Interesting enough illustration, slightly convoluted story. Definitely has an interesting concept but not sure it fits best with this overall graphic novel.

This was fun in the beginning, but I didn't love the flow of the story. I did truly enjoy the concept and the characterization.

Received an ARC (NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. This was a quick fun read, the art style is nice as well as the story was easy to follow. I would pick up the next volume for sure. I wish there was more buildup and focus on his past so we could understand why his father was overthrown and his mothers connection to him. Those things are alluded to but I prefer to be shown not told when it comes to that.

With a strong likeness to the King Arthur story, this comic would attract any youngling who is interested in medieval adventure.

I did like the strong female characters that helped Prince Kaidan along the way.

Thank you #NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors and A Wave Blue World for giving me the opportunity to read this.

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Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to acquire an advanced copy of the available books. I also apologize for being behind in my reading process, however, I am back in high school.

This book created me a crush, a fiction crush lol, i loved it all about it. it was so funny the reason why i liked it. i.e that story is about an orphan prince and his adventure while he were on a voyage to combat his weakness when he was a child. owing to the dead of his parents and kingdom, he got a new life and new challenges.
4.9

As a boy, Prince Kaidan was sent away with his aunt to do some secret training. When he returns three years later, he discovers that his kingdom has been destroyed. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and the knights responsible for it are chasing him. Kaidan meets up with some outlaws who will help him find his family.

This was an exciting, fast paced story. Though Kaidan was returning home, it was bittersweet because he didn’t get along with his father before he left. He was looking forward to seeing his mother, until he saw the devastation of his home. Kaidan had lost his family and his future as King.

I liked the art in this graphic novel. The first few chapters alternated between when Kaidan was younger and when he returned home. It was easy to tell these scenes apart because the scenes from the past had lighter colours and the scenes in the present were darker. Each of the characters also had a distinct outfit, so it was easy to differentiate between them.

The Orphan King is a great new graphic novel!

Thank you Diamond Book Distributors for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I really liked the color palette of this graphic novel. Mostly pink and lilac colors with golden accents were pleasant to me and the art style as a whole was something that immediately caught my eye. The story itself was quite simplistic and it pretty much felt like a beginning or the first chapter of the bigger story and I am fine with it. Prince Kai returned home to his kingdom after years spent abroad and found out that his parents are dead and his kingdom is under the rule of foreign invaders. The story then focuses more or less only on him gathering information about a current situation. A lot of space is also given to multiple of Kai's flashbacks on his previous life. Overall I really liked the story and I'm curious about continuation.

I didn't really care for this medieval fantasy graphic novel. The artwork was great but I didn't like the storyline, it was a bit hard to follow. I won't be reading more.

This was a very good start to a new fantasy series. A young prince returns home after three years away to find his kingdom overrun and his parents missing. There are some variations on the Robin Hood and King Arthur myths within. However, this isn't England and there are fantasy creatures as well. It could use some more world-building to let us know what happened but I do like what I've seen so far.

This was a nice, little graphic novel that wasn't too bad, but I couldn't remember what it was about the day after I read it.

I think this would be an enjoyable read for children, not young adults.

At first, I really liked the art and the story, but it seemed that they became a little slow, boring and less detailed as the book went on. It was okay, but nothing more.

As a start to a mythic fantasy series, this was a bit of a mixed bag. The art was clean and the colors really popped, giving life to the downfallen kingdom. The hints of the backstory and the explicit robinhood references were fun (albeit a bit ham handed). And the character is one of those examples of a boy-becoming-a-hero archetype that you want to cheer for and have them discover their skill and strength and wisdom. The plot, on the other hand, was cliched and both too twisty and too obvious. As a first volume this was an acceptable cookie cutter fantasy hero's journey.

I am not sure, I would consider this an Arthurian Legend retelling. At least not from what I gleamed in reading this book.

But I found this incredibly interesting to read, I honestly was on the edge of my seat reading this because of the twists and turns it kept leading me down.

I look forward to learning more about Kaidan's training under Lady Taleissa and how he grew during this time.

I am hoping to be able to continue reading this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It wasn't enough as a first volume, we just get some details about the story of prince Kaidan as he is sent by his father the king to get trained by his aunt (the woman behind him in the cover), then Kaidan returns to his realm after three years to find out that his parents are missing and the kingdom is destroyed. What happened? We don't know. He is chased by some soldiers because they know who he is when he is rescued by a group of rebels.

All in all, the story is a fresh retelling of the legend of King Arthur with the one of Robin Hood. The art style was nice but as a start, the story's plot and the characters needed a great deal of development. I hope that the next volume will be more interesting.

I really like the art style it corresponds well with the characteristics and journey of the characters. The premise of the story is also very gripping. Thank you for sharing this with me!

I’m going to reserves full judgement on the entire series until I read the second volume. Much of the first volume, containing issues 1-6 of the comic, was devoted to setting up the story. The “orphan king” of the story has returned from a multi-year education under his aunt, hinting at becoming proficient in battle as well as magic. What he comes home to is a smoldering ruin, enemy soldiers interested in capturing both him and his sword, and luckily, a plucky band of rebels who rescue him.

Most of the characters in the story are based on Arthurian tales as well as the legend of Robin Hood.. Tyler Chin-Tanner, the author, cheerfully admits to using the archetypes in the endnotes. I hope to see how these archetypes are developed in the next compendium, as well as the reintroduction of characters met in the early chapters.

A mashup between the King Arthur legend and the tale of Robin Hood, The Orphan King, Kaiden, starts us on another adventure of good versus evil. From the start we see a hard king who wants what's best for his son and his people, send his son away in order for him to be properly trained on the "Isle of Women" by his aunt. Now, what exactly happens there isn't really explained, all we know is that he shows up four years later, older and stronger, and about to get the shock of his life. When he returns home, his family is gone, the kingdom is destroyed and now some knights want to kill him. With realistic artwork that is very nice to look at, you begin the adventure with a lot of hope that seems to waiver at the end of every chapter. Eager to see where this goes as I am a fan of both stories and want to know what's going on with Kaiden's aunt.

A fun adventure story. Prince Kaidan is sent away from his parents, the King and Queen, to train and live with his aunt in the Isle of Women. When he returns to his Kingdom four years later things are not how he left them.
This is generally fun and exciting. I would recommend it to kids who enjoyed Mighty Jack and Amulet but are looking for something older now. The pacing and art are very good, but it doesn't bring anything particularly new to fantasy/adventure graphic novels. I found the Robin Hood-esc characters to be distracting because I couldn't tell if the comparison was intentional or not.

"The Orphan King" begins with the classic fantasy plotline of hero is sent off to train, only to return to see that their homeland had been razed to the ground at some point while they were away. There was a brief moment where I thought (based on the story beats and illustrations at that point in the comic) that the author had decided to go the 'far more time than expected has passed since you've been gone' twist, but this seems unlikely as the main character Prince Kaidan only appears to be a few years older while his former castle looks like ruins that have been there for a while. More confusing still, the transitions to the flashbacks of Kaidan's time away happen in a rather disjointed manner, sometimes unrelated to what was just shown in the present-day events.

While it's clear that the artist is quite skilled (it was the cover art that initially drew me in), the illustrated post-training depictions of Kaidan aren't consistent. In some panels he looks like an older teenager and in others he looks like a man in his 30s. This is particularly apparent when Kaidan is fighting and his mouth is wide open. This issue aside, the artist's illustrations are otherwise beautiful and detailed throughout the volume (I particularly liked the 'Charon' like character at the beginning at the volume).

I was granted access to this ARC from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Orphan King by Tyler Chin-Tanner is the first book in the series. I liked the plot as well as the cover. In addition, the graphics are excellent. I am eagerly waiting for the second book to catch up on all the adventure. A perfect read for a beginner.

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