Amulet 3: The Cloud Searchers: 09/16/11

The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi is the third installment of the tween graphic novel series, Amulet. Emily and Navin and the rest of the crew are hoping to find the lost city of Cielis. There they hope to learn how to control the Stone that Emily has been forced to wear since book one.

As we are out of the initial travel to a new world and the race against time to save mother, volume 3 takes some time to go into the history of Alledia as well as the reasons behind the Elf Prince's actions in books one and two.

To mix things up a bit, Emily and Navin's mother is now awake. She hasn't gotten used to being in a new world, nor is she willing to accept how much her children have grown and accomplished as heroes. Her over protectiveness is played against the relationship between the Elf King and his son, and I suspect this will be a continuing them in future books.

The world building is especially strong in this volume. The creation of the port city where Emily and Navin hire a ship to take them Cielis reminds me of the trading post in Neil Gaiman's Stardust.

As with the previous two volumes, Kibuishi's backgrounds are amazing. I'm not exactly sold on his character design for the humans and elves. That said, the story is so interesting, it's still a page turner.

Book 4, The Last Council is now out (review coming).

Five stars.

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