EYES ON SEEDS OF WARS: SKY-GODS DAY
Discover a whole new world with interesting new characters in Seeds of Wars: Sky-Gods Day. The first issue is enough for new readers to get emersed in this new universe.
Building on the success of the role-playing game of Seeds of Wars, creator Blaede teams up with talented artist Bojan Vukic, and realizes his comic book fan’s dream by going through the looking glass for the first time by bringing “Seeds of Wars: Sky-Gods Day”.
Bron and Mira are fearsome twins of an unknown species with extraordinary abilities. They navigate the political intrigues of a continent composed of a myriad of kingdoms and cultures. Orphaned at an early age, this strange duo has made a career of serving the powerful kingdom of Astaeria. It is the continent’s largest kingdom. The twins are now charged with protecting the young mischievous princess Philel, but nothing will go as planned.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
“Seeds of Wars: Sky-Gods Day” is written by Blaede. He is Software Designer during the day, a musician during the night, Nicolas Nayaert, alias Blaede, is the initiator and coordinator of this project. After working on Seeds of Wars: the realm management role-playing game and its web application, he decided to create his own publishing company, Kalopsia. As a fan of comics since his childhood, it’s a dream come true with the birth of this series, especially with an artist like Bojan at the drawing board.
Bojan Vukić is an illustrator and comic book artist with nearly 20 years of experience in the industry. He started his artistic journey with the popular comic book series Divlja Magija, published by Luxor Co. in his native land of Serbia. He then started working for the French publisher Soleil on the following series: Grands Anciens, Le Retour de Dorian Gray, Merlin Le Prophète, Oracle, Elfes, Orcs & Goblins, Mages, Les Maîtres Inquisiteurs. He’s currently working on his first graphic novel as a writer.
Digikore Studios colored Seeds of Wars: Sky-Gods Day. It is one of the largest professional setups in the World offering services in Penciling, Inking, Coloring and Lettering. They work with some of the largest publishers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, and Holland on their comics.
THE BOOK
The collector’s edition features a different cover with an exclusive illustration, and a beautiful, embossed Seeds of War logo inked in gold. This edition published by Kalopsia was exclusively available with this campaign. The hardcover and interior art are printed in full color on high-quality paper. The book has 52 numbered pages containing, an intro page, 48 pages of the main story and two “thank you” pages. One at the beginning and one at the end of the book.
The book is large, seriously it’s 32 × 24 × 1 cm. The book is available in English or French for young adult readers. The spine of the book is printed with the book information and the binding is very good. I liked the detailed art, especially the art in the dragon’s lair that tells the history of that world.
THE STORY
At the beginning of the book, you will see short “Thank You” notes from the writer and the artists. The story starts in narration format. The story takes place in Astra, the capital city of the Kingdom of Astra set in the world of Ceres. Ceres is known as the land of many kingdoms, Ceres boasts a surprisingly diverse array of people, cultures, and terrain types.
The story starts with a narration from a mysterious person. We only know that he is not the hero of the story but was there long before it all started, and he says he will be there long after it’s over. The story takes place in the region of the great West, which contains the lands Edaulla, Leaned, Feild, Telmond, and the ancient kingdom of Astaeria.
For 1500 years, Astra has been a beacon of light in Ceres, the crossroads of science, art, trade, and religion, and the base of one of the greatest armies on the continent. The country is ruled by Queen Samille Winlyt Astaer who has a daughter, Princess Philel.
At the beginning, we find princess Philel actively participating in her history class at school. There she is supervised by her two chaperones, the twins Bron and Mira. The next day is a beautiful day in Astra, as the Sky-Gods Day Festival is in full swing.
Sky-Gods Day commemorates the ancient calamity from the skies. The day occurs when the sky turns a bright shade of blue and hexagonal shapes are visible above, which only happens once a year. Most scholars speculate that this is when the great barrier refreshes itself to continue protecting Ceres for another year. I guess you could say they are not that far from the truth.
Princess Philel eagerly wants to participate and see everything. The Twins take precautions they think will work. Princess Philel is covered up and surrounded by soldiers. Nobody would know who she is. Really?
Nothing seems to be able to tarnish the good mood of the jubilant crowd unless the expected happens. What really happened and how will the twins handle it will be for you to find out when you read the story.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Let me start by mentioning that I am not familiar with the game this book is based on. It was the same with Infinity Tale Chronicles as well. As a new reader, it is a discovery of a new world and characters.
I like how they manage to establish world-building. You got the whole map of the continent to understand that there are many kingdoms, all protected by an ancient force. The characters are intriguing and interesting. The art is beautiful to look at.
THE CHARACTERS
Born and Mira are special. Although they look human, they have slightly different features that differentiate them from the rest of the population. Their skin is pale, their eyes purple, and their body is covered by blue marks.
Bron is a skilled warrior. He has a good heart, loves the rush and the adrenaline of a fight, and has a knack for getting in trouble. He has not yet experienced defeat, which makes him a bit arrogant and reckless. Mira is a rogue sorceress. She’s intelligent and agile, and for reasons she does not understand, she’s able to use some kind of low-level magic, even though she never had any kind of magical training. I liked the Twins.
Zepp is a small light blue and white ape/foxlike creature. It speaks a language that only Mira seems to understand. Along with Born’s sword, he’s all the twins inherited from their parents. He is cute but has the courage to fight when needed. Somehow, he made me care for him.
Princess Philel is an energetic bundle of joy. She looks like a 10-year-old girl. She seems to be always learning about history, is playful, and is kind to her elders.
The Iridescence, The Dragon, the ruler of the Yishana Bastion is a very particular character. His interactions with the Twins and Zepp were very entertaining. He refers to the twins as Ephemeral people. Yema Jerelind is the ambassador of the Dragon and Zepp seems to like her very much.
THE THEMES
The overall theme of the story next to saving the princess from power lust people seems to be the quest for knowledge/intel that lead to character development. The story starts with a history class and as the story progresses you understand the importance of knowing history.
Not just one version of history but all versions because there are always two sides to the coin. In the battle, the history from the colonialist perspective will be completely different than the surviving natives of the land.
THE ART
The story is illustrated in vibrant colors and the art is very detailed. When they met de dragon and see all the history on the walls, that was a very good hook point. The world is a complete mystery. It seems like they receive the barriers that they celebrate on Sky-Gods day from aliens that they called gods. Reminds me of Stargate SG1 for some reason.
THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
This time I got just the “COUNT/COUNTESS” tier from the crowdfunding campaign that includes a physical copy of the hardcover Collector’s Edition, a digital copy of the retail edition of the book in PDF format, an honorable mention in the book, and an exclusive small bookmark of Princess Philel which looks more like a trading card in my opinion. To be honest I forgot about this book and was surprised when I received it.
I realized there were not many updates provided via email which is why I forgot about it. It is important no matter how big or small the project is to let your backers know how far the project is from completion and what going on in the meantime. Luckily there were no problems with receiving the package. In some instances where no tracking information was provided, it got a little challenging at customs to identify the items.
FINAL THOUGHTS
“Seeds of Wars: Sky-Gods Day” is an engaging and entertaining story. For new readers with no knowledge of the RPG game, it is a completely new exciting world to explore. The quality of the printed book is great. I had a great time reading the story. The next issue will probably show how Born learns to deal with defeat and together with Mira they will probably find out more about Zepp and the history of their family, but first, will they be able to survive the wrath of the queen?
Overall, I enjoyed reading the story and I’m very happy with the book. As of date, the crowdfunding campaign is “Closed” on Indiegogo. The retail cover in hardcover version and digital, are available in the online store at seedsofwar.com. Make sure to check it out!
Interested in more fantasy titles? Check them in the “EYES ON” series wherein I documented my experience with crowdfunding entertainment and shared my notes on the products I received:
- EYES ON INFINITALE CHRONICLES BOOK 1
- EYES ON GUARDIANS OF ERLOTH
- EYES ON CREED RE: IMAGINARY
- EYES ON WAR PARTY PART 1
My notes are all set. Let me know what you think.
See you on the next page!
