Book of Death: Legends of the Geomancer #4

[jmatt]

No thread on this yet?

Overall, I'm pleased with this. But I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed in Padda's turn for the worse. What's his motivation? "Killing that race of giants was cruel, so my response will be to form the Nergal and the House of Death and try to obliterate everything." That doesn't add up for me.

Liked the Book of Life twist, though.

[pixierosa]

People have been posting a bit about it under the two different review links.

I really liked this book, best of the four. It's a good action/opposite reaction story. Birth of a geomancer, who helps the earth flourish, and birth of a death god, who wants to end it all.

I agree that Padda's reaction seemed a bit too strong. He was a warrior in a murderous Nergal tribe after all, but he did show signs of sensitivity and enlightenment until Anni received great power. What she did was somewhat startling, but he immediately called her evil. I can understand his believing that no one person should wield that much power, but it would have made sense for him to try to influence her rather than oppose and fight - like Cuth. Perhaps Anni was right; some of his issue was the fact that she received the power. His reaction isn't that different from Nergal's when he believed that she was the cause of the earth attacking the tribe.

I also wonder how much of his crazy came from what the "other mind" of the earth had been whispering to him all these years.

Overall, good story. Enjoyed seeing the young Anni-Padda boys. I liked the subtle nods to the future, like with the blood streaks across Gilad's face where his scars eventually will be.

[agent_graves]

Liked the Book of Life twist, though.

Overall, good story. Enjoyed seeing the young Anni-Padda boys. I liked the subtle nods to the future, like with the blood streaks across Gilad's face where his scars eventually will be.

+1

[jmatt]

I also wonder how much of his crazy came from what the "other mind" of the earth had been whispering to him all these years.

Okay, yeah, I can see it. Maybe we'll see what Padda does after he walks away from Anni with the "This isn't over" line. It's obvious that something pushed him much further over the edge than what we saw in that moment.

[Bl00dsh0t]

I thought this was a really good mini series overall and much better than BOD (main mini).

I liked the brief mention of the Eternal Warrior's wrath, a nice nod to the new ongoing. We also got to see EW protect the Geomancer for the first time

Hope we see more Valiant titles written by FVL next year after Timewalker ends in Dec.

[grendeljd]

I also wonder how much of his crazy came from what the "other mind" of the earth had been whispering to him all these years.

Okay, yeah, I can see it. Maybe we'll see what Padda does after he walks away from Anni with the "This isn't over" line. It's obvious that something pushed him much further over the edge than what we saw in that moment.

Did anyone else see Padda here as potentially the origin of the Immortal Enemy? A being that exists as a manifestation of chaos & decay, a force which seems to come from that 'other mind' of the earths consciousness as it was explained in this series? I did - and I would love it if that was the intent.

Even to the point of having his head split in two, which I thought of as thematically similar to its habit of face splitting...

[grendeljd]

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue (& Book Of Death #4), please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr38/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in

[BugsySig]

I also wonder how much of his crazy came from what the "other mind" of the earth had been whispering to him all these years.

Okay, yeah, I can see it. Maybe we'll see what Padda does after he walks away from Anni with the "This isn't over" line. It's obvious that something pushed him much further over the edge than what we saw in that moment.

Did anyone else see Padda here as potentially the origin of the Immortal Enemy? A being that exists as a manifestation of chaos & decay, a force which seems to come from that 'other mind' of the earths consciousness as it was explained in this series? I did - and I would love it if that was the intent.

Even to the point of having his head split in two, which I thought of as thematically similar to its habit of face splitting...

That would be awesome if true. It would totally explain the Immortal Enemy, a major question that's been left unanswered.

I don't think it'll happen, but I'd love for The Valiant to be included in a Book of Death HC. The two are so interconnected.

[Phoenix8008]

I could totally see Padda as the start of the Immortal Enemy. Great concept. I hope VEI meant that to be the case and solidifies that connection eventually. Does that mean we can never get rid of the Immortal Enemy without getting rid of the Geomancers?

[jmatt]

There's a panel or two where Padda has the three scars. They don't appear later in the arc. It's just after the Terratorn (vulture) attack.

Not sure what it means.


screenshot program

[Tony_H]

I also wonder how much of his crazy came from what the "other mind" of the earth had been whispering to him all these years.

Okay, yeah, I can see it. Maybe we'll see what Padda does after he walks away from Anni with the "This isn't over" line. It's obvious that something pushed him much further over the edge than what we saw in that moment.

Did anyone else see Padda here as potentially the origin of the Immortal Enemy? A being that exists as a manifestation of chaos & decay, a force which seems to come from that 'other mind' of the earths consciousness as it was explained in this series? I did - and I would love it if that was the intent.

Even to the point of having his head split in two, which I thought of as thematically similar to its habit of face splitting...

That's a sharp observation ( )! I wasn't totally sure who Padda became, but now I believe you're right about him being the IE, the counterweight to the Geomancer, and the human-pruner alluded to in #3 (especially as, preserving balance, his name is on the right side of the hyphen in Anni-Padda).

For me, LOTG is up there with Dr. Mirage, Divinity and Armor Hunters in VEI's 1st class. Even if the story hadn't been as solid as it was, Ryp's art was absolutely amazing from start to finish; seeing it reminded me of being a kid and looking at P. Craig Russell's or Richard Corben's work for the first time.

[jmatt]

Ryp's art was absolutely amazing from start to finish; seeing it reminded me of being a kid and looking at P. Craig Russell's or Richard Corben's work for the first time.

Yeah, he delivers a lot of eye candy, to be sure. All of the art was fantastic from start to finish.

[tiredofmyself]

We also saw that Cult of Null comes out of Nergal horde as well. One of the horde shouted "Nothing is Forever!"

[grendeljd]

We also saw that Cult of Null comes out of Nergal horde as well. One of the horde shouted "Nothing is Forever!"

That's awesome, I didn't catch that bit of dialogue!

*spoiler*

However, I think it has already been revealed in Ivar, Timewalker that there is a link between The Null & the Nergal Death Cult. Great to see yet another little nod to the established continuity in LotG though!

[Brapbrap]

this was cool, nice to see somebody referencing the houses again.

i think there is a connection between padda and the eternal enemy, he seemed like he wanted to be killed by Gilad and Gilad cut his head in half

[jmatt]

Nice montage.

[BugsySig]

Having just finished these issues, I have no doubt that Padda is the origin for the Immortal Enemy. He is the part of the Earth which still wants to kill the Geomancers and cull humanity. It also explains why some Geomancers are allowed to live, while others are marked for death...sometimes the Earth is fickle. An eventual connection between Padda and Darque would be quite pleasing.

[leonmallett]

A good end to the series. I was glad to see the brothers in this issue, but I had hoped for something more definitive as to why they in particular were so special among their people prior to the destruction of the Boon.

I didn't pick up on Padda and the Immortal Enemy connection - I was thinking along Necromantic/Deadside lines more than anything, but the explanation from you guys makes so much sense.

Overall a good series, but not worth the way it was distributed which I still think was a very crass gimmick in all honesty, not least for the way that the vagaries of distribution could exclude many of VEI's core fan-base.

A final thanks to ed for arranging the deal for board members.