Feb 07
22
Title: ArchLord #1
Author: Jin-Hwan Park
Publisher: TOKYOPOP
ISBN: 9781598169676
May Contain Spoilers
When Leon takes his infant son to Father Kenneth for his blessing, he little expects that his trusted companion, Ernan, has set the stage to betray him. Coveting Leon’s magical sword, Brumhart, he’s willing to slay his master and his young son to possess it. Things don’t quite turn out as planned; once the sword is his, he discovers that there’s a sigil placed on it to prevent any but an heir of Leon’s from drawing the sword. But wait! He also learns that his men failed to dispatch Leon’s son sixteen years earlier. Why is good help so hard to find?
I was disappointed with ArchLord. Knowing that it’s based on a video game, I should have known better, but the cover just drew me in and I found myself ordering it before I could stop myself. I needed to hit the magic $25 mark for free shipping from Amazon, so this ended up in the shopping cart.
I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. Leon was really cool, he swung a really mean sword, and I liked his hair style. Too bad he died at the end of chapter two. I liked his horse, too. It had such pretty feathers on its feet; it died in chapter two as well. Poo.
Flash forward sixteen years, and that’s when I started to lose interest in the story. Zian is now a strapping teenager, who has been raised by Father Kenneth. Out in the woods one day, he saves Lady Arin from a large, evil-tempered deer. Along with Zian, we get a lot of stupid sight gags and annoying one-liners that I didn’t think were overly amusing.
We learn that Brumhart is one of five relics of power, and it possesses the elemental power of the fire archon. Lady Arin has been sent to persuade Father Kenneth to help the council of Elajence deal with the growing threat from Ernan and his horsemen. He refuses. While Zian, Father Kenneth, the half-orc Ugdrasil, and Arin are getting better acquainted, Ernan is terrorizes the noums in hopes of learning the secret to unsheathing Brumhart. Ernan was by far more interesting than Zian and his mild-mannered group; Ernan is truly despicable, as he uses his men for bait when attacked by wyverns, and he threatens to slaughter all of the little people if they don’t help him. What a bully!
The art was the best part of the book. It was detailed and the action sequences were easy to follow. So sad the story was not as engrossing. I will probably pick up the next volume because of the art, and because I want to see what other nasty plans Ernan has brewing.
Grade: C
Rated for Teen 13+
