I found the part novel-part graphic novel Children of the Phoenix Vol. 1: The Eye of the Storm to be a fun space adventure with typical tropes. It is due in mid-December 2023, with book two due in summer of 2024.
Oskar Kallner’s story was not as detailed as I had hoped (there is a bit more “tell than show,” and has some repetition. Plus, the science information relies on the reader knowing some of it or having an idea about things already) but it was a good story. I could see it as a TV series as the art of Karl Johnsson lends itself to being animated with its bold color and particular details. The point of view changes between at least four characters, but leans heavily on the Alice character (the daughter of a missing character/her mother, and the older sister of Elias), but each character has a moment to shine as it relates to the overall story. There are familiar story arcs, and a slightly different setting for American readers (the family is from Sweden, though the mother has a secret and is not from Vietnam as she’s told everyone), and has hints of GLBTQ elements.
There is, of course, some fantasy adventure/violence (we learn that the mother has lost her arm, which causes the police to become involved and arrest the father, but SPOILER usually she can grow it back; and the pilot of the spaceship is attached to the system/ship literally through a portal to the brain and is “zapped” when the ship is attacked), but it is not gratuitous. I would have liked to have had more illustrations, as some of the characters or scenes could have benefitted from a visual boost, but overall things are good and at least a strong aged 8 to 12 could enjoy it.
I read this as a reader copy (via Papercutz and Edelweiss).