I was excited to see a new Record of Lodoss War… anything really come out, both in terms of the Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth game (which I’ve just finished Let’s Playing – I’ll have a review of that in November) and when I learned that a new manga was coming out set after the events of Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. I had wondered if it was going to be an adaptation of Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth – but Crown of the Covenant being its own story (albeit one that Wonder Labyrinth led directly into) was something of a pleasant surprise.

The manga (and the novel it adapts) is set about 100 years after the end of Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. As we saw in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, Parn has long since passed on, Deedlit has gone into seclusion, and the various kingdoms of Lodoss are at peace. This peace is held through the use of the Crowns of the Covenant – 6 crowns originally created by the ancient kingdom of Kastull (which you may recall Karla was part of) and then enchanted by Wort. The crowns bind each of the kings to each other – none can go to war against the other, and if facing an outside threat, all must band together.

This system generally worked well, until the new heir to the throne of Flaim, the kingdom of Kashew in the original campaigns, chose not to be crowned with his kingdom’s Crown of the Covenant, and several other new kings chose to do the same. The rulers of Marmo – the descendants of Spark and Neese the Younger (as Ashram & Pirotess bailed if the plan to resurrect Kardis succeeded) – now face a new challenge to keep the peace. The youngest of the princes of Marmo, Lyle sets out to find Deedlit and ask for her help in bringing the people of Lodoss together to stop this war.

So, to be upfront – this is not a complete story. This is the first act of what’s meant to be a larger series of novels by Ryo Mizuno, and the story’s structure doesn’t fit the same framework of the Record of Lodoss War campaigns. If anything, I’d almost compare this to the Dragonlance novels, in that this is telling the parts of a story that could be told with roleplaying game adventures, but was always planned to be done as a more conventional narrative – and like the Dragonlance Chronicles, this story was intended to be told over multiple books, which means that the end of this book is meant to end on a “To be continued…”

The art by Atsushi Suzumi is different than a lot of the other Lodoss art. There’s a stronger usage of emphasis lines in the art than what I’m remembering from the earlier Lodoss manga that I’d read. Additionally, the art for the earlier Lodoss series felt like it was made as “fantasy art in manga form” – whereas this feels more like “manga that is fantasy”. The earlier art had less claustrophobic panel layouts and was more willing to keep the “camera” wide. This feels like it’s closer in on faces and reactions. This isn’t to say there aren’t wide shots, but the art’s scope feels more confined. I haven’t read Suzumi’s other work, so I can’t say at the moment if this is representative of her previous manga, necessarily. This isn’t me saying it’s bad either – the artistic decisions keep the focus on the characters and their reactions. The scope feels smaller, but it keeps the reader’s attention on the people in the story.

In all, while this isn’t a complete story, it is an enjoyable story – and I hope when the next book comes out, the manga adaptation (and its official English translation) doesn’t come too far behind.