Rakan's garden -- and is soon followed by several other, otherworldly visitors-- an intricate story of intrigue, magic, and human connection begins to unfold. And I will stop there, as a lot of the fun of the volume involves discovery.

The worldbuilding is excellent and unconventional, the characters (including a snake that is also a katana) are great fun, and the story is compelling. This might well appeal to fans of prose fantasy who don't generally read manga, as the fantasy elements are central and beautifully detailed. This is one of the best first volumes of manga I've read in a while. Don't miss it.

Silver Diamond, by Shiho Sugiura

Tokyopop has given Shiho Sugiura's inventive fantasy Silver Diamond a deservedly beautiful production, with color pages and detailed notes on the meaning of the character names.

Rakan is an orphaned (or is he?!)-- but refreshingly non-angsty-- teenage boy in our world, with an overgrown garden and a highly unusual past. Chigusa is a mysterious young man from another world, with an organic gun, a very weird and clever healing power, and a whole lot of angsty past. When Chigusa appears in Rakan's garden -- and is soon followed by several other, otherworldly visitors-- an intricate story of intrigue, magic, and human connection begins to unfold. And I will stop there, as a lot of the fun of the volume involves discovery.

The worldbuilding is excellent and unconventional, the characters (including a snake that is also a katana) are great fun, and the story is compelling. This might well appeal to fans of prose fantasy who don't generally read manga, as the fantasy elements are central and beautifully detailed. This is one of the best first volumes of manga I've read in a while. Don't miss it.

Taking over the world via book and manga recs (when Mely is off-duty)

Adrian likes anime, but had not yet read any manga-- until I gave him volume 1 of Monster. After the obligatory few pages of disorientation via unfamiliar reading orientation, he was completely sucked into the clever plotting and generally correct medical details (though he is still trying to figure out what medical instrument was translated as "spatula.") I have promised to loan him the rest of the series (as far as I have it, anyway.)

He also loved His Majesty's Dragon -- another gift from me.

I just packed him off to the airport for a week-long trip to Denver, along with my final gift, Young Miles, which constitutes The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, and "The Mountains of Mourning." When I described it to him, he said that he thinks his best buddy Jarrad, who was an Air Force medic with him, had recced it to him before. My mention of "Camp Permafrost" rang a bell, as apparently that was Jarrad's nickname for some godforsaken base in North Dakota.

Taking over the world via book and manga recs (when Mely is off-duty)

Adrian likes anime, but had not yet read any manga-- until I gave him volume 1 of Monster. After the obligatory few pages of disorientation via unfamiliar reading orientation, he was completely sucked into the clever plotting and generally correct medical details (though he is still trying to figure out what medical instrument was translated as "spatula.") I have promised to loan him the rest of the series (as far as I have it, anyway.)

He also loved His Majesty's Dragon -- another gift from me.

I just packed him off to the airport for a week-long trip to Denver, along with my final gift, Young Miles, which constitutes The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, and "The Mountains of Mourning." When I described it to him, he said that he thinks his best buddy Jarrad, who was an Air Force medic with him, had recced it to him before. My mention of "Camp Permafrost" rang a bell, as apparently that was Jarrad's nickname for some godforsaken base in North Dakota.