A review by littlebookowl
The Mercenary Sea, Vol. 1: Top Hat, White Lies, and Tales by Sebastian Girner, Mathew Reynolds, Kel Symons, Pat Brosseau
3.0
I received this book for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Mercenary Sea Vol. 1 is a promising start to what I hope turns out to be a really thrilling and exciting series. While overall I enjoyed this first volume, I feel like it has the potential to be so much more.
I didn’t quite find myself wholly invested in the story and the characters. Some of the scenes seem a bit rushed, and I would have liked to spend more time getting to know the characters. This does of course need to happen over time especially as we see each character develop and grow, but I didn’t find myself connecting with any of them until the last few pages of the volume. I would have liked to learn more earlier on as I often found myself forgetting who was who and whether they were allies or enemies.
That being said, I did enjoy the amount of action that came along with being thrust right into the story without the setup slowing down the pace. I loved how the combat scenes were executed - they were quite gripping in how fast paced they were, but also visually they were stunning and explosive.
Continuing on with the visual aspects of The Mercenary Sea, I absolutely adored the illustration style. In the absence of outlines, bold and contrasting colours created detail. The panels I found the most stunning were those with silhouettes - different shades were used in order to portray depth of field, but often these muted palettes were contrasted against a gradient of vibrant colours in the background. I couldn’t help but stop and admire them.
I’m really excited to see more of the story and the characters. It has such an intriguing premise, and with the dynamic between some of the characters, I’m sure there will be some amusing, awkward and/or hilarious scenes to come.
The Mercenary Sea Vol. 1 is a promising start to what I hope turns out to be a really thrilling and exciting series. While overall I enjoyed this first volume, I feel like it has the potential to be so much more.
I didn’t quite find myself wholly invested in the story and the characters. Some of the scenes seem a bit rushed, and I would have liked to spend more time getting to know the characters. This does of course need to happen over time especially as we see each character develop and grow, but I didn’t find myself connecting with any of them until the last few pages of the volume. I would have liked to learn more earlier on as I often found myself forgetting who was who and whether they were allies or enemies.
That being said, I did enjoy the amount of action that came along with being thrust right into the story without the setup slowing down the pace. I loved how the combat scenes were executed - they were quite gripping in how fast paced they were, but also visually they were stunning and explosive.
Continuing on with the visual aspects of The Mercenary Sea, I absolutely adored the illustration style. In the absence of outlines, bold and contrasting colours created detail. The panels I found the most stunning were those with silhouettes - different shades were used in order to portray depth of field, but often these muted palettes were contrasted against a gradient of vibrant colours in the background. I couldn’t help but stop and admire them.
I’m really excited to see more of the story and the characters. It has such an intriguing premise, and with the dynamic between some of the characters, I’m sure there will be some amusing, awkward and/or hilarious scenes to come.