The Sacrifice of Darkness

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

-- 3.5 stars --

Based On Roxane Gay's short story of the same name, THE SACRIFICE OF DARKNESS tells the tale of Hiram Hightower, a miner living in a company town on a world that might (or might not) be our own. The latest in a long line of miners, Hiram loves his job: hunting for treasure, unearthing buried secrets, exploring the second world that lies beneath the visible one. That is, until the mine owners' greed threatens the well-being of their employees - and, indeed, the entire town.

Forced to work double shifts in pursuit of the elusive and valuable flareon, the darkness begins to consume Hiram. So he buys an air machine and flies it directly into the sun, in show more the hope that its warmth might fill the void within him. And so it does: Hiram's soul is so desperately in need of light that it swallows the sun in its entirety, cursing his world to eternal darkness.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50510321102/in/dateposted-public/

Since Hiram is gone, the townspeople take their anger out on Hiram's wife, Mara, and his son Joshua. They are repeatedly summoned before the Corona Council (ahem) to atone for Hiram's sins; the possibility of a blood sacrifice looming ever larger as the scientists' efforts to bring back the sun prove futile.

The story is told in a before/after narrative from the perspective of Claire, a classmate of Joshua's who befriends him in those early days of hardship. An island of two, they fall in love, marry, and start a family - and their happiness is an anathema to those adults who still mourn the sun, who have failed to adapt to this new world.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50509446733/in/dateposted-public/

Gay's story is, of course, spectacular; her writing is achingly beautiful, and the story reverberated with me long after I moved on. While it's difficult to top the original - Gay's prose is basically perfection - the graphic novel adaptation represents a valiant try. The art is painted in drab tones befitting a sunless world. The art is mostly easy on the eyes, though an oddly proportioned hand or foot distracted me from time to time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50510321017/in/dateposted-public/

The adaptation is mostly faithful to Gay's story - that is, right up until the ending. Whereas Gay's ending is a little mystical and open-ended, Oliver gives Dawn's powers a scientific basis, which has the weird, seemingly contradictory effect of sapping some of the magic from the story - while also making it feel more satisfying, in a "no loose ends" kind of way. Idk, I kind of hated myself for enjoying it as much as I did (need everything spelled out much?).

If you enjoy the comic book version, definitely check out the short story, which appears in Gay's 2017 anthology, DIFFICULT WOMEN. You won't be disappointed. show less

When a mine owner’s actions cause a miner to feel only ice and darkness in his soul, he buys a flying machine and flies it into the sun to try to gain warmth. But in doing so, he absorbs all the sun’s warmth and light, throwing the world into perpetual darkness and leaving his family to suffer the anger of the townfolk.

The graphic novel The Sacrifice of Darkness is based on a short story by Roxanne Gay. Overall, I found the story beautiful, even profound and the art complements it perfectly as the vibrant colours before Hiram’s act are replaced with darker more drab colours after. However, I suspect if I had read the original story first, I would have enjoyed this version more. Not to say I didn’t like it. It’s just that I show more found the story occasionally hard to follow without more explanation. show less

I'm hardly a comic person so requesting this comic was mainly to complete my TBNT Book Challenge and also it was written by Roxane Gay, an author I truly liked. I am glad that I did as I've enjoyed it a lot plus it's a meaningful read. Straightforward and simple yet impactful illustrations that can be easily understood with sentiments shared across the globe.

Thanks to Boom! Studio and Netgalley for this e-ARC in return for my honest review.

Here's my full review:
http://www.sholee.net/2020/10/mpov-sacrifice-of-darkness.html

An upset man flies to the sun and plunges his planet into a darkness that is somehow not catastrophic, but just kind of nerve grating? "Blood sacrifice!" gets shouted all over the place as his family must deal with the ramifications of the irritation. But love happens.

Get allegorical if you want, but the story still needs to make some kind of sense, eh?

I loved this graphic novel a whole lot - the art style was nice, the storyline and how it goes back and forward in time was interesting, and the two main couples were adorable. It's emotional and has a lot of depth. I definitely recommend.

I get and appreciate what this was trying to do, but the execution (story-wise) wasn’t great. The art is beautiful at least.

This graphic novel is based on Gay's short story of the same name from Difficult Women. It took an already wonderful story and fleshed it out. Loved this and the art was amazing.