From Under Mountains

Reviews / Votes

LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED) -- When a political envoy
arrives in Karsgate Keep, Lady Elena, daughter of the Keep's guardian Lord
Crowe, sees an opportunity for adventure. Before long her actions threaten the
peace between her home nation of Akhara and a race of magical goblins called the
Mausgol, as well as earning the enmity of both human and mystical adversaries.
Rife with magic, ritual, and schemes, this fantasy features a strong female
protagonist, a large cast of humans, sorcerers, gods, and ghosts, and a setting
that combines classic courtly genre tropes with a more Middle Eastern flavor.
Leong's (Chief Five Heads) illustration is evocative without overwhelming the
rather cinematic script by Churchland (Beast) and debuter Gibson, which favors
nicely crafted dialog and moody, silent stretches. VERDICT While this first
volume, collecting Issues 1-6, in the series focuses heavily on establishing a
tone and multiple mysteries, and is therefore a little slow to get going, the
ending indicates that future installments should garner rabid fans among the
sword-and-sorcery crowd, especially those seeking something slightly different
in this typically male-dominated field, or those preferring loads of backstory
and detail to sift through.