![\"Andromeda](\"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/files\/2014\/01\/Andromeda-Stories-1.jpg\")
<\/a>By Keiko Takemiya\nPublisher:<\/strong> Vertical, Inc.
\nAge Rating:<\/strong> 13+
\nGenre:<\/b> Sci-Fi
\nPrice:<\/b> $11.95<\/p>\n
Short on action, and long on drama and intrigue, this first volume of Andromeda Stories<\/i> sets the stage for an epic battle that has become a staple of science fiction: Man vs Machine.\u00a0 Before there was The Terminator<\/em>, Andromeda Stories<\/em> was examining the relationship between man and machine, and what it means to be human.<\/p>\n Things start out ordinary enough.\u00a0 Princess Lilia, the protagonist of this first volume, prepares to marry Prince Ithaca after he is crowned King Astralta III.\u00a0 After much ceremony and celebration, the couple begins living happily in the palace.\u00a0 Astralta is a good and kind King, looking out for his subjects.\u00a0 Lilia is deeply in love and devoted to her husband.\u00a0 This idyllic bliss is interrupted by the arrival of what appears to be a meteor.\u00a0 From the meteor, flies out several creatures that look like bats, and take up residence in a tower in the palace.\u00a0 Soon after, people in the palace, starting with servants and workers, begin to change.\u00a0 No longer the warm, happy people they once were, they become cold and menacing.\u00a0 Even the King is affected, becoming cruel and suffering mood swings.<\/p>\n This is the source of much of the drama in this title.\u00a0 Lilia and her personal attendants seem to be the only people unaffected by these radical changes, and the source of these changes brings in the intrigue.\u00a0 Machines.\u00a0 They strike quietly, taking over the minds of the people, including the King and all of his advisers, who are soon transforming the landscape of Cosmoralia into something metallic and sterile.\u00a0 But there are others on Astria who know of the machines and their plans, who also work in secret.\u00a0 Il, a cyborg from another world, has waited for the arrival of the machines in order to stop them, and take revenge for the destruction of her own world.\u00a0 And then there is the old man that lives in the woods of Ayodoya.\u00a0 Seemingly harmless, he too\u00a0 has a plan to stop the machines.\u00a0 His is more subtle, and seems will involve Lilia’s child with Astraltra, as opposed to Il’s direct attacks.\u00a0 He is more powerful than he seems and<\/p>\n This volume builds up a good, sturdy foundation of the title’s world view.\u00a0 It’s a world of both technology and superstition.\u00a0 Machines control water and electricity, but the people still fear demons and worship a holy king.\u00a0 We meet its people and see how they live, and what they value.<\/p>\n We also start to see the first seeds of the “what it means to be human” theme, mostly through the King.\u00a0 Astralta’s personality changes are drastic.\u00a0 He goes from being good and kind to killing animals and people and forcing himself on Lilia.\u00a0 He tries to fight the machine’s take over of his mind, asking for help from both Lilia and Milan, Lilia’s brother, though neither understands his pleas.\u00a0 He becomes isolated and worn down, leaving him vulnerable to the machine’s manipulations.\u00a0 He is slowly losing himself, and thus his humanity.<\/p>\n This is a good, strong start to an grand story, but its focus on the human drama more than the invading machines may be lost on younger readers looking for more action.\u00a0 But you can’t talk about what it means to be human until you show it, and this first volume gives good examples of humanity, both good and ill.\u00a0 If you like science fiction stories with this theme, then Andromeda Stories<\/i> is a must have.\u00a0 If you like science fiction stories at all, definitely check it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cosmoralia’s Prince Ithaca is about to wed Princess Lilia of Ayodoya and be crowned Astralta III.\u00a0 The apparently favorable celestial bearings mean he will be no mere monarch but holy king of a new “papacy”.\u00a0 Alas, the peaceful inhabitants of Planet Astria have no clue that they’re next in line for invasion by a ruthless machine force–a threat that seems to metaphorize the inherent perils of politics and desire in this multilayered saga.\u00a0 The tension slowly mounts to an unbearable pitch in this ominous first volume of three. By Keiko Takemiya Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Sci-Fi Price: $11.95 Short on action, and long on drama and intrigue, this first volume of Andromeda Stories sets the stage for an epic battle that has become a staple of science fiction: Man vs Machine.\u00a0 Before there was The Terminator, Andromeda Stories was examining the relationship between man and machine, and what it means to be human. Things start out ordinary enough.\u00a0 Princess Lilia, the protagonist of this first volume, prepares to marry Prince Ithaca after he is crowned King Astralta III.\u00a0 After much ceremony and celebration, the couple begins living happily in the palace.\u00a0 Astralta is a good and kind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Andromeda Stories Volume 1 http:\/\/wp.me\/p2umma-Vg","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,17],"tags":[83,99,110,116,122],"class_list":["post-3550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews-reviews","category-vertical-2","tag-manga","tag-older-teen","tag-review","tag-sci-fi","tag-shonen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2umma-Vg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4034,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550\/revisions\/4034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}