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A review by silky_octopus
Titanium Rain Volume 1 HC by Josh Finney, Kat Rocha
3.0
This was a mixed bag, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. From the world-building perspective, it's rich and fascinating, set in a near future where China has dissolved into a civil war, driven by a populist uprising led by appealing to the rural and unskilled elements of the population against the more liberal, urban population, where the bulk of the Chinese military has sided with the revolution and other nations have been pulled in to support the remnants of the former PRC regime. Told from the perspective of a small crew of pilots subject to a certain amount of cybernetic enhancement via nanotechnology to turn them into fighter pilots - nanotechnology pumps in their lungs to help them breathe during high-gee manoeuvres, electronics to link their eyes to the onboard computer systems, and so on - the novel features a lot of near-future technology, like armoured suits for infantry, integrated use of combat drones, anti-satellite weapons and so on. There's clearly been a ferocious amount of effort that's gone into fleshing out the background and the technology, and some of the world detail that's hinted out but not expanded (like a free and independent Tibet) is in there, calling for more elaboration. A large chunk of this graphic novel is background detail from Janes Defense-style articles on military technology, propoganda posters, advertising literature from companies tinkering with genetic modification, and so on. There's also a lot of background information provided through the air crew involved in the narrative. That's all really entertaining.
Unfortunately, the story is only four issues long, and feels like an introduction - it basically covers a low-level combat operation and the immediate aftermath, with elements of the training and setup told through flashbacks. When I realised that, I was left with a definite "wait, that's it?" feeling, which was a bit disappointing. The art varies from the superb - at times it almost resembles photograph art, and at others it's beautifully painted - to a few odd anatomical errors that detracted somewhat.
On the one hand, I'd now like to read the next volume, but on the other hand, I'm worried that I might not actually see much more of the world that's being set up by this worldbuilding, and it'd be a great shame because the worldbuilding deserves to be the source of a lot of stories. In some ways it feels unfortunate that it's a story about China being told from the point of view of a bunch of Westerners, as it feels like I'm losing a lot of interesting perspective because of that limitation, and it left me also wanting to see events from the viewpoint of the various Chinese/Tibetan factions.
Unfortunately, the story is only four issues long, and feels like an introduction - it basically covers a low-level combat operation and the immediate aftermath, with elements of the training and setup told through flashbacks. When I realised that, I was left with a definite "wait, that's it?" feeling, which was a bit disappointing. The art varies from the superb - at times it almost resembles photograph art, and at others it's beautifully painted - to a few odd anatomical errors that detracted somewhat.
On the one hand, I'd now like to read the next volume, but on the other hand, I'm worried that I might not actually see much more of the world that's being set up by this worldbuilding, and it'd be a great shame because the worldbuilding deserves to be the source of a lot of stories. In some ways it feels unfortunate that it's a story about China being told from the point of view of a bunch of Westerners, as it feels like I'm losing a lot of interesting perspective because of that limitation, and it left me also wanting to see events from the viewpoint of the various Chinese/Tibetan factions.