Scan barcode
rkiladitis's review against another edition
4.0
In this dystopian YA graphic novel, the Roman Empire never fell and now, gladiators duke it out on the track: Truckus Maximum is a competition where combatants race monster trucks to the death (Gen Xers, think Rollerball meets Death Race 2000). Team Apollo leader Axl is the best driver who can pull a win out in the worst of circumstances and adheres to a strict moral code. If he wins his 1000th match, he'll be free - but at what cost to his teammates? Piston is a racer that's new to Team Apollo. She takes chances, she lives and drives recklessly, and Axl sees something in her that no one else does. Can he teach her to rein herself in before she gets herself traded off to a worse fate than the track?
If you have manga fans, give them this one! The artwork is very manga-inspired, and the storyline is fast-paced, with car aerodynamics and explosions aplenty. There's good world-building - I like the idea of the Roman Empire's enduring and not moving past this whole entertainment-or-death business. It's a popular dystopian theme, from The Running Man to The Hunger Games, and fits where we are as a media-obsessed, "if it bleeds, it leads" society. Axl is an interesting character, with his stoicism and the big moral choice ahead of him. In a society where everyone is corrupt, the good guy becomes the outlaw - and the team owner and the emperor himself are all in, trying to sway Axl. Piston is Axl's foil, made of passion where Axl represses everything. Her bad decisions get her tossed off one team, and leave her future with Team Apollo pretty tenuous until she starts to harness her own power and channel it in more positive ways. But having a bit of that wild streak also means pulling out some big risks, and that may be what Team Apollo needs.
Truckus Maximus is a fun read, and should be popular with tweens and young teens. I'd like to see this as an animation.
If you have manga fans, give them this one! The artwork is very manga-inspired, and the storyline is fast-paced, with car aerodynamics and explosions aplenty. There's good world-building - I like the idea of the Roman Empire's enduring and not moving past this whole entertainment-or-death business. It's a popular dystopian theme, from The Running Man to The Hunger Games, and fits where we are as a media-obsessed, "if it bleeds, it leads" society. Axl is an interesting character, with his stoicism and the big moral choice ahead of him. In a society where everyone is corrupt, the good guy becomes the outlaw - and the team owner and the emperor himself are all in, trying to sway Axl. Piston is Axl's foil, made of passion where Axl represses everything. Her bad decisions get her tossed off one team, and leave her future with Team Apollo pretty tenuous until she starts to harness her own power and channel it in more positive ways. But having a bit of that wild streak also means pulling out some big risks, and that may be what Team Apollo needs.
Truckus Maximus is a fun read, and should be popular with tweens and young teens. I'd like to see this as an animation.
thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the color scheme and I think kids will love the fast racing in the book, but I wasn’t all that impressed.
thenextgenlib's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the color scheme and I think kids will love the fast racing in the book, but I wasn’t all that impressed.
taratara44's review against another edition
2.0
Despite my low rating, this was cute, nothing groundbreaking, it's just not really my topic interest, but students will like it and I would definitely recommend it to students, it's just not my thing. Has a good story of friendship though and inventive world. Also clean language
bookalchemist's review against another edition
2.0
This could've been like reading a good action movie (like with Crowded), but instead it was more like a bad action movie, whose action did not keep me engaged enough to not think about the details (or lack thereof). The analogy of truckus drivers is to gladiators, but...they aren't slaves. People clamor to become drivers, which is the opposite of gladiators. Aside from the risk of death, their lives aren't terrible? Also it's never explained how/why they heal so well, because we see characters survive 7x car rolls, then next scene go back to training. The world building is minimal to nil, as is character development outside of basically Piston.
Ultimately my biggest issue is that the story goes nowhere. Axl decides to make a stand, and that's the most interesting thing he does the whole book, but his character is so consistently flat that it has zero emotional impact. We hear that the team owner wants to sell them to slavery towards the beginning, and then when he says it again at the end suddenly they're surprised?
I was also not crazy about the art style, which felt weirdly busy and didn't help direct the emotion of the plot, and the choice to make all girl characters generally significantly smaller than the boy characters. No buff ladies here, no slight guys.
Ultimately my biggest issue is that the story goes nowhere. Axl decides to make a stand, and that's the most interesting thing he does the whole book, but his character is so consistently flat that it has zero emotional impact. We hear that the team owner wants to sell them to slavery towards the beginning, and then when he says it again at the end suddenly they're surprised?
I was also not crazy about the art style, which felt weirdly busy and didn't help direct the emotion of the plot, and the choice to make all girl characters generally significantly smaller than the boy characters. No buff ladies here, no slight guys.
destdest's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the storyline and Axel's character. Surprisingly, I didn't care about Piston at all, and I usually love the plucky, underdog. Anyway, the artwork is excellent and has a personality of its own. The black shadows with the sunset-palette work well together. There are some themes of inequality and social class and being a puppet to the system that don't get resolved but add a good layer to the story. I liked the ending a lot, but I wouldn't mind a sequel.
elna17a9a's review
4.0
So much fun! Which, for a story that is basically about truck gladiators, seems a little glib, but it is.
The Roman Empire was never defeated, and now reigns globally. The gladiator tradition has grown with it, as well; now drivers race through unpredictable courses, with rule changes possible any second, all aiming for that elusive centurion status. Axl, so far, has 99 wins...
I am always a sucker for fight-for-your-life races (Velocity, Wolf By Wolf,, the Mad Max series...), and Truckus Maximus really delivered. There's action, there's stakes (though I wish Tank had actually died, or was more visibly disfigured, to really hammer those stakes in ), there's capricious, power-hungry, inscrutable rulers... everything I could ever ask for.
The colors are bright and eye-catching, and the character designs clear and distinct. I even like the ending:Of course everything was against Axl becoming a centurion, and of course they threw all they could to stop him. And while it's a little ambiguous, I believe he threw the last race, to save his team. Because he's all about the honor.
The Roman Empire was never defeated, and now reigns globally. The gladiator tradition has grown with it, as well; now drivers race through unpredictable courses, with rule changes possible any second, all aiming for that elusive centurion status. Axl, so far, has 99 wins...
I am always a sucker for fight-for-your-life races (Velocity, Wolf By Wolf,, the Mad Max series...), and Truckus Maximus really delivered. There's action, there's stakes (
The colors are bright and eye-catching, and the character designs clear and distinct. I even like the ending:
librarianryan's review
3.0
This book was a fun space ride, but it does give the reader a sense of deja vu. The story line is very similar to Alita Battle Angel, and other space racing graphic novel that came out last year that I can not name. If you are not the Elite, you are in the Salt Mines. Unless you are a racer. And these races are deadly. There is a bright spot, become a Centurion. What happens when you win 100 races, no one knows for sure. It’s a virtual impossibility because the race master can change the rules at any time. And while the team leader is pushing for that last race, he doesn’t forget about his team, raising them up, and equipping them better to survive.
More...