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A review by trike
The Last God: Book I of the Fellspyre Chronicles by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
5.0
Oh my (last) god, this is astonishing. This is some truly epic fantasy in the classic mold: a quest to save the world from a monstrous god. But it is also modern in its grimdark take on the companions. These are not good people, but they’re just the sort to take on an ancient evil. Lots of secrets, plenty of double-crosses, oodles of action… all of it set in a landscape as fully realized as any fantasy world you can compare it to.
The writing is terrific, the worldbuilding comprehensive, and the art is amazing. I’ve never seen a comic with so much background stuff included. There are numerous maps, histories giving the world’s backstory, journals from various ages, and there’s even a section that hooks into Dungeons & Dragons, complete with stats, if you want to set a game in this world. Alongside the copious maps, I think it’d be easy to set a campaign here. Even more impressive is that this book, long as it is, barely scratches the surface of the world Johnson et al have created here. There are entire parts of the world which are not only unvisited, they go nearly unmentioned. There are tales untold here. Even the short story in the back gives only a glimpse of some creatures and areas the main story doesn’t touch.
This is just really impressively comprehensive front to back, and the story itself is excellent.
Honestly, I don’t know how any other graphic novel will be able to top this for my best of the year roundup come December, and it’s only January 11th!
The writing is terrific, the worldbuilding comprehensive, and the art is amazing. I’ve never seen a comic with so much background stuff included. There are numerous maps, histories giving the world’s backstory, journals from various ages, and there’s even a section that hooks into Dungeons & Dragons, complete with stats, if you want to set a game in this world. Alongside the copious maps, I think it’d be easy to set a campaign here. Even more impressive is that this book, long as it is, barely scratches the surface of the world Johnson et al have created here. There are entire parts of the world which are not only unvisited, they go nearly unmentioned. There are tales untold here. Even the short story in the back gives only a glimpse of some creatures and areas the main story doesn’t touch.
This is just really impressively comprehensive front to back, and the story itself is excellent.
Honestly, I don’t know how any other graphic novel will be able to top this for my best of the year roundup come December, and it’s only January 11th!