Member Reviews

An enjoyable follow up to Vol. 1, slides into an interesting new narrative. Vol. 2 didn't quite have the impact of Vol. 1, but still solidly captivating and enjoyable, adapting an event I personally was not as familiar with. 100% invested in continuing this series.

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I've learned a lot about pre-Columbian America from this series, but I also am a bit confused by the plot.

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A really cool sequel to a great opening salvo! With the time travel piece, it is fun to think of how many different directions this series could go, and not having to do them in order provides even more opportunities and less ability for the readers to guess what period might come next. Just as in the first volume, the art is great and the story is action-packed, but there are also really interesting philosophical. historical, and moral quandaries to chew on.

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I enjoy this, not as much as the first volume but it held my attention. The first volume just had so much more thrill to it, however the backstory on Tawny was nice to read.

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Jones builds on the universe he created with different characters. https://noflyingnotights.com/blog/2023/12/29/earthdivers-vol-2/

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Pretty good. I love the illustrations and the idea. It felt kind of confusing and a bit hard to follow sometimes. I think part of it was the time travel and maybe a bit of my lack of subject knowledge but I had to keep rereading a few parts to make sure I was following the story correctly.

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I enjoyed most of the story. I also enjoyed the perspective of someone unlike me and understanding and feeling the pain they do. I enjoy the art and found most of the collection a strong addition to the first. But I got towards the end and I could not follow what was going on. I don't know if I missed something I don't feel like I did because I read these parts at least twice) or if it makes since when connected to the next collection.

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Tawny entered the cave to hunt for her children but ended up in prehistoric Florida facing off with Ice Age fauna. She also found herself caught between Paleo-Indians and an invading Solutrean tribe. All she wanted to do was save the children so that is what she sets out to do. The might not be her children, but they are children. That is enough. A different take on the time traveler than in the first Eardivers volume.

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Wow wow wow! This second instalment of Earthdivers is my newest obsession. The art work is incredible and the storyline is not what I was expecting at all after the first instalment- it’s brilliant! Waiting for the third is going to break me.

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I feel like I really need to get my hands on the first volume because I was admittedly somewhat lost, but the artwork was beautiful and the story is exciting and interesting. A mother lost in time in search of her children. It’s heartbreaking, but so beautiful. Tawny will do anything to reunite with her children, who vanished through a portal inside a cave into time. Now she struggles to survive prehistoric Florida’s massive wildlife, fierce predators, and savage prehistoric human tribes in order to find them again, if they have survived. Along the way, her mother’s heart reaches out to other children in need that complicates her quest even more but makes the sakes so much higher. Stunning artwork and a break neck speed narrative full of action, adventure and educational material about a world long forgotten where everything wants you dead and you sleep with your eyes open. First rate work.

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Stephen Graham Jones is at the top of his game, whether it is novels or graphic fiction, he cannot miss. This second volume in the fantastic Earthdivers series is fast paced and beautifully written as well as stunningly illustrated.

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A super engaging time travel story with gorgeous art and high stakes! The second half of the comics goes really fast and gets a little confusing, but still so much to explore in this story.

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EARTHDIVERS is a story of what might happen to "America" after all the rich people rocket off elsewhere and centers on a small group of indigenous folks who know about a magic time travel cave. Volume 1 was, "what if we killed Columbus and none of this happened?" but without spoiling that, this here volume 2 picks up on one of the aforementioned folks' missing kids who presumably went into the cave, and her journey to go after them. But she's not brought back to the 1400s like the last volume, nope, her visit is to the ice age, to mastodons and sabretooth tigers and the people of that era.

For most of the volume it's Tawney talking to herself (since she can't speak the language of anyone else in that era) and after that story it's a sort of, every page is a different year kinda backstory? I liked the first volume better than this second, and parts were confusing (the huge "ADVANCED COPY" watermark probably did not help though I understand and support why it was there) but maybe it was just the setting? Still, I think I'll keep an eye out for volume 3 and keep going with this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the eARC in exchange for review!

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Beautiful illustrations, sympathetic characters, and a suspenseful plot -- what a ride! Alternate history stories are always interesting, and I was wondering the whole time what kinds of differences there would be in history while also feeling anxious for the safety of the mom and her kids. I'm excited to read more.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this graphic novel

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Earthdivers returns with a new array of new characters and an entirely new time period—the Ice Age. However, family, and perhaps grief, maintain the forefront. And of course, inconvenient time traveling.

Much like the first in the series, Volume 2 delivers a whirlwind of beautiful artwork that makes the story fly by. This is also helped by Stephen Graham Jones’s writing, which brings the story to life. This volume was a quick read because I didn't want to put it down. I'm excited to see where this specially crafted world goes and hope to see Tawny again.

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Thank you to NetGalley and IDW for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great next installment to follow up the first but it was very short. I flew through this in one sitting without even meaning to and I am dying to find out what happens next. I like that it focused on a different individual's story while tying in some backstory from the first installment towards the later chapters. The art is again amazing and I cannot praise these artists enough for how talented they are. I like the story but I wish I knew more about where it was going and also I wish it was a bit less disjointed as it is feeling right now. I was much less confused reading this volume than the first one but I think it is because less story was dissected. Still can't wait for the next volume to come out!

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I am absolutely loving The Earthdivers Series. Such an engaging and unique concept. Volume 2 did nit disappoint whatsoever

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Steven Graham Jones was one of my favorite authors of 2023, and Earthdivers, Vol. 1: Kill Columbus was one of my favorite books of 2023, so I eagerly dove into Volume 2 as soon as possible.

Kill Columbus centers on Emily, Tad, Sosh, and Yellow Kid’s attempts to time travel to the 1400s, kill Christopher Columbus, and hopefully save the world. Volume 2, on the other hand, is a very different story. Earthdivers, Vol. 2: Ice Age tells the story of Tawny and her accidental journey to the Ice Age landscape as she looks for her children. Mostly, though, it’s a story of maternal fear, desperation, and the rage that lurks behind it all.

Earthdivers, Vol. 2: Ice Age is an excellent entry in Graham Jones’ series. While it didn’t have Volume 1’s beloved characters, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Tawny is an unlikely choice as a focal character, but I appreciated Graham Jones’s heartfelt entry here after such a brutal first volume. There are still intense fights and bloodshed, but, from Tawny, it feels like more purposeful violence.

Earthdivers as a series is not to be missed. Stephen Graham Jones is a masterful writer, and Earthdivers is full of complex indigenous characters. It’s a genre-blending tale of indigenous rage that combines post-apocalyptic, alt-history, and science fiction. Through all its characters and stories, Earthdivers weaves the past, present, and future together with a single thread of hope for a better society and world.

Ice Age is a powerhouse of maternal strength and protection, and I loved Tawny’s growth as a character. While I enjoyed this break from the main story, I’m stoked to return to the characters from Kill Columbus in Volume 3. Bring on 1776, Benjamin Franklin, and colonial Emily.

Full Review with additional commentary will go live on Back Shelf Books on February 16, 2024, at the below link.

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I am a huge fan of Stephen graham jones work and I am so excited to see him diving into the comic space . Vol 2 did not disappoint and i am so excited to see where this story goes .
Thank you for the eARC.

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(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Content warning for racist violence. Caution: this review contains spoilers.)

-- 3.5 stars --

In 2112 A.D., four friends run into a magical cave, in search of Tawny and Martin's missing twins. Tawny emerges alone on the other side, in 20,000 B.C.E. Armed only with her knowledge of the Ice Age, Tawny must brave the Indigenous Americans (who may or may not see her as an ally), invading Solutreans, and all manner of megafauna to stay alive - at least long enough to find and rescue Yazzie and Hochunk.

ICE AGE is an interesting interlude between Volumes 1 and 3 of EARTHDIVERS - when Emily will presumably appear just in time to witness America's birth in 1776 (if Ben Franklin's eyeglasses are any indication. But who gave them to her!?!) At just four single issues, it runs a little shorter than the others, but Graham Jones manages to pack a lot into just 104 pages.

The Solutrean Hypothesis "posits that around 21,000 years ago a group of people from the Solutré region of France, who are historically characterized by their unique lithic technique, migrated to North America along pack ice in the Atlantic Ocean. Once they made it to North America, their lithic technique dispersed around the continent (c. 13,000 years ago) to provide the basis for the later popularization of Clovis lithic technology." (Thanks, Wikipedia.)

In this rendition, the Solutreans are French invaders who immediately massacre the Indigenous American they encounter. Like Tad in KILL COLUMBUS, Tawny has to find a way to divert the European interlopers, this time to guarantee her ancestors the 20,000+ years of freedom history promised them. All while protecting an injured Solutrean child (she is a mom, after all), finding her own kids, and leaving the timeline unaltered.

The ICE AGE story is engaging, though I did sometimes have trouble following the action. In the last issue, there's an abrupt jump to the present day (well, 2112), and that's where I really lost the plot. It seemed like we saw Yellow Kidney, then a lowly tech, kill an astronaut, steal his identity, and assume his place aboard one of the departing space shuttles. But if this is the case, how is he down on Earth, in Arizona, convincing everyone else to risk their lives for the future? I am so confused (but also very much looking forward to Volume 3).

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