| Table of contents |
|
2 Characters 3 Summary 4 External Links |
Yomiko Readman is a clumsy, head-in-the-clouds, but sweet woman who is completely and utterly addicted to books. Her name is a two-part pun on this obsession: "Readman" is obvious to English speakers, and the "Yomi" in "Yomiko" means "read". Just after buying an extremely rare book at a secret, by-invitation-only bookstore, the book is stolen from her by a strange man riding a giant locust. Or at least, he tries to steal it from her, for Yomiko has an extremely unusual, but very useful, superpower: the complete and utter control of all paper in her immediate vicinity. She can make a paper ribbon be stronger than a thick steel cabel, make index cards stop bullets, make an origami butterfly actually flap its wings and fly... It only seems to be limited by her imagination.
The story centers on the struggle for control of this mysterious book, with the heros belonging to the British Library Task Force (which seems to have as much resources and power as the CIA). The Task Force (of which Yomiko is a member) brings in a second super-hero (and the other main character), Nancy McHarry ("Miss Deep"), who has the ability to pass through solid objects at will. As they fight a strange variety of super-villains who seem to be people straight out of myth and history, they discover that the book is the key to a plan to wipe out a large portion of humanity.
The series balances well between tension and humor, although some scenes aren't suitable for younger viewers (images of multiple suicide are especially disturbing).Background
Characters
Summary