Manga/Graphic Novel/Video Game Novel Challenge 2013

So this year since I said that I would try to get to Level 3 of the Challenge That means I need to have at least 25 books read before the end of the year. That's at least 2 books a month. (and one extra one in at least one of those 12 months)   As a change from last year I'm gonna be putting the reviews up here as I get them done and then linking them in the monthly round-up at Mother/Gamer/Writer.  I also plan to try to remember my update my Challenge page at the end of the month. Want to see what the other people in the challenge are reading this month? Click here!

So the other day while I was out I picked up a couple of World of WarCraft Manga from Tokyopop.  Book one of  WarCraft: The Sunwell Trilogy and World of WarCraft: Death Knight. 

WarCraft

The Sunwell Trilogy

Amazon Summery:

Set in the same rich universe as Blizzard's upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game World of Warcraft, Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy is a fresh take on the Warcraft universe using original characters and storylines. The three manga volumes follow the adventures of Kalec, a blue dragon who has taken human form to escape the forces that seek to destroy his race, and Anveena, a maiden with secrets of her own. What starts as a flight for survival turns into a quest to save the entire High Elven Kingdom from the forces of the Undead Scourge.

My Review of WarCraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Book 1:

This one started off with a few pages of introduction into the WarCraft universe. The brief history gives some back ground on the story itself and I think is great for those not overly familiar with the WarCraft.

I enjoyed the characters.  They were well drawn and interesting.  My only complaint is that I didn’t get to find out more about the characters.  There was tons of action and there was some background given on some of the characters, but not a lot.  Altogether the story actually went by very quickly and felt short, but it was still good. It of course ended with a cliffie, it is the first of a trilogy, but it wasn’t that bad and it was kinda expected.

I also enjoyed the artwork.  Some of it was a bit dark, but the detailing was excellent.  Even the darker frames really helped to convey the mood.

Overall I think this is a great book and I hope to be able to get the rest of the books in the trilogy very soon.

World of WarCraft

Death Knight

Summery from Back Cover:

In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Thassarian is a renegade death knight, one of the few of his kind to be free of the Lich King's control.  Although Thassarian has turned his incredible powers against his former master, he remains feared and despised by most of his Alliance allies.  Countless players have aided Thassarian in game as he battles against the Lich King's agents in Northrend, but few fans know the details of his former life.  Death Knight is Thassarian's story, a tale that reveals the origins, motivations, and darkest secrets of Warcraft's newest incarnation of death knights. 

My Review:

I was eager to read this one when I picked it up.  The cover looked good and the first couple pages looked promising.  However the further I read into the book the more issues I had.

My first main issue is with the story itself.  It just seemed really jumpy.  It felt as if certain parts of the story were missing.  I still liked the background that it gave on Thassarian, but it felt incomplete.

The other issue I had was with the artwork.  Don't get me wrong I think the artwork itself was great! The issue I had was that some of the characters looked the same, and by the same I mean virtually identical.  I don't know if it was done purposely or not.  Maybe there was some sort of statement being made by it?  I don't know.  I do know that it was just annoying.  Maybe if the book had be done in color the characters would have had more obvious differences, but it isn't and I think this is something that should have been noticed.  

Would I recommend it? Sure. I think it gives an interesting insight into a character that people have seen in the game.  But I think going into it they should know the issues ahead of time so they won't be as disappointed.