The Fiery Crown Act 2 – a review
I was fortunate enough to get to read and review the first act of The Fiery Crown series a while ago. Act 2 is now in the world. This is the sort of graphic novel series you really do need to read in order. You can get a digital version of Act 1 from Comixology – https://www.comixology.co.uk/The-Fiery-Crown-Act-1/digital-comic/897850 – and I heartily recommend that you do.
This isn’t a standalone book, which makes reviewing it slightly tricky because I don’t want to create spoilers for the first one. I can say if you liked the first one, I think you’re going to enjoy this even more.
In Act 2, we see the story from Act 1 continue in really satisfying ways. The main character is a maiden, caught in a fairy plot involving a unicorn. She’s navigating through a ‘real’ world that has a British 1920s, 1930s feel although it clearly isn’t historical. Act 2 adds depth and richness to the scenario we got to know in Act 1 and moves the story forward – there is magic, and action, loyalty and betrayal, strangeness, whimsy and charm.
The art is lush. Charles Cutting has a unique style, and it’s really painterly and much more ‘arty’ than your typical comic. If you think comics mean primary colours in harsh blocks, think again. This is an art style that has pointillism, impressionism and cubism in its DNA. The result is beautiful, easy to make sense of, visually engaging and strong in terms of atmosphere. I read slowly because I lingered on so many panels, absorbing the details of the art.
The world building and storytelling are excellent. If you’re fond of folklore and fairylore, if you like a bit of Shakespeare, a bit of mumming – you’ll feel at home here. Charles is building a reality deeply rooted in all of these things but at the same time entirely original. The more we get into all of these aspects, the more impressive the balance gets regarding feeling familiar while being entirely new.
It’s always tricky seeing the first book in a series, to know whether to invest in it. Will the author be able to fulfil the promises made by the first book? Act 2 demonstrates that Charles Cutting knows exactly what he’s doing and that this is a story that won’t disappoint.
