This book tells the story of… wll, I dõn’t even know.

It started with a heist, however, it ended 25% into the book. I think there were some political elements too? There’s also a skeleton apocalypse. Don’t ask.

Art wise, it’s pretty, I guess, but not enough to keep me reading.

Story wise, it’s confusing.

Character wise, it started out with the usual group of five (a cleric, rogue, magician, a bard and someone else), which was fine by me. However, they become inconsistent.

The cleric confused me the most. He started out as a believer, however, when someone (who was dying) was talking to him, he realized that the gods weren’t real. In the next scene, however, he’s praying like nothing happened.

Also, a mysterious tall and buff bearded dude appeared and magically got a pump working. He might or might not be a god.

I could have finished this mess of a book, but it was simply too much for me. If you somehow work out the story while reading, great! I simply didn’t have the brain power (nor the will) to do so.

Rating: 1 star

'Night's Dominion, Vol. 1' with story and art by Ted Naifeh is a book about a group of fantasy adventurers thrown together to look for treasure.

Five total strangers meet in a taver in the city of Umber.  They've been summoned by a troubadour for a job.  They don't know each other, or trust each other, but they each have an interesting backstory.  One is a self-taught fighter, one is an assassin with a failed assassination attempt.  

The job is to infiltrate a temple to steal a treasure, but they find something sinister inside that may threaten the city.  Joined by a costumed hero named Furie and a prisoner who has forgotten who he is, this band of heroes will help defend a city that has called them outcasts.

I like fantasy adventure stories, but many of them don't seem to satisfy.  This one did in a big way.  I really liked the story and characters.  I loved the art.  It's an interesting world that I will be returning to.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This graphic novel is about a group of thieves planning to rob a temple. I couldn’t finish this book.
There were very similar characters that I couldn’t distinguish and the story was disconnected at some parts. Another person might enjoy this graphic novel, but, sadly, not me.

I think anyone who have played Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer Fantasy or other similar games will enjoy this comics. The art is beautiful and vivid and the storyline is interesting but it didn't steal my breath away. Overall, it's an enjoyable graphic novel.

The premise sounded really interesting, but I didn't enjoy the characters or the plot. Unfortunately, just not one for me.

I think this would've made a better book than a comic. because with fantasy, the story and world has to be well developed and I didn't quite get a lot of development through the comic. The comic is choppy in places, and the characters are such broad stereotypes.

PLEASE USE SCENE TRANSITIONS!!!!  They will make the reader WAY less confused and help them realize that, no, there aren't pages missing.

If you're a fan of D&D in any form, whether as a player or watcher. then I think you will love this. There are nods to  traditional tropes as well introducing some new ones. Overall, this book is fun, very fast-paced and really entertaining. Would recommend to anyone interested in D&D

Interesting new story. I think this is the type of story would that would have filled my I,agitation in my early teen years

Night's Dominion deals with political as well as religious themes. If you like fantasy stories set in a background of serious social topics then you will enjoy reading this one.

CHARACTER FOCUS
There is a lot to say about loving your country, but when the system is set up to tear you down, then humans are wired to ditch patriotism and don a garb of cynism and hatred of fellow countrymen.


Claude
Claude is a character who falls under the brutal axe of the system. He is taken by debt collectors when his father failed to pay up his debts and put into a disease-ravaged prison. When the debt isn't paid on time, thanks to the astronomical interest that doubles every year, the debt collectors sell him to priests of Uhlume who plans to turn Claude into one of their mindless war puppets. However, things go pear-shaped when Claude accidentally gained an enormous power with the potential to bring the kingdom he has come to hate to ruins.

.......

Night's Dominion by Ted Naifeh is available to buy from on all major online bookstores. Many thanks to Oni Press for review copy.

This was a great and interesting story of the little people rising up against the ones that keep them down. The art work was a little dark but beautiful. I thought that the two things together made a perfect pair and I can't wait to see what he does next!

Well, that was a heck of a ride. Night's Dominion moves at a pretty good clip and is entertaining along the way. Anyone that has played D&D will recognize some nods to the game, starting with the way the group of characters come together. These characters represent certain archetypes and even dip into the superhero genre for a couple of them.

Things start out simply enough: a young woman has become a thief to get the money to free her brother from prison (I'm not even going to touch that one). But there is something more sinister going on in the city. This plotline for the control of the city plays out pretty well. There is enough politicking in the book to make it seem plausible without grinding things to a halt. I like how this portion of the story conflicts with what the heroine is trying to accomplish to draw her into the larger story.

Although the characters don't get a ton of development in this volume, it still was an enjoyable story. It does a nice job laying the groundwork for future books in which each of the characters introduced could grow more. I liked the art style too, which is always helpful for graphic narratives. This book should appeal to anyone that enjoys the fantasy genre, and I particularly recommend it for people that might have been turned off by Rat Queens.

This graphic novel wasn't really my cup of tea. I found the plot moving a bit too fast from the beginning, making it impossible for me to actually connect with the protagonist. I loved the artwork though so that's why it gets 3***

I couldn't really get on with this.  When the characters are such broad stereotypes and you still can't tell one from another, when the plot goes from A to C, forgetting B - then pretends we know all about D the first time we meet it - you know things are off.  This reads like a cheap, quick tie-in to an established franchise, where cutting out the background would actually have been of use.  Here you're left to work far too hard for the generic result.  DNF.

The Night is such a strong thief. Usually she works alone to fulfill her own agendas until she is forced to thieving with a band of people who hope to score it big. With such a dark environment the illustrations fit the theme so well. There are a lot of rich ideas that are introduced and such revolutionary actions that will change the way things are treated. All the characters have their own agendas, beliefs, and values that make them very interesting.

Feels like the set-up of a D&D campaign: a group of disparate strangers walk into a bar and are given a secret mission to save their city. Plenty of fun action sequences (yes, undead army!) and I liked the awkward distrust the group have for each other at the beginning of the book. I did find some of the characters hard to distinguish at first though, especially with several characters having a few different looks, which made the action hard to follow.

Night's Dominion: My Unpopular Opinion
"Wandering a lonely mile, through many a hill and vale, I met a fellow vagabond who gave his name as Grael"
"His road had taken him across an endless sea of years and many were his stories, and many were his tears"

Night's Dominion goes at a break-neck speed and doesn't give you much rest after the whiplash. It chronicles He-man, She-ra and Skeletor the tale of a rebellion taking place against...actually, I have no idea what the plot is. There's something about the Nights of Umber. Some KKK-styled church dudes, and a bunch of rebel characters, of which Emerane is the only salvageable one.

If Arabian Night's and Dungeons and Dragons had a baby, you'd get Night's Dominion. Although the world-building is confusing at best and the characters are as flavourful as week-old leftovers, this comic is stylistically appealing and wonderfully fluid.

I also want to laud this comic for its focus on backdrops; it really brings the world to life. "Even gods don't live forever, only so long as the songs remember 'em. But i reckon some heroes are merely asleep." This comic could have been so much more. But this battle speech was something:

This was a pretty good story. However, I felt that the story was pretty underdeveloped and also jumped between plots so much that it became a little confusing. But it was still a good read and I did enjoy it.

What a hidden gem this book turned out to be! I saw this book and read the description of a thief, a bard, an assassin, a mage and a cleric walking into a bar...I thought, you know what, I like these types of stories with your usual fantasy character archetypes, why not give this a shot?  So glad I did because it turned out to be a brilliant book full of great character development, storytelling and all around fun. As much fun as the end of the world can be, ha!

The story centers on a bard’s plan to raid the local cult worshipper’s temple for a store of treasure they keep in their tenple’s depths. What they stumble onto is a group of brainwashed psychos bent on taking over their city with an army of death. These cultists worship Uhlume, a god of death, and they seek to end all life that doesn’t follow Uhlume’s ways. 

The city I mentioned earlier is called Umber. The way the author, Ted Naifeh, fleshes out the backstory of this small city reminded me of Scott Snyder with the city of Gotham in Batman’s Court/City of Owls. There’s so much history in this city and he actually takes time to help you realize how rough yet hopeful this place can be. 

Each of the characters are fully realized and have a motivation all their own. None of it felt forced or cliche. You generally understand and empathize with these characters. The bard is a shadowy fellow who maintains his mysterious motivations throughout the story. The thief fights for the opportunity to free her long and wrongfully imprisoned brother. The mage works to pay off some bad debts he owes to a vengeful loan shark. The assassin couldn’t take the life of his latest target and was shunned by his order so he seeks redemption. The cleric is led by blind faith that the gods will protect him from all danger. He emerges unscathed so one has to wonder whether or not his prayers were heard or he’s just that lucky. 

The art was probably a 3.5 out of 5. Nothing really wowed me in the pages. More of a good, not great effort. One thing I struggled with was the androgynous nature of the character designs. Several times, male characters appeared to look like females while female characters looked like males. Nothing too crazy, but it was just an oddity that kept cropping up.

Overall, I’d give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. The story was excellent and I can’t wait to read the sequel. The art wasn’t great and is probably the only reason I deducted half a star. Get this book if you enjoy fantasy stories, great storytelling, or awesome characters. You won’t be disappointed!

I liked this graphic novel quite much. It has a classic fantasy setting, with mages and assassins and a ton of action. The artwork is gritty, but very nice, and I like that the characters were drawn non-binary and fluid, at least for my eyes. I don't know if this is intentional, but for me it's a welcome addition and a big plus.

I did find the story a bit...divided? Maybe it's just me, but as soon as I was elbow deep in the heist part of the story, it was suddenly over, and we're whisked into the confrontational part of the story. For me it was too sudden, and I would've liked to stay a little bit longer in the heist part. 

3,75 stars from me, and a ''will read the next one'' tag. To be recommended.

This was a pretty interesting mash up of superhero comic and epic fantasy that didn't always work, but I applaud the effort! It tells the story of a disparate group of 5 people who come together in order to commit a heist and find a lot more than they bargained for. I thought the overall plot was good, particularly the final couple of chapters, but there were times when it seemed a bit disjointed or confusing - I found the political machination subplot particularly muddled and found it difficult to work out who was who with some of the characters. I think the artwork was good, although I did find that some of the male characters looked quite feminine and I thought there was some unnecessary female nudity that didn't serve much plot purpose. Ultimately, I think the comic was trying to accomplish too much and didn't always succeed, but I will check out Volume 2 to see what happens next.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.