cover image Mythborn II: Bane of the Warforged

Mythborn II: Bane of the Warforged

Vijay Lakshman. Vijay Lakshman, $24.99 trade paper (625p) ISBN 978-0-9850620-2-6

This sprawling adventure from writer and software designer Lakshman continues the saga of Arek Winterthorn begun in Mythborn: Rise of the Adepts. Arek, his mentors Silbane Petracles and Kisan Talaris, nobles Yetteje Tir and Niall Galadine, and soldier Ash Rillaran race through their mundane world of Edyn and the magical world of Arcadia. Their goal is to save Edyn from the machinations of the demon Lilyth, archmage Valarius Galadine, and a force known as Sovereign, all of whom have plans for Arek and his dark power. The plot is inventive, but the world is filled in mainly by a cliché pub scene and an implausible semidemocratic system surrounded by cod-medieval monarchies. The characters change motivations easily, and the magical entities, drawn from several different mythologies, seem arbitrarily chosen and carry no cultural background or context. New readers will struggle with the story’s sheer complexity. This epic has a well-crafted plot but lacks the deeper characterization and background details needed for emotional investment. [em](BookLife) [/em]