Book Review: Fence (volumes 1 and 2) by C.S. Pacat

Fence 1 + 2
by C.S. Pacat [YA PB (Graphic Novel) Pacat]

The intense characters on the covers of the first two entries in this series of graphic novels are what initially caught my attention — that, plus I’ve always been fascinating by the competitive sport of fencing.

Nicholas Cox, the illegitimate son of a former U.S. Olympic fencing champion, has followed his father into the sport, but without any traditional training. When he enters a fencing competition, he finds himself up against one of the rising talents in the sport, Seiji Katayama. Though Nicholas’ unorthodox fencing skills initially give Seiji some difficulties, the intense Japanese fencer quickly adapts and then destroys Cox in their match, belittling him in the process. This drives Cox into developing a revenge fantasy in which he can ultimately improve enough to take on Seiji and defeat him.

Which becomes somewhat ironic, when Cox is surprisingly able to an elite boys school with a stellar fencing program — and finds that his newly assigned roommate is none other than…Seiji Katayama. The other fencing students, and staff at the school, make for a large cast of recurring characters. There are lots of different personalities at play, with intense rivalries, growing friendships, and the complications of massively different social backgrounds. Throw all of that into the pressure cooker of a competitive sport the requires you to always be at the top of your game, and some fascinating stories are told.

Admittedly, I could have easily done without some of the subplots, involving flippant relationships and a cult of fannish adulation. But I’m willing to put up with those in order to find out what is ultimately going to happen to Nicholas, Seiji and the other fencing students. This was originally intended to be a short limited-series, but the publisher was so happy with the early issues of the comic that they allowed writer/artist C.S. Pacat to turn it into an ongoing, continuing series. These first two trade-paperback “graphic novel” books collect the first 12-or-so issues of the comic book, and each book ends on something of a cliffhanger. I look forward to reading the third volume!

[ Wikipedia page for the entire Fence series ] | [ official C.S. Pacat web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!