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Sword Daughter #2
Sword Daughter, Vol. 2: Folded Metal
A father and daughter continue their epic quest for revenge against the ruthless Vikings that destroyed their lives. New dangers await them as, under siege from the Forty Swords, they move toward the mountains.
Driven by revenge for their murdered village, Elsbeth and Dag have been hunting those the criminal Forty Swords. But as winter falls and the enemy retaliates, the father and daughter fall back to a mountain refuge populated by religious fanatics and make a stand there.
Driven by revenge for their murdered village, Elsbeth and Dag have been hunting those the criminal Forty Swords. But as winter falls and the enemy retaliates, the father and daughter fall back to a mountain refuge populated by religious fanatics and make a stand there.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2019
2 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Brian Wood
1,173 books961 followersBrian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 29, 2019
I wish this had been released together with volume 1, especially since these are only 3 long issues apiece. It explains some of what I had problems with in the first volume and makes the narrative less confusing. I do wish they would have changed the coloring or art style for each of the time periods so it's instantly recognizable which one they are in. I do feel this will make for a better read once you can sit down and read the entire story all in one sitting.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
January 19, 2021
(4,2 of 5 for nice medieval-Viking two-generation revenge adventure)
||comment at whole thing is in Vol. 1 commentary)
||comment at whole thing is in Vol. 1 commentary)
July 21, 2019
The story is really, reaaally slow. Three issues and nothing much happened. I do not know if it would be better to read this issue by issue or when the whole story is out, but this.. this is not good.
I love the artwork, I like those characters, but looking forward to reading this volume was really not worth it. 3,5/5
I love the artwork, I like those characters, but looking forward to reading this volume was really not worth it. 3,5/5
June 17, 2019
So, I said that I was amused by Vol.1. The plot seemed intriguing, the art, lovely, and the main character, attractive. But I found the story a little bit too slow and too green to be judged. Now this Vol.2 compiles (only) three issues and the same things are true: the plot seems stuck and the beautiful and subtle artwork starts to feel tedious. Sword Daughter remains as an attractive idea to me and I'm going to keep reading it, but the story really needs to start getting somewhere because otherwise it's going to start to be boring too soon. And I don't read this comic because the historical accurancy, but sometimes the writer's lack of knowledge of the period he's writing about starts to feel too limiting for his storytelling.
Also, I don't understand this way of collecting issues for release. Three issues? Seriously? And the previous volume compiled only four...
Also, I don't understand this way of collecting issues for release. Three issues? Seriously? And the previous volume compiled only four...
September 6, 2021
(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
This is a review for the series as a whole, as despite this tale being told across three volumes, they are all very similar, very quick reads, so discerning notable differences enough to do three separate reviews without spoilers would be a fairly futile proposition.
The only other series of Brian Woods that I have read is DMZ (Ironically one of the first series I read of my collection. I came away from the fist compendium feeling fairly underwhelmed. I thought it was a great idea that was going wholly unrealised, with average execution weighing down what would have been an excellent story. I'm glad to say that Sword Daughter, although very different, doesn't disappoint to the same extent. While the narrative techniques here won't be for everyone. Its very sparse in its writing, with the soli artwork of Mack Chater doing at least half of the lifting when it comes to the over all narrative. You could breeze through all 300 or so pages of this story in under an hour if you didn't wish to stop and take in the pretty pictures, which although not technically outstanding, suit the world and the story very well.
Wood does a decent job of worldbuilding despite his lack of narrative input, yet I would have like a little bit more from him in this regard. The setting and characters were interesting, if not a tad underdeveloped, again due to the sparsity of the writing. But the journey overall was mostly satisfying, and I never felt short changed or screwed over because of its brevity.
All in all, I can see some not loving this, which is somewhat reflected in its lower than expected score. If you know what to expect going in, you should have a pretty good time. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
This is a review for the series as a whole, as despite this tale being told across three volumes, they are all very similar, very quick reads, so discerning notable differences enough to do three separate reviews without spoilers would be a fairly futile proposition.
The only other series of Brian Woods that I have read is DMZ (Ironically one of the first series I read of my collection. I came away from the fist compendium feeling fairly underwhelmed. I thought it was a great idea that was going wholly unrealised, with average execution weighing down what would have been an excellent story. I'm glad to say that Sword Daughter, although very different, doesn't disappoint to the same extent. While the narrative techniques here won't be for everyone. Its very sparse in its writing, with the soli artwork of Mack Chater doing at least half of the lifting when it comes to the over all narrative. You could breeze through all 300 or so pages of this story in under an hour if you didn't wish to stop and take in the pretty pictures, which although not technically outstanding, suit the world and the story very well.
Wood does a decent job of worldbuilding despite his lack of narrative input, yet I would have like a little bit more from him in this regard. The setting and characters were interesting, if not a tad underdeveloped, again due to the sparsity of the writing. But the journey overall was mostly satisfying, and I never felt short changed or screwed over because of its brevity.
All in all, I can see some not loving this, which is somewhat reflected in its lower than expected score. If you know what to expect going in, you should have a pretty good time. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
September 26, 2020
pretty much a similar that we had in the last volumes. possibly somewhat more activity and less scene and tranquility. a straightforward determination for a basic story. the fundamental accomplishment of this book is, as i would see it, the frigidity of its story. the discourse is diminished to the base and the peruser some way or another associate with elsbeth's cold and inaccessible approach to take a gander at her world. no solid emotions or associations between the peruser and the characters, which makes the occasions stream spotless and smooth.
along these lines, a simple perusing that doesn't feel like the most innovative comic book that you'll ever peruse, however that prevails with regards to making a straightforward story got comfortable viking times that preferences truly not the same as the greater part of the reasonable Medieval comic books that I've attempted to peruse. i would suggest it.
art: 4/5
story: 3/5
along these lines, a simple perusing that doesn't feel like the most innovative comic book that you'll ever peruse, however that prevails with regards to making a straightforward story got comfortable viking times that preferences truly not the same as the greater part of the reasonable Medieval comic books that I've attempted to peruse. i would suggest it.
art: 4/5
story: 3/5
July 3, 2025
I liked volume 2 as much as vol.1. Simple story telling with themes of revenge and family. I just like the pace Brian Wood set here, it is calm and the text is minimal. It has big impactful moments and deep family emotions. I also love the fantasy setting and the simple cast of father and daughter.
We get sort of dual timeline with Elsbeth other looking for her father and the older timeline of them escaping the forty swords. It ends with the father being captured when Elsbeth is 10 and the other timeline ends with Elsbeth rescuing her father when she is much other. Her father cannot wield a sword anymore so it looks like Elsbeth is tasked with finishing off the forty swords. There is brief mention to why they were spared when their village burned, but it remains a mystery.
Now to find a volume 3 since my library lost their copy....sigh
We get sort of dual timeline with Elsbeth other looking for her father and the older timeline of them escaping the forty swords. It ends with the father being captured when Elsbeth is 10 and the other timeline ends with Elsbeth rescuing her father when she is much other. Her father cannot wield a sword anymore so it looks like Elsbeth is tasked with finishing off the forty swords. There is brief mention to why they were spared when their village burned, but it remains a mystery.
Now to find a volume 3 since my library lost their copy....sigh
August 25, 2019
Sword Daughter continues to be somewhat inscrutable, fast-paced, action-heavy, and art-focused. It also continues to be published in a three-issue volume, which is simply not enough time to recall what's come before and become re-invested in the story. Recommendation: Wait until the series has concluded and then give it a read.
I honestly couldn't tell you what the story is leading towards at this point. The father and daughter (and sword) are still on the run from the Forty Swords. In the future, the daughter is on the hunt for her imprisoned father. The separate storylines flow together in a confusing muddle. But hey, it all looks good, seems cool, and the action is great! Could be worse.
I honestly couldn't tell you what the story is leading towards at this point. The father and daughter (and sword) are still on the run from the Forty Swords. In the future, the daughter is on the hunt for her imprisoned father. The separate storylines flow together in a confusing muddle. But hey, it all looks good, seems cool, and the action is great! Could be worse.
December 23, 2020
The bounty on Dag and Elsbeth's heads is growing with each member of the Forty Swords they kill. They spend some time with a group of nuns who teach Elsbeth how to wield a sword properly.
August 14, 2019
Too short. I don't have the next one. If there isn't a next one the story is incomplete.
September 6, 2019
The art is lovely, but the storyline seems to have a difficult time staying grounded...
December 15, 2019
I found the story difficult to follow. I had the sense that the order of the panes was somehow mixed up. One did not follow on the previous with any sense, sometimes.
December 18, 2019
I can't believe I have to wait 5 months for the next one!!!
December 30, 2020
Enjoyed it very much. Woods format has grown on me. Didn’t like it at first. But by the time I finished north landers I was all in. I had expectations after that and sword daughter did not disappoint. 4 stars.
March 3, 2021
Series is okay, probably a 2.5
January 16, 2023
Things are starting to come together
October 9, 2023
Eye read 2023
7/10, i’d give a higher score if the volumes weren’t so short and brutal. Great art and story is ok too.
7/10, i’d give a higher score if the volumes weren’t so short and brutal. Great art and story is ok too.
December 2, 2023
Love the art and action.
November 18, 2020
Second time through and still like this series.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews