Military Violence & War Themes – Page 57

Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. As they visit a strange new world and encounter even more adversaries, baby Hazel finally becomes a toddler, while her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana struggle to stay on their feet.

Collecting: Saga 19-24

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Racism
Misogyny
Dubious consent scenario*
Intimate partner violence
Grey-area cheating
Substance addiction
Hallucinations mentioned
Drug abuse & recreational drug use
Graphic childbirth
Graphic blood & gore depiction
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a son
Death of a mother & wife
Murder & attempted murder
Kidnapping
Fire
War themes & military violence (theme)
Animal death

*Note: Sex scene with a protagonist under the influence of recreational drugs.

Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Searching for their literary hero, new parents Marko and Alana travel to a cosmic lighthouse on the planet Quietus, while the couple’s multiple pursuers finally close in on their targets.

Collecting: Saga 13-18.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Racism
Misogyny
Dubious consent scenario*
Intimate partner violence
Grey-area cheating
Substance addiction
Hallucinations mentioned
Drug abuse & recreational drug use
Graphic childbirth
Graphic blood & gore depiction
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a son
Death of a mother & wife
Murder & attempted murder
Kidnapping
Fire
War themes & military violence (theme)
Animal death

*Note: Sex scene with a protagonist under the influence of recreational drugs.

Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Thanks to her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana, newborn baby Hazel has already survived lethal assassins, rampaging armies, and alien monstrosities, but in the cold vastness of outer space, the little girl encounters something truly frightening: her grandparents!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Child sexual slavery & forced sex work
Rape mentioned
Suicide
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood & gore depiction
Terminal illness
Death of a partner
Death of a husband & father
Murder & attempted murder
Gun violence
War themes & military violence (theme)
Animal death

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.

Collecting: Saga 1-6

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language including r slur
Racism
Slut-shaming
Child sexual slavery & forced sex work
Rape mentioned
Child abuse mentioned
Trauma & PTSD, including flashbacks
Recreational drug use
Graphic childbirth (on-page)
Blood & gore depiction, including serious injury
Dead bodies
Death of a child recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Gun violence
Explosions
Stabbing
Imprisonment recounted
War themes & military violence (theme)
Animal death

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die by David Nyoul Vincent

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die by David Nyoul Vincent with Carol Nader

David Nyuol Vincent was a little boy when he fled southern Sudan with his father, as war raged in their country. He left behind his distraught mother and sisters, his village, and his childhood and he would never return.

For months David and his father walked across southern Sudan, barefoot, desperately searching for safety, food, and water. They survived the perilous Sahara Desert crossing into Ethiopia only to be separated and for David to be trained as a child soldier and then to survive the next 17 years of his life alone in refugee camps. Life in the camps was a relentless struggle against starvation, air bombings, and people determined to kill him and his people.

In 2004 David was offered a Humanitarian Visa as one of the Lost Boys and was resettled to Australia. Traumatized by what he had seen and endured, he went about the slow and painful process of making a new life for himself – a life away from hunger, away from guns, away from death. A life where David is determined to improve the plight of his people both in Australia and back in the Sudan.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Trauma (theme)
Starvation & famine
Bombings
War themes, including refugee experiences

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. There is no way to save her. But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl and when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Attempted rape (on-page, detailed)
Cheating recounted
Adult-minor relationship*
Alcohol consumption
Pregnancy mentioned
Body horror
Minor physical injuries (burns)
Death of a brother
Death of a mother & father mentioned
Murder
Knife violence
Kidnapping
Fire
War themes & military violence
Graphic animal death
Animal attack

*Note: The main romance is between a seventeen-year-old girl and an immortal 100-(plus)-year-old man.

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures… until the day their adventures turn all too real.

They stumble upon the Dark Library and discover secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies. Father forbids them from ever entering the room again, but when Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is drawn back to the Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life… Read more.

Determined to save Konrad, Victor, along with his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry, scale the highest trees in Strumwald, dive into the deepest lakes, and even make an unthinkable sacrifice in their quest for the elixir’s ingredients. And as if their task was not complicated enough, a new realm of danger—that of illicit love—threatens to end the ordeal in tragedy.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Ableism, including the Disabled Villain trope
Sexual assault*
Incest*
Parental abandonment & child neglect mentioned
Serious illness of a child
Medical treatment & procedures, including consensual amputation
Needles
Emesis
Death of a brother
Animal death
Animal attack

* Explanation : There are two on-page sexual assault scenes, including one where the main character pretends to be his identical twin to trick his brother’s girlfriend into kissing him, and another where he forces a kiss on her. The romance subplot involves a love triangle between the two Frankenstein twins and their cousin.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Misogyny
Adult-minor relationship discussed
Parental abandonment
Domestic abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Suicide, attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
Depression
Alcoholism
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use & abuse
Infertility mentioned
Emesis
Physical injuries
Death of a father & husband
Murder & attempted murder
Poisoning
Torture
Whipping
War themes
Graphic animal death, including multiple death of pet dogs
Animal cruelty & abuse
Hunting
Animal attack mentioned

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Rape & attempted rape recounted
Forced sex work, off-page
Child abuse
Intimate partner violence recounted
Suicide, on-page
Suicidal ideation
Pregnancy & childbirth, on-page
Stillbirth, on-page
Blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
Graphic physical injuries & illness, including cholera, seizures, and fever
Field surgery
Syringes and needles
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a brother
Murder & attempted murder
Gun & knife violence
Torture
Kidnapping & hostage situation
Blackmail
Fire
Drought
Death from starvation & dehydration
Death from exposure
Military deployment recounted
Animal death & death of a pet, on-page
Animal cruelty
Hunting & animal dead bodies

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

Lundy is a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should. When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Domestic abuse
Involuntary abortion
Child pregnancy, implied
Battle scenes mentioned