This gorgeous graphic novel is a followup to book one. I definitely recommend reading them in order, and more than once.

Still lovely art but feels like a middle book and much faster to read than the first. Will keep reading this series.

I am reviewing this after the third book came out and I loved it! I did not know this trilogy is based on an Oscar-winning short film, but that actually explains a lot. The books images have a cinematic appeal to them. I loved the series an my students do as well. They are as beloved as Amulet is.

The artwork was beautiful and the story compelling. It had me in years much like Homeward Bound. Something about those animal characters that really pull at your heart.

I'm over a year late with this review, but I thought it was a solid second entry. The artwork still enchants and the world expanded nicely. Really looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up!

I'm sad to say that I somehow missed out on the first volume of this series. I will definitely be on the lookout for it though, because I loved this addition. The story was intriguing, and keep me turning page after page, and I ended up reading it in one sitting. I simply adored the artwork. The illustrations were colored beautifully, and helped to make the story more exciting. I can't wait to read on!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

I wasn't quite as enchanted as the first one but the continuing journey is still engrossing. I liked the variety of worlds and the way they showed different depictions of authority and values. Can't wait for the next one!

At the end of the first volume of this series, I wasn't entirely on board. With this one, though, the series is growing on me. This one has a lot more time jumps. While I'd prefer more encapsulated plots in each volume, I love the art quality and contemplative nature of this series.

The adventures of Pig and his friends continue as they follow Frog, who claims to be able to get them back home before the next great wave. Along the way, they encounter other towns and villages who are able to survive from the wave...and all have the mark of the dam keeper. Everywhere Pig goes, his father seems to have been before him...or is something else going on?

While I absolutely loved the first book, this one fell flat, mostly because the plot went absolutely nowhere in this second installment. More questions are raised, the overall story is more tell than show (ironic in a graphic novel), and little is revealed about the mysteries of this world, the dam keepers, the whereabouts of Pig's father or the cause of the wave. The artwork, however, continues to be a delightful combination of cutesy and dark.

I will stayed tuned for book three, which hopefully is a little meatier in nature and reveals some answers.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

An amazing story that leaves the reader with questions to continue to ponder as we await the final book in the series! Outstanding storytelling and illustrations makes for fantastic reading experience that students and adults are sure to love!

I can't believe that I failed to write an actual blog review for the first entry in this series, because I fell for it hard. Kondo and Tsutsumi have created this beautiful world that is also filled with darkness. It's a world that pits cute, sometimes fuzzy, lovable characters against an entity that is so mysterious that it's terrifying. I never thought I could have as many feelings about a pig as a main character as I do now. It's absoutely wonderful.

Before anything else, I have to commend the illustrations in both these books. They are more of a watercolor style, so everything is gorgeously blended and has a mystical feeling. I fell in love with the art style before, and I fell in love with it all over again this time around. It sets the mood beautifully, especially as this particular volume is very much about the journey these characters are part of. Kondo and Tsutsumi have captured my heart fair and square. I'm all in.

As for the story of The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness, Pig, Fox, and Hippo ended the last book lost and on a mission to get back home. The huge cliffhanger ending of the last book had me ravenous for more, and so I was more than eager to get started with this installment. Although I had an inkling at the back of my mind that this book would be a little slower than the first, it still set me back for a bit. As I said above, this book is very much about the journey. A lot of traveling, a lot of discovery, and only a little of the intrigue that I loved the first time around. This installment takes patience to get through, although the illustrations definitely help.

I warn you all, there is another massive cliffhanger ending. Be prepared now, and then settle in with me to wait for the next part of the story! Was this installment perfect? Perhaps not, but that doesn't negate the fact that I am utterly in love with this whole story. When Pig, Fox and Hippo are ready to move on to their next adventure, I'll be here waiting.

This review will be short, but not necessarily sweet. I’m really sorry to say, but I did not care for this book at all. I wasn’t really a fan of book one either, yet stuck with it because of the illustrations. The story was just passable, in my honest opinion, and like a glutton for a punishment I decided to stick with it for round two to see what happened. If anything, I think it got worse. The art was still the best thing this series had going for it.

I appreciate the author, publisher, and NetGalley giving me this review copy and opportunity despite my less than stellar feelings about the book itself,

This work has rather unique illustrations. The reader has to be careful follow the protagonist's thoughts and their back story. It has an erratic style with a lot of interesting twists and turns. I imagine the final artwork will be amazing

I liked The Dam Keeper. Although the art is my favorite part of the book, there were bits of the story that were intriguing, like the mystery of Pig's father and the dam keeper symbol that Pig sees everywhere. I did think the pacing was a little odd, and this volume definitely ends on a cliffhanger.

When I started this comic, I have to admit I was very confused, because I didn't know that this was the second book in a series. The title and info on Netgalley, had nothing about this being a sequel, so when I started it, it was clear that I was missing a few pieces.I wasn't really sure what had happened in the previous book to understand the peril that the characters were in or how they got there. So I started this one in a funk, and not really sure if I was going to like it.

I would have liked to read the first book just to have some more background, but I feel like I got enough from this second book to understand this world and the characters in it. It was very fast paced as the characters are moving quickly from one place to the other, but it seems like they are just doing a lot of traveling. Some of the panels don't even have speech bubbles, so you kind of have to guess how the characters interacted when they came across new people in their travels. You had to really pay attention to the art, which didn't really bother me, but it just felt like some of these panels were pointless.

I did find the visions that Pig had really interesting and I wanted to get to more of that, but I think I will have to read the next one to get it. I wanted to know more about what exactly a Dam Keeper was, and why everyone seems to live behind walls of a dam. I just feel like this graphic novel was missing some pieces that I would have liked to have been filled in.

I do want to say that I loved the artwork in this one, and it's what made me want to continue reading it. I really loved the saturated colors, and I'm curious how the finished product looks in print. My digital copy was a little low-res, but I still thought the style was well executed.

If you do read this, I definitely recommend picking up the first one so you are not as confused as I was!

*I received a free egalley copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness is a graphic novel written by Robert Kondo and illustrated by Dice Tsutsumi. It is currently scheduled for release on July 10 2018. It is the second book in the series, and I have not read the first. I think that reading the series in order is recommended, but if the art draws you in, most readers could pick up the story to a certain degree. However- those that have read the first volume or watched the short animation it was based on will get much more from it than those of us that jumped in here.

Beyond the dam lies certain death—this is something every citizen of Sunrise Valley knows well. Yet, when a poisonous black tidal wave carries Pig, Fox, and Hippo over the dam and into the wastelands, they don’t find death. Instead they find bustling cities, each with their own dams. Pig can't help but wonder, who is the mysterious dam keeper behind it all? But he doesn't have time to unravel this mystery. The wave of deadly black fog will return to Sunrise Valley in four days, and its dam can't withstand another assault. In a stolen truck and with a deranged lizard leading the way, Pig and his friends are in a race against the clock. but can they reach home in time?

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness is a graphic novel that I was tempted into reading because of the art. Even when I had no idea whatsoever about what was happening I fully enjoyed the artwork. The story lost me more than once, there were flashbacks and references to the past, which mostly went over my head because I missed the first book. However, the majority of this book felt like a buddy or roadtrip movie with some interesting twists and turns, some suggestions of secrets, and meeting new characters. As the group tries to make it home, assuredly to save their families and friends, they find themselves in some very weird situations with stranger characters, but I never really felt like I got to the meat of the story. There is a good climax, and hints to what is next for Pig, but since I was so uncertain about what was going on I never got invested in the characters or the story.

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness is a well drawn and colored graphic novel for middle grade, and perhaps younger and older, readers. I think readers that have read the first volume and enjoyed it will definitely want to pick this one up. I prefer series with a more complete feel to each of the installments, but that is just my personal preference and I know others are not as bothered by this.

Review that will appear on GoodReads on June 26, 2018:

Pig, Hippo, Fox and Van must get back to their town before the wave hits. But they’re a long way from home. Following Van’s advice for transportation leads them to some very interesting other towns. And Pig can’t help but notice things that remind him of his father in each and every one of them. He also starts to wonder about the source of the darkness that comes.

The illustrations in this are amazing. The plot of this book suffers just a teensy bit from middle-book-itis. Don’t look for answers in this book. It is primarily picking up from the first book and setting up for the next book. However, it does serve a very important purpose of deepening the mystery of what is causing the destruction in this world and what happened to Pig’s father. I had forgotten just how crazy Van is. He helps lighten the seriousness of this dystopian mystery. Now to eagerly await the next volume in this series. Recommended to middle grade dystopian fans, animal story fans, and mystery fans.

Notes on content [based on ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content (though Pig gets embarrassed by seeing a lady’s bloomers). Some dangerous situations but everyone makes it out ok. Van has a very vague sense of ownership and it appears he steals a vehicle at one point that doesn’t make it back to its owner.

<i>I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

While I enjoyed the addition of Van and seeing the first "other city", and the weird mole city, I felt like nothing else happened and the plot didn't really advance any - at the cliffhanger ending I feel like we were right back where we started. But I am still excited to see how it all plays out in the next installment!

The the land that we were all introduced to in "The Dam Keeper" expands greatly in unexpected ways, as does the mystery of the fog and those who are tasked to keeping it at bay. Once again, the artwork is absolutely stunning beyond compare, and beautifully compliments the laconic speech of the characters.

It will be difficult to read this and not become completely hooked for good in the series. There's so much more to learn about this world, the fog that terrorizes it, those who protect others from it, and more. The next book simply cannot come soon enough.

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness is the follow up to The Dam Keeper. This installment is not as good as the first in my opinion. It is just as weird but I felt a little lost in this one. I also don't love the art style. I think young graphic novel fans who enjoy adventure stories would enjoy it though, it's just not for me.