House on Fire by Matthew Battaglia

Description

Is she sick, or is it the world itself? HOUSE ON FIRE, the debut graphic novel by writer/artist Matt Battaglia, teases out the difference in a personal-political cruise through a fallen world, where fear is rational and obedience your only refuge.

Battaglia depicts the near-future landscape of House on Fire with wild two-color brushwork reminiscent of the great Paul Pope, and a minimalist writing style that evokes and questions rather than lectures.

House on Fire

A special thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this book in exchange for a feedback review. All statements and opinions stated in this piece are my own and are based on my reading of this graphic novel.

First a commendation to the creators of this extremely dark take on a dystopian future or is it a nearly present time. 

This is a take on an arid future envisaged by many doomsday writers with climate changes and lack of control leading to shortages in access to air. 

Although I may not share the arid vision leading to doomsday vis a vis climate changes, etc. what is in sync with the current situation worldwide with extremely polluted cities soaked with smog and particulate matters which have made breathing an exercise in futility. 

The recent and still ongoing pandemic also laid bare a world that is extremely vulnerable to aerial pathogens and virus. This book is an extension of the pandemic taken to an extreme level where exposure to infected people spreads the infection. 

The art restricted to two tones is extremely hard-hitting initially but after a few pages of reading becomes stressful to look at and read. If this was to make the reader suffer some pain in the process living the emotions of the characters of the novel then it works to an extent but despite the short length of the book, after a few pages the arid tones sear into the brain and make reading especially in one continuous sitting like I did a very difficult ask. 

The overall feel of the book is depressing as is the requirement of the tale and the setting but one which reflects strong relationships of love (between the principal characters), sympathy (with a nameless guard at a check-post), greed/gluttony (by the supplier of the required tank) and violence (desperate bravados of infected people lurking in the darkness). The lack of many written words as blurbs helps the tale along giving it an even deeper dark feel as the reader is forced to watch the visual over and over again creating tragic imagery of the world an exact opposite of the colorful world that we are used to.

This elevates the book into positive territory and another appreciation for the team is in order. 

The book remains a 3 - 3.5 star for me because of the simplistic story that is predictable to a T and the fact that the story leaves an enormous lot to the imagination of the reader, for me a tad too much.   

I will still say this is a decent but dismal book and should come with an advisory for the people with depression and other mental health challenges. 

3 Star here is more 3.5 star for me.

Please do not forget to post your comments. I am an equal opportunity person so would love to hear your love or your hate. Please write what you did not like or whether the book was an absolute disaster for you and why.

You can also follow/like my review at Goodreads here - 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5132454397