Oblivion Song vol. 2

The first volume of “Oblivion Song” was disappointing in that it didn’t offer me anything I hadn’t seen before, let alone any real surprises.  This second volume actually does offer up one real surprise in that it wraps up the main story thread a lot sooner than I was expecting.  I figured we’d be dealing with Nathan Cole’s guilt over having caused the Transference and his inevitable redemption arc for a good long while, if not the length of the series.  What we get here, after an opening that tells us exactly how things went wrong, is a fast-paced heist/adventure story that has Nathan escaping federal custody only to rush back into the lion’s den to get his transfer device back.  That’s because the military has decided that this technology which can transport either individual people or large swaths of land between here and Oblivion is going to make a hell of a weapon. Now Nathan has to work with his girlfriend Heather, and returned-from-Oblivion brother Ed to get it back.

The biggest catch with this setup also happens to be my biggest issue with this volume.  It’s not surprising that Ed has issues with returning to our world after the life he built for himself and others in Oblivion.  What really stretches believability, and sympathy, for the character is how fanatical he is about how our world has gone wrong and that everyone should be brought over to Oblivion instead.  It never occurs to him that people might not want to live out their lives in a hostile, alien landscape filled with monstrous predators. This leads him into direct conflict with Nathan, who is trying to undo what he sees as his greatest mistake, and it’s a really ham-fisted way of doing so.

It does get our protagonist thinking about whether he’s doing the right thing and what results from that is genuinely interesting.  Which is how we get a resolution to this volume that I did not see coming, yet one that still feels consistent with Nathan’s character.  Then there’s the striking art from Lorenzo De Felici which propels the action through the middle of the book. It keeps the narrative ticking along even with the aforementioned issues with Ed’s character.  Though this volume does provide closure to Nathan’s arc so far, it also sets up further dangers stemming from Oblivion. After a volume like this, I’m actually interested in seeing how they’re going to be dealt with.