I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
One of my favorite things about graphic novels is how the artwork pulls me into the story. It makes reading a lot faster and allows me to get immersed into the world that the author is creating. I’ve been trying to read a lot more graphic novels nowadays so I was quite happy to have received this novel as an ARC!
This novel consists of 2 stories: The Crystal of the Blue Elves and The Honor of Sylvan Elves.
In The Crystal of the Blue Elves, the Blue Elves of Ennyla are found murdered. When Lanawyn, a Blue Elf, and Turin, her human ally, begin to investigate this crime, their trail leads them to a clan of Yrlans, Northern men who hate Elves. At the same time, Vaalann, a young Blue Elf, is about to go through an initiation test to divine her future under the guidance of Mother Prophetess. It seems that Vaalann’s future is linked to the Sacred Crystal, a powerful artifact that allows the wielder to control the ocean. Is Vaalann the messiah the Blue Elves have been waiting for?
In The Honor of Sylvan Elves, the Sylvan Elves are recluses that stay in their sacred grounds. Anyone who dares enter their territory soon become their prey. Meanwhile, Eysine is a city-state that has always respected the ancient pact between Elf and Man. But when a powerful army of Orks lay siege to the kingdom, Llali, the daughter of the King of Eysine, goes to remind the Elves of the treaty and their pledge to help.
Thus begins Elves, a sprawling saga of mythic proportions!
The art in this graphic novel is definitely beautiful but that’s the only thing I enjoyed about it. There were so many weak areas in this book. One of my major problems was the plot. The pacing was completely off; it was too fast in some places and too slow in others. The story line in the first story was unique but its execution was poor; the characters were sloppy, the writing style was choppy, and I always felt as if I had been thrown into the middle of the story. In terms of the second story, the flow and writing style were better, but the characters still lacked depth and the plot itself was boring. This wasn’t a terrible graphic novel, but it was by no means good. But hey, at least the artwork was impressive!
Happy reading ~