This'll serve as a review for the series as a whole. The starting premise is that we have a fantasy world where many members of it each have indivdualized powers. In particular, one person has ascended in recent years into a sort of fantasy Dark Lord: the God of Whispers, whose thing is that he can see through the eyes of anyone who makes a deal with him, and if he dies, all those who have made pacts with him die as well. Our main character Adam Osidis is from a family who was exiled because his father spoke out against the God of Whispers as he ascended, and is shunned by both the God's people, and those who later rebelled against the God, as the father then kept them out of the fight. Adam goes to the God of Whispers, obstentiably to save his family from the GoW's wrath, but in the middle of the discussion, a band of rebels capture the God and begin a long journey to take him to the magical McGuffin place where the god's connection to those bound to him can be severed, and he can be killed without killing them. The “Superhero” Trademark: how the name of a genre came to be owned by DC and Marvel, and how they enforce it The entire Seven to Eternity epic. The God of Whispers has spread an omnipresent paranoia to every corner of the kingdom of Zhal; his spies hide in every hall spreading mistrust and fear. Adam Osidis, a dying knight from a disgraced house, must choose either to join a hopeless band of magic users in their desperate bid to rid their world of the evil god, or to accept the god’s promise to give him everything his heart desires. I strongly believe that the story itself is solid, with the characters well-written. The character interactions, especially between Garils and Adam Osidis are believable and relatable. The ending isn't something new but very much fitting to the overall message Seven to Eternity wants to convey to its readers. Tl;dr: if you can bear feeling dragged by detours once in a while, this story delivers and the art in Seven to Eternity is the at the pinnacle!

Seven To Eternity Vol. 1 Review • AIPT Seven To Eternity Vol. 1 Review • AIPT

Doesn’t that sound like all of these true believers we see running around these days? The January 6th insurrectionists? The armed white men “protecting children” from drag queen shows? The people pushing the “stolen election” lies? And on the left as on the right, the rush to judgement to believe *any* accusation of wrongdoing without any evidence? The Purity Police who wield cancel culture like a weapon to destroy people’s careers? Under all the fantasy trappings are some core themes that help ground the book. The question of principles, and when to bend, is constantly on Adam’s mind, as his father’s unwillingness to compromise is largely responsible for his family’s current state. At what point do you stop fighting fights based solely on principle? It’s a struggle many people can relate to, especially when Adam is tempted by an easy solution. The God of Whispers’ abilities to subtly control people, to pull their strings and spread lies, leads to some interesting questions about power and the concept of truth. I can’t help but see some parallels to the currently political landscape.

Creators

And the darkest thing? It’s that the book’s version of Sauron/Thanos/Apocalypse is *right*. He has the people’s number and he calls them on it. He tells the protagonist that people are confused by complicated ideas, so they don’t trust them. People prefer things to be simple. How often do we see that playing out in our world? Only every day. I have reread all the way from issue one to prepare myself for the last volume. Seven to Eternity is a wild ride that explores themes of choice (and the illusion of having one), true desires, and the great lengths and risks one is willing to take for such desires to come into fruition. That, and the ridiculously good artwork by Jerome Opena makes Seven to Eternity a memorable read and an almost instant classic.

Seven to Eternity Volume 1: The God of Whispers Paperback

I could go through the book and point out the flawed world-building, annoyingly unexplained plot elements and myriad other problems but suffice it to say, though I can’t fault Remender’s ambitious vision, there’s too much here to take in at once and he’s not a good enough writer to lay it all out well. I’m not saying I need everything spelled out for me or that we should know everything in the first volume, but there are key elements to the plot that we should at least have an idea about to start with and the detail just isn’t there. And this is a problem with magic stories in general: without limitations and anything can happen, it’s really hard to care about any of it. The Mud King is psychically linked to millions of people under his control but that’s not enough – he really wants Zeb Osidis to become his slave as well because... uh… When Zeb is killed for defying his wishes, his son Adam must seek mercy in the King’s citadel of Zhal or his entire family will be massacred. However his pa’s not the only dissident in the land and a rebellion is stirring against his Royal Muddiness! Plus the art by Jerome Opeña is flat-out amazing. Not only is it pretty, but he tells the story clearly without trying to be fancy. Everything is communicated and it flows easily. Wowzers! For some reason or other, I shit the bed on collecting these single issues as they came out. When I finally decided that I wanted them, they were like a bazillion dollars for first prints. I love the idea here: what does it mean to hold true to your beliefs in a society/world where no one else does? It's something I can relate to, having strong principles and often times being ridiculed or chastised for adhering to them in the modern world. Remender often takes an idea like this and examines it from a few angles, writing through his analysis as he (what seems like) figures it out for himself in his personal life.For once all of Remender’s cynical beliefs work in a story that has a strong throughline, and he doesn’t drop the ball at the finale. This is *very* cynical indeed, just full-on nihilistic grimdark fantasy that never lets up. The pontificating is on point in service of the tale, and the conclusion is as dark as it gets. A standard Remender reading experience. Phenomenal art with terrific colors and detailed creature designs; wonderfully inventive world-building with a great magic system (particularly love the huge metal-jawed lizardman who can teleport people by swallowing them); and standard issue shoddy, disappointing Remender writing. The world building is minimal which isn’t a bad thing so the book can solely focus on its narrative but I feel we could have gotten a bit more than we did as this whole story is one big road trip moving from place to place and seeing civilisation after civilisation you can’t help but want to learn more.

Seven to Eternity, Vol. 4: The Springs of Zhal - Goodreads Seven to Eternity, Vol. 4: The Springs of Zhal - Goodreads

Not as great as the previous volume, yet the Springs of Zhal delivers a great epilogue to a story that sadly doesn't have the original number of avid readers during the time when the first issue was published five years ago.Seven to Eternity was a nice surprise. Beautifully illustrated, it tells a dark tale of a strange world.

SEVEN TO ETERNITY – Buds Art Books SEVEN TO ETERNITY – Buds Art Books

Remender has a nagging nihilism in most, if not all, of his creator owned work, so much so it becomes a drag to read. However, Seven to Eternity might be the first time it actually works in the books favor, as this is a tribulation for the party involved. That's not to say it breaks new ground, as most if not all the major story beats I could see coming or at least predict closely to say "ah I knew it, you fool". Needless to say, Opeña's art is phenomenal throughout, brought to life by Hollingsworth's impeccable colors. The story is full of weak characterisations. Remender’s main characters – Adam Osidis and the Mud King – are both one-dimensional. One’s good, the other’s bad, that’s it. The other five “characters” that appear out of nowhere are even less memorable and underdeveloped – I couldn’t tell you their names, let alone their motivations for fighting the Mud King besides him being the villain and that’s what good guys are meant to do! The Best Comedy Movies on Netflix Right Now (November 2023) By Garrett Martin and Paste Staff November 1, 2023 | 2:00pm I would be remiss to not mention the art by Jerome Opena. I didn't think he could get any better than he already was, but man, he gets better every time. This volume has some great visuals in it, and its all handled masterfully by Opena and the rest of the art crew. I gave a book an extra star just because of the art. The Best Stand-up Comedy Specials on Netflix By Garrett Martin and Paste Staff November 1, 2023 | 11:30am

As I think about this book, I can’t help but compare it toSaga, by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. In my opinion, I think this book is at or near the same level of excellence. Both stories throw readers into large, complex, actually living worlds. Both stories are about family and responsibility and sacrifice.” The 10 Best Movies on Apple TV+, Ranked (November 2023) By Jacob Oller and Paste Staff November 1, 2023 | 8:32am All 4 issues presented in this volume were an easy 5 stars for me. From start to finish I was completely taken in and carried along with what was going on. Seven to Eternity is EPIC in scope and I am so down with where this story is going!