Red Moon HC

When Moon’s village is attacked and her father arrested, she embarks on an adventure to find the power to save him and bring joy back to the people of Burien. With the help of an invisible friend, Moon and her pal Antolin the acrobat will sail the high seas, befriend fairies, and fight volatile monsters. On their journey, they’ll gather the strength to confront the vast army controlling the citizens of her home and bring peace to the land.

I gotta be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this new Dark Horse release.  I had all the confidence of the publisher keeping me from completely shying away, but the target audience for this had me apprehensive.  It did seem odd to me that a title more for kids would be so large, and I didn't know how they'd fill it.  Once I finally committed the time to get through Red Moon, my worries for the most part were put to bed.  Mostly.

The book collects three different adventures of the half human, half fairy Moon and her nimble companion Antolin.  Throughout their journeys, they run into everything from witches and giants, to shadow dragons and an amalgam of more fantastical creatures than you can imagine.  At the heart of this fairly large book, it is true being a fun and entertaining adventure for everyone.  As previously mentioned though, with the listed age range in the single digits, there are some things left to be desired.  There were many times when the story just suddenly jumped to the next part of the plot and felt a bit rushed.  For the younger reader, they may not pick up on this, but for those paying enough attention they'll notice.

The artwork that takes on the challenge of depicting this trio of stories is pretty nice.  As more of a younger reader's book, it's going to have a different feel to it.  I can't speak to the artist's strengths outside this title, so it's hard to say if it was toned down more here.  Regardless of whether that was the intention, the visual representation of the large amount of characters and lands is done well.

This is one of those books that's hard to say whether it's for you.  For the kids, they'll probably love it, assuming they can sit down long enough to read it.  For the older crowd, it may have difficulty keeping your attention as well.  All in all, for a rainy day fun read, this does the job.  But if you're looking for an epic journey, you may need to look elsewhere.

Red Moon will be available 9/17.

For more on Red Moon or other Dark Horse titles, check out Dark Horse.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.