The Dragon's Tale

The second trade paperback of the Crossgen series "Sojourn" continues with the same fervor of the first and makes your tounge water for the third. Arywn, the beautiful herione chosen to defeat the bad guy to save the world, Gareth, the cycloptic narrator, Kreeg, Arwyn's faithful poochie, Mordath, Skeletor's first cousin [not really], and Neven, the mysterious mage all return as the hunt continues to track down the shards of Aiden's arrow. Without giving too much away, volume 2 focuses on the attempt to retrieve of the first shard and an encounter with a very unusual dragon. There is more character development for Arwyn and Gareth, and we are left just as confused regarding Neven's role. And Kreeg goes "woof". What sets Sojourn apart from other series' (in my opinion) is the role of Gareth. He is a narrator, a commentator, and a main character. Whereas Arwyn is rather tactid (is that a word?), we constantly hear Gareth's thoughts and opinions, but not so often that it gets annoying. Arywn's character is also phenominal since she is a strong herione with an unpleasant past who doesn't really want the arrow to save the world, but to avenge the death of her son and husband. If you liked book one, you'll love book two just as much. If you didn't like book one, what's wrong with you? ;)

I know, I know. You've enjoyed the two "Lord of the Rings" movies released so far and maybe thought about trying out some epic fantasy in printed form, right? But then you saw that most fantasy series out there are either at least half a dozen volumes long (or more!) or have individual volumes thick as a telephone book. In some cases, both descriptions are true! So, naturally you run out of the bookstore screaming in fear at the prospect of conquering all those pages. Well, here's your solution... if you're open to or already familiar with the comics medium, pick up the first two volumes of CrossGen's epic "Sojourn" graphic novel series. This volume, plus volume 1 ("From the Ashes") together collect the first 12 issues of this terrific fantasy series, and the story so far gives you the type of drama, wonder, adventure, and humor you experienced in Peter Jackson's films (though with its own personality and flavor), but without the time commitment, fuss, and... well, drudgery, of having to wade through a four-pound doorstop of a book (or two, or three, or... you get the picture). Instead of getting your weightiness from the literal weight of the book, you'll get it from the epic goings-on, courtesy of Ron Marz's entertaining writing, and from Greg Land's wonderfully detailed artwork. And for those of you who don't mind a nice, thick book, and even like 'em, don't worry, you do get well over a hundred pages in each of these first two volumes, plenty of pages to let you get good and immersed in the story. But not enough to send you away screaming.