Forgotten Blade

This graphic novel was a joy to read! From start to finish, I was completely hooked and taken in by the land of the Five Rivers! I loved the story behind the five rivers and all the different areas of the land, the people and story behind the Citadel and the characters.

I loved the plot; the idea of ending the power of the Five Rivers in order for the enchantress to free her two innocent children who were accused wrongly of being guilty.
There was great depth to the characters and the mystery of the Allfather makes you hooked to the plot even more!

The artwork is also beautiful! The chapters and different scenes blend together perfectly. The colours and style of art compliments this action-fantasy novel very well! The ending on the graphic novel had be excited and shocked all at the same time!

Brilliant read and deserving of 5 stars!

This was a great action packed story based on the consuming power of religion and those who wield the beliefs of others to their own gain, the artwork was fantastic. This was a non-stop ride through a magnificent universe. I really enjoyed it

This was a really fun read! The illustrations are cool although sometimes there was too much going on on the page.

The world is an interesting mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, and I wish we got to see more of it!

My only problem with this is that if you asked me to tell you everything that happens in this book, after having read it, I would tell you exactly what the description says because nothing else happens. At least until the end, when there's a twist that's both happy and creepy?...

Written by Tze Chun and illustrated by Toni Fejzula, The Forgotten Blade is a fantasy adventure following a dispirited champion and a vengeful mother who rebel against the authoritarian religious state. If that’s all I said about the story, it would be enough to intuit in almost its entirety; The champion finds purpose, the mother gets revenge and the state is overthrown. That all happens in more or less the manner you’d expect and yet that misses the point.

Somewhere between The Witcher, The Fifth Element and a Zdzisław Beksiński painting is The Forgotten Blade’s world and art style. Each page is rendered in imaginative, colourful detail by Toni Fejzula to the point of the writing distracting from the great undertaking that must have been the artwork.

Tackling multiple genres, ideas and storylines at once, the pace is breathless and potentially exhausting. A tv series would have taken a season to do what the book does in around an hour. It’s condensed to the visual highlights, which makes for breathtaking images but renders the storyline to a level of simplicity that leaves it almost an excuse for the images. Regardless, slowing down to explore the gothic architecture, alien costuming and richly coloured landscapes is deeply rewarding.

But despite all that, the storyline isn’t without its merits. Hiding beneath the magic and alien technology, Tze Chun pointedly uses words and phrases such as peasant and the great wall. It’s both a universal rebellion story and a more direct criticism of some current affairs. These and other associations are never explicit as the efficiency of the script hardly allows for any definition but for the more literary-minded, there are parallels to be drawn and thoughts to be had — or in any case, the story can keep the reader's attention.

Alien gods, creation and religion are discussed in a way that was reminiscent of Alien: Covenant, but The Forgotten Sword is not a graphic novel I could speak for hours about; Its philosophical ideas aren’t given the time nor depth for great thought, only flashes and sparks of it. But I could spend hours looking at it. If a gallery held an exhibition displaying the book’s art, I would go see it; so in the end, the rest is just icing on the cake.

This book was given to me in in for an honest review from TKO Presents via Netgalley.

The last hope for humanity to fight against the tyranny of the church's oppression is struck down by the forgotten blade.

Ruza the unwashed, who wields the Forgotten Blade joins the Inquisitor to help bring order to all the cities. But when an enchantress comes looking for him to help her destroy the one thing no one in all the 5 rivers has the courage to even think about.

Now, Noa and Ruza the unwashed will journey across the 5 rivers flowing from the citadel where the Allfather is behind the great walls.

That's sums up the plot. Now for things I really liked.

Characters:
Ruza the unwashed:

Ruza the unwashed has this emotionless outlook making seem like nothing more than a savage man that kills with the slash of his mighty Blade. But as he begins his journey across the 5 rivers with Noa, he begins to see that the world is not necessarily black and white.

I loved his character development and when he did everything in his power to save Noa and help her. That was a hard thing to do for a stranger but Ruza rose to the occasion and that's one he'll of a character development.

Noa:

Noa comes off as a strong enchantress who has her mind set on one goal; destroying the all father. But as her backstop reveals itself and you see the layers of hurt that she carries. You'll understand what drives her goals. I loved how she sacrificed everything without single thoughts for her goal. And even had the courage to get a savage man like Ruza the unwashed to help her in her goal.

AllFather:

The creator of the 5 rivers. When he is finally revealed. I loved the technological advancement between him and he's creations. And how the fact that he had lost all hope was portrayed after his failure.


Art style:

I requested an arc of this graphic novel because of the cover. And damn, from the first page all through the end is a masterpiece. I love the character designs and the world. It has this geometric form to it that makes it really cool and brings out that futuristic characteristics of the world.

It's also very colourful. I'm a huge fan of colourful graphic styles and did book gave what it was supposed to give.

Plot:

Up to par that's all I will say. Read and enjoy this graphic novel because it's a world of art.

A great quick read. Great character development and interesting to see how the author weaves in the past to address the main plot of the story. I loved the art style and its grim depiction of the world and the inhabitants.

'The Forgotten Blade' by Tze Chun is a SF epic graphic novel with unexpected heroes, gods and aliens.

In a place known as the Five Rivers, there is magic and powers to be had if you can get it from the Church of the Citadel. Ruza an mercenary and wielder of the Forgotten Blade once worked for the church but now works for a teacher who wants to save the souls of her two children who were killed by the church.

When I started reading this, I was honestly a bit lost, but by the end, I was completely hooked on this epic fantasy/science fiction story. The characters are great and the story is very cinematic. Fun stuff.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from TKO Presents and NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Super cool art style/coloring! The subdued saturation and limited palette really worked well with the ethereal figures. I appreciated the small clues (i.e. different hair colors) that helped distinguish important characters. While the plot had a pretty predictable ending, I loved the initial setup and think the world-building is done well here. This could be read as a stand-alone, but the ending does leave the door open for future installments.

I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and TKO Studios in exchange for an honest review.