Title: Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant Vol. 1Author: Atsushi Suzumi, Ryo Mizuno
Series: Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant #1
First Published: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Udon Entertainment
Pages: 192
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Shonen
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:
A new era of adventure has begun in the fabled world of RECORD OF LODOSS WAR!
Thanks to “The Crown of the Covenant”, the accursed isle of Lodoss has seen peace for 100 years. However, the ambitious ruler of the kingdom of Flaim now threatens to return Lodoss to a state of war. Heroes appear once more, as the young prince Lyle of Marmo seeks the help of the legendary high elf, Deedlit. Will a new “Knight of Lodoss” arise to save all the kingdoms?
Review
Record of Lodoss War is a classic fantasy series I’d always meant to dive into, but never got the chance. I picked up Crown of the Covenant not knowing a thing about the Lodoss War franchise beyond the two most iconic characters, Parn and Deedlit, and I was surprised when I realized it is a sequel series that takes place a century after the conclusion of the last arc.
The first chapter had a bit of a heavy info dump about the world and I struggled a bit, but by the second chapter I was able to adapt and follow along. The story introduces a large cast of characters, centering on the descendants of Spark and Little Neese, on the even of an impending war. The plot quickly sends each of the siblings in different directions, and this story set-up reminded me a lot of A Song of Ice and Fire and the way that the Stark siblings were pulled to opposing sides in the conflict. There is a lot of potential for a complex story like this in the future, but for the first volume it’s a bit clunky. Most of the characters are given much time on the page, and I didn’t feel that invested in most of them.
Overall not a bad start to the series, it’s easy enough for newcomers to the Lodoss franchise to follow along while providing new story for old fans. The art style is good and I am curious to see the way that the conflict will play out in future volumes. More than anything though, reading this volume made me more interested in going back to read the earlier series first.
Quote
“Justice is merely a word. People invoke it like a spell to justify their behavior.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Authors
About Atsushi Suzumi
Atsushi Suzumi is a Japanese manga artist. She has been drawing manga since kindergarten and cites Akira Toriyama and Mutsumi Inomata as influences. In 2005, she released Haridama Magical Cram School, and in 2007, she released Amefurashi: The Rain Goddess.
About Ryo Mizuno
Ryo Mizuno is a Japanese author and game designer. Mizuno created Record of Lodoss War, Sword World RPG, Legend of Crystania, Rune Soldier, Starship Operators, Record of Grancrest War, and was the general supervisor of Galaxy Angel.
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