Amulet Books - Blog Posts

unfinished stuff

I probably shouldn't have gone to that trippy ass mirror maze the other day because holy shit I had a dream about amulet getting adapted into an animated series, except that it was combined with other books I didn't even know about getting adapted in it too?

It was more confusing that the concept of a handwich, basically there was some sort of show about a disillusioned girl or whatever from this unknown graphic novel about ghosts and stuff. Where Emily Amulet comes in is the part that she's somehow an illusion (or at least fictional) in the in universe world of this story in the animated adaption alongside some other comic characters I didn't know shit about. Somehow the amulet fanbase was happy about the animated adaption but the fanbase about the other graphic novel wasn't and were pissed cause it wasn't a faithful retelling of the story.

Personally, I have no words on what to think of if except for this, "what the actual fuck was that"

When you keep reading Miskit as Mitski:

Context: Navin introduced karaoke and Miskit misread his name on one of Mitski's songs and is now a Mitski fan.

Also Emily is running away in the background

I'm sorry Amulet fans

Someone please edit the Tv Tropes page for Amulet especially the YMMV section I am BEGGING YOU. Someone please update it already It's been a few months since the series ended PLEASE. I NEED MY TV TROPES CONTENT PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE

So guys... Waverider huh? More like... Waveloser haha... so what's everyone's thoughts?

I remember I drew some Emily redesigns but I got too lazy to color them so they're just blank for now. Imagine that most of the color palette is in warmer colors. Also please ignore the unnecessary drawings I totally didn't do those parts

The biggest thing that pisses me off about book 8 of Amulet, Super Nova, is the confrontation between Ikol and Emily is anticlimactic as fuck.

She took off his mask and he died?! That’s it? Are you kidding? My elementary school self didn’t even like that which is saying a lot because most of the time when I was a kid, I couldn’t tell the difference between lazy writing and good writing; all I cared about was cool visuals.

There wasn’t even a fight scene, unless you count when Emily electrocuted some of the palace guards, which wasn’t even a fight scene since she DID NOT have to struggle at all. She pulled off his damn mask and he disintegrates like a vampire in the sunlight. And I have said this once and I’ll say it again, if it was that easy to defeat the elf king/Ikol, WAS HE EVEN A DAMN THREAT? Answer: F NO!

What also frustrates me is that it wasn’t a big deal. Again, the entire point of the revolution was to take down the elf king and when they learn that he is dead, they don’t give two flying monkeys’ asses about it. And it’s frustrating because they had so much build up from it, even from the very first book, which did not give a lot of information of the world around them, mentioned and talked about how treating the Elf King was. And you’re going to tell me, that the big threat now is some stupid shadows?!

Verdict? Super Nova made terrible choices that created bad writing from a storytelling perspective and makes me want to scream.

I want Karen to beat the shit out of someone. Like, either self defense or towards someone thar actually deserves it. Let my lady kick some ass please Kibuishi she deserves it, especially after being either a damsel in distress or being just a side character that doesn't do much in the story. She did try to hit someone once with a frying pan but unfortunately she isn't Rapunzel so she didn't even have a chance to win.

Please, I wanna see her use a cool mecha robot like Navin did and I want to see her backstory with David and her early years. Maybe she also used to be a gamer like Navin was and he inherited her gaming skills while Emily inherited her perseverance. I want to see her being a Karen towards people that think children should be enlisted in fighting wars because holy shit why did those people put children in ships and let them die what the fuck what that about. Also why wasn't she written like that anyways, she's supposed to be a mother yet she lets Emily and Navin join a war and doesn't seem to help them much with the grief of losing her husband (I actually realised this part when I was looking at the Amulet characters tv tropes' page)

I feel like she's been done dirty and I want her character to have some justice. In fact I want all the other side characters to have some justice. I'll probably rant about how the other amulet characters were done so done badly

I'm sorry but this image reminded me of this-

Edit: I don't know why I wrote image as imagine before whoopsy

Ribs by the Crane Wives is an Emily song, people 😭

Lemme guess, the voice is Saul?

Breaking bad

Oh God this is turning into an Amulet account I dunno how to feel about this

The Sci-fi subplot in Amulet feels kind of dislocated with the rest of the story. It's hard to describe properly, but imagine baking a cake, you wanted to add tomatoes to the cake but you forgot to add them during the mixing process, so instead you use tomato sauce as the frosting for it and now it tastes like an evil pizza because you also added cheese on top. That's like the main story and the subplot together, not the best mix.

It's probably just me but, I feel like the robots and stuff in the later books tend to feel like they're from another story. At least the early books had more of a steam punk feel in the world building and such but later it feels like advanced technology just popped out of nowhere. It feels less like a fantasy story with a few elements to make it It's own thing and more of a mess of genres from magic, to tech, to a bunch of aliens and stuff.

It feels so disorganized to me, and I'm not really the best critic but I feel like they shouldn't have even had that many Sci-fi elements in the first place. The alternate world, old robots, and steampunk like style to some parts of the story would've been enough. I don't know, I'm probably just rambling here but the Sci-fi parts just feels awkward to me, especially with the already established fantasy setting. I'm not saying that Sci-fi and Fantasy genres don't mix well, they can go well together in fact, but when you don't add the ingredients properly the final product will come out unsatisfying.

In conclusion, I feel like it was either wasted potential or nowhere near potential when it came to the Sci-fi stuff

So you know when you have done something for such a long time and when you learn you’ve been doing it wrong and you still do it the wrong way out of habit because that’s me with Ikol’s voice from Amulet.

So what I meant by this is when I read the series for the first time, I gave the characters a distinct voice in my head when I read their dialogue. For example, for Vigo I imagined him to have a voice like uncle Iroh but deeper as if he does not care to hide the fact that he has seen some bad shit. For Emily I gave her a stern almost monotone feminine voice that brightened whenever she gave a snarky remark. With the voice, I thought Ikol was a girl for some reason . So because of that I imagined ‘she’ had a soft and deep voice that sounded like a mix of a mother telling their child a horrifying story like it was a lullaby and a woman trying to hypnotize you.

So the surprise I felt when I learned Ikol was a boy was…something. In the end I just kept reading Ikol’s dialogue in the voice I had for him originally because after imagining the voice I already created for him for months and getting rid of it was too much work for younger me.

Bro the 9th Amulet book is coming out next year and I have no idea if I should be excited, exhausted, or be filled with early disappointment because I feel like I'm not gonna like the ending

How the hell did I learn about the 9th Amulet book through two brothers arguing in the backseat behind on a two hour plane trip from Arizona? I thought they were joking at first till I searched it up and it’s real and it’s coming out very soon. So after I learned that I decided to re-read the Amulet series up till 8 and decided to tell whoever is willing to read this my thoughts!

Clarification beforehand though, I do enjoy Amulet. It was one of my favorite pieces of media for a few years and even inspired me to create my own story similar to it. While I may come off a bit hatful and aggressive, I do like this series but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my fair share of problems with it

Books 1

So I’m going off the same rating scale that I use for movies so go check out my Trolls Band Together review to see how my ratings go and just replace movie/film with book. Anyways I give this book, 6/10. I enjoyed this book. This was the first graphic novels series I read and I was excited to know what happened next. I also loved how the robots and the robot house looked. I don’t have any problems with the first book. Primarily because it’s way too early to have any problems.

The reason why I rate it low though, is because while I enjoy it, it’s not my favorite. It didn’t do much to really impress me nor draw my attention. It did just enough to make me wanna see what happens next.

Book 2

With the second book I give it a 6.8/10 right between 6.5 and 7. Why? Well for starters I enjoyed the Elf plot line. To me, when I first read the series was much more interesting then the main one for some reason. This is the book where we meet Leon. Leon, for the most part was an interesting character. Not to mention we get some world building through him about the elf king and being a stone keeper.

Navin’s plotline, while useful to some degree, wasn’t my favorite. Of course it’s important but I was less invested than I should’ve. That might just have been a personal problem I have with Navin later in the series but we’ll get to that later.

My only problem with this is Luger. Now, Luger is a good villain and I found him intimidating when I first read the second book. I think my problem really stems from the fact that this is the only book where Luger gets to be a villain. This should be a book 3 problem but book 2 is where he is defeated.

Book 3

Book 3 was my favorite when I was younger and it still holds the place as one of my favorite amulet books in the series to this day. I give it a good 7.5/10. This book does a lot of things right in my opinion. I like the action sequences and the new information about Trellis backstory proving again that he is the most interesting character. I also found Rico and Enzo funny believe it or not. They are a fun addition to the party.

However, my problem was the robots. Miskit and Cogsly were just there most of the time. They didn’t really guide Emily like they were set up to be. I didn’t feel anything when they got captured. Which is not something you want your readers to feel when something bad happens. I also found Luger’s personality change strange. I expected him to be a bit more hostile and condescending after being defeated. Granted, you could argue it was the stone but still, it was odd.

Book 4

I have mixed feelings about this book. This is where certain problems that I have with Kazu start to show. First of all, I give this one a 7.5/10 as well. I was never sure if I should trust Max until the very end. I never understood Max. He was suspicious and I thought he had bad intentions some times and other times I thought for a moment maybe he did have good intentions for Emily.

I also like Alyson mostly because she felt much more real. She was fun and I liked her character. Leon, Rico, and Enzo have their moment, the prison break which I enjoyed reading. I also like the Elf racism while Trellis and Luger are at the prison. Granted, it’s brief but it’s to be expected and it does give some insight on what other people think about Elves. I also liked Vigo. I was glad to see another stone keeper on the good and he also came with more world building which I’m always glad to see.

However, Miskit and Cloglsy were both weak parts and I was confused about how everyone was dead and stone and Max’s agenda for a while. I had to re-read certain parts to fully grasp what was happening.

Book 5

Book 5 was a 7/10. I don’t have many thoughts. For one I am mad they split up the original party. Karen, Miskit, Cloglsy, and Leon felt like they were meant for more before they got shoved in the brook closet. Sure, Cloglsy is here with Navin but it isn’t much. I do enjoy seeing Navin and Alyson hanging out, that’s fun. Max’s backstory is sad..he tried helping his friend and her family from prison. Only for it to backfire horribly in his face and be thrown into prison for trying to be a good person. His hatred and need to revenge for his dead friend is such an interesting concept for a villain and he poses such a genuine threat and I love it.

Then there is the about the voice. I am not gonna lie, not a big fan of it. The reveal that the voice is the elf king felt odd and sort of out of place. I don’t know. I have mixed feelings about it.

Book 6

Max. Max, max, max. All I got to say is f-ck you, Kazu Kibuishi for screwing over such an interesting character. This book gets a 5.1/10. The utter and total whiplash I got when Max wanted to work with Trellis, Emily, and Vigo gave me migraines. There was no build up and it was so random. And his death, are the FUCKING kidding me. This just felt like a lazy way to write out a character. Max knew that Layra wouldn’t approve of his actions and that’s why he asked for forgiveness. Then he tried to justify with her and it’s such horse crap! No to mention, it was so fricking anticlimactic and just lazy!

I also wasn’t a big fan of Navin’s side plot. Also something reoccurring is that Emily is just there. She doesn’t push the narrative because she has no goals. She just does heroic stuff because she feels she has to. Not because she wants to. It makes her feel flat. Which is disappointing since she had potential to be great.

The reason why I don’t put this as a three is because the scene where they save the elves and Trellis announces himself to be the real king, is cool. Not to mention I liked Riva. She’s a character that had great potential. However this is not enough to save this book.

Book 7

Oh, firelight. You are the embarrassing sibling in the Amulet series. I give you 3/10. First off, one good thing I’ll say is I am glad we are continuing the theme of lost. Even if it feels weird, pacing wise. That’s it. That’s the only thing I really enjoy about this book.

First off I didn’t like Pil, Alyson, and Navin’s storyline. It was just there and it took up too much page time. Second, Gabilan. Oh, Gabilan. He was also just there. We get his backstory, he does some stuff and then he dies. He’s a plot device and while if you really think about it, everyone is a plot device, Kazu didn’t try to hide the fact that he is a plot device. Also the ending. TRELLIS. YOU ARE TELLING YOU DID EVERYTHING TO TRY AND STOP HER FROM BECOMING A BIRD! WHAT THE F—

Book 8

Where do I begin. First off, this book was a 0/10.

And now my problems. First off the si fi outer space plot like win Navin was so boring. Oh my god. I felt nothing. But that. That part was least of my concerns. My concerns was everything else. First of all, Trellis and Vigo got nerfed so easily that it annoys me. They stop the army and that’s fine, though they did it without trying. And that’s it for them. In the entire book. I have several issues with them shoving Riva, Trellis, and Vigo in the closet.

But my biggest issue is Emily and the void. First of all how the hell did she get out so easily. Was this even an issue if she just left without any problems any help. WHY DID SHE NEED NO HELP! If it was that easy to leave the void, why did it take people years to get out. What the fuck. Also what the fuck is with the future Emily bullshit?! TIME PARADOX ARE A THING KAZU. THERE IS A REASON NOT MANY PEOPLE DESL WITH TIME TRAVEL. Also who the hell is Moze’s dad?! Why does he have to her son?! Kazu, why?! You missed the mark by a landslide.

Also the elf king. WHAT. THE. FUCK. IT WAS SO FRICKING EASY TO DEFEAT HIM. JUST HAD TO TAKE OFF HIS DAMN MASK. TELL ME THIS. IF THE ELF KING WAS THAT EASY TO DEFEAT, WAS HE EVER A REAL THREAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?! NO! WE HAVE BEEN BUILDING UP TO THE ELF KING AS THR BIG BOSS SINCE BOOK 2 AND WE DEFEAT HIM IN THE MOST ANTICLIMACTIC WAS POSSIBLE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! NOW THE MAIN THREAT IS A BUNCH OF SHADOWS?! WHY?! WHY! AND IF YOU TELL ME THAT THAT ISNT WHAT BOOK 9 IS ABOUT IT STATES IN THE AMZON DESCRIPTION: “Emily finally understands the stone's power and what she must do to defend Alledia from the shadows.”

ALSO THE FACT THAT EMILY IS ALIVE SEEMS LIKE A NO BIG DEAL TO VIGO AND TRELLIS ALSO THEY JUDT LER HER LEAVE TO GO KILL A BUNCH OF SHADOWS ALONE?! ALSO OLD EMILY WAS THERE TO GIVE EMILY HER STAFF AT THE END. AGAIN, TIME PARADOXS ARE A THING KAZU.

Overall thoughts:

It’s obvious that Kazu Kibuishi wrote this story without a proper outline. What does that mean? It means Kazu didn’t know how he was going to end the story or the middle. He knew the beginning and instead of trying to figure out and plan the entire story, he wrote what he thought of right on the spot. When waverider comes out I will buy it and read it. I will also most likely rate it and write down my thoughts. Till next time though, if you actually took the time read this post and indulge in my thought process and ideas.