The Book of Dooms Volume 2
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Artesia leads an army out of the Highlands to aid the Middle Kingdoms against the resurgent Empire of Thessid-Gola; the Empire's legions have swept across the land bringing death by sword and fire¸ forcing Awain¸ the High King of Therapoli¸ to split his army and attempt to relieve besieged cities. As Artesia and her captains seeks to join the northern army led by the High King's marshal¸ the Grand Duke Owen Lis Red ¸ they are confronted with the myriad dangers and distractions of life on campaign. They encounter the Thessid enemy for the first time¸ meet and hire mercenaries from distant lands ¸ and learn of the Empire's terrifying allies¸ the Isliklids ¸ who heretically claim descent from Islik the Divine King. And through it all¸ Artesia is plagued by dreams and haunted by ghosts¸ as she ponders the choices she has made¸ and those she hasn't...
"In but two collections Smylie has created perhaps the most fully realized fantasy world I've ever encountered¸ be it in prose or comics... A triumph of richly woven plot¸ fully realized alien cultures¸ and all-out blood-letting." ‐ Bill Baker¸ Blood in the Gutters
"Thunderous wars drawn out over huge battlefields. Mystical warriors crossed with flesh and blood soldiers. A wondrous female lead that is as dangerous as she is beautiful and seductive... It is not easy to capture the horrors of war on paper¸ but this talented artist has found the way to do that. It is hard to adequately describe Smylie's art except to boil it down to one simple word: amazing... This book is of the highest quality...one of the best titles on the shelf today." ‐ Brian Jacques¸ www.ugo.com
"Artesia Afield is classic fantasy material done extremely well...and finding fantasy executed with this level of skill is very rare. Mark Smylie has created a rich historical¸ political and religious background for his novel [and] Artesia is a real character¸ and she makes her choices with awareness of what they will cost herself and others." ‐ Petra¸ www.noflyingnotights.com
"Beyond simple storytelling¸ the other extraordinary thing about this book is that it attempts to tell a story of ancient warfare on the Operational level. [T]here are three levels of war: tactical¸ operational and strategic...Tactics is how you win battles¸ and strategy is how you win wars. Although both can be complex¸ they are both easier to understand than operations¸ which is the study of how you win campaigns. Operational planning seeks to string battles together to form a cohesive campaign to achieve limited and specific military objectives above division level. I dare say that Artesia Afield is probably the only comic in history that has attempted to deal with war at this level; the study and planning required to pull it off must have been prodigious... This is a great book. If you're a fan of military history or of epic fantasy¸ Artesia Afield is definitely for you...I guarantee you'll see some things here that you've never seen before in a comic. This story is one of the uniquely great stories in independent comics." Grade: A ‐ Dan Head (US Military Academy Class of 1995; former SQDN Planner¸ 4th Squadron¸ 7th Cavalry)¸ Comics You Should Be Reading at www.paperbackreader.com
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