Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN num: 9781932796131
ISBN number: 1932796134
Label: Devil's Due Publishing
Manufacturer: Devil's Due Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 128
Printing Date: March 03, 2004
Publishing house: Devil's Due Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 1174595
Studio: Devil's Due Publishing
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
When Alexander Crane is transformed into a raging MANTIKORE, he suddenly finds himself on the run from powerful magical creatures. To protect him, he is thrown into the dimension of Abaddon - a fantasy world where magic has run dry, and elves, dwarves, fairies, and goblins live in a modern society. Alex must quickly acclimate himself to this environment, or fall prey to the wizard who wants his powers.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
What do you do when you suddenly find yourself trapped into a near all-powerful body of an ages old Mantikore? Well that's the problem facing Alex Crane in this trade paperback from Devil's Due. Crane is a loser with a big gambling debt. His girlfriend Mandy just tossed him out of the house, and some muscleman for a crime boss just did a number on Alex's head giving him 24 hours to come up with the money he owes. Alex is not having a good day but it's about to get worse. In desperation, he decides to try and steal some ancient artifacts from the museum where he works. But when he breaks open a stone sarcophagus, he releases the spirit of an ancient beast, immediately transforming Alex into a ten foot tall legendary beast called the Mantikore.
Confused, Alex stumbles out in his beastly new form, having set the museum ablaze. A voice is in his head, a savage primeval voice. He soon finds himself defended by a pair of wizards against a team of special-ops type soldier who want him very badly. Alex is told to walk towards a portal where he finds himself transported to a magnificent city in a world called Abaddon. A city populated by mythical fantasy creatures like elves, dwarves, trolls, vampires and fairies. He comes to the aid of a tiny sprite named Molli who is being pursued by Vampires. When confronted, Alex's consciousness gives way to the savage voice in his head and he makes short work of the attackers and escapes with Molli. Molli explains that all of the magic has gone out of Abaddon and they now rely on the use of technology supplied to them by a powerful wizard named Archean. Alex soon learns that this Archean is an immortal, millennia-old wizard who needs the power of the Mantikore to restore his long dead love, Shamat, to life. Alex soon learns that his girlfriend Mandy has been taken by Archean to force him to turn the power over to the mage.
Kore was an enjoyable, quick read. Not terribly deep, but fun. It moves briskly along from the opening page with a lot of battles and a minimum of talking. Writer Josh Blaylock also infused it with a bit of light humor, particularly with the dwarven police. I would have liked to have seen more depth given to the Mantikore character. We learn a bit about him in the final pages but much is still unanswered such as how the beast came to find itself imprisoned in the very first place and its relationship with Archean in ancient times. We know that Archean has been trying to restore his love to life for 8,000 years but what has he been doing during all that time? A little more development of the characters and background would have moved this book up to a five-star rating. The book is aided greatly by gorgeous artwork from penciller Tim Seeley, and inkers Cory Hamsher and Mark Stegbauer. Their work along with vibrant colors helped bring this dark fantasy world to life.
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