A Sea of Stars

A beautifully told story of polluted China; her night skies devoid of stars, and a young boy who is determined to bring them back.

What I really liked, other than the gorgeous art which I will talk more about below, was the way the messages of the story are brought forward. They're not preachy and they're not an environmental crusade. Yes, taking care of Earth is important and that certainly plays a part in this story, but it is more about life itself and, to a lesser extent, a lost culture than the environment. There is a increase of infertile women and stillbirths due to the pollution, and so many are suffering. Sen's step-mother, so far as I could tell, might have had both a stillborn child and now is also infertile, and the scene where you discover that is at once saddening and slightly disturbing. I did also like reading the author's notes after the chapters, explaining some of her reasons for writing something the way she did, or giving some historical/educational notes.

The art is spectacular, most especially the masterful use of coloring. Some of the panels are gorgeous and I would love some full art posters or something along those lines. Also, the way a few of the panels blended or faded into one another was very neat.

I read this here. Unfortunately, there are only 5 chapters and this story is begging to have more told, so I await the forth-coming chapters anxiously.