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Amulet #9
Waverider
The highly anticipated, thrilling conclusion to Kazu Kibuishi's #1 New York Times bestselling series! After her confrontation with Ikol, Emily finally understands the stone's power and what she must do to defend Alledia from the shadows. As she travels to Typhon to help her mom and Navin, Prince Trellis returns to the Kingdom of the Elves to save his countrymen -- and confront the fraud who has seized power in the absence of a king. The threat of darkness follows all Stonekeepers closely, and it will take the strength of both new friends and old foes to conquer it... and survive.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2024
About the author
Kazu Kibuishi
53 books3,317 followersKazu Kibuishi (born 1978) is an American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology Flight and for creating the webcomic Copper. He has also written (drawn) the Amulet series. The webcomic artist and noted critic Scott McCloud has said that some of Kazu Kibuishi's work is so beautifully drawn that "it hurts my hands when I look at it".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 479 reviews
February 13, 2024
• 2 stars - mostly for my love of the previous books
(This is my first written review so please bare with my scattered thoughts 🙏🏻)
I’ve been a huge fan of The Amulet series since I was 7. I’m 20 now, and these are my thoughts.
The last book feels like it ruins everything the series sets up. I did like parts of it, like the overall message of letting go of grief & forgiving yourself etc., but as a whole I feel like it was a let down of a final book, especially considering readers have waited 6 years for this book to come out.
It completely contradicts Ikol being a servant to the Shadows as previously established and instead introduces a bunch of inter-dimensional robot-like beings as Ikol’s ‘masters’, then attempts to explain it away by saying “oh, Silas made us all and he’s Silas so you can’t question it”. It also tries to explain Ikol as a technological program made by Silas, but why would Silas create a programs like Ikol? Assuming Ikol wasn’t always evil, why was he originally created anyway?
This also contradicts previous implications that Ikol has been continuing the cycle of war and peace (as explained by Virgil) for hundreds of years by controlling elven kings, as Silas is much too young to have created something that old.
Vigo’s death (??) comes out of absolute nowhere and his book that supposedly contains information that was so important he spent the rest of his life writing it plays absolutely no role in the story. It’s a useless plot point thrown randomly in at the end to make us think Vigo actually had an impact. This book has been sitting in Silas’s library for years and you’re telling me Leon, who scoured the whole room in book 3 looking for mentions of Cielis, didn’t find it and tell Emily about it (the first page in Vigo’s book specifies that it’s for Emily!! Leon is incredibly smart, he definitely would have brought up a book addressed to Emily from 300 years ago).
The earlier books also built up Trellis as ruler of the Elves, with a Zuko-esque ‘being better than my father’ arc, and Emily as a leader of the stone keepers, but book 9 dumps all that progress in the trash. It also slaps us with a “oh yeah also Riva had a prophetic vision about Trellis’s future where he has kids and also she’s his baby mom”?? In my personal opinion, that is a HORRIBLE direction for both of their characters. Trellis has so much pain and trauma, especially revolving around family, that he has never been given a chance to work through or process. There is no way that boy would just jump headfirst into fatherhood without some serious therapy and anxieties. And Riva?? The badass mayor searching for a new home for her people, a responsibility pushed upon her after the death of her father, is suddenly settling down and having babies without completing any of her actual goals? It’s such a disservice to her character and Trellis’s. Not to mention a missed opportunity to have them bond and work together as two leaders with extreme responsibilities trying to rebuild their communities after the war. Add in Emily and you’ve got a strong trifecta of young leaders working together to bring about a permanent era of peace.
Also, what about Navin? Absolutely nothing satisfying comes from his part of the story. Very early on it’s established that Navin is destined to be a resistance leader so important there were prophesies about him. In the end though he doesn’t really do all that much. He gets a few chances here and there to shine but he never gets anything that lives up to the hype others give him. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Navin, but again Book 9 proves to be a huge disservice to its characters and its legacy. Navin plants a tree, tries to stand up to a possessed rebel leader but gets his ass handed to him, then gets possessed almost immediately and has to be saved by Emily.
We get introduced to the new guardian council (even though we’ve had a new one established since book 5?) and it’s so underwhelming it kills me. These secret all powerful children are introduced so quickly and are included so little that they have absolutely no depth to their characters. They struggle with virtually nothing (Wes has a moment during the weird gathering thing but the stakes are laughable) and go through no development. They’re just super strong and not at all flawed, except for Wes who’s different for added flavour, and are just immediately accepted as the new Guardian Council without any protest or discussion whatsoever. They face no pushback or dissent, but most importantly they have no experience and no one knows who they are?? If the theory of a 6 month time skip in between books are true, then the public had 2-2.5 years to get used to the old-new guardian council who they saw fighting the elf armies and actually resisting their oppressors. I don’t believe they’d be cool with four random kids, who have done absolutely nothing but build stuff in a secret cave, leading them as the most powerful leaders of the world.
Branching off of powerful kids, how did making Ikol small and blowing him away (he wasn’t even defeated in any real way) free Alledians from the mysterious animal curse? As far as we know, Ikol wasn’t connected to that curse in any way, nor does he have the power to inflict such a curse s on people, especially non-stonekeepers. So what happened there?
All in all, I feel like Book 9 creates way more loose ends than it ties up and is, unfortunately, the worst written book in the series. It has too many new ideas and plot points for a finale and brings them about in a contradictory and confusing way. 6 years feels like more than enough time to have been able to fix everything that went wrong in this book & to create a satisfying ending to such a beloved and long running series. It doesn’t feel like it was handled with the care and love so clearly put into the earliest books. The ending didn’t quite feel like an ending though, so I hope that at the very least, the possible sequel series will set things straight and pick up the ball that was dropped so hard in Book 9.
(This is my first written review so please bare with my scattered thoughts 🙏🏻)
I’ve been a huge fan of The Amulet series since I was 7. I’m 20 now, and these are my thoughts.
The last book feels like it ruins everything the series sets up. I did like parts of it, like the overall message of letting go of grief & forgiving yourself etc., but as a whole I feel like it was a let down of a final book, especially considering readers have waited 6 years for this book to come out.
It completely contradicts Ikol being a servant to the Shadows as previously established and instead introduces a bunch of inter-dimensional robot-like beings as Ikol’s ‘masters’, then attempts to explain it away by saying “oh, Silas made us all and he’s Silas so you can’t question it”. It also tries to explain Ikol as a technological program made by Silas, but why would Silas create a programs like Ikol? Assuming Ikol wasn’t always evil, why was he originally created anyway?
This also contradicts previous implications that Ikol has been continuing the cycle of war and peace (as explained by Virgil) for hundreds of years by controlling elven kings, as Silas is much too young to have created something that old.
Vigo’s death (??) comes out of absolute nowhere and his book that supposedly contains information that was so important he spent the rest of his life writing it plays absolutely no role in the story. It’s a useless plot point thrown randomly in at the end to make us think Vigo actually had an impact. This book has been sitting in Silas’s library for years and you’re telling me Leon, who scoured the whole room in book 3 looking for mentions of Cielis, didn’t find it and tell Emily about it (the first page in Vigo’s book specifies that it’s for Emily!! Leon is incredibly smart, he definitely would have brought up a book addressed to Emily from 300 years ago).
The earlier books also built up Trellis as ruler of the Elves, with a Zuko-esque ‘being better than my father’ arc, and Emily as a leader of the stone keepers, but book 9 dumps all that progress in the trash. It also slaps us with a “oh yeah also Riva had a prophetic vision about Trellis’s future where he has kids and also she’s his baby mom”?? In my personal opinion, that is a HORRIBLE direction for both of their characters. Trellis has so much pain and trauma, especially revolving around family, that he has never been given a chance to work through or process. There is no way that boy would just jump headfirst into fatherhood without some serious therapy and anxieties. And Riva?? The badass mayor searching for a new home for her people, a responsibility pushed upon her after the death of her father, is suddenly settling down and having babies without completing any of her actual goals? It’s such a disservice to her character and Trellis’s. Not to mention a missed opportunity to have them bond and work together as two leaders with extreme responsibilities trying to rebuild their communities after the war. Add in Emily and you’ve got a strong trifecta of young leaders working together to bring about a permanent era of peace.
Also, what about Navin? Absolutely nothing satisfying comes from his part of the story. Very early on it’s established that Navin is destined to be a resistance leader so important there were prophesies about him. In the end though he doesn’t really do all that much. He gets a few chances here and there to shine but he never gets anything that lives up to the hype others give him. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Navin, but again Book 9 proves to be a huge disservice to its characters and its legacy. Navin plants a tree, tries to stand up to a possessed rebel leader but gets his ass handed to him, then gets possessed almost immediately and has to be saved by Emily.
We get introduced to the new guardian council (even though we’ve had a new one established since book 5?) and it’s so underwhelming it kills me. These secret all powerful children are introduced so quickly and are included so little that they have absolutely no depth to their characters. They struggle with virtually nothing (Wes has a moment during the weird gathering thing but the stakes are laughable) and go through no development. They’re just super strong and not at all flawed, except for Wes who’s different for added flavour, and are just immediately accepted as the new Guardian Council without any protest or discussion whatsoever. They face no pushback or dissent, but most importantly they have no experience and no one knows who they are?? If the theory of a 6 month time skip in between books are true, then the public had 2-2.5 years to get used to the old-new guardian council who they saw fighting the elf armies and actually resisting their oppressors. I don’t believe they’d be cool with four random kids, who have done absolutely nothing but build stuff in a secret cave, leading them as the most powerful leaders of the world.
Branching off of powerful kids, how did making Ikol small and blowing him away (he wasn’t even defeated in any real way) free Alledians from the mysterious animal curse? As far as we know, Ikol wasn’t connected to that curse in any way, nor does he have the power to inflict such a curse s on people, especially non-stonekeepers. So what happened there?
All in all, I feel like Book 9 creates way more loose ends than it ties up and is, unfortunately, the worst written book in the series. It has too many new ideas and plot points for a finale and brings them about in a contradictory and confusing way. 6 years feels like more than enough time to have been able to fix everything that went wrong in this book & to create a satisfying ending to such a beloved and long running series. It doesn’t feel like it was handled with the care and love so clearly put into the earliest books. The ending didn’t quite feel like an ending though, so I hope that at the very least, the possible sequel series will set things straight and pick up the ball that was dropped so hard in Book 9.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
February 12, 20242/23/22: lol remember when I thought this was going to come out soon back in 2018?
6/23/23 update: We've got a title—I REPEAT, WE HAVE A TITLE! AND A COVER!!!!
2/11/24 update: IT'S FINALLY OUT!!!!!!!!!
6/23/23 update: We've got a title—I REPEAT, WE HAVE A TITLE! AND A COVER!!!!
2/11/24 update: IT'S FINALLY OUT!!!!!!!!!
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March 4, 2024
It feels pretty clear that Kibuishi stopped caring about the series years ago. He only rushed out this...whatever it's supposed to be...due to contractual obligation, and his editors need to be fired for letting it reach publication in such a state.
"Waverider" isn't just a tremendously disappointing conclusion to the series, it reads like the conclusion to a completely different series. You literally don't need to have read the preceding eight volumes to understand this one, because nothing in any of them is relevant to the ninth volume nor vice-versa. Reading the rest of the series is, in fact, only going to hurt your understanding of its supposed-finale. Important plot-points from the previous 8 books are either ignored, retconned away, or flat-out dismissed. Character growth is reversed, canceled, or forgotten. The genre is all wrong, the style is all wrong, the plot is all wrong, the tone is all wrong, the cast is all wrong, the world itself is all wrong. When the series started, a new volume came out every year and they were gold -- this one was six years in the making and it's not even lead.
Definitely not worth the nearly two decade journey. Only worth 2 stars because the art was generally good.
What a waste.
"Waverider" isn't just a tremendously disappointing conclusion to the series, it reads like the conclusion to a completely different series. You literally don't need to have read the preceding eight volumes to understand this one, because nothing in any of them is relevant to the ninth volume nor vice-versa. Reading the rest of the series is, in fact, only going to hurt your understanding of its supposed-finale. Important plot-points from the previous 8 books are either ignored, retconned away, or flat-out dismissed. Character growth is reversed, canceled, or forgotten. The genre is all wrong, the style is all wrong, the plot is all wrong, the tone is all wrong, the cast is all wrong, the world itself is all wrong. When the series started, a new volume came out every year and they were gold -- this one was six years in the making and it's not even lead.
Definitely not worth the nearly two decade journey. Only worth 2 stars because the art was generally good.
What a waste.
February 4, 2024
I started this series when I was 9. I am currently 23.
I waited six years for this book. I finished it in an hour and a half. When I say my expectations were high, they certainty were. This series got me into fantasy. It is everything I love about the genre. And when I say my expectations were passed? I mean it.
Its incredible how these books can knock me on my ass at 23 just as they did when I was a tween. The plot twists deliver. The artwork delivers. The story delivers. I know the wait has been long, but I truly cannot see this book coming out any other time but now. It delivers its themes it a way that is understandable to kids, but in a way that adults can dig into, can see through to the very heart of their humanity.
I cannot say enough good things about this particular book, and this series. It is a classic in every sense of the word. What a stunning, brilliant conclusion.
I waited six years for this book. I finished it in an hour and a half. When I say my expectations were high, they certainty were. This series got me into fantasy. It is everything I love about the genre. And when I say my expectations were passed? I mean it.
Its incredible how these books can knock me on my ass at 23 just as they did when I was a tween. The plot twists deliver. The artwork delivers. The story delivers. I know the wait has been long, but I truly cannot see this book coming out any other time but now. It delivers its themes it a way that is understandable to kids, but in a way that adults can dig into, can see through to the very heart of their humanity.
I cannot say enough good things about this particular book, and this series. It is a classic in every sense of the word. What a stunning, brilliant conclusion.
January 3, 2020
how do you guys know this stuff!?
The book didn't even come out yet!!!
But i think the book will be good
The book didn't even come out yet!!!
But i think the book will be good
Want to read
February 24, 2020THIS SERIES WAS EVERYTHING MY MIDDLE SCHOOL SELF EVER WANTED
I guess I have to go back and read the ones I missed and finish the series once and for all.
I guess I have to go back and read the ones I missed and finish the series once and for all.
Read
June 1, 2024The long-awaited ninth book in Kazu Kibuishi’s young adult graphic novel Amulet series, “Waverider”, is here, and it is a fun, exciting, worthy conclusion to an excellent sci-fi/fantasy series.
Emily has uncovered the true powers of the Stonekeepers, and she has also discovered the origins of IKOL and the shadow creatures. Now, she must use her knowledge to save her family and the rest of the galaxy…
I can’t say more than that. Spoilers, you understand.
Seriously, this nine-book series is great. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.
Emily has uncovered the true powers of the Stonekeepers, and she has also discovered the origins of IKOL and the shadow creatures. Now, she must use her knowledge to save her family and the rest of the galaxy…
I can’t say more than that. Spoilers, you understand.
Seriously, this nine-book series is great. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.
June 15, 2017
A very good book doesn't make sense unless you read all the books before
July 11, 2024
I borrowed this book from my public library like the rest of the series I did and man did I love this one?! I think book 9 is my favorite of the series but is there going to be a spin off series or is there a tenth volume coming?? Let me know I'm circus
March 2, 2024
The big series ending at long last! Amazing artwork as usual, with a lot of THOOMs and VOOMs. There were some satisfying finale things and other aspects that felt like they were there to be an ending, but what a nice thing to finally get a conclusion. Well done.
February 9, 2024
the end of an era
Want to read
February 19, 2022How many times are you gonna change the release date? The amazon link on this site doesn't link you to any of the Amulet books never mind the 9th and final one.
My daughter has been waiting to finish this series and it's maddening as a parent to continuously try to track down a release date and days before said date there is a new release date. Come on, I can understand your working on other projects but you have real and dedicated people waiting for you to finish your work. I have always been a book collector and have many many series I have waited on and I have to say none have made me as a reader feel not important or disrespected with the constant show of disregard towards it's waiting readers.
My daughter has been waiting to finish this series and it's maddening as a parent to continuously try to track down a release date and days before said date there is a new release date. Come on, I can understand your working on other projects but you have real and dedicated people waiting for you to finish your work. I have always been a book collector and have many many series I have waited on and I have to say none have made me as a reader feel not important or disrespected with the constant show of disregard towards it's waiting readers.
August 24, 2024
RTC
2 generous stars
2 generous stars
March 28, 2024
While I am compelled to rate this book 3 stars for the art and my overall love for the series as a whole, I have to say that this was a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion for a series over a decade in the making.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: Ikol. Ikol's real masters, who have been teased the entire series thus far, are... unassuming robots, who really appear to have very little control or motivation, and who were... created by Silas? It's revealed that Ikol is not some otherworldly being at all, a force older than time, but in reality, he is what is essentially a computer program. If Silas created Ikol to protect Earth, why is Ikol so focused on other planets? How do the shadows factor into this--where do they come from if Ikol is their master? How did Ikol become evil? What is his connection to the stone? If Stonekeepers throughout time have been hearing The Voice, how could Silas have created him? This plotline feels wildly inconsistent and deeply confusing. Not to mention, Ikol acts like a bratty child--Emily quite literally tells him to go to sleep and he complains about how he wants to stay up and "play" more. I wish I was joking. For someone who was seemingly such a major threat, he rolls over fairly easily at the promise of a stronger adversary.
Speaking of the shadows, who have been a consistent concern throughout the book, it seems we just no longer care about them. The characters give a short spiel about how the shadows will always be present, and then everyone else seemingly decides that they'll just coexist and live with the problem and try to lead normal lives, despite their potential to take over an entire town of individuals. What?
The final "fight" against Ikol (if you can call it that) involves one of Ronin's (I have to say, her comeback was welcome and enjoyable) stonekeepers losing control of their power, at which point Vigo sacrifices himself to buy some time and the conflict is resolved within minutes. His death was so fast I got whiplash from it, flipping back to the previous page to reread as I thought to myself "wait, what?" Despite Vigo's sacrifice, Ikol remains in charge. We've seen that Emily and Trellis are capable of resisting Ikol, but what about the other stonekeepers? Is Ronin just going to keep training them and hoping for the best?
I was expecting more of a final battle, especially since Navin and Aly were gearing up with the Colossus robots. I was really hoping to see them play more of a role in this book than they ended up playing. It felt like they built up their skills for a long time just to not be able to utilize them to their full potential.
The ending very much felt like a failed "show, don't tell" moment. All of a sudden, instead of seeing action, Emily is just describing to us as readers what's going on. She suddenly decides to go back to Earth with Navin. The cursed Alledians turned into animals are turned back to their regular forms (while most of them made sense to me, Leon did NOT look like I've pictured him for the past decade). We catch a random flash of Trellis and Riva in the future, implied to be married despite no romance during the series. It would have been nice to see their affection for each other through some sort of kiss or confession before just having a random flash forward to them with their child. We also never see Emily's future husband, despite seeing her child. This is a minor qualm, but I like to see characters develop relationships.
We see what has become of future Emily through looking at her older self, but we don't see anything about future Navin. Additionally, we get no goodbyes between him and Aly, despite them being incredibly close friends. He and Emily are, for some reason, simply able to just immediately readjust to the real world.
Despite the lack of a satisfying resolution for the series and all of my complaints about it, I DO love it. The art is gorgeous, the characters are interesting, and, despite its inconsistency, the plot is too. The worldbuilding, while confusing, adds depth and interest to the world. While not the only reason I love it, this series will hold a special place in my heart thanks to how long I've been sticking with it.
While it isn't clear to me what the TRUE message of this series is, what I gain from it is the idea that there is no such thing as everyone having an inherent fate. Emily and the other stonekeepers are able to choose their own fate and control the outcome of a situation, regardless of whether they are told something is their "destiny" or not. Instead of taking over the throne immediately, Trellis steps down to allow Gabilan a place in the spotlight, which was a moment of true character growth for Trellis and a welcome surprise departure for the common trope of coming into one's throne. No matter how strong the forces against you may be, you are always in charge of your own destiny.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: Ikol. Ikol's real masters, who have been teased the entire series thus far, are... unassuming robots, who really appear to have very little control or motivation, and who were... created by Silas? It's revealed that Ikol is not some otherworldly being at all, a force older than time, but in reality, he is what is essentially a computer program. If Silas created Ikol to protect Earth, why is Ikol so focused on other planets? How do the shadows factor into this--where do they come from if Ikol is their master? How did Ikol become evil? What is his connection to the stone? If Stonekeepers throughout time have been hearing The Voice, how could Silas have created him? This plotline feels wildly inconsistent and deeply confusing. Not to mention, Ikol acts like a bratty child--Emily quite literally tells him to go to sleep and he complains about how he wants to stay up and "play" more. I wish I was joking. For someone who was seemingly such a major threat, he rolls over fairly easily at the promise of a stronger adversary.
Speaking of the shadows, who have been a consistent concern throughout the book, it seems we just no longer care about them. The characters give a short spiel about how the shadows will always be present, and then everyone else seemingly decides that they'll just coexist and live with the problem and try to lead normal lives, despite their potential to take over an entire town of individuals. What?
The final "fight" against Ikol (if you can call it that) involves one of Ronin's (I have to say, her comeback was welcome and enjoyable) stonekeepers losing control of their power, at which point Vigo sacrifices himself to buy some time and the conflict is resolved within minutes. His death was so fast I got whiplash from it, flipping back to the previous page to reread as I thought to myself "wait, what?" Despite Vigo's sacrifice, Ikol remains in charge. We've seen that Emily and Trellis are capable of resisting Ikol, but what about the other stonekeepers? Is Ronin just going to keep training them and hoping for the best?
I was expecting more of a final battle, especially since Navin and Aly were gearing up with the Colossus robots. I was really hoping to see them play more of a role in this book than they ended up playing. It felt like they built up their skills for a long time just to not be able to utilize them to their full potential.
The ending very much felt like a failed "show, don't tell" moment. All of a sudden, instead of seeing action, Emily is just describing to us as readers what's going on. She suddenly decides to go back to Earth with Navin. The cursed Alledians turned into animals are turned back to their regular forms (while most of them made sense to me, Leon did NOT look like I've pictured him for the past decade). We catch a random flash of Trellis and Riva in the future, implied to be married despite no romance during the series. It would have been nice to see their affection for each other through some sort of kiss or confession before just having a random flash forward to them with their child. We also never see Emily's future husband, despite seeing her child. This is a minor qualm, but I like to see characters develop relationships.
We see what has become of future Emily through looking at her older self, but we don't see anything about future Navin. Additionally, we get no goodbyes between him and Aly, despite them being incredibly close friends. He and Emily are, for some reason, simply able to just immediately readjust to the real world.
Despite the lack of a satisfying resolution for the series and all of my complaints about it, I DO love it. The art is gorgeous, the characters are interesting, and, despite its inconsistency, the plot is too. The worldbuilding, while confusing, adds depth and interest to the world. While not the only reason I love it, this series will hold a special place in my heart thanks to how long I've been sticking with it.
While it isn't clear to me what the TRUE message of this series is, what I gain from it is the idea that there is no such thing as everyone having an inherent fate. Emily and the other stonekeepers are able to choose their own fate and control the outcome of a situation, regardless of whether they are told something is their "destiny" or not. Instead of taking over the throne immediately, Trellis steps down to allow Gabilan a place in the spotlight, which was a moment of true character growth for Trellis and a welcome surprise departure for the common trope of coming into one's throne. No matter how strong the forces against you may be, you are always in charge of your own destiny.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2024
So basically nothing happened. Her powers become so strong that all problems essentially went away by themselves and the story ended. Huge letdown for waiting over 5 years.
February 11, 2024
messy, a lot of plot holes + i’m still confused. also a lot of unnecessary storylines throughout the series. i’m too old for this
March 6, 2024
I read and loved the first eight books when I was a kid, so I waited over five years for this book, and ordered it as soon as it finally came out. I was so disappointed. I feel like too many new characters and plot lines were introduced and previous questions were never answered.
- In Book 4, Ronin turns to stone, which means that she died and was taken over by her stone. But she is alive in this book, which doesn’t make any sense.
- Luger just shows up at the end of this book after disappearing after book six and there is no explanation as to where he has been.
- Why did this new group of Stonekeepers hide themselves in the quarry instead of working with the people of Cielis to help make the transition to the new Guardian Council easier. Also, these kids have been training in isolation for years so they can control their giant form and move/rebuild Cielis, yet Emily is able to gain control of her Phoenix by herself and Trellis rebuilds Cielis without any of this training.
- How is Emily able to simply shrink Ikol and blow him away? That seems very anticlimactic. How does this end the curse of the people of Kanalis? Leon, Enzo and Rico seem really happy that they no longer look like animals, but part of Leon’s character development, if not for the other two, is that he has embraced the way he looked and learned to live with that.
- Why is Vigo’s book introduced right at the end? In Book 3, Leon says he looked through every book in Silas’ library to find a book on Cielis, so wouldn’t he have shown Emily the book when he found it?
- This is really nitpicky of me, but I will include it anyway. West’s giant form is a Wyvern, which is meant to be a flying dragon-like creature (in Book 3), not a bear/wolf creature, as his giant appears in this book.
Overall, this book seemed to be all over the place. It seemed like a very rushed ending, and a few aspects contradicted things in the other books, maybe because it came out so long after the others.
- In Book 4, Ronin turns to stone, which means that she died and was taken over by her stone. But she is alive in this book, which doesn’t make any sense.
- Luger just shows up at the end of this book after disappearing after book six and there is no explanation as to where he has been.
- Why did this new group of Stonekeepers hide themselves in the quarry instead of working with the people of Cielis to help make the transition to the new Guardian Council easier. Also, these kids have been training in isolation for years so they can control their giant form and move/rebuild Cielis, yet Emily is able to gain control of her Phoenix by herself and Trellis rebuilds Cielis without any of this training.
- How is Emily able to simply shrink Ikol and blow him away? That seems very anticlimactic. How does this end the curse of the people of Kanalis? Leon, Enzo and Rico seem really happy that they no longer look like animals, but part of Leon’s character development, if not for the other two, is that he has embraced the way he looked and learned to live with that.
- Why is Vigo’s book introduced right at the end? In Book 3, Leon says he looked through every book in Silas’ library to find a book on Cielis, so wouldn’t he have shown Emily the book when he found it?
- This is really nitpicky of me, but I will include it anyway. West’s giant form is a Wyvern, which is meant to be a flying dragon-like creature (in Book 3), not a bear/wolf creature, as his giant appears in this book.
Overall, this book seemed to be all over the place. It seemed like a very rushed ending, and a few aspects contradicted things in the other books, maybe because it came out so long after the others.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2024
3.5 stars
I wanted so much more from Waverider. I'd been waiting so long and Kibuishi had laid out such a phenomenal groundwork - but here we are.
To be clear, Waverider is still good. But it's not a proper finale, especially for a series of this cunning magnitude. It genuinely just seemed to lose the plot. Unravelling threads that have been woven together for literal years. Ignored and waylaid characters, ignored prophecy, revelations that don't make sense, prior occurrences that seemed to have import but then turned into nothing...
The ending just did not feel like the ending. It almost seemed like there was set up for more stories, but I don't think that's Kibuishi's actual intention. If he were to come out and say 'psych!! There's actually going to be 4 more books!' I would be thrilled. Because, how, oh how, did we get here? This could've been so much more.
I fully think this series is deserving of a chance by anyone who is interested. And I also think it's possible for it to be seen as (mostly) satisfying. Me, though? I'm gonna be a little sad and hope that one day I'll re-read it and feel better about it.
I wanted so much more from Waverider. I'd been waiting so long and Kibuishi had laid out such a phenomenal groundwork - but here we are.
To be clear, Waverider is still good. But it's not a proper finale, especially for a series of this cunning magnitude. It genuinely just seemed to lose the plot. Unravelling threads that have been woven together for literal years. Ignored and waylaid characters, ignored prophecy, revelations that don't make sense, prior occurrences that seemed to have import but then turned into nothing...
The ending just did not feel like the ending. It almost seemed like there was set up for more stories, but I don't think that's Kibuishi's actual intention. If he were to come out and say 'psych!! There's actually going to be 4 more books!' I would be thrilled. Because, how, oh how, did we get here? This could've been so much more.
I fully think this series is deserving of a chance by anyone who is interested. And I also think it's possible for it to be seen as (mostly) satisfying. Me, though? I'm gonna be a little sad and hope that one day I'll re-read it and feel better about it.
February 27, 2024
i so badly wanted to love this end. but i’m so confused. and sad.
September 25, 2024
What an amazing conclusion to this series!
My next goal is to buy all the physical books and reread them.
4.5 stars.
My next goal is to buy all the physical books and reread them.
4.5 stars.
Want to read
March 10, 2020It needs to come out
July 26, 2020
My son has read every book he could get his hands on. Some more than once. He really enjoyed this series. He is 16 and loves sci-fi.
April 24, 2024
I loved this series and had to wait many years for this final volume. It is - as usual - beautifully illustrated and gives the reader satisfying closure for all the characters that we follow throughout the Amulet Saga. It is a maybe too much of feel-good ending, but this is most likely because it is written for young teens. Nonetheless, it does make you smile and warms your heart and finally closes this chapter that Kibuishi started 16 years ago!
March 10, 2024
How will it end? Unfavourably.
‘Waverider’ is stumbling upon the final chapter of a beloved saga, only to discover that it is a tale completely foreign and disconnected from everything that came before. The previous graphic novels, feel as though they have been tossed aside and disregarded, leaving us with more questions and unresolved storylines which makes it feel more like a chaotic mess than a satisfying finale.
The abundance of fresh concepts and twists introduced in this supposed finale overwhelm and confused, leaving me scrambling to make sense of it all. And as I search desperately for any sense of resolution or closure, we find ourselves faced with characters who remain stagnant, showing little to no growth or development throughout this tumultuous journey.
After six long years of anticipation and waiting, it became painfully clear that Kibuishi had lost the fiery passion that once fueled his graphic novels. The words felt empty and devoid of the emotion that used to flow effortlessly from his heart onto the page. The novel seemed to be approaching its completion not with a triumphant bang, but with a whimper of exhaustion and disinterest. It was a heartbreaking realisation for me as I had been eagerly awaiting the culmination of this adventure for so long.
I am deeply disappointed to give this graphic novel only two stars, despite the exceptional artwork that never fails to impress.
As always…
2 Stars
‘Waverider’ is stumbling upon the final chapter of a beloved saga, only to discover that it is a tale completely foreign and disconnected from everything that came before. The previous graphic novels, feel as though they have been tossed aside and disregarded, leaving us with more questions and unresolved storylines which makes it feel more like a chaotic mess than a satisfying finale.
The abundance of fresh concepts and twists introduced in this supposed finale overwhelm and confused, leaving me scrambling to make sense of it all. And as I search desperately for any sense of resolution or closure, we find ourselves faced with characters who remain stagnant, showing little to no growth or development throughout this tumultuous journey.
After six long years of anticipation and waiting, it became painfully clear that Kibuishi had lost the fiery passion that once fueled his graphic novels. The words felt empty and devoid of the emotion that used to flow effortlessly from his heart onto the page. The novel seemed to be approaching its completion not with a triumphant bang, but with a whimper of exhaustion and disinterest. It was a heartbreaking realisation for me as I had been eagerly awaiting the culmination of this adventure for so long.
I am deeply disappointed to give this graphic novel only two stars, despite the exceptional artwork that never fails to impress.
As always…
2 Stars
June 7, 2024
Series overall is beautifully illustrated. It makes no sense overall though and this finale finalized nothing and makes me legitimately angry as a fan of the series for over a decade. The author had too many ideas they wanted to implement and no idea how to resolve any of them. If someone else wanted to make a story in this universe he built but had a better idea of the story they wanted to tell I would say go for it, it has a lot of potential.
February 6, 2024
so sad this is over :( lol i've been reading this since I was in middle school
May 24, 2024
2.5 rounded down.
This came out in 2024 the year I decided to read Amulet for the first time- I have been spared from any waiting for the next book with perfect timing lol.
Overall, this is what happens when time travel gets introduced for no good reason! Everything becomes confusing. A multiverse story that isn’t very strict about its universe travel gets so messy so fast.
Ikols final moments (not really but) were very touching and overall an interesting antagonist- twist of being a program included. I liked the reveal that Earth was the horrible planet Ikol’s masters were fleeing from, but it was hard to buy Silas creating this mechanical race, etc. Lore wise, messy.
Character wise I tend to like some more development especially in my main character. Emily comes more into her power as we see her destroy masses of shadows and diminish Ikol into nothingness, but emotionally she remains pretty stoic. The note I did like was the emphasis on communal action and how the series shows one person can’t be responsible for everything.
Overall, I think the series has a lot of amazing elements and designs- some killer art and moments— but clearly was plotted on the fly.
This came out in 2024 the year I decided to read Amulet for the first time- I have been spared from any waiting for the next book with perfect timing lol.
Overall, this is what happens when time travel gets introduced for no good reason! Everything becomes confusing. A multiverse story that isn’t very strict about its universe travel gets so messy so fast.
Ikols final moments (not really but) were very touching and overall an interesting antagonist- twist of being a program included. I liked the reveal that Earth was the horrible planet Ikol’s masters were fleeing from, but it was hard to buy Silas creating this mechanical race, etc. Lore wise, messy.
Character wise I tend to like some more development especially in my main character. Emily comes more into her power as we see her destroy masses of shadows and diminish Ikol into nothingness, but emotionally she remains pretty stoic. The note I did like was the emphasis on communal action and how the series shows one person can’t be responsible for everything.
Overall, I think the series has a lot of amazing elements and designs- some killer art and moments— but clearly was plotted on the fly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2024
I mean I kinda have to give it to him but I’m also super confused!! Like it felt very climatic but at the same time I feel like nothing was really wrapped up conceptually (but the like storyline did end/ wrap up).
It’s just like philosophy for kids? Like the whole series message is not being fearful and idk it feels poignant if a little basic. But again for kids?
There were a lot of twists in this one. Also 80x more stuff happens than in any of the other books. This was like chaotic and idk if it’s cause I need time to absorb or if it’s because he took 6 years and was trying to wrap everything up and make it deep. Plus there’s like potential for more? He introduced these weird robot things and the idea that Silas created the stone and the stone is a machine and all this stuff and idk if he’s gonna do like spinoff or what. Also there’s circular time stuff introduced in like book 8 that implies Emily does a lot more and repeatedly wages this battle and stuff so idek what he’s doing with that. But it definitely doesn’t feel like the last book in the universe of this.
Feels weird to finish the series. Really glad I re read it before reading this one. Also upped the book count a lot.
Edit— I’m actually reading stuff online and like he isn’t planning on more? Getting more sort of frustrated and reading other people’s stuff and they’re right. He throws in all these twists and turns that are like exciting to read because it’s chaotic but it ignores the whole like build up of the series. There’s all this prophecy stuff that gets ignored and role reduction of everyone in the face of like new characters. People are saying the series went off track with book 7-9 and honestly I see it.
It’s just like philosophy for kids? Like the whole series message is not being fearful and idk it feels poignant if a little basic. But again for kids?
There were a lot of twists in this one. Also 80x more stuff happens than in any of the other books. This was like chaotic and idk if it’s cause I need time to absorb or if it’s because he took 6 years and was trying to wrap everything up and make it deep. Plus there’s like potential for more? He introduced these weird robot things and the idea that Silas created the stone and the stone is a machine and all this stuff and idk if he’s gonna do like spinoff or what. Also there’s circular time stuff introduced in like book 8 that implies Emily does a lot more and repeatedly wages this battle and stuff so idek what he’s doing with that. But it definitely doesn’t feel like the last book in the universe of this.
Feels weird to finish the series. Really glad I re read it before reading this one. Also upped the book count a lot.
Edit— I’m actually reading stuff online and like he isn’t planning on more? Getting more sort of frustrated and reading other people’s stuff and they’re right. He throws in all these twists and turns that are like exciting to read because it’s chaotic but it ignores the whole like build up of the series. There’s all this prophecy stuff that gets ignored and role reduction of everyone in the face of like new characters. People are saying the series went off track with book 7-9 and honestly I see it.
May 8, 2024
It’s been a while since I read the first eight books, but this one felt rushed and random compared to the others. Definitely not as good as the rest of the series and not a satisfying concluding story.
February 8, 2024
Out of the hundreds of books I have read, this is the first one to ever make me cry. I remember exactly where I was when I started this series in fourth grade, and now I’m finishing it as a senior in high school. As far as the quality of the finale, the twists were EXCELLENT and the art was spectacular. But I don’t know if the plot made much sense when I really think about it, and some of the character endings left me wanting a lot more. However, I don’t believe I can think about this objectively. I’ve adored this series for ages, and I just can’t believe it’s over. Sobbing.
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