Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

Also, guys, for serious - how have I not read this until now?   So I mentioned picking this up used for one dollar, figuring I wouldn't like it.   Yeah, I liked the movie and The Nostalgia Factor played heavily into me picking this up in the first place.   If I didn't like it, I'd donate it back to the bookstore.   Or give it to a co-worker who had kids or something. 

Uh-huh.   It's mine, all mine!

I ended up kinda inviting Troy to read this with me, and he did.   Although he started later than I did, he finished earlier and his review is here.   To be fair to me, I kept putting off finishing this.   I was going to enjoy my first ever read of this book and I was going to enjoy it as long as I could make it last. 

Which, y'know, wasn't very long.   As much I was to hold off getting to the end, knowing I had more of this incredible story to look forward to, I wanted to find out what happened to this cast of characters more.   And while Troy mentions a lot to like about this book - how much meat it has to chew over, even for adults - I don't want to dwell on that too much.   Not because it doesn't.   It does.   It has a lot to say about a burgeoning civilization taken as second class citizens, about how getting too comfortable to luxury and laziness can stifle evolution, about education, about animal research and even those researchers.   (The one woman, Julie, was put down for treating the rats with kindness; it was especially noticeable since the rats noticed her treatment, and also noted how they treated her.   They seemed to respect her more for that.  I know I did, and I would if I were in their position.)

What I'd like to talk about is the story and characters without all the important things that this book has to say.   Because the truth is a book can have important things to say, but if the characters aren't relatable in some way, if the story isn't compelling, then no one will listen. 

This book is a gorgeous melding of the two: the messages it imparts do not subjugate the story as happens in a good deal of message stories.  The world it builds is rich because it uses the story and characters to impart that message, weaving them together flawlessly.   The characters have lives of their own, worries of their own that have nothing to do with any message in many cases.   The character and story, if anything, subjugate the message.   I often forgot that this book was trying to tell me something because I was so engrossed with the story it was telling.   Sometimes I knew, but I simply cared so much for these characters that I didn't really care about anything else. 

That doesn't mean I didn't notice the messages at all, as well as they were integrated into everything else.   I did.   I think they spoke a great deal to how we treat those who are different from us, even as vastly different as a human to a rat.   (Yeah, even a super-intelligent rat.)   I cared on some level. 

Then again, I cared a little more about Mrs. Frisby and her sick son Timothy.   See, she lives in a farmer's field in the winter, and has to move before the field is plowed.   When one of her children gets sick - she has four total - she finds out she can't move him without risking his life in the cold.   She refuses to let even one of her children die, but her choices seem to be to risk moving Timothy in the cold, or stay and face definite death.   And the deaths of all her children. 

No one seems to be able to help her, until some outsiders find out she is Mrs. Frisby.   The Mrs. Frisby.   Jonathan Frisby's widow in fact. 

Y'know what?   I didn't even care that no other animal had a last name.   I kinda wondered at the beginning, but then, bam, the good writing punched me so hard in the face that I it blinded me. 

Don't care.   Mrs. Frisby was fairly average in some ways: no smarter than any other mice, and certainly not as smart as her husband.   Then again, no mice really were other than the kindly doctor, Mr. Ages.  I quickly realized that she was exceptionally loyal, kind, and brave.   There was a quiet dignity and a good deal of visible pluck to her; I fell in love quite soon after meeting her.  I understand why Jonathan did, as well. 

Mrs. Frisby is a knockout of a character.   She's desperate to save her son, and I could almost taste her desperation at some points.   There was one scene with the owl where she thought her quest was over.   Yes, I've seen the movie.  I knew it was only a bit into the book.   I knew it wasn't over. 

I still was on the verge of tears myself.   Because I was in her head.   I felt so deeply for her and her plight that I mixed up my emotions with hers.   It's rare that a book will get under my skin so deeply. 

And to top it off, I don't particularly care for children, so for this to get me twisted up so much over a character who is a child is doubly impressive to me.

I can't decide which rat was my favorite character, Justin or Brutus.   I think Justin.   Brutus was surprisingly kind and gentle, but there was something about Justin, how pure hearted he was, how empathetic, that made me especially fond of him.   

I want to squee so much about this  book, but if I go on too long, I'll give away spoilers. 

I'll end it with this: I fell in love with everything about this book.  I feel quicker and deeper than I expected to. 

I am heartbroken that there is no more book to read.   I know someone who would love this book and plan on buying her a pristine copy as a gift.   Because she very much needs to read this.   

There are two ways I could deal with my super-epic-massive book hangover. 

1.    

2. Read all the comics I own.   

I'm not sure if I'll go for one, two, or a mashup of the two.