Title: Shattered Warrior

By:  Sharon Shinn

Illustrated by: Molly Knox Ostertag

ISBN: 1626720894 (ISBN13: 9781626720893)

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

It’s been eight years since Colleen Cavenaugh’s home world was conquered by the Derichets. These aliens are bent on harvesting the planet’s resources to fuel their warships, no matter the cost to its human natives. Any defiance of the Derichets’ rule–the smallest step out of line–can get you beaten, sent to a work camp, or even executed.

Colleen’s family is gone, killed in the war. She lives alone, far from the chaos of the city, far from the alien overseers and the dangerous gangs. Her only friends are the other humans who toil in the Derichet factory and, against all likelihood, a Derichet overseer. Colleen knows the safest thing to do is comply with the Derichet regime…until the day when the recklessly brave Jann and a violent gang of rebels called the Chromatti invade her quiet rural home. Now Colleen must decide if it’s worth risking the survival of her newfound family to join the growing underground revolution against the Derichets and help free her world.  (Goodreads)

Review:

Shattered Warrior tells the story of Colleen Cavenaugh and the new world she has been living in for the past eight years. The Derichets invaded and conquered the planet with the end goal of harvesting the planet’s resources, which are used to fuel their warships.

I found the story relatively fast paced and kept my interest. Colleen works in a factory which refines the planet’s resources for export. One of the products produced is quite valuable and can be used to cause explosions. As the story unfolds, Colleen joins forces with the underground revolution to help free their world from the clutches of the Derichets.

Colleen is a strong main character and I quickly began to root for her and the resistance movement to succeed. The growth of “family” through common goals and acceptance was evident throughout. This is an important element when one’s blood relatives are all gone and I felt provided the foundation for Colleen to shine in her role in taking down the Derichts. There was also some class angst on the part of Jann, which I did feel was a bit over the top. 

There is some violence (as predictable given the story being told) but nothing to egregious to be unacceptable to the teen level reader. 

I really liked the illustrator Molly Knox Ostertag’s artwork, specifically for her ability to convey feelings through her illustrations.

I found I liked the story well enough, the art work good, characters interesting. I would read more from this author if the opportunity presented itself. 

If you are looking for a graphic novel with an interesting storyline and good graphics – then I suggest reading Shattered Warrior.