I was so excited to see a new to me Sanderson book appear on my Netgalley shelf. I had actually not heard anything about Dark One before that (which kinda surprised me). And guess what… I really didn’t care for it. This was such a disappointment. There was some potential, but in general it is a very basic light vs dark story. The characters were very one-dimensional and naive. The plot doesn’t make much sense and leaves a Lot unanswered, but not in an intriguing way. It is just frustrating.

I am not a fan of books that have a portal between our world and some fantasy world. They just don’t work for me. And this wasn’t an exception. The parts of the story set in our world were promising and held some intrigue for me. But everything beyond the portal I just couldn’t care less for. It utterly failed to interest me… something I hadn’t expected from a Sanderson book.

The art-style also didn’t do it for me. Some of the scenery is great, but everything else I can’t say I liked. All of it is too dark. And the action scenes are quite bad: static, with a lot of random blood splutter and ‘heroic’ (uncomfortable and unrealistic) poses. It really didn’t appeal to me.

Overall, I was very tempted to DNF this one, and only the fact that it was a graphic novel (and therefore a quick read) kept me going. Such a disappointment after I had a 5* Sanderson read earlier this week… oh well, can’t have it all I guess.

I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, but this one was great. I’ve read most of Brandon Sanderson’s work and I’ve been very rarely disappointed, so when I saw this one come out I was excited, and rightly so.

I’m not going to go through any of the plot because I honestly don’t know how to do that without spoilers. It was somewhat confusing in places and jumped around a little bit. But the artwork was good, the story was interesting, and I’ll definitely be reading volume 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mature content: rather violent.

Paul Tanasin is haunted by visions that he believes are hallucinations until a knight from another world tries to kill him. Paul is transported to the world from his visions called Mirandus, meets a princess, and discovers that he is the prophesized Dark One. Meanwhile on Earth, Paul's mother, a successful defense attorney, is defending a murderer in court. Little does she know, the murderer is from Mirandus. In Mirandus, Paul defeats the Light even though he was not supposed to. The murderer on Earth does some spellwork and switches places with Paul in Mirandus bringing Paul's mother with him. Paul is arrested in the courtroom. The murderer takes his place as the Dark One.

This review contains spoilers.

I did not want this to end.

Period.

This comic was so good that I already was having a blast reading it. Fantastic drawings, fantastic world-building, and the story in itself were easy to follow. It has an epic map cover, one which I want to see more of in this book. There teases of different cultures, and I saw a Roman-Greek-style culture that I wanted to see more of. I've loved graphic novels. This is what a graphic novel should be. Fun, easy to read, but it is very brutal in many senses. This is a wonderful introduction to a brand new world and one which I think is worth following. Very well written in my opinion.

The dialogue was very well written. Written by the master writer, Brandon Sanderson and the amazing writers, Lanzing and Kelly, they did a good job of distinguishing the worlds separating themselves from the earth. However, I was not convinced of a few things. First, I understood the concept of the Narrative and how fates and destinies are intertwined. Second, I was unsure of Paul Tanasin was in a sense, able to adapt to situations very quickly, and then becomes kind of adapted into his role. I don't think he figures out what the clear distinctions are between the light and the dark as of yet, for he has much to learn. o Surely, a Dark One can spread light as well? I felt this area needed more expansion here.

Paul is a good character, but I think he needs to spend time with more characters that can better evoke his personality. The Drull character that serves him is a wonderful addition. His sister's soul has been with him since his childhood, for example, Sometimes I think the distinctions between the Light and the Dark can become a little too complicated to follow. Paul's mother is a good character that I think we need more exploration as well. There was a certain backdrop in the comic that I would have wanted to see more development of.

213 pages do not cut it. This could have been more longer in my opinion, but I can understand that the reason it is like this is that it's trying to introduce the reader into the world. I felt that we sped too fast between earth and this new fantastical world of fantasy. Instead, in the next sequel I would want a slower, paced approach and to make Paul's character witness the events around him in far more detail. There is a bigger world here. There is more of a world to explore, cultures to see. I don't just want it to be a case of dark vs light, because this comic clearly shows what the grey veil is between dark and light, but I want to explore the world, I want to see what new wonders, what new mysteries I will uncover here. And Krasis - I need more of an explanation with him. I understood he's a brutal character, but I felt there's more to uncover about him.

Otherwise, these were just my suggestions. It is worth a read in my opinion! 8/10 from me.

What if you were the chosen one but for the wrong side?

Paul is dealing with inner ethical turmoil as he tries to deal with visions and hallucinations of other worlds. Meanwhile, in another world, two sides gear up for a foretold battle. Paul must come to terms with what it means when fate has already decided what you must be.

I wanted so badly to love this as my first foray into Brandon Sanderson and by no means did I hate it. The story was a classic fantasy good versus bad fight for the land but in true Sanderson fashion (or at least what I am told is true Sanderson fashion), the narrative is flipped on its head and your expectations are subverted.

The artwork was gorgeous and it was so well detailed. The atmosphere was jumping off the page with the beautiful landscape art. I'm not usually a fan of this art style because the people tend to look wonky for me but because the landscapes were gorgeous, I didn't have too many complaints.

What I did have issues with was the way the plot and the characters developed. The pacing was fine, though the ending seemed a little quick, and the logic made complete sense. The magic system seemed to be explained fairly well until the twist that leaves you guessing for the next volume. And the world-building was very well done for a graphic novel that didn't have much space to develop that outside of dialogue. However, because of the nature of this format, I think it fell flat in a lot of the most important aspects. I hate to say that I would have loved this as a prose novel more but I really think I would have. I know that was the plan but because of time constraints, it was revised into a graphic novel instead but I think the character development and plot would have been much more intriguing and much more weighted had there been more space to develop that beyond just some dialogue bubbles. Not to say that the characters and plot were entirely superficial. I think I still cared about the characters as there is a plot point in the book that got me emotional for Paul and co, and that obviously would not be the case had the characters been flat or the seed had not been planted earlier in the story but that was once in the whole 200+ pages that I felt that.

I'm interested to see where this goes moving forward as there are some threads left hanging but I feel like there was a lot that I didn't get to see or hear that definitely made it feel like I was missing out on some vital points of the story. I wanted to like it more but it was just okay. Not a waste of time but also not a new favorite by any means.

I am a big fan of stories that are told from the villain's perspective. Give me a good corruption arc over a standard hero's journey any day. So logically, Dark One should have been perfect for me. I feel like the story itself actually is perfect for me and anyone who feels similarly. I also greatly enjoyed the art style. It's very dynamic and some of the frames had me go "whow, I kinda wanna put this on my wall".

However, the pacing is really, really off in my opinion. This whole first volume / first part of the story is told so incredibly fast, we as the readers do not really have time to get invested in anything or take any of the dramatic events or the characters seriously. Least of all Paul, which I believe is a crucial point for a story centered around a villain though.
Paul himself acts and seemingly adapts so incredibly fast to being thrown into this strange new invironment that is Mirandus ... I don't want to say it's unrealistic, it's fantasy after all, but I cannot for the life of me suspend my disbelief THAT much.

I think the basic material would have lent itself more to a full-length written novel rather than a graphic one (even if it is incredibly fun to look at. Kudos to the artist).


*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

It is good, but It was not really my style so I did not like it that much. The art style was average.

This is my first Sanderson title and I was not disappointed. The story was captivating, the characters were interesting, and the art was beautiful. Can't wait for the second volume.

I really enjoyed this one! Loved the art style of this comic, I think it did a great job establishing scenes and revealing the emotions. The use of different colored speech bubbles to differentiate some special characters was also something I really enjoyed.

The prologue was nice but what hooked me was how suddenly we went from a fantasy world to the real world and I just kept on turning pages to see how those would be connected. Paul was a great main character and I liked following him along, finding out that he has a bigger part to play in the world.

4/5 stars

I received an ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Paul Tanasin is a 17-year-old who sees visions. These visions are of another world and they haunt him. A ghost girl also follows him around, claiming to be his sister. However, everything changes when he realizes that the other world is real. Somehow, the other world is tied to his, and it has declared him the Dark One. Without any other options, Paul rises up as the Dark One, fulfilling the role he was given.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The story was dark, but I thought it was rather interesting! There's a lot of things happening at once, and I hope that we get more answers in volume 2. The fantasy world itself, especially the way things work there, was really fascinating! I also really liked the magic. The concepts of morals and destiny really added to this story, making me feel sympathetic for Paul and the other characters. The ending of this graphic novel caught me off-guard, so I'm excited to see where this story goes in volume 2!

Fans of dark fantasy and beautiful graphic novels should check this out!

I'm a big Brandon Sanderson fan so I just had to read this graphic novel.
The graphic novel starts out quite fast with little exposition, not a lot is explained you're rather supposed to figure things out while the story progresses. Which in itself is fine but it also made me a little confused at times.

One issue I had was the overall pacing. The story and the art style are great but I feel like Sanderson's story would have needed and deserved more time to unravel. Some things happened really quickly but that is something that's easier done in a novel where you can take hundreds of pages than in a single volume of a graphic novel.
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Still, I quite enjoyed this graphic novel and can't wait for the next volume.

OK, so we have a guy who heads up a NYC law firm, and therefore is in charge of the hottest female legal property in the city. Her son just so happens to be on the psychologist's couch on behalf of his kinda sociopathic tendencies, and what he doesn't admit to – the company of an invisible self-claimed 'sister' from another dimension. But lo and behold, said legal boss bloke is also, get this, a kind of ruler in a fantasy world in another dimension, where an endless battle between dark and light is ongoing. When a death threat comes to New York aimed at the son he too finds himself the other side of whatever it is that divides us from them, but can he work out which side and which position he must adopt to survive, or is his destiny to involve a heck of a lot more than just that?

I've only witnessed this author courtesy a different fantasy GN series, and that was hooked on to, and reliant on prior knowledge of, his prose books. This is much more of an original property. And at times the word 'original' barely covers it – yes, we've often had books that switch from a fantasy world to ours and back, but we seldom get Macbeth-styled machinations on the other side of a page set in a New York courthouse. That's not to say it's a fabulous fantasy, with the dark side being a bit weird – they have floodlights all over the shop, for one. Oh, and headbutt the ground in a poor parody of Islam. The whole mythos is rather woolly, and it's a little too easy to raise eyebrows about who is coming from where to do what and why. Still, for all the soapy two-sided combat the fantasy world revolves around, there seems enough meat on the bones, and more than enough drama to be had in books to come. Expect confusion in the future, yes, but expect lots of operatic action, and perhaps a few hefty switcheroos to pull the rug from under us. As it stands, this volume is probably a three and a half stars.

Paul is the Dark One. But the question is: does he want to be one and even if he is, is he going to act on it?
That is one of my favorite tropes: how a person becomes a villain. I always fall for it and this was no exception. I loved how unfair it is to Paul. He is supposed to be this great evil but no one asked him if he even wants that. Moreover, the evil in this world always loses. So, Paul is destined to become the big bad and fight the good guy only to loose in the end, as did every bad guy before him. I mean, how unfair is that? So this time around, there are going to be some changes.
The concept of the Narrative was really cool. The idea is that there is a way the history is supposed to go, everyone in their destined spot, be it good or bad, and the cycle repeats over and over. It was briefly touched upon in this first volume, but I am sure it will further developed as the series continues.
Paul was a great main character. You know he is bad, but you also see him struggling with that. He goes to therapy in the beginning of the book, because he wants to understand himself better and because he is afraid that he might hurt people. So, when he was pushed into this role he doesn't want to play, I had so much sympathy for him.
This is a good start to a new fantasy series. It has a good plot, interesting moral dilemmas, a pretty cool magic and, of course, some secrets. I wish volume two was already out.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was such a spontaneous read for me!

Don’t get me wrong, I love graphic novels, and I’ve enjoyed books by Brandon Sanderson in the past, just had rather complicated relationship with Stormlight archive (Still can’t get into the first book) …

I loved this novel thought, fairly unique, as all of authors works. Two parallel worlds, teenager that thinks he’s gone crazy and sees things that are not real. His mother, top lawyer in New York has a grip on rather difficult case and somehow that’s all related.

Crazy how these two amazing authors managed to make such a cool story out of something that looked extremely weird from the first sight... Really dark fantasy is usually not, my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed this graphic novel. 😊

Thank you @Netgalley for E-Arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

A magical story about a young man facing a new dark fantasy world. Paul has always been haunted by visions of another world, and soon he finds out that his visions are real and not just hallucinations. Along his journey he finds out that theres more to him than he thought and that he has a destiny awaiting him in this new world. This story has a really interesting plot and the magic is awesome!

*Thanks Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*