Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
As you start reading ‘Squire’ it immediately feels like a Mulan-style story with a twist. But as the story progresses, turns out the graphic novel by Sara Alfageeh, Nadia Shammas is set in a past where men and women seemed to have had equal rights. So, Aiza the protagonist have a legitimate chance at joining the army and rising to the highest ranks. Girls needn’t pretend to be men to hold important positions.
The plot seemed interesting at first, a poor girl who belongs to an outcast community called the ‘Ornu’ dreams of becoming a Squire in the army, not just to serve her nation, but to pull her family out of poverty. What follows next is a predictably story about a tough training, new friendships and Aiza finding an unlikely mentor with a tragic past. The heroes turn out to be villains and the underdogs emerge victorious.
Except for the idealistic gender balance, everything in Aiza’s world is pretty much the same, there’s war, class clashes, hunger, poverty, widespread discrimination, and discord between different communities. What makes this graphic novel worth a read is the beautiful artwork that brings to life the fictitious historical world the writer crates. Otherwise, due to old tropes and uninspiring dialogue, ‘Squire’ gets uninteresting quickly. In-fact, I wish the art designs of the characters would’ve been a little more different. Aiza was so similar in appearance to another kid called Husni that I got confused for a bit and had to re-read a few pages to understand what was going on.
The creators have an earnest anti-war message at the heart of this story, but the work gets preachily boring towards the second-half. I was hoping for a lot more action, adventure, fun, but was left struggling to finish a book that would’ve been over in one sitting.
It’s a 2.5/5 from me.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube.
Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel recommendations under 10 Minutes