From Under Mountains - Softcover

LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED) -- When a political envoy arrives in Karsgate Keep, Lady Elena, daughter of the Keep's guardian Lord Crowe, sees an opportunity for adventure. Before long her actions threaten the peace between her home nation of Akhara and a race of magical goblins called the Mausgol, as well as earning the enmity of both human and mystical adversaries. Rife with magic, ritual, and schemes, this fantasy features a strong female protagonist, a large cast of humans, sorcerers, gods, and ghosts, and a setting that combines classic courtly genre tropes with a more Middle Eastern flavor. Leong's (Chief Five Heads) illustration is evocative without overwhelming the rather cinematic script by Churchland (Beast) and debuter Gibson, which favors nicely crafted dialog and moody, silent stretches. VERDICT While this first volume, collecting Issues 1-6, in the series focuses heavily on establishing a tone and multiple mysteries, and is therefore a little slow to get going, the ending indicates that future installments should garner rabid fans among the sword-and-sorcery crowd, especially those seeking something slightly different in this typically male-dominated field, or those preferring loads of backstory and detail to sift through.