by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trust Brandon Sanderson to come with a concept that, even when illustrated, has characters, settings, and magic that is both convoluted and confusing at times; yet also engaging, elaborate, and elevated above (almost) any other graphic novel I’ve ever read. And I’ve certainly read my fair share of fantasy, horror, and science fiction graphic novels. With a cast of characters that span across timelines and worlds, real attention has to be given to not only what is being said, but what is drawn on the page and, thus, not being said through this first volume in the series.
Be forewarned, volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger. There are (at least) two more volumes to come; but nothing is said about publication timelines as of yet. Given Sanderson is heavily in the midst of a million projects (or so it seems) and has just released book five of ten in his penultimate Cosmere series, it seems fool hardy to hope for another instalment of The Dark One anytime soon. Therefore I suggest readers go into this one knowing that you may be just starting to unravel what is happening, and getting into the characters when everything comes to a twisting halt.
That’s not to say this isn’t worth a read, because it is. It’s merely the heads up that this is epic, elaborate fantasy. At this point I suppose we should all expect nothing less from the current reigning (and writing) master of epic fantasy.
I LOVED seeing some of Jackson Lanzig’s (co-writer) hidden references throughout. Something I’ve seen in all of Lanzig’s writing. The nod to Nirvana, when one characters says “all right now, entertain me”, was my favourite pop culture reference amongst a slew of tiny nods to rock music and known fantasy lore. I just can’t get enough of anything Lanzig has worked on; especially since meeting him at a local con. He is easily one of the most engaging guys out there in comic book writing. A super fun, really nice guy with a big outgoing personality, something not often seen in a writer.
I definitely look forward to volume 2, whenever that may be, continuing this story. In the meantime I’ll be sure to keep on watching anything and everything Sanderson does, in any format, as he has been establishing himself as this century’s Tolkien. The Dark One is just one more piece of what I believe will be a long lasting legacy of fantasy stories that people will never forget.
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trust Brandon Sanderson to come with a concept that, even when illustrated, has characters, settings, and magic that is both convoluted and confusing at times; yet also engaging, elaborate, and elevated above (almost) any other graphic novel I’ve ever read. And I’ve certainly read my fair share of fantasy, horror, and science fiction graphic novels. With a cast of characters that span across timelines and worlds, real attention has to be given to not only what is being said, but what is drawn on the page and, thus, not being said through this first volume in the series.
Be forewarned, volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger. There are (at least) two more volumes to come; but nothing is said about publication timelines as of yet. Given Sanderson is heavily in the midst of a million projects (or so it seems) and has just released book five of ten in his penultimate Cosmere series, it seems fool hardy to hope for another instalment of The Dark One anytime soon. Therefore I suggest readers go into this one knowing that you may be just starting to unravel what is happening, and getting into the characters when everything comes to a twisting halt.
That’s not to say this isn’t worth a read, because it is. It’s merely the heads up that this is epic, elaborate fantasy. At this point I suppose we should all expect nothing less from the current reigning (and writing) master of epic fantasy.
I LOVED seeing some of Jackson Lanzig’s (co-writer) hidden references throughout. Something I’ve seen in all of Lanzig’s writing. The nod to Nirvana, when one characters says “all right now, entertain me”, was my favourite pop culture reference amongst a slew of tiny nods to rock music and known fantasy lore. I just can’t get enough of anything Lanzig has worked on; especially since meeting him at a local con. He is easily one of the most engaging guys out there in comic book writing. A super fun, really nice guy with a big outgoing personality, something not often seen in a writer.
I definitely look forward to volume 2, whenever that may be, continuing this story. In the meantime I’ll be sure to keep on watching anything and everything Sanderson does, in any format, as he has been establishing himself as this century’s Tolkien. The Dark One is just one more piece of what I believe will be a long lasting legacy of fantasy stories that people will never forget.
Follow me on Goodreads
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