By Ryo Suzukaze & Thores Shibamoto, translated by Ko Ransom (Vertical)
ISBN: 978-1-939130-86-0
Hajime Isayama’s Shingeki no Kyojin or “Advancing Giants†began life as a manga serial in Kodansha’s Bessatsu ShÅnen Magazine in September 2009. As Attack on Titan the phenomenally successful saga has since filled 14 tankÅbon collections – with sales in excess of 40 billion copies – and spawned equally popular spin-offs: two manga serials, a “Light Novel†series, an anime TV show, several video games and a forthcoming big-budget live action cinema release.
The core premise of the manga epic concerns an Earth where gigantic monsters have for more than a century predated on humanity, reducing mankind to the population of a small country cowering behind concentric rings of colossal walls…
This initial Light Novel – Before the Fall – pitches the drama back to the earliest days after the conclusion of the initial catastrophic conflict when defeated, nigh-extinct mankind has retreated behind sturdy stone stockades. Inexplicably, the cowering strategy worked and remnant humanity has been left alone for more than a generation.
Described as “prequel of prequels†this fascinating tale describes a time when the monstrous Titans have not been seen for years by the majority of the human race and thus much of complacent humanity has begun to doubt their existence. This attitude has advanced to the point where the common folk mock and deride the dedicated Garrison and Survey Corps which staunchly continue in their duties to protect them whilst conservative elements in the closeted government circles are actively trying to disband the warrior divisions as a means of cutting costs.
Since the retreat a highly strictured society has evolved with plutocratic rulers and fat-cats safely ensconced within the innermost city walls, bureaucracy and military brass inhabiting the second, and the least important members of mankind packed into the outer district of Shiganshina where inventive young armourer and metalsmith Angel Aaltonen lives, devoutly and passionately devising new weapons to end the monsters’ threat – monsters he has never seen but instinctively dreads…
As a Master Inventor of the Workshop District he is always devising fresh ways to improve the striking power of the heroic Survey Corps who regularly voyage outside the monolithic Gate, but Angel feels frustratingly hampered because he knows absolutely nothing about the horrors… except that they are regarded as unkillable.
One other thing he knows. Even though the city dwellers say the Titans don’t exist, something out there kills and maims the rapidly-depleting ranks of the defensive Corps which his best friends and fellow orphans Solm and Maria have dedicated their lives to…
Everything changes however when a deranged cult of Titan-worshippers force open the great Gate as a Survey scouting mission returns, allowing a handily placed horror to rampage through the outer town.
With close observation of the atrocity and the handy discovery of two new natural resources, Angel conceives a device which will forever alter the balance of power between scurrying mortals and the voracious, no-longer-immortal monsters…
What follows is an engaging rite-of passage yarn as Angel grows from idealistic savant to unlikely warrior and potential saviour of humanity, forged in tragedy and tempered by the pressure of a society determined to bury its collective head in the sand…
Moody and engaging, this gripping fantasy tale is augmented by eight stunning full page illustrations in monochrome and colour by Thores Shibamoto that will delight lovers of fantasy fiction and manga masterworks.
© 2014 Hajime Isayama, Ryo Suzukaze. All rights reserved.