L' Épée d'Ardenois #3

The third volume of Étienne Willem's L'Épée d'Ardenois arrives with a cover that commands immediate attention: a masked, robed figure sits enthroned on a stepped dais, flanked by two torches whose flames glow against a warm golden background, a deep green Gothic arch framing the seat of power behind them. The subtitle Nymelle hints at the enigmatic character at the center of this 2014 Éditions Paquet fantasy, and Willem's painterly rendering gives the scene an atmosphere of quiet, unsettling authority. If the earlier volumes drew you into this medieval world, this third chapter looks every bit as richly realized.