Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli

by Maximilian Uriarte

Overview

From the bestselling author of The White Donkey, a heartbreaking and visceral graphic novel set against the stark beauty of Afghanistan's mountain villages that examines prejudice and the military remnants of colonialism.


In this hotly anticipatednew work from Maximilian Uriarte, creator of the popular Terminal Lance comics and The White Donkey, tells a "thrillingly cinematic" (Publishers Weekly) story of the personal cost of war and the power of human connection.


Lapis Lazuli is a rich blue semiprecious gemstone found deep in the Sar-i-sang mountains of Afghanistan's Badakhshan province. For thousands of years it has sustained the nearby mining villages, whose inhabitants lived peacefully in the mountainous landscape--until the Taliban, known in the region as the Horsemen, came to seek the riches stored deep beneath the earth. Taliban rule has turned the stone into a conflict mineral, as they steal and sell it for their own gain.


At the behest of the fledgling Afghan government, seeking to wrest back control of the province, United States Marines are sent into the mountains. A platoon led by their eager and naive commander, First Lieutenant Roberts, and a stoic, fierce squad leader, Sergeant King, must overcome barriers of language and culture in this remote region to win the locals' trust, and their freedom from Taliban rule. Along the way, they must also wrestle with their demons--and face unimaginably difficult choices.



A sweeping yet intimate story about brutality, kindness, and the remnants of colonialism, Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli is an epic saga from the voice of a new generation of military veterans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316448963
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	372,758
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Battle Born was written and illustrated by infantry Marine and Iraq veteran Maximilian Uriarte, creator of the hit comic strip Terminal Lance. Uriarte enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2006 at the age of nineteen and served for four years. During his first deployment to Iraq in 2007 he served as an MRAP turret gunner and dismount of India Company's "Jump" platoon in the Zaidon region southeast of Fallujah. He deployed to Iraq again in 2009 as a billeted Combat Photographer and Combat Artist, then enrolling in California College of the Arts. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The White Donkey and the Terminal Lance Ultimate Omnibus.

Editorial Reviews

03/02/2020

Former Marine Uriarte (Terminal Lance), who served two tours of duty in Iraq, follows up his semiautobiographical The White Donkey with this tense graphic novel set in present-day Afghanistan. A Marine squadron arrives in cold, mountainous Badakhshan on a mission to break up the Taliban’s interference in the local gemstone trade. They face reticence from the villagers and Taliban patrols who attack on horseback—and the overall moral ambiguity of trying to fix what years of interference from America, Britain, and Russia have wrought—as well as internal threats of racism, sexism, and egotism among their own ranks. The story centers on no-nonsense African-American marine Sergeant King, whose innate humanity doesn’t prevent him from committing acts of shocking violence. Uriarte lends a gritty sense of realism to the action, which helps surmount some over-familiar tropes playing through the script. Uriarte’s drawing is labored at times—it’s particularly hard to tell the armored-up characters apart—but his storytelling is assured and often thrillingly cinematic. The page count gives the narrative room to breathe, with wordless images of tiny human figures against the vast mountains and a bravura ending. This visceral war story reinforces the difficulty of decisions by forces fighting across blurred lines. Agent: Katherine Boyle, Veritas Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

The vast landscapes rendered with vibrant colors bring the reader into the snow-capped mountains in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province, while rhythmic textures of earth and flesh keep you there. Themes of heartbreak and racism weave through the narrative, creating a very somber contrast to Uriarte’s more irreverent narratives of the infamous enlisted Marine.—New York Times Magazine

Uriarte's manga-derived graphic chops and storytelling technique have grown immensely since The White Donkey; his deliberate pacing, especially in the book's final sequences, is daringly bold. But the combat-based verisimilitude he brings... is its strongest element.—Gordon Flagg, Booklist

Uriarte's illustrations are lush and vivid, with an appealing manga-tinted realism...The effect is sumptuously cinematic with the depth of an action movie.—Kirkus

...The story works best as a tragic meditation on the value of honor and justice in a world ruled by violence.—Library Journal

An epic saga from the voice of a new generation of military veterans about kindness, brutality, and the remains of colonialism.—Veterans Today

Thrillingly cinematic…This visceral war story reinforces the difficulty of decisions by forces fighting across blurred lines.—Publishers Weekly

The vast landscapes rendered with vibrant colors bring the reader into the snow-capped mountains in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province, while rhythmic textures of earth and flesh keep you there. Themes of heartbreak and racism weave through the narrative, creating a very somber contrast to Uriarte’s more irreverent narratives of the infamous enlisted Marine.—Josh Terry, New York Times Magazine

Uriarte uniquely tackles the difficulty of being a Marine and serving in the military with raw honesty and creativity through all of his work...Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli is a deeply compelling compilation of the human experiences that affect us all.—We Are the Mighty

From the Publisher

02/01/2020

A U.S. Marine Corps squadron commander finds himself caught between following orders and giving in to a dark impulse to seek vengeance against a ruthless enemy in this ambitious new work from former marine Uriarte (Terminal Lance Ultimate Omnibus). Mining Lapis Lazuli has sustained remote villages in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province for thousands of years, so when the Taliban launch a campaign to take control of the region, the Afghan government quickly appeals to the United States for help. Operating out of a rough combat outpost assembled in the region, Sergeant King leads a platoon of Marines through villages few, if any, Americans have ever seen, hoping to win allies in their fight against a shared enemy. To discourage the villagers from assisting the Americans, the Taliban lashes out at them more viciously. As the brutality escalates, Sergeant King questions whether the distinction between civilized behavior and savagery is ultimately subjective. VERDICT Uriarte's attempts at exploring the ideological differences between members of the squad (especially between a self-described redneck and a Hispanic woman) are admirable but rely on slightly cliché dialog; the story works best as a tragic meditation on the value of honor and justice in a world ruled by violence. [See Prepub Alert, 12/3/18.]

Library Journal

2020-03-15
Iraq War veteran Uriarte delivers a graphic novel about conflict and honor as the unstoppable Sergeant King confronts a ruthless enemy, entrenched bigotry, and inflexible protocols in the mountains of war-torn Afghanistan.

The villagers of the Sar-i Sang valley have mined the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli for generations. But when the Taliban finds value in the stone, they descend upon the peaceful villagers and force them into service. On the heels of the brutal organization is the U.S. Marine Corps, with plans to win the hearts and minds of the local population and restore U.S.–sanctioned order to the region. We follow the efforts of one platoon, specifically their sergeant, a massive man named King from the “Battle Born” state of Nevada, so named because it achieved statehood during the Civil War. The use of a touchstone as quintessential as the Civil War nods to the story’s interest in painting with a broad brush; between scenes of gorgeously illustrated and often graphic action, characters muse on how the guise of “civilization” has excused the most savage of acts and appeals to a morality higher than the rule of law. The archetypal nature of some characters can ring a bit hollow or familiar: King, an African American man, comes from a broken home; his white lieutenant with British parents has refined manners but no street smarts; the Southern white soldier is a Confederate flag–waving racist (there is liberal use of the n-word). Uriarte’s illustrations are lush and vivid, with an appealing manga-tinted realism. The panels are often large, with frequent splash pages and some two-page spreads, showing the details of characters’ expressions or slowing the action to amplify drama. The effect is sumptuously cinematic with the depth of an action movie.

War is hell but beautiful.

Kirkus Reviews