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Rating: 
Summary: B for story, A for format!
Review: First, an admission. I got this book less for the story than for the format. CrossGen comics is experimenting with a smaller-size graphic novel called a "Traveler," and I wanted to see if it was any good.The story was pretty good too, thankfully. I haven't read any of Salvatore's "DemonWars" prose novels, but the graphic novel Scott Ciencin set in Salvatore's universe was good enough to get me interested. It doesn't seem like anything groundbreaking in fantasy -- a mysterious ranger, assorted colorful characters, bad monsters to slay -- but it's a solid story and the characters are intriguing, and if I've got that much, I can deal with a standard fantasy setting. I also appreciated the short story "Three Ships" that Salvatore contributed to this volume. It's an early story of Grave Mungo, a dwarven character I understand hasn't appeared in the novels but was created for this comic. The purpose of the red caps the dwarves wear struck me as being particularly clever. On to why I bought the book -- the format. Spectacular! CrossGen has found a way to shrink comic book artwork and lettering to a size only slightly larger than a normal mass market trade paperback without degrading the quality one iota! Plus, it's cheaper than a regular trade paperback and it takes up less shelf space. I'd be happy if all graphic novels came out in Traveler format from now on!
Rating:
Summary: Great expansion of the Corona world
Review: In both the collection of comics and the original Salvatore short story, this new format graphic novel is a great buy. First, the artwork of the comics is excellent. Bringing to life the rich world of Corona, consisting of eight Salvatore novels, the comic series collected here provides a great visualization that does not conflict with that of the novels. The story follows that of Andacanavar, the Norseman ranger trained by the Elves, upon his return to his people after being trained far from home for nearly his entire life. The story has two other main characters, Moira, an Abellican Sister, and Grave, a Bloody Cap Powrie Dwarf. They are united somewhat by coincidence to rescue the abducted daughter of the Norse king. The combat visuals are as vibrant as those conceived by Salvatore in his novels, with the same sources of treachery as one might expect. The short story is a nice background for Grave, telling a tale of Powries and pirates combining their skills to sink a third ship. Of course, the pirates were perhaps stretching the bounds of credulity in trusting the Bloody Caps. It is nice to see that some get their just desserts. The story is pretty brief however, likely due to the format in which it's presented, but it has typical great Salvatore prose, telling the first story focused on a Powrie.
Rating:
Summary: Great expansion of the Corona world
Review: In both the collection of comics and the original Salvatore short story, this new format graphic novel is a great buy. First, the artwork of the comics is excellent. Bringing to life the rich world of Corona, consisting of eight Salvatore novels, the comic series collected here provides a great visualization that does not conflict with that of the novels. The story follows that of Andacanavar, the Norseman ranger trained by the Elves, upon his return to his people after being trained far from home for nearly his entire life. The story has two other main characters, Moira, an Abellican Sister, and Grave, a Bloody Cap Powrie Dwarf. They are united somewhat by coincidence to rescue the abducted daughter of the Norse king. The combat visuals are as vibrant as those conceived by Salvatore in his novels, with the same sources of treachery as one might expect. The short story is a nice background for Grave, telling a tale of Powries and pirates combining their skills to sink a third ship. Of course, the pirates were perhaps stretching the bounds of credulity in trusting the Bloody Caps. It is nice to see that some get their just desserts. The story is pretty brief however, likely due to the format in which it's presented, but it has typical great Salvatore prose, telling the first story focused on a Powrie.
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