Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I'm really, really enjoying these FMA tie-in novels.   New stories, but very true to the world of the manga, and you get some drawn afterwords by HIromu Arakawa.   Very, very nice.  I rarely read afterwords by authors, but I'm enjoying these - they're quick, they're humble, they're funny.   They charm me as much as the novels do. 

This novel impressed me more than the first two - while FMA has a lot of hope, in contrast it shows a lot of darkness that must be conquered in contrast.   The hopefulness means more in comparison, and I felt that this novel tapped into that darkness more than the first two, and because of it, it showed more hopefulness.   Not that the first two novels were bad, or out of character, but this was just more in tune with the world.   It's more effective as a Fullmetal Alchemist novel. 

Edward and Alphonse show their true character more when such dark natures are presented to them; they conquer that darkness with their own strength, their own force of will, their own reasons to keep going.   They do again here, and I feel like their characters - the best of them - shone through more when they enter the city of Wisteria and are ordered to find the good and the bad in this supposed paradise.  

And they do.   They find the multiple problems, the dirty, grimy side of this city, and then they do their best to make it the paradise it could be.   They do that, as they often do in the series, by inspiring those around them to be better, to be more hopeful, and to find joy in life even in the darkest of times.   

Gladly moving on to the fourth of these five tie-ins.