Graphic Novel Review – Rust: The Boy Soldier (Book 0, Rust) by Ryoden Lepp (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade and older
Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction
Length: 128 pages
Publisher: Archaia
Release Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1608868063
Stand Alone or Series: Prologue (book 0) in the Rust series
Source: Gift for Xmas
Rating: 4/5 stars

“The story of the Boy Soldier begins!

Made to look like a boy but built for battle, Jet Jones is a robot caught in the middle of an ongoing war. While trying to save as many people as he can, Jet discovers there is more to who he is and what he was made for than he could have ever imagined. His experiences in the war set him off on a journey to learn what it means to both hero and human. It is the first adventure of many for the rocket boy.”

I am a huge fan of the Rust series and have all three books in their beautifully canvas-bound glory. I was very excited to see another book had been released in this series. However, I misunderstood what this book was. This book is basically the prologues from the first three books put into one book into sequential order.

It is nice to have the prologues together in one book so you can read Jet’s prequel story contiguously rather than spread out between three books over three years. However I was a bit disappointed that there really wasn’t any new content. There is supposed to be one more book in the Rust series and I am dying to know what happens in it.

These graphic novels are beautifully drawn in all sepia tones and have a very sci-fi yet nostalgic feel to them. I absolutely adore both the illustration and the style. I would definitely recommend to readers middle grade and older.

Overall I would recommend picking this up if you are a huge Rust fan; just be aware that there isn’t any new content here. Additionally this book is not in the beautiful canvas binding like previous ones so it doesn’t look all that awesome sitting on the bookshelf by the rest of the series. However it is nice to have Jet’s prequel story all in one book.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Steampunk Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge