The Next Great Swords & Sorcery Adventure: ‘The Shadows Of Thule’ Advance Review

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When a Roman general, manipulated by a necromancer, decides to awaken an ancient plague, enemy clans must join forces to save the world as they know it.

If every fiber of your being said “Yep, I want to read that,” you and I are on the same page.

Humanoids is releasing The Shadows of Thule this August, and it is one of the absolute coolest swords and sorcery meets alternate history meets the secret history of the world stories I have read in recent years.

Written by Patrick Mallet, with art by Lionel Marty, colors by Axel Gonzalbo, and translation work done by Montana Kane, Jonathan Stevenson, and Jake Thomas, this book feels like a fusion of everything great about Conan stories and everything creepy about H.P. Lovecraft tales blended together with just enough real-world history that it somehow grounds itself while being reality-bending at the same time.

Set in Scotland in the 2nd century AD, the story follows the Roman conquest as it stops at Antonine’s wall. Beyond the wall sits the lands of the Gaels, and even further north, the wild hills of the Pictish people.

When a Roman general, manipulated by a necromancer, decides to awaken an ancient plague and unleash it on the north, Cormak Mac Fianna, the last king of the Picts, unites his tribes to fight. But compared with the unstoppable Shadows from the ancient island of Thule, their power pales in comparison, and old enemies must put aside differences and join forces against the oppressive onslaught of this world and the strange worlds beyond.

The Shadows of Thule feel like a love letter to everything that makes the sword and sorcery genre great. From talking dead to ancient witches to shadowy forces that breach the veil between this world and the next, this book combines all the good parts of a genre that is, let’s face it, often fraught with problematic issues.

There are so many cool visual moments I can’t share with you without spoiling the book, but in the almost 150 pages there are some truly stand-out scenes that rival anything I have seen in my years on this earth when it comes to eldritch horror and otherworldy magics.

The Shadows of Thule is everything great about the Sword and Sorcery genre with rich and haunting lore, complex characters, and beautifully illustrated moments that stick with you long after you have turned the page. This is a modern classic that is sure to delight readers for ages to come.

Until next time, seriously, there is a moment with a sword in a lake, a demon statue in a cave, and a dead man who is talking in this book that are some of the coolest nods to other bits of fantasy literature with personalities all their own. It’s so so good.