graphic novel – Page 4

Caramel reviews Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland and Mike Holmes

Caramel reviews the graphic novel version of Escaping Peril (Book Eight of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland (with art work by Mike Holmes).

Anyone who has perused any of our content here knows that Caramel loves dragons and by extension, Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series. In the past few years he has read and reviewed quite a lot of the books in and related to the series. Today he reviews Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel, the graphic novel version of the eighth book of the main series, written by Tui Sutherland, illustrated by Mike Holmes, and published in December 2024. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

[Caramel reviewed both the original version (The Dragonet Prophecy) and the graphic novel version (The Dragonet Prophecy of the very first book. He reviewed only the graphic novel versions of the next four books: The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night. These five make up the Dragonet Prophecy story arc.

Here are Caramel’s reviews for the five books that make up the second story arc (the Jade Mountain): Moon Rising, Winter Turning, Escaping Peril, Talons of Power, and Darkness of Dragons. And here are his reviews of the graphic novel versions of the first two books in the series: Moon Rising and Winter Turning. The current post contains his review of the eighth book, the third in this story arc.

Finally here are Caramel’s reviews of the five books making up the third story arc (the lost continent prophecy): The Lost Continent, The Hive Queen, The Poison Jungle, The Dangerous Gift, and The Flames of Hope.]

Caramel reviews Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes. — Caramel reviews *Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel* (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes.

Sprinkles: Hi Caramel. I know you are delighted to be holding in your paws a new Wings of Fire book!

Caramel: Yes! It is the best possible book ever made to review!

S: You mean, until the next book comes out?

C: Yeah, probably.

S: Okay, so this is the graphic novel version of book 7 of the Wings of Fire series, right?

C: No, not quite Sprinkles. It is book 8!

S: Of course you would know! And you have already read and reviewed the original book.

C: Yes, can we put a link to my review?

S: Sure. That makes sense. Here is the link to Caramel’s review of the original version of Escaping Peril.

C: Thanks.

S: So tell us a bit about the book then.

C: This is about Peril, a Skywing with a weird mutation, called fire scales, where the scales are very hot and capable of burning almost anything.

S: Okay, you dove right into the world of Wings of Fire. So let us start slow. We are in this land of dragons, where there are a few different clans or tribes of dragons, each with their own special powers and strengths. And Skywings are one of those tribes.

C: Sure Sprinkles, but the readers already know all that. Or they should. After all, this is the eighth book of the series!

S: You have a point Caramel. I guess if anyone is reading our blog, even sporadically, they would know that! You have already reviewed so many books in this world.

C: Yes, I am not sure I can list them all. I mean there are fifteen books in the series, five books each for three different series, making up the main fifteen books. I reviewed most of those books. Then there are the graphic novel versions of them, but they are not all out yet. This is the eighth book, so I have reviewed seven of those so far. And then I reviewed a few other books about the dragons of the Wings of Fire universe.

S: True. Let me put a link here to your reviews of those four books: Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World, The Winglets Quartet: The First Four Stories, Dragonslayer, and Darkstalker.

C: Thank you.

Caramel is reading Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes. — Caramel is reading *Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel* (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes.

S: So okay, let us go back to Peril. So Escaping Peril is not about escaping danger, but escaping from this dragon named Peril, then?

C: You could read it like that, because Peril is dangerous, but also you could read it as Peril is the one escaping. Because the book is really about Peril discovering herself and saving herself from her queen.

S: That is a cool play on words then!

C: Yeah, it is. See why I love Wings of Fire?

S: Yeah, I can see that it is only about the wordplay. Not about the amazing dragons, not at all.

C: No, of course it is not only about the wordplay! It is the whole thing.

S: I know. I’m just teasing you, Caramel. I do know how much you have enjoyed reading these books.

C: Good. Glad we made that clear.

S: So Caramel, this is the eighth book in the series. But each of these books is about an individual dragon, and so perhaps one could read them out of order. What do you think?

C: Sure they could, but it makes a lot more sense if you read them in order.

S: So they are chronologically ordered, then?

C: Yes, definitely. So knowing what happened in the earlier books explains a lot of what is going on in the later books. But you are also right, that one could simply dive into this book, for example, and get a good sense of the world.

S: But it is clear to me that you think readers should start from the beginning and read every single book in order.

C: Yes. And then reread them. Over and over and over again. Like I have been doing all this time.

S: I know! Your copies of some of the books have really worn out…

C: I prefer to call them “well read” or even “well loved”.

S: I love that Caramel! I love that you love books!

C: Only some books!

S: Okay, that is right, but it is also perfectly fine! Anyways, back to Escaping Peril. I know you have already read the graphic novel versions of the first seven books and the illustrations are done by the same artist. So maybe there was nothing surprising about the illustrations this time?

C: That’s right, nothing surprising. Except of course these dragons are awesome and the illustrations all do a great job in helping me visualize them!

S: That is wonderful, Caramel. It seems like the author and the illustrator really made this work. Anyways, maybe this is a good time to wrap up our review. So tell me what you are most excited about, having read this book.

C: Well, now I am ready for the graphic novel version of the ninth book!

S: That will be released this year, I think.

C: Really? So happy to hear that! And I also heard that there might be a totally new sixteenth book! So I have a lot to look forward to.

S: I am so happy for you! And in the meantime we will read a lot of other books.

C: Of course!

S: So then, what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel is excited to have read Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes, and looks forward to rereading it many more times in the coming weeks and months. — Caramel is excited to have read *Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel* (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes, and looks forward to rereading it many more times in the coming weeks and months.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale

Today Caramel is talking to Sprinkles about Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale, published first in 2016. This is the sixth book in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series, and thankfully the sixth book Caramel happened to read from the series. (So finally these numberings match!)

For Caramel’s reviews of the five earlier books, please check out: One Dead Spy, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, The Underground Abductor, Big Bad Ironclad, and Donner Dinner Party.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale.

Sprinkles: So here we are, talking about yet another Nathan Hale book.

Caramel: Yes! And this one is also a great book!

S: Oh, yes? So you have enjoyed reading about the Alamo? Isn’t that supposed to be a story of a big defeat?

C: Yes, but a very heroic one! And at the end of the book, the author ties things up by telling us how the U.S. in the end did win over Texas. So they lost Alamo first, but eventually they won it back. Kind of like losing the battle and winning the war.

S: I see. But it was also probably a heroic win for the other side, at least the stand at Alamo.

C: I suppose. You are right. All wars have at least two sides. When one side wins and celebrates, the other side is losing and facing great difficulties. So I like reading about wars and history, but it would be best if there were no wars. I think we can say that we have had enough wars. Maybe we do not need any more.

S: Such wise words from a little bunny…

Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale.

S: Okay, so this book is all yellow!

C: Yes, you said last time that each book has one thematic color, so maybe you were right. This is the yellow book. There are other colors in the book too, of course but yellow is a lot more visible in this book than the others.

S: Is there any humor in the book? I mean it is about war and death again, but …

C: Yes. At least there are some light-hearted moments. And it does not feel as heavy as Donner Dinner Party.

S: I see. That is good. So it seems from this page created by Fulton County Library System that there are at least six more books in this series.

C: Yup. I want to read all of them!

S: I think that can be arranged. But maybe we can take a short break for a bit.

C: What are you trying to tell me Sprinkles?

S: Me? Nothing. Maybe there are other books you could read for the next week or two.

C: Maybe. Or maybe not. I do like these books!

S: I know. But maybe we can try a few other books for a bit.

C: I see what you are doing. And I guess we will see what you find for me to read for next week.

S: I mean, I won’t force you.

C: Hmm.

S: Okay, maybe this is a good time to stop talking about this book and wrap this review up. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale and looks forward to reading many more historical graphic novels in the near future.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale

Caramel is on a roll reading books from the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series by Nathan Hale. So far he has read and reviewed One Dead Spy, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, The Underground Abductor, and Big Bad Ironclad. Today he talks to Sprinkles about the fifth book he read in the series: Donner Dinner Party, which was originally published in 2013 as the third book in the series. (See this page created by Fulton County Library System for the full chronological order of the books.)

Given the morbid nature of the historical events described (involving death and cannibalism), this review might not be appropriate for very young bunnies.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale. — Caramel reviews *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party* by Nathan Hale.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, it seems like it is once again time to talk about a Nathan Hale book.

Caramel: Yes! It is great that I can read another one of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.

S: I know you love these books! So tell me, what is this one about?

C: It is about the people going to California in 1846.

S: Oh, I see, so this is about the Donner party, going west toward California and getting lost?

C:Yes it is.

S: So the dinner party part is kind of poking fun at the rumors that some of them ended up eating others?

C: Yes, but it is not a very funny joke in terms of what it means. And it is not rumors; the Wikipedia article says they actually ate some of those who died because they were weaker, but they apparently also killed two Native American guides and ate them.

S: Caramel, that is awful!

C: Yep, and disturbing.

S: I mean, the other books you read in this series also had people dying, there were many wars and such, but this somehow feels a lot more morbid.

C: Yep, it does. But apparently history can be pretty terrible.

S: I can see that this book is making that quite clear.

C: Yep, it certainly did for me.

Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale. — Caramel is reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party* by Nathan Hale.

S: So was reading this book a bit more challenging then? The story is pretty disturbing.

C: Yeah, it was a little, but the scary parts are mainly on a couple pages, making them easy to skip.

S: And it seems like an important story, about how humans can get quite vicious and terrible when they are desperate.

C: Yeah humans are sometimes very mean to each other, which is not a good thing.

S: I mean when you read Watership Down, we saw there that bunnies can also be cruel to one another, but at least we would never eat each other. We are vegetarian.

C: And I guess I will have to remind you that Watership Down was fiction, Sprinkles. This book is about a real event!

S: I know I know. I was just trying to lighten up the mood, but it is pretty difficult. So let us talk about the book in general. I suppose you had heard of the Donner party before. Did you learn anything new while reading Donner Dinner Party?

C: Yep, that sometimes the people in the past, and sometimes now, can be very mean to others.

S: So true. And so sad… Okay, I will now shift gears because this is getting a bit too sad. It seems these books are in color but always only a couple colors show up on each two-page spread. Is that correct?

C: yep, this one had around 8 different colors total.

S: But only a couple of the colors showing up on one page, right?

C: Yep, at most maybe 2-3 colors on one page.

S: But it still seems to work well, right?

C: Yes, it feels colorful at least.

S: After this I think there are still a few more books in this series. Are you interested?

C: Yeah, I can’t imagine there will be too many more cannibal stories in there.

S: I agree. Okay, so let us wrap this up then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel appreciated reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale and is ready for another adventure. — Caramel appreciated reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party* by Nathan Hale and is ready for another adventure.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad by Nathan Hale

As his first review of 2025, Caramel wanted to continue with his favorite historical graphic novel series: Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. He had already reviewed One Dead Spy, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, and The Underground Abductor. Today he is talking about Big Bad Ironclad, fourth book in our collection. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

[We were hoping to go through these books in order, but Caramel happened to first read a three-book sampler which was made up of the first, fourth, and the fifth books! So the numbering of these posts basically is mostly about the order Caramel is reading them in. Big Bad Ironclad, reviewed in today’s post, is the second ever book in the series, originally published in 2012. Readers can see the publication order of these books at this page created by Fulton County Library System.]

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad by Nathan Hale. — Caramel reviews *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad* by Nathan Hale.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, here we are again, and you chose to start off your 2025 reviews with yet another Nathan Hale book.

Caramel: Yes I have, and, what a book!

S: Hmm, I am guessing that means it is a good book?

C: yes, it certainly was.

S: So what is this one about? What time period are we in?

C: we are in the civil war, and it is about the ironclads, the first metal warships.

S: Oh yes, maybe we should remind our readers that these books are graphic novels that explore various time periods in the history of the United States. So this one is about the U.S. Civil War. Then we must be in the 1860s.

C: Yes, that is important to do, and it is the 1860s.

S: Okay, so tell me more about the ironclads.

C: They are older steam-powered warships that heavy iron plating is put over, like a jacket, allowing them to withstand cannons, and other guns of the time.

S: So kind of like an armor a warrior might put on. Underneath the iron are they made of wood then?

C: Yes, they are, in fact, made of wood under the iron.

S: Hmm, I guess it makes sense to try and armor the ships. But wouldn’t that make them too heavy? Wouldn’t they sink?

C: Well, yes and no. The iron is placed on the exact right places as to not make it too heavy, yet still provide ample protection from attack.

Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad by Nathan Hale. — Caramel is reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad* by Nathan Hale.

S: Okay, so that looks like a story you would be interested in, you like warships and such, but it is after all a graphic novel. Are there any human characters in the book? And what is the human story told?

C: It is about the stories of the ironclads and those who fought against them and how they defeated the big, bad ironclad.

S: Oh, so the ironclads are kind of like the new scary weapons and the story is about how they could be defeated. Do we also learn about the people who designed and built the ironclads?

C: Yes, I suppose, but the story of how they are defeated is more central.

S: Do both sides have ironclads or only one side?

C: Well, both sides have ironclads, but the story is told mainly from the view of the Union, the North, so we learn about how they build their ironclad and defeat the ironclad from the South.

S: I see. So did you learn some new things while reading this book?

C: Yes, I did learn some new things; these books have so many facts! For example I learned that the Union built their own ironclad from the same inventor who made the peacemaker, a huge cannon which blew up and killed the president’s cabinet. They must have been desperate.

S: That is interesting! I had not heard about the peacemaker. Wikipedia has an article about the ship that it was installed on. So these books are factual but also fictional. Can you tell what is fact and what is fiction?

C: Yes, it is rather obvious as the narrator, Nathan Hale, says the real things that happen, like he says things like, ”this is not an accurate representation of this person,” or something like that.

S: I see. That is cool. So you learn stuff about the history of the United States and also enjoy reading a fun graphic novel. I am assuming of course that you have enjoyed reading this book?

C: Yes, it was great!

S: I am assuming we will hear about a lot more Nathan Hale books in the near future.

C: Yes, you will.

S: Can’t wait!

C: Well, you have to. At least till next week!

S: Okay, okay, yes, till next week. So as we wrap up this review, what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad by Nathan Hale and can't wait to read the next book! — Caramel loved reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4: Big Bad Ironclad* by Nathan Hale and can’t wait to read the next book!