Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 13+
Price: $11.95

The machine race known only as the Enemy has swiftly taken over the Cosmoralian Empire, but Queen Lilia and her son, Prince Jimsa, manage to flee.  The only place to escape to, however, is the desert wasteland where the elements, predatory beasts and bandits pose almost as great a threat to survival as the machine invaders.  Prince Jimsa, growing ever stronger in the face of adversity, prepares to inherit his mantle as the Sun King, the descendant of the combined Murat, Ayodoyan, and Cosmoralian legacies.  It will fall upon his shoulders to turn the machines away before it's too late.

Picking up where the first volume left off, we follow Prince Jimsa and his mother Queen Lilia as they escape the Enemy and go to live in the desert wastelands.  This sci-fi series shows great potential, but dislikable leads throughout most of the volume brings down the enjoyment.

I was looking forward to reading Andromeda Stories, after hearing so many good things about volume 1.  So when I received Volume 2 in the mail, I was excited.  But after I read it, I really wondered what the reviewers were raving about.  It didn't seem all that great to me.  It took me a while to figure out why I felt that way, but when I realized it, it made sense.  I did not like Prince Jimsa or Queen Lilia, who are the focus of most of the volume.  After escaping the Enemy's invasion, Prince Jimsa and Queen Lilia escape to the desert wasteland with the help of Prince Jimsa's pyschic powers.  They live in a cave in the wastelands, with the Prince protecting her to the point of being possessive.  Jimsa acts like a self-important, spoiled brat who thinks he doesn't need anyone's help and can do everything himself.  Lilia is the wilting flower, relying on her son to do everything for her, and not seeming to be happy until she is surrounded again by adoring followers.  And Jimsa's obsession with is mother seems to border on disturbing, as he kisses her on the lips when he is about to leave with the Elder.  Both these characters just rubbed me the wrong way, and really brought down my enjoyment of the volume.

Affle, Jimsa's twin, is much easier to sympathize with, though she didn't get near enough time in this volume.  Like her brother, her adoptive mother has constantly told her that she is to be a savior to the people and will save the world.  But she doesn't let these things go to her head.  The reality of the world weighs her down, and she has not manifest the psychic powers her brother has.  But she still has the will to fight and protect.  As Il says, she is the much more noble of the twins.

The story itself is true sci-fi.  In this volume we get a lot of exposition, explaining who the Murat are, why they have such technology and why they fight against the Enemy.  The last characters are introduced, Arc and Beth, a pair of robots that are very different from the Enemy, who accept Jimsa as their Master.  They help him see what the Enemy has done to their world, and learn the fate of the people who could not escape the Enemy's attack on Cosmoralia 5 years before.  The themes of man vs machine, the search for a perfect world, and what it means to be human are all explored here. Arc is a good spokesman for the manchine, showing as well as explaining the differences between them to Jimsa. 

Takemiya's art fits the story well.  Though dated, the older art style enhances the classic themes portrayed, from the desert dragons to the abstract spaceships.  The characters are simple but beautifully drawn.  No one should pass this title up because the art "looks old".

All in all, Andromeda Stories Volume 2 was an enjoyable read. But I think it may have been even better if I had been able to read the first Volume.  Perhaps Jimsa and Lilia wouldn't have been as annoying.  Perhaps not.  But there is enough potential in just this volume for me to encourage Science Fiction fans to pick up this series, to get a taste of what real Science Fiction should be like.

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