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allbookedup's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with an arc of The Orphan King in exchange for an honest review,
Straight away you can see the fantasy archetypes each character represents. with Kaidan first appearing in full gold armour, signifying his status as Prince and power as a warrior. Kaidan is most similar to most young princes in the genre, notably like Arthur in the Arthurian legends and is shown to be brave and humble, as seen in his fight with the towns boy and race against Raefan.
Throughout the first chapter we see duel perspective of Kaidan now and a younger Kaidan, throughout these two perspectives we are given a clear picture of how the King treats his subjects, and views ruling the kingdom, referencing his battle against the natives and civilising the ‘savage land’, it is obvious we are not supposed to like the king.
Meeting Anne, Rob and Sturdy Jon, characters taken from Robin Hood, gave us more insight to the world around us and how this new rule isn’t looked upon as a happier thing by the folk now the old King is gone, something I hope is explored more in future comics,
The art style is intricate and showed great story telling, with great detail to the flow of scenes and colour composition to set the mood and context.
Despite the duel perspective seen throughout the book, I felt as if there wasn’t enough detail into Kaidens past, notably his training with his aunt, and that certain character developments and hurdles were resolved relatively quickly. This is most seen in how Raefan, when showed to dislike the Prince, changes her mind with no context and helps him scale the wall, saying she was wrong to take a shortcut despite us not getting any background about her and Kaidan’s rivalry, I felt like this characterisation would’ve been better shown later on in later volumes.
This rushing of clearing hurdles is also seen in the fight with the general, with him quickly giving up and making a deal not to go after the Prince.
Overall, while this story has its flaws and is somewhat predictable, it is an amazing introduction into this world and how Kaidan’s challenges are not up yet over. I definitely recommend this graphic novel for fans of fantasy and beginner comic readers and will be excited to see what happens in the 2nd volume: The Haunted Hills.
Throughout the first chapter we see duel perspective of Kaidan now and a younger Kaidan, throughout these two perspectives we are given a clear picture of how the King treats his subjects, and views ruling the kingdom, referencing his battle against the natives and civilising the ‘savage land’, it is obvious we are not supposed to like the king.
Meeting Anne, Rob and Sturdy Jon, characters taken from Robin Hood, gave us more insight to the world around us and how this new rule isn’t looked upon as a happier thing by the folk now the old King is gone, something I hope is explored more in future comics,
The art style is intricate and showed great story telling, with great detail to the flow of scenes and colour composition to set the mood and context.
Despite the duel perspective seen throughout the book, I felt as if there wasn’t enough detail into Kaidens past, notably his training with his aunt, and that certain character developments and hurdles were resolved relatively quickly. This is most seen in how Raefan, when showed to dislike the Prince, changes her mind with no context and helps him scale the wall, saying she was wrong to take a shortcut despite us not getting any background about her and Kaidan’s rivalry, I felt like this characterisation would’ve been better shown later on in later volumes.
This rushing of clearing hurdles is also seen in the fight with the general, with him quickly giving up and making a deal not to go after the Prince.
Overall, while this story has its flaws and is somewhat predictable, it is an amazing introduction into this world and how Kaidan’s challenges are not up yet over. I definitely recommend this graphic novel for fans of fantasy and beginner comic readers and will be excited to see what happens in the 2nd volume: The Haunted Hills.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Kidnapping
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse
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