| Title | : | Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1785865870 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781785865879 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 112 |
| Publication | : | First published April 30, 2019 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Graphic Novels & Comics (2019) |
Delve into the thrilling, epic tale of the young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the king of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic!
The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape.
There, he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa...
Collects Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince #1-4.
Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince Reviews
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Set in the years before SHADES OF MAGIC, the young, arrogant prince Maxim is sent to a violent coastal city, where he teams up with a band of unconventional soldiers to face pirates, forbidden magic, and all manner of things.
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VICTORIA ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME
ITS A BLOODY PREQUEL GRAPHIC NOVEL TO SHADES OF MAGIC WHO ELSE IS HYPERVENTILATING -
me when this was announced:
me when this cover dropped:
me after reading this: -
Rating: 4.5 stars
I wish this was a little longer, I just want more! -
“Here, our story begins…”
I read the entire
A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy, and I ended up giving them all three stars. I am absolutely obsessed with Victoria’s mind and worlds, and her characters are truly some of the best I’ve read, but the plot and events always held me back from completely loving them. But when I found out we were going to get to learn more about Rhy’s father (adoptive father of Kell) and the events that lead him to being King, I knew I couldn’t resist. But here I am, still surprised that I ended up giving the prequel graphic novel series start three stars.
Maxim Maresh is only a prince in this brand-new graphic novel series, but he is the sole heir and the king in waiting in Red London. Yet, he wants to be so much more than that, and he wants to prove that he will be capable and earn his rightful place as king one day. Maxim and his family are also people of color, with obvious dark brown skin, but it is never stated what ethnicity in this made up alternate historical London. And he has earned himself the title of The Steel Prince because of his magical affinity with steel.
But in this bind-up, Maxim gets involved with pirates, and magical tournaments, and figuring out who he wants to be. Yet, this first volume barely mentions the parallel Londons, which (to me) is the coolest part of this world, completely. And then with this elaborate magic system finally being visualized, it just felt clunky, and like it missed the mark completely on something that could have been groundbreaking.“You fight like a royal. Like the weapons are made of wood. Like no one means to hurt you. But this is not London, your highness.”
But my biggest problem with this graphic novel was honestly the art. Trust me, it kills me to say this, but I just never grew to like the style of this book. And especially with something as cool as the world of ADSOM, I feel like an artist really could have turned this into one of the most aesthetically pleasing series of all time, especially with red, grey, black, and white having such a pivotal role in this world. But I don’t have an art degree, so don’t listen to me. I’m just stating what I would have liked more for this story! The artist is still very talented. And if this is your favorite art style of all time? You are valid.
I still really enjoyed this bind-up and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I hope we get to see more cameos of characters we love, too! And if you are already a fan of VE Schwab and this breathtaking world, I bet you will absolutely love this addition! Content and trigger warnings violence, blood, and torture.
Okay, so like with every graphic novel that I review, I always do a breakdown on what happens briefly in each individual issue. So, the next portion of this review will have SPOILERS! Obviously, I won’t give away anything too pivotal, but I will talk about some of the themes that each issue had inside.
➽ ISSUE ONE:
We get to meet Maxim, the prince and sole heir to the throne. We also get to meet the king, and his dad, Nokil. And we also get our first glimpse at Maxim wanting to be more than the prince in waiting, and he wants to prove himself and his fighting abilities.
➽ ISSUE TWO:
We are introduced to Arisa, the pirate queen, and we get to learn about a tournament where the winner will fight her to prove themselves worthy. Also, we get to see the Black Torch, and you know my pub loving heart was so dang happy.
➽ ISSUE THREE:
Isra, the pirate queen’s niece, and Maxim are both battling in the tournament where we see so many different magic abilities, and we learn there are no rules and anything goes.
➽ ISSUE FOUR:
Things do not go Maxim’s way, but he is rescued. Then, after, he receives a letter from his father, asking him to come. But he declines because he still has so much more to learn.
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The art took some getting used to but it picked up FAST. I absolutely loved learning more about Maxim, and this made me realize how much I desperately need a reread of ADSOM! YAY!
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This was fun :) The art was beautiful and we get to explore the character we already knew and loved from ADSOM. That being said, if you did not read ADSOM this will probably be quite disappointing, but I assume this is largely targeted for the fandom.
It felt a bit like a 'bonus' episode of a show you liked. Not in a bad way at all, but I cannot rate it higher than a 3.5 stars as I don't think this would stand by its own. The story was a little cute adventure that's significant but only to the relevant town. And our prince is willing to sacrifice unreasonable amounts for the scale of things, which was frustrating to read about. However I do love his character.
And, again, the art was so pretty, it's cool to see how the world and the magic looks like after reading the books and imagining it yourself :) -
“A game is worth playing if you stand a chance at winning”.
¿No les dije que estos libros se iban a convertir en mi obsesión? Pues bien, leí el primero de estos tomos precuela de la serie de Shades of Magic y estuvo fenomenal.
Básicamente estos cómics nos cuentan la historia de Maxin Maresh, quien eventualmente se convertiría en el rey del Londres Rojo y en el padre adoptivo de Kell. La cosa aquí es que todo empieza cuando él es aún un príncipe arrogante y el rey de ese momento lo envía a Verose, uno de los lugares más peligrosos del reino para ver si madura un poco. Allí se encuentra con bandas criminales, mucha violencia y, sobre todo, con Arisa, la reina de los piratas.
Si bien no adoré el estilo de ilustración de este cómic, sí que me gustó muchísimo la historia y conocer el origen de ciertos personajes. Creo que no puedo decir mucho más porque este tomo es corto, pero les juro que vale la pena leerlo, incluso si solo han leído el primer tomo de la trilogía principal como yo. -
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A Darker Shade of Magic ★★★★
A Gathering of Shadows ★★★
A Conjuring of Light ★★★★★
Shades of Magic Vol 1 ★★★
★ As you can see from the above ratings, the Darker Shades of Magic series had its ups and downs but I loved the conclusion and since the Steel Prince was mentioned there, I wanted to know who that is and how he came to his position in that series.
★ I love graphic novels and I do read a few of these every year because I mostly spend my reading time on novels but both can be good. I have heard mixed things about this series and I did not go into it with high expectations because I did not want to be disappointed and I wasn’t.
★ This volume has the first four novels in it and I thought it was too short. The art style is definitely unique and I liked it. I think the style has a large role in deciding how much is this series enjoyable and I have seen many readers complaining about the style and that it was not for them. Luckily for me, I thought it was good and I especially enjoyed the vibrant colors that were used with magic.
★ The world is not as expanded as in the novels because it takes place in one London only. I think this may be another reason why those who enjoyed the main series may not love the world here. I think the key is just to take it at face value and not to be very critical. The story was kind of short and though we got a conclusion, I thought it was fast and I needed more.
★ Summary: I enjoyed this graphic novel and I will continue it for sure, I think it is not for everyone because of the art style and small number of pages. I still think it is worth giving a chance or those who enjoyed the ADSOM series.
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I honestly don't love the art for this, especially when it comes to close-ups of faces and fight scenes, and I also didn't find the story particularly thrilling 🙈
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20gayteen has been beautiful, but can we talk about 20Schwabteen? Returning to Red London for a new adventure WATERED my CROPS and I am THRIVING out here.
As you all know,
Shades of Magic is my main personality trait lately, god bless. It's so exciting to have something new to consume instead of fixating on the same 3 books over and over again. (NOT that there's anything wrong with that, okay?)
Honestly, I was initially disappointed that Victoria Schwab created a new 2018 Shades of Magic series—and then dedicated it to Maxim Maresh, of all characters. See, I was a proud Maxim hater in my
A Gathering of Shadows days. He made my beloved <3 Kell <3 feel bad, which is inexcusable. Ugh.
I was like… “yeah… steel prince…” waives hands halfheartedly JUST WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE MAXIM?
But what do ya know pals, he wasn’t always a paranoid hardass dad! He used to be the WILD bitch who gets up to adventure. Reading about Maxim’s past felt like looking at my parents’ childhood photographs and realizing that they had entire LIVES I don’t know about. Wow.
And this beginning of his adventures is entertaining. Rebellious Maxim gets thrown out of London and into Verose, a sketchy port city where he has to battle dark magic and the like. I hope he spends 3 issues making enemies and getting into fights. I am perfectly normal.
We got the excellent Schwab Foreshadowing, of course. This prequel already gives Maxim’s reactions to events in Shades of Magic a whole new perspective, and I know that this will go further in the next issues. Since spacing out while doing mundane things in order to mentally analyze Schwab books is my trusted solution to boredom, it’s AWESOME to have a whole new lens for ADSOM!
But… uh… I rated it 3 stars, so let’s get to that. First of all, as of now, I'm not actually that invested in the story, because 1) this first issue was really just an introduction that hasn't established the conflict yet; 2) it’s a prequel set 20 years before things are going fine in this world. So I’m not worried about Maxim’s safety, and if there’s a future threat of the entire world burning, I won’t care about that either.
Second of all, graphic novels aren't my thing. I’ve never read a whole one because they disorient and confuse me so much. But I'm definitely in the minority with that. So I genuinely think that this is a you-not-me issue. If you like graphic novels, yay, I have faith in you loving The Steel Prince.
In conclusion—
1. shame on me for being un-hyped about a Maxim prequel
2. it was pretty fun
3. too bad it’s a graphic novel
4. but I really want the next issues please?! -
#1: 3/5. Honestly, this was. nothing special? seemed way too short somehow. definitely not enough content for me to form an actual opinion. but hey, it’s only the first issue and I’m just so happy to be back in my favorite universe! excited for more.
#2: 5/5. HELL YEAH! That’s more like it. The writing is so unmistakably Schwab, I’ve felt somewhat. homesick? reading this. I love Arisa and Isra’s characters. Soooo pumped for more.
#3: 5/5. EPIC! Major Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes! A great example of using paneling to your full advantage.. Well done!
#4: 5/5. WHAT A BADASS ARTWORK.
A good conclusion to the arc. Now we wait for the next one.
Overall: 4,5/5. -
"you're not my type."
"let me guess, you don't like royals."
"i don't like men."
hello isra owns my whole heart. -
It was basically if the Essen Tasch had blood-bending and I liked it
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*3.5/5
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This was okay. I'm very tired of the trend that they want the pace to be so fast and exciting that points are connected and things don't quite make sense. I feel like I sort of understand what has going on with prince Maxim and I sort of don't know. It might need more frames and more dialogue and, oh my goodness, maybe even more exposition. I think fantasy is losing too much exposition and things aren't set up and I'm tired of it. There can be too much and too little and both are annoying. Let's just make it make sense.
The story was fine. I might go on with this series, but the books are so much better. Nice artwork. -
3.5
This was a really great start to a graphic novel series! I only wish it were longer, tbh. I can't wait for more!! -
i said it 43093069 times but if it has victoria schwab's name on it then i have to read it even if it's a grocery shopping list
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This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone but I absolutely loved this. The Steel Prince has everything I want in a graphic novel and more: Victoria's cutting words, badass characters, and beautiful artwork. I can't wait to read the next volume.
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I mean I liked it and it was good. I don’t generally read graphic novels but I had this one and I just finished the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy so I thought I would try it. It’s honestly a pretty contained story with very little world building and exposition and everything just happened so quickly? Or maybe that’s just me as graphic novels are much easier to fly through compared to an actual novel. I had fun, really liked Isra’s character and everyone else was fine. 6/10
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V.E. Schwab has penned a graphic novel about Maxim Maresh, one of the ancillary characters from The Shades of Magic series.
I was very excited to read this. The tidbits Schwab dropped about Maxim in the trilogy were enticing. We learned he had a storied past. He fought notable outlaw figures. Somehow he developed an extraordinary control of his powers, which others had not been able to mimic.
Under his reign, a certain magician opened the doors between the worlds to act as emissaries and messengers. But also, exposed the worlds to the greatest danger that they had ever faced.
"Before he was the King of Arnes, Maxim Maresh was a young, head strong prince with a penchant for metal magic and a lot to learn about the world beyond Red London. Banished by his own father to Verose, a city on the dangerous Blood Coast, Maxim was plunged into a world of danger and adventure." Foreward, by V.E. Schwab.
So, who was this man? This graphic novel series sheds some light on an enigmatic figure.
"Why would you see those doors pried open again?" "Because sooner or later, all spells fail. And one day the doors to those worlds will open whether we wish it or not."
What did I think of it? It was the first in a series. It's hard to give all of the contextual information of a new story without it turning into an info dump or neglecting to develop the characters.
Schwab does a good job of avoiding these pitfalls, but I wanted more depth and development.
We do get to see something of "bone magic," one of the more terrifying of the magics from Schwab's stories. Bone magic, unlike the elemental basis of the other magics, allows the user to literally control the actions of those around them.
Bone magicians can make you throw yourself onto their enemies or your friends. Hold still while you're tortured. Stick a knife in your own eye.
Bone magic, the removal of free will, is the idea that has continued to haunt me from the Shades of Magic series and Schwab uses it to good effect in this story.
That being said, Maxim, at first, acts like a brat and doesn't understand the complexities of real life, running headlong into the "royalty removed from the world" trope. This focus of his character doesn't lend itself to likability. Perhaps that will change as the series goes along. Also, we get to see so very little of his extraordinarily abilities and more of his mediocrity.
However, the artwork is stunning. I hope to read and enjoy the next volume. But I can't say I was knocked off my feet by this installment.
Recommended, of course, for fans of the Shades of Magic series. -
Vol. 1: The Steel Prince ★★★★★
Vol. 2: Night of Knives ★★★★★
Vol. 3: The Rebel Army ★★★★★
I've been missing the Shades series and characters lately, so I thought it was high time that I read the graphic novel series following Maxim in his younger days. This was incredibly fast-paced and fascinating! I love prequels and getting to go back into the past to learn more about a world I've already spent so much time falling in love with, and The Steel Prince has a wonderful coupling of both old and new details and characters. While this first volume didn't explicitly spoil the main trilogy, I would definitely recommend waiting until after finishing A Conjuring of Light before picking up this graphic novel series.
My only complaint was that I thought the art style was a little dark and muddled during the big fight scenes, so it sometimes was difficult to follow along with exactly what was happening, but I think that could easily be a "me" issue more than a problem with the book.
✨ Representation: the members of the Maresh family are Black; multiple BIPOC side characters; one on-page sapphic side character
✨ Content warnings for: violence, death
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I read the first novel, Darker Shade of Magic last year, wanted to re- read it since, but didn't since I remembered everything!! SO, for my O.W.L.s I'm using this beautiful graphic novel for my first Transfiguration subject. (Red on the cover).
I loved it. I miss this world so much, and if I understood correctly, this is about Maxim, Kells adoptive father when he was young. I loved the art, and I loved the plot, but it was indeed short, too short maybe. Now I want to devour the rest of these, but then I'll have no ADSOM left :/.
Anyways, give it a try! -
*major gasp* WHY have I not have heard of these?????????!!!!!!! I need need need!!! Ugh the library is closed for the apocalypse noooooo!!! 😭😰😱
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'And one day the doors to those worlds will open... ...whether we wish it or not.'
SOOOO GOOD. I'm so freaking glad we are getting more of this world and in comic format because everything about this absolutely smashes 😭🙌👏
Maxim is such a princeling prince so I'm very much here for his journey towards gaining the title of Steel Prince and this definitely was a great starting point. (I also just wanna note what kind of dedication that Maxim wanted Antaris to be found and did 👏)
ISRA, THOUGH. MY FAVE (AND GAAAAY)'Don't look so worried, you're not my type.'
'Let me guess, you don't like royals.'
'I don't like men.'
Ugh, I loved Arisa. How does Schwab writes such compelling villains? She's fucking ruthless but still has a soft spot somewhere deep inside, damn.
The art style is so fitting for this world. ALL THE ACTION SEQUENCES ARE EXECUTED SO WELL. The hard lines and dark color palette works so well together to create something that looks out of this world amazing
P.S. Shoutout to this being my 1,000th read on here (on brand) even though I have yet to add those Archie Comics digests I used to read (and many others, too probably), shhh XD
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'Following Maxim Maresh — one of Red London’s ruling family — as he is sent into exile, an event that will have significant repercussions in years to come.'
I'M SO READY AND
THE FINAL COVER ART LOOKS EVEN BETTER
Source
-----------------------------------
PRESENTING THE STEEL PRINCE:
Source
TBH, I'm crazy excited for the return of Maris, THE ACTUAL PIRATE QUEEN YESSSS
Also, an actual Shades of Magic prequel COMIC. I'M EMOTIONS -
In the beginning there were four worlds but then three worlds were destroyed and only one world was left intact. Maxim Maresh is the Prince of one London that's left and he wants to prove himself to his father, King Nakil Maresh. When the King sends Maxim away to a port city, Verose, Maxim learns how differently things work here. Maxim isn't exactly welcome here.
The Marsh may rule in the capital, but when the iron grip docks in Verose, Arisa Rasora is Queen.
Maxim then learns of the pirate queen and her ship and her affect on people here in Verose. He also learns how the pirate queen doesn't leave any survivors until she leaves one. Maxim finds the survivor who happens to be Isra, pirate queen's niece and things start to become interesting.
A game is worth playing if you stand a chance at winning.
The pirate queen holds a tournament for someone to earn a place among her crew on the ship. Maxim and Isra both join the tournament and they have different opponents to fight. The winner gets to challenge the pirate queen herself.
After Isra wins the tournament, she challenges the pirate queen but the pirate queen says that the fight would happen tomorrow. Maxim knows it's a trap and they come up with a plan to stop the pirate queen.
An intriguing story but throughout all this, not even once it was explained how the magic works and this was my biggest gripe. A lot of interesting things happen but as a reader I found that things were just thrown at me without any explanation. It was like I had to keep up with this world which I know nothing about because I haven't read Shades of Magic series and this being a prequel, I feel that the writer should have explained how the world works. Secondly, the art work was just messy. I found it to be too busy and all over the place. This was even worse in action-sequences as I didn't know what was happening. All the fighting scenes were really confusing. Having said all this, I really liked the story even without the magic system making any sense.
3.25 stars -
i haven’t even read adsom but i am SO READY for this graphic novel?? i mean THE STEEL PRINCE??? hello?????? it sounds so promising??
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Ummm so don't be deceived by the cover art. The actual art inside is nothing like the cover. It didn't work for me. I did like Maxim buuuuut there wasn't much substance to this.
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ACTUALIZACIÓN 10/01/21
Me ha vuelto a parecer una pasada y sigo opinando lo mismo que tenéis aquí abajo <3
Uno de los grandes descubrimientos que he tenido este año no solo ha sido Victoria Schwab con todos los títulos que, afortunadamente, se han ido publicando en España a lo largo de estos meses, sino también su trilogía Una magia más oscura. Ha sido, sin dudarlo, una de las trilogías o libros que más he disfrutado. Hacía años y años que andaba detrás de estos libros, viendo cómo estaban publicados en latinoamérica pero sin llegar a España, y doy gracias a la popularidad que ha ido alcanzando la autora en nuestro país para que, finalmente, Minotauro se lanzara a publicar los tres libros. ¡Y casi a la vez! Cuando leí Concilio de Sombras hace poco más de un mes, me quedé muy vacía. Lloré, no quería despedirme de sus personajes y necesitaba seguir dentro de este mundo. Entonces, llegó El príncipe del acero.
Inicio de un conjunto de novelas gráficas que también van a estar llegando próximamente a nuestras librerías y estanterías, la historia que nos encontraremos aquí es otra, diferente pero que, mínimamente, también se ha llegado a observar o tocar en los libros principales. Un viaje al pasado, Maxim Maresh es el protagonista de una trama que se centrará en todo lo que tuvo que pasar en su juventud para sobrevivir en un mundo alejado de palacio, plagado de peligros, bandas y una criminal por la que consiguió el título de Príncipe del Acero.
Si en la trilogía Una magia más oscura ya vemos un uso de la magia bastante alucinante, completo, y plagado de batallas y competiciones, la historia de Maxim Maresh, un personaje que también se queda como más reservado, incluso viéndose como alguien serio y que no llama la atención en esos libros, no va a defraudar en ese aspecto. Porque la magia está más viva que nunca. Sin dudarlo, conocer a Maxim, el padre de Rhy y de Kell de esta manera, ha sido realmente sorprendente. Un personaje que se abre, que se muestra de verdad, con ese sueño de indagar más en una obsesión que crece y que puede suponer un antes y un después. Las ilustraciones de Andrea Olimpieri y de Enrica Angiolni ayudan a meterse, nada más empezar, en una primera parte que va a tener de todo. Han sido claras, han sabido darle vida y aspecto no solo a personajes ya conocidos, sino también a los nuevos, que van a convertirse en un pilar fundamental gracias a lo bien creados que están. Han esbozado perfectamente todos los escenarios y, en los momentos de más acción, han conseguido que todo se visualice sin ningún tipo de problema.
En sí, la novela gráfica es bastante directa. Aunque en las primeras páginas solo vamos a ver cómo Maxim es, por orden de su padre y actual rey de Arnes, exiliado a un lugar donde sobrevivir es el pan de cada día, pronto nos meteremos en una zona que guarda muchas sorpresas y en la que hay que estar alerta siempre, andes por donde andes. Sobre todo, cuando entra en acción un personaje cruel, difícil de vencer y que va a poner las cosas muy, pero que muy complicadas. Al más puro estilo Schwab, El príncipe del acero no solo nos va a introducir en nuevos enfrentamientos donde la magia va a ser el arma principal, participando en una competición clandestina a vida o muerte, sino que también nos va a presentar una historia familiar que me ha conquistado completamente. Tiene un desarrollo muy acertado, es lo que da emoción y peligro a las páginas, una energía brutal y de infarto. Ayuda a que la lectura sea amena, entretenida, apabullante, con unas relaciones e interacciones magníficas que nos presentan, de manera más profunda, a cada uno de los personajes que van a protagonizar este spin-off. Es adicción pura y llegas a engancharte tanto que, cuando descubres que ya has llegado a la última página, quieres más de lo corto que se te ha hecho. Una necesidad que está ahí, sobretodo, viendo la manera en la que este primer volumen termina.
En conclusión, El príncipe del acero es un gran inicio de una serie de novelas gráficas que sirven como precuela y spin-off de la trilogía principal, Una magia más oscura. Poniéndonos en la piel de uno de sus personajes más serios, Maxim Maresh sorprende al demostrarnos que hay mucho dentro de él, su historia personal contada entre magia, nuevos personajes y nuevos conflictos que le van a dar a todo una dosis de emoción interesante como para no querer cerrar el libro jamás. -
can't wait for more!!
