This volume of Adventurers is really pretty great. Where the first volume dabbled slightly in politics and religion, this second one is centered very heavily on the ways in which these forces interact and clash in the fictional world. It's, sometimes, as if the story starring the eponymous group is secondary to the intrigues between the followers of Baal and those of Accuris, and their jockeying for position in the cities of the continent.
That said, there's some really great characterization going on in this volume, especially from the more secondary characters. Noble foot soldiers, useless noble officers, a slightly-mad priestess, and a pompous commanding officer make a nice backdrop for our focal characters, and perhaps offers some contrast to the very self-involved feel I got from them in the first volume. The are who they are because of the world the live in, a world that sometimes needs one to be self-involved, and very often requires that one not suffer fools gladly.
I'll make one specific mention of a character here, because he's the one I'm enjoying the most this time around: Coron, the follower of Accuris, the Death God. He's evil, and conniving, and a thoroughly despicable character, but he manages to do it with such joy in his heart that it's very difficult to not like him. I mean, he's a bad guy, but he really seems to enjoy being a bad guy, and it's hard to fault someone for doing what makes them happy.
(Okay, that's no even remotely true. But in a fiction like this, it's a little easier to take.)
Carrying on with Adventurers tomorrow. See you then.
No comments:
Post a Comment