Elves Volume 2: Honor of the Sylvan Elves By Jarry Nicholas

 Elves Volume 2: Honor of the Sylvan Elves

By Jarry Nicholas

So quick note before I jump in here, if you look for this book on Amazon, you might find a different graphic novel of the same series. Which is sold on Comixlogy as Volume III, from what little I can dig up (we at the review series, unfortunately, lack French speakers[Look, it is on the list.  But I speak German and am simultaneously studying Spanish and Russian.]), The Honor of the Sylvan Elves was packaged in Volume I Crystal of the Blue Elves. So if you're looking at a different story than the one I'm reviewing that's why. Anyways, Elves takes place in the same world as the by now familiar Dwarves comic only focusing on the stories of the Elvish people who seem broadly divided into 5 ethnic groups or ideologies. We have the withdrawn White Elves, the seafaring Blue Elves, the wood-dwelling Sylvan Elves, the corrupt Dark Elves, and of course, the disdained by everyone Half-Elves (Poor half-elves). As you can guess from the title this story focuses mostly on the Sylvan Elves or rather their relationship and history with humanity. Let's jump on in shall we.

The Princess Lladi of the city of Eysine has a problem. Well to be honest, she has several, but the most pressing problem is the large army of mercenary Orcs and Goblins laying siege to her kingdom and tearing it up bit by bit (That would in fact be a problem.). This mercenary army works for a confederation of merchant dominated cities out on the archipelago, who have decided to make a play for regional hegemony. They're doing this through a combination of brutal economic warfare by buying up commodities like wheat to drive up the price and forcing local kingdoms to take out large loans to... Buy enough food to feed people. They then use the terms of the loans to basically seize power in the local kingdoms turning the feudal rulers into puppets (So, how soft-colonialism works in the developing world by way of the IMF and World Bank.  Gotcha!). We will now pause to allow the editor time and space for his anti-capitalism rant (Oh, I am way ahead of you buddy! {Was also shorter than I expected, are you feeling alright?}  Yeah I am cool.  Just also writing communist Harry Potter fanfic that will make JK Rowling scream.). However, the city-state of Eysine has managed to resist this because they control a strategic set of straits that they charge a toll to passing ships to allow them through (Normally I oppose rent-seeking like this, but you do what you can to ward off Imperialism.). This has allowed them to feed their people and leave the ancient forests of the elves alone instead of mortgaging out their children to be chattel for amoral merchants or committing to a savage race war with the Elves to seize enough land to feed themselves (This is right-neighborly of them.). The merchants of course can't have that, which is where the Mercenary Armies of Orcs and Goblins come in. With their traditional allies refusing to march since they're now fully owned clients of the archipelago, the men of Eysine are slowly being pushed back and attritted away by a seemingly unending mass of Orcs. However, Princess Lladi is more than a pretty face or a bargaining chip for royal marriages, she's a woman with a solution. If the merchants are going to hire Orcish mercenaries to burn her kingdom to the ground, she'll get her own mercenary army. An Elvish Army (Good for her!).

Ranger and Prince of Elves Yfass is an elf with a problem. When a human woman comes running into the forest with a company of Orcs and Goblins on her heels and rushes into a ruin that is sacred to the elves, it seems a simple enough thing. Kill them all, let the crows sort them out, no one who isn't an elf leaves the forest alive (It is The Way.). That's been the rule since he was a small child, which was so long ago that the cities of men were simple towns with wooden walls. Things get complicated however when he finds out there are a lot more Orcs than he thought and the human woman channels the spirit of the ruins to cast magic and destroy the Orcs that were about to kill him. This complicates things because, well now he owes his life to this woman, and murdering people who have saved your life is rude (And sometimes The Way It Has Always Been Done needs to change.). Second, a human shouldn't haven't been able to channel that kind of magic reserved for natural spirits, elves, and the extinct order of human Druids. The Druids kept humanity in balance with nature and the elves, when they were wiped out by some unknown force, humanity was left without guidance. Without guidance humanity developed into a species out of balance with its environment or so the elves claim. This human woman named Lladi however could be the beginning of a whole new order of Druids bringing back balance and possibly rebuilding the human-elf alliance (Which would definitely be a good thing, given that those filthy fucking Imperialists won’t stop with human territories.  They’ll colonize the elves next.{Elf elders are pretty confident they don’t need grubby human allies to resist aggression and seem much more focused on the status quo.  Oddly short-sighted for people who’ve lived generations don’t you think?} Very.). Which would secure the wilderness that the Sylvan elves live in for another 1000 years at least. So why are his elders so hostile to her and so determined to see her dead? Why does his Mother the Queen heal her wounds and demand he be allowed to make his case and stand dead silent and unmoving otherwise?

Elves Volume II is a story of old secrets coming back to haunt everyone and causing new problems. Despite that, though, it is also a story of Yfass and Lladi bridging the gap between cultures and ages to come to a new understanding and the possibility of new hope. Now I liked both characters and the plot and the secrets buried within it were interesting. The art was nice and drew a sharp distinction between the increasingly urbanized and often wartorn human world and the wild but timeless elvish world. However, there simply wasn't enough space for the plot to really delve into things and it moved fast and at the expense of characterization. Mr. Nicholas responds to this by doubling down on his main characters, which leaves them feeling a bit isolated in a world of underdeveloped supporting characters but I suppose that's better than the alternative. This is a shame because Lladi's family had the potential to be great characters in their own right as did Yfass's foster brother and his elders. Despite the lack of space, I did feel it was better than average but not that much. Elves Volume II Honor of the Sylvan Elves by Jarry Nicholas gets a C+ from me. I hope to see something grow from this though.

Elves Volume II: Honor of the Sylvan Elves by Jarry Nicholas was chosen by our ever-wise patrons. Our patrons get to vote on what books or comics get reviewed, discuss and have final approval on theme months (for example October's Fangsgiving) and more. If you'd like to get a vote for as little a dollar a month, join us at https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads Next week, we finish the Poppy War with The Burning God by R.F. Kuang. Let us rejoice in what Grimdark's darkest daughter brings us. Until then, stay safe and Keep Reading!