North World Book 2: The Epic of Conrad

North World #2

by Lars Brown

Conrad's given up his life of action and adventure and become an accountant—and in the middle of a quest no, less! But can our intrepid hero truly leave his days of swords and battle behind him or will he finish the job the guild sent him to his hometown to complete? It's a clash of family loyalty and heroic destiny for the star of this first North World story!

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2008

About the author

Born in California in 1983 I now make my home in Spokane, WA, a city that most artists run away from.

I work in an office, draw comics, and would like to write and draw more.

North-World is my Plain clothes fantasy webcomic. It is published by Oni Press. I have been self-publishing my own work for several years and have recently seen several short stories published in anthologies.

I have lately been very interested in Christian Apologetics, and will most likely write about such.

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the previous volume, where domesticity and adventure are placed in contrast and conflict within one adventure who's returned home to stop a demon from being summoned. More scattered than the first volume, the story pulls in various disparate elements to tie up the various slow-burning plots, some with very effective twists and some seeming more out of left field. The action climax lacks a little flow and suspense, and the attempt at providing a last character moment for the antagonist doesn't quite compare to the human notes he's been provided earlier, but it remains an enjoyable, compelling read.

[quinnster · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were two major problems with this book for me. The first was I shouldn't have waited so long to read this second part because I seemed to have forgotten some key parts. I found myself lost at times, forgetting who was who or what the back story was concerning a certain characters. The second was three of the characters, Conrad included, were so similar looking that most of the time I didn't know who was in the frame with him right away. That always kind of bugs me and bums me out when reading black & white books.

I think if I read this right after reading the first book I would have been more into it, but as it was I couldn't fully immerse myself in the story.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the storyline here didn't end quite as strongly as I would have liked, I'm hoked and looking forward to the next volume. I love Lars Brown's combination of simplicity and detail in his art work, and as a writer his strengths are in creating vivid characters and wonderfully strange plot scenarios.

[Korynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume two picks up a little further down the road. Conrad has turned his back on swords and embraced his family but he is really doing the right thing? A friend of his from the guild shows up to force him to question his decisions but some mysterious magic confuses them both. Interesting twists and a suitably epic ending.

[Erik Swedlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

If anything, the writing and art is even more patchy than the first book. It feels like a rush job. Still, by wrapping up the story, there were some satisfying narrative moments.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion of the Epic of Conrad had some genuinely interesting twists. It was fun and light-hearted but had its share of action too. I'd recommend it.