Amulet 8: Supernova: 11/01/18

Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi is the eighth (and penultimate) book in the Amulet series. Emily is trapped within the power of the stone she wears. Her mother and brother and friends are trying to stop the invasion of the Shadow Forces, who are in league with the Voice (the corrupting force behind / inside the stones).

It's been a thrilling ride watching the story, characters, and artwork evolve over the last ten years. What started as a simplistic seeming journey to another world by a pair of siblings has grown into an entire world with multiple compelling plots and now, with Supernova, an entire galaxy / dimension. Kibuishi has expanded his fictional world to the point that there is plenty of room for other authors / artists to explore and build new stories. That is, if he decides to go in that direction after the ninth book.

Emily and her family and the friends she's picked up along the way have had time now to learn and earn their place. Now it is time for them to work separately for a common goal. For Emily it means learning first hand about the stone's power she uses. It means exploring the Void and finding her way out.

For Navin it means traveling into space and being the pilot of a mecha. Now I must admit, I wasn't expecting a space mecha force, even though wooden house mecha have been part of the story since the very beginning. Seeing a modern, animé/manga version of the house was surprising but delightful.

As it happens, Supernova fits into the road narrative project. Frankly, the rest of the books do to but I wasn't working on the project when I started reading this series. My Amulet books are currently in storage. I will prioritize bringing them home and re-reading them.

For this one, though, it fits into the 99CCCC category. That means it is scarecrow / minotaur, uhoria, maze. I'm counting Emily's piece as the defining aspect of this book (as well as for the tales of other Stonekeepers she learns of through her journey in the Void).

Interestingly too, Supernova has both a scarecrow (the Voice / Elf King) and a minotaur (Emily / other stonekeepers). What remains of the Elf King is but a shell, a placeholder for the original person, animated by the power of the amulet and the Voice. He is beyond having any control over the stone. He has lost completely to it and is a scarecrow in the horror story sense. Emily and Trellis, though, still have enough agency to make decisions, but they are still forever tied to their stones. The stones around their necks are personal prisons, meaning they are the minotaurs in this tale.

The uhoria of this story is the Void itself. One can be stuck in there forever. One can meet oneself in there. One can be helped by one's yet to be born children in there.

As the Void can (and often is) a trap for stonekeepers, it serves as a maze. It takes great fortitude to navigate through the different rooms and find ones way out.

Five stars

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