Trinity Blood, Rage Against the Moons, Volume 1, From the Empire by Sunao Yoshida, Thores Shibamoto, Thores Shibamoto (Illustrator)

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School Library Journal

Gr 9 & Up - In a postapocalyptic Europe, the Vatican creates a crack AX squad to combat the growing New Human Empire, an entire country of vampires-or, as they call themselves, Methuselahs. The affable, bumbling Father Abel Nightroad is one of the AX agents. He fights bloodsucking dukes, rescues genetic "witches," and protects the preteen pope from an assassination attempt. This novel jump-started the manga and anime of the same title, and the sheer number of ideas it thrusts at readers is intriguing, but the follow-through is haphazard at best. Gender segregation, lost technology, and international affairs are all teased at, but ultimately fall by the wayside as buckets of blood and mass decapitations become the focus of the action. But most damning is that the plots and circumstances don't pass the logic test of making consistent sense. A notable example happens when an android executioner spares the life of one person because he's out of ammunition, only to reload and execute a different threat only seconds later. The dialogue is littered with bizarre idioms that jolt readers out of the incomplete world-building, and the sporadic black-and-white illustrations do little to solidify the atmosphere or provide key visuals for the action.-Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH