First of all, let me point out that this is "Volume 1" and is not a self-contained story. That's a bit annoying since we don't know when the next volume will come out. But if you can look past that, there is a decent Card-esque story hiding in here.

The plot and pacing reminded me quite a bit of Card's most popular book, Ender's Game. It's about children. In space. There is Zero-G (and puking). And there is some mystery to what is going on.

I'm not usually a manga fan, and while I was able to figure out what was going on, I agree with another reviewer that things jump around a bit. You might only get a line or two of dialog and you have to really pay attention to the artwork in each panel to keep track of the "action" of the scene.

Overall, I enjoyed the story enough to recommend LadderTop. I just hope we get more of it sooner, rather than later.

I have been carrying the AARP discount card for more than a decade. I try to buy EVERYTHING Orson Scott Card writes. Rarely am I disappoointed in the return I get from my investment in money to purchase or time to read. But this one was just not for me. I have enjoyed other graphic novels. My first was Maus. This one I think is the japaneese style which is very popular around the world.

It just was too jumpy for me. Not enough dialog for me to understand what was going on. The illustration style seemed to require simultaneous integration of the many image panels on a page. I guess I am to old and linear for this stuff.

At the Deerfield Middle school tweeners reticent Robbi Holton and aggressive Azure Miles are BFFs. Whereas Robbi expects to remain at Deerfield, Azure wants to attend Laddertop Academy where children are trained at maintenance of the humongous ladders that rise 36000 miles from the surface and the four power space stations where the steps end. A quarter of a century ago, the alien Givers arrived at earth and before abrutly vanishing left behind special energy technology with the ladders and stations.

Azure is euphoric to hear her name called to attend Laddertop; Robbi on the other hands has doubts longer than the ladders because she leaves behind her siblings under the abusive watch of their stepfather. At the academy, a strange beast bites Robbie leaving her with an odd mark that bleeds on and off for no apparent reason. She also struggles with eerier dreams that shake her well being. The pair soon begins to look into the enigma of the Givers; unaware that their... Read more