It’s not all fun and games when it comes to writing a review you know, be that for a game, a peripheral or even a book, every review comes with its own particular set of challenges.
And so it is with the review for Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma from Titan Books, written and illustrated by Fred Kennedy and Adam Gorham.
The challenge I face is this – can I write 800 words or so on a book that has maybe a quarter of that word count inside its covers? Yes, as you may have guessed, Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma is a graphic novel, with the emphasis very much on the “graphic” side of the coin.
Another challenge I always face with a book review is this – how much of the story should I reveal in the course of the scribblings I jot down? Obviously, my first instinct is to say “not very much!” as there’s nothing worse than reading spoilers for something, but equally I have to make sure I get across the scope of the narrative that is found in the book.
Suffice it to say that this book is about Rathma, the first Necromancer and son of Lillith, the big bad from Diablo IV. As the book opens, Rathma has buried his origins, and taken on the name Linarian in an attempt to leave his old life and destiny behind. Of course, destiny is not so easily thwarted, and soon it comes and kicks his front door in – and he must embrace who and what he is if he wants to survive.
Sounds thrilling, right? Well, if ever there was a universe ripe for expansion through books, it has to be the Diablo universe – there are so many characters that are mentioned almost in passing that deserve to have their moment in the sun. We saw this with the story of Bul-Kathos I reviewed a while back, and this is another worthy entry in the series.
Handsomely presented in a hardback cover, with an illustration of the man himself, Rathma resplendent on the cover, the book is a slim tome, compromising only 80 pages – but the page count belies the amount of adventure and excitement that has been shoehorned in. Covering the death of innocence as a topic, and how it can either crush a person or cause them to grow, the themes are pretty interesting all the way through.
The main thing that I took away from Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma is the quality of the illustrations that are on display. On many of the pages, the pictures do all of the heavy lifting of explaining the story, with words used only when absolutely necessary. The scope of the story, the design of the creatures and people in the book are all beautifully realised as we go – the spirits of the undead, the shambling corpses (I don’t think it’s a spoiler that a Necromancer has an undead army at his beck and call, is it?); all look horrifically detailed, and the way that Linarian slowly comes to terms with who is is all illustrated very well.
The pictures aren’t the whole story, however, and while there aren’t masses of dialogue to get involved in, what there is is well thought out and ties everything together. The story here is one that was hinted at in the games, but fleshed out (if you’ll pardon the pun) by the combined efforts of the authors. After all, the pictures have to tell a tale, not just look pretty. The way that the two have been woven into a storytelling arc is masterfully done, and never have I enjoyed reading a book with so few words before.
As a way of expanding the world of Diablo, this certainly brings a new angle to my favourite Diablo 4 class, the Necromancer. I thought my guy just liked messing with dead bodies and keeping himself safe by sending skeletons to fight for him so he doesn’t get hurt, but it turns out there is much more to it than that. I’m not going to wax lyrical about the rights and wrongs of Necromancy, but after reading Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma you can certainly feel a little more for the plight of Rathma and all his kin. It isn’t that they wanted this, but in order to save Sanctuary from the forces of evil, sometimes a small evil can be used to prevent a larger one. This is all getting a bit deep for a book review, to be honest!
In short, Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma is a fantastic new entry in the Diablo – Legends series of graphic novels from Titan. It looks great, it tells a great story, and I highly recommend you go out and have a look at it if you like the world of Diablo as much as I do. I can’t wait to see who the next star of a story is!
Huge thanks go out to Titan Books for providing us with a copy of Diablo – Legends of the Necromancer – Rathma. Pick one up for yourself
