Review: The Legend of the Mantamaji: Bloodlines Book One
I love when heroes over come unconquerable odds, I love it even more when they fail. This is where” the journey” comes into play, most of us cannot see the forest through the trees. I personally struggle with this, especially when I am going to through some turbulent times in my life, and wonder what is the purpose? This question, becomes even more pertinent once one gets through their “personal hell to the other side, as you do become wiser, from the lessons you learned and you know your strength of will as you realize what you can endure.
We love even more when these heroes suffer some self-injury, when they are far from perfect, and when they adjust so they can survive another day. This what has fans loving and hating characters like Daredevil and Black Panther, as they symbolize this symmetry between perfection and imperfection. AS we all fall down, but what matters most is what we do next, as licking your wounds has never solved anything but fighting back has. In the newest storyline of Eric Dean Seaton’s epic series, The Legend Of Mantamaji, the series follow Elijah as he faces a new threat in the first book of Bloodlines.
We find Elijah months later, still fighting injustice in his hero life but finding losses in his professional life and still reeling from the loss of his mother. Not sure of how to get out of this slump, he gets an invite from an old, or shall I say an ex-girlfriend, who just so happens, to be the princess of a small but powerful Afrikan nation, who holds secrets, that if exposed, may be dangerous to outsiders. If that I not enough, a new threat emerges, one that is slowly taking over New York, one more sinister than he could have ever imagined. By book’s end, much more is revealed of who his old girlfriend, Yola really is and just how this new threat and her enemies might mean doom for all involved.
Overall, this book is probably one of the best installments out of this series thus far. It feels more personal and just as action packed. The story Eric Dean Seaton and David Ellis Dickerson is intricate, balanced and exciting. The art by Brandon Palas, Andrew Dalhouse and Deron Bennett is gorgeous and vibrant. Altogether, an entertaining new series that proves this hero is here to stay and deserves as much light as any hero from the big two.
Story: Eric Dean Seaton and David Ellis Dickerson
Art: Brandon Palas, Andrew Dalhouse and Deron Bennett
Story: 10 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy
Who doesn’t love a good trilogy? The anchor that ends a series is what fans most look out for. There are tons of books which end in trilogies. There is something endearing when a story ends in three parts versus a series of books which elevate the protagonist undergoes a transformation. Stephen King’s The Stand, could have been easily broken into three parts, but King decide to gift fans in one massive tome.
No matter where you are in the world, each place has its own mythology. Each culture has stories that makes up the base of its own beliefs, that makes where they are from, almost supernatural. In Japan, much of their mythology is tied to centuries of Shogun rule, the Shinto religion and immortalization of the Samurai. In North Africa, the Berbers, were known for their belief in Maraboutism, where they prayed to their dead ancestors, who they believed they drew strength from.
When it comes to mythology, much of it is skewed in interpretations, versus actual first-person accounts. Any avid viewer of History Channel, can tell you, that many accounts that were written, have been both proven and disproven many times over, and as each of these specials tend to roll out experts who are supposedly smarter than the other.it is very much like an uncle once told me, about why people kill each other, because:” there can only be one person to tell his-tory”. Sometimes the truth is much less romantic than historians want us to know and more enigmatic than the world can comprehend.