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theallens's review against another edition
2.0
I am not always the biggest Mark Millar fan, and this book didn't change my mind, but it wasn't bad either. The beginning is very dark and edgy and not too interesting, but the last third of the book was a really great read with fun twists and turns. I'll be giving the second book a chance.
bethtabler's review against another edition
4.0
You have seen this expression, "Harry Potter for adults" all over the place in marketing books. I know right off the Lev Grossman's The Magicians has certainly been marketed that way. It is a much closer approximation to the Harry Potter universe than this story is, but you get a general idea. Lots of books for adults want to capture the kind of magic that Harry Potter battling evil unbeknownst to muggles captures for kids. This is one of those books that loosely attempts at this.
The premise of the story is there are five families of magicians who protect the world. This isn't staged magic, although some of the members of the families make their bread and butter by doing tricks. This is real magic. They use their skills to protect humanity from the dark and more nefarious arts and those who would take advantage of humanity. Good and evil families battle for power. In the middle of the battle for power is a highly dysfunctional family, The Moonstones.
Things fall apart as members of the families get assassinated one by one, till the center cannot hold. The narrative and pacing of the story are pretty flat, you know what is going to happen from the second page. However, the assassination scenes are very creative and interesting. Where this story shines is Coipel's artwork. It is stellar. Gorgeous. It brings flat scenes up to par and makes them jump off of the page.
If you like comics with a magic bend to them, this isn't bad.
The premise of the story is there are five families of magicians who protect the world. This isn't staged magic, although some of the members of the families make their bread and butter by doing tricks. This is real magic. They use their skills to protect humanity from the dark and more nefarious arts and those who would take advantage of humanity. Good and evil families battle for power. In the middle of the battle for power is a highly dysfunctional family, The Moonstones.
Things fall apart as members of the families get assassinated one by one, till the center cannot hold. The narrative and pacing of the story are pretty flat, you know what is going to happen from the second page. However, the assassination scenes are very creative and interesting. Where this story shines is Coipel's artwork. It is stellar. Gorgeous. It brings flat scenes up to par and makes them jump off of the page.
If you like comics with a magic bend to them, this isn't bad.
ogreart's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this as a light read. I really liked the world-building and the artwork. The story was pretty straightforward. There were a few twists here and there, but it was basically a simple tale. I read the book in one sitting. I would probably read more graphic novels in this series if there ever are any.
odunayo_y's review against another edition
2.0
Actual rating 2.25 stars
Gorgeous artwork interesting concept and setting absolutely ruined by Mark Millar’s rushed Edgelord Writing. Honestly only continuing with the series because the artists are top notch.
The writing is so bad, the twist reveal of the assassin's identity made literally no sense and will go in the face of that characters ideals. But what ideals? this is Mark Miller we're dealing with here everybody is a homicidal scumbag because it's Kewll or some shit.
If this was a better writer it would be so good but alas wasted potential.
Gorgeous artwork interesting concept and setting absolutely ruined by Mark Millar’s rushed Edgelord Writing. Honestly only continuing with the series because the artists are top notch.
The writing is so bad, the twist reveal of the assassin's identity made literally no sense and will go in the face of that characters ideals. But what ideals? this is Mark Miller we're dealing with here everybody is a homicidal scumbag because it's Kewll or some shit.
If this was a better writer it would be so good but alas wasted potential.
wbfreema's review against another edition
4.0
Some neat ideas. Lots of great art. Too much deus ex machine for 5 stars.
nickleby_shepherd's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly it was trending towards a 2 star review. Sad bc its an interesting concept: witches/wizards protecting an unaware humanity. Cool right? Yeah but the story would have definitely profited if the arch was say 8 books rather 6. Thought the characters could use a bit more fleshing out. I understand it’s a comic book and that can be hard to do sometimes. It’s just I never really felt like caring for any of this characters. Plus it’s a bit clichey in the beginning too. But, not to spoil it, the sixth, and final, book did enough and was satisfying enough to get the ratings closer to 3 stars.
Didn’t hate, just didn’t love it.
Probably going to check out some of The Magic Order (hoping that the characters flesh out a bit more) bc like I said the concept is pretty interesting.
Didn’t hate, just didn’t love it.
Probably going to check out some of The Magic Order (hoping that the characters flesh out a bit more) bc like I said the concept is pretty interesting.
crashmore's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this one. The premise isn't anything new but the story telling and art is wonderful. It just pulls you in the entire time and by the end it felt like the whole thing was a magic trick.
martha_me's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
justjee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
panels2pages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a fast-paced action story set in a magical world with warring families vying for control of the magical world. While it was a very interesting premise and a thrilling read, I found that I ultimately didn't care about the characters all that much, so even though their lives were on the line, the stakes seemed rather low given my investment in them.