What do you think?
Rate this book
Red Sonja: Worlds Away
Red Sonja: Worlds Away, Vol. 4: World's End
Following the defeat of Kulan Gath, Sonja discovers her trusty sword has a secret history as the legendary Blade of Skath and faces a does she keep her steel, or return it to its rightful Cimmerian owner?
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 12, 2019
3 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Amy Chu
325 books196 followersWinner Bram Stoker Award, Gold Anthem Award. Writer for DC, Vertigo, Marvel, IDW and more, including: Poison Ivy, Ant-Man, Deadpool, Red Sonja, Green Hornet, Sensation Comics Wonder Woman, X-Files. KISS and DMC Comics. Cofounded Alpha Girl Comics, publisher of Girls Night Out and other comics. Frequent comic-con panel speaker and moderator.
Follow me on amychu.bluesky.social, @theamychu tiktok, @amy_chu instagram
Follow me on amychu.bluesky.social, @theamychu tiktok, @amy_chu instagram
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 16, 2021
Red Sonja goes to Cimmeria to look for the previous owner of her sword. They are constantly beset by Kulan-Gath's followers and come across a shady Lord. This story isn't great and the last issue of the arc isn't included in this but is in Vol. 5 instead. Way to go Dynamite.
February 24, 2022
RED SONJA is back in the Hyborian Age and traveling with her companions Tara and Leera. Her sword skills are dulled as is her blade and reputation. Discovering her recently acquired sword belonged to a legendary warrior named Lord Skath (who is very similar to the legally unusable Conan the Barbarian), she journeys to Cimmeria and discovers that his house has been taken over by...tourists.
THIS WILL STAND STAND! It is a somewhat sillier set of comics than usual but works very well with reorientating Sonja to the past. I also appreciated the development of Tara and Leera as they struggle with the fact the latter stole Kulan Gath's amulet in hopes of selling it to a sufficiently powerful wizard.
I liked Lord Skath even if his story is one we've seen many times with Westerns and other stories about washed up legends.
THIS WILL STAND STAND! It is a somewhat sillier set of comics than usual but works very well with reorientating Sonja to the past. I also appreciated the development of Tara and Leera as they struggle with the fact the latter stole Kulan Gath's amulet in hopes of selling it to a sufficiently powerful wizard.
I liked Lord Skath even if his story is one we've seen many times with Westerns and other stories about washed up legends.
June 22, 2019
Good but not spectacular installment in the Worlds Away series by Amy Chu, it certainly wasn’t bad, it just didn’t feel like a whole story, not when compared to volumes 1, 2, and 3.
We rejoin Red Sonja back in the Hyborian Age, who finds she has been gone for years from her time/place thanks to her escapades in modern day New York and elsewhere. Trying to regain her reputation and “work through some rage” she finds that her sword is not only unbalanced but has a history behind it, belonging to a Cimmerian named Skath. Told through a series of flashbacks relayed to Sonja via a blacksmith, Sonja learns that the sword pretty much made Skath invincible and a powerful leader, but once he lost the sword fighting a dragon, he fell on hard times and lost his kingdom. Still alive she is told, she decides to journey to Cimmeria and find this Skath, who may wish to reward Sonja for returning his sword.
Accompanying Sonja are two mainstays of the Worlds Away series, Lera and Taya. Good to see the continuity they provide with the other books in the series, good to see other strong female warriors in the setting, and also nice to see some character development with these two (most especially Lera). Missed are Max, Professor Wallace, Spike, and Holly but I didn’t really expect to see them in this collection. Kulan Gath is gone…mostly, though there is some blowback/fallout from his reign, though this blowback/fallout is a bit unsatisfying (important at first but then apparently dropped as the story progresses, though as this tale is unfinished maybe it will appear again?).
The remainder of the tale details Sonya, Lera, and Taya adventuring in Cimmeria, finding Skath, and dealing with the usurper of Skath’s throne. As with other books in the series, the average, common person is not neglected and have something of a voice as well. There are also monsters, not as prominent in earlier books in the series and most of the monsters we see are in single panel flashbacks, but they are there. The dragon involved in Skath’s tale of woe are illustrated and are nice but not as imaginative as some of the other monsters in the Worlds Away series.
Positives, I continue to like the art style, particularly of Carlos Gomez. I also like the sense of humor they give Sonja, the better detailed world than seems typical for Red Sonja stories, and like the diverse ensemble cast (though pales a bit in comparison with the previous installments in the Worlds Away series). There is also a neat subversion of expectations very early on in the book, not really hugely relevant overall to the story but it is nice and unexpected. Also a very nice cover art gallery at the end, though perhaps with somewhat less a range of styles this time around. Negatives, the smaller cast, several of the supporting characters are missed, the overall story felt very incomplete, the chief villain is nowhere near as villainous or as powerful as Kulan Gath (and to an extent we find, sorry if this is a spoiler, Skath is sort of his own worst enemy), and it just felt less epic. Also I miss the stranger in a strange land vibe of Sonja in modern day USA but I guess that can’t be helped.
I wasn’t unhappy, it just didn’t feel like a complete product. It didn’t seem Skath’s saga is enough to carry a reader all the way through a volume 5 (though perhaps Kulan Gath’s legacy might pad it out a lot). I think how a volume 5 finishes the story arc if there is a volume 5 (I don’t read the comics, just the trade paperbacks, so I don't know if this is on the way) would affect a lot how I ultimately viewed volume 4.
We rejoin Red Sonja back in the Hyborian Age, who finds she has been gone for years from her time/place thanks to her escapades in modern day New York and elsewhere. Trying to regain her reputation and “work through some rage” she finds that her sword is not only unbalanced but has a history behind it, belonging to a Cimmerian named Skath. Told through a series of flashbacks relayed to Sonja via a blacksmith, Sonja learns that the sword pretty much made Skath invincible and a powerful leader, but once he lost the sword fighting a dragon, he fell on hard times and lost his kingdom. Still alive she is told, she decides to journey to Cimmeria and find this Skath, who may wish to reward Sonja for returning his sword.
Accompanying Sonja are two mainstays of the Worlds Away series, Lera and Taya. Good to see the continuity they provide with the other books in the series, good to see other strong female warriors in the setting, and also nice to see some character development with these two (most especially Lera). Missed are Max, Professor Wallace, Spike, and Holly but I didn’t really expect to see them in this collection. Kulan Gath is gone…mostly, though there is some blowback/fallout from his reign, though this blowback/fallout is a bit unsatisfying (important at first but then apparently dropped as the story progresses, though as this tale is unfinished maybe it will appear again?).
The remainder of the tale details Sonya, Lera, and Taya adventuring in Cimmeria, finding Skath, and dealing with the usurper of Skath’s throne. As with other books in the series, the average, common person is not neglected and have something of a voice as well. There are also monsters, not as prominent in earlier books in the series and most of the monsters we see are in single panel flashbacks, but they are there. The dragon involved in Skath’s tale of woe are illustrated and are nice but not as imaginative as some of the other monsters in the Worlds Away series.
Positives, I continue to like the art style, particularly of Carlos Gomez. I also like the sense of humor they give Sonja, the better detailed world than seems typical for Red Sonja stories, and like the diverse ensemble cast (though pales a bit in comparison with the previous installments in the Worlds Away series). There is also a neat subversion of expectations very early on in the book, not really hugely relevant overall to the story but it is nice and unexpected. Also a very nice cover art gallery at the end, though perhaps with somewhat less a range of styles this time around. Negatives, the smaller cast, several of the supporting characters are missed, the overall story felt very incomplete, the chief villain is nowhere near as villainous or as powerful as Kulan Gath (and to an extent we find, sorry if this is a spoiler, Skath is sort of his own worst enemy), and it just felt less epic. Also I miss the stranger in a strange land vibe of Sonja in modern day USA but I guess that can’t be helped.
I wasn’t unhappy, it just didn’t feel like a complete product. It didn’t seem Skath’s saga is enough to carry a reader all the way through a volume 5 (though perhaps Kulan Gath’s legacy might pad it out a lot). I think how a volume 5 finishes the story arc if there is a volume 5 (I don’t read the comics, just the trade paperbacks, so I don't know if this is on the way) would affect a lot how I ultimately viewed volume 4.
December 26, 2021
Após toda porradaria que rolou nas primeiras edições, Red Sonja descobre que a sua espada está desbalanceada; procurando a ajuda de um ferreiro para fazer geometria e balanceamento, ela descobre que a espada era de um antigo rei cimério, Skath. Por motivos não muito óbvios, ela resolve procurar o tal Skath para devolver a espada.
Ao longo das edições, com o tempo passado nas aventuras do futuro, a reputação de Red Sonja deu uma diminuída, então ela também vai atrás de novas aventuras para ganhar uns pontos na tabela de popularidade do mundo bárbaro, também é interessante ver como a Amy Chu segue construindo um mundo bem específico para a Red Sonja com coadjuvantes, um senso de humor particular, e, enfim, uma espécie de cronologia. Claro, chegando na Ciméria a coisa não é tão fácil assim, porque Skath está desaparecido e no seu lugar tem um cara que montou um parque temático no castelo de Skath.
Sério. Com piscina e arena de gladiadores, claro.
Ao longo das edições, com o tempo passado nas aventuras do futuro, a reputação de Red Sonja deu uma diminuída, então ela também vai atrás de novas aventuras para ganhar uns pontos na tabela de popularidade do mundo bárbaro, também é interessante ver como a Amy Chu segue construindo um mundo bem específico para a Red Sonja com coadjuvantes, um senso de humor particular, e, enfim, uma espécie de cronologia. Claro, chegando na Ciméria a coisa não é tão fácil assim, porque Skath está desaparecido e no seu lugar tem um cara que montou um parque temático no castelo de Skath.
Sério. Com piscina e arena de gladiadores, claro.
September 28, 2025
An Improvement, Really Good Art and Good Writing
I enjoyed this volume, but the ending is in the next one, volume 5.
The artwork is really good. It’s definitely one of the better looking Red Sonja books.
The story is interesting and told pretty well. The writing is a big step up from volume 1 which had excessive exposition dumps and an out of character Red Sonja. It’s the same writer, but they did much better here.
After reading volume 1, I had decided to stop reading this series. It was fun but the writing was not working for me. I happened to have this one (volume 4) so I figured I’d go ahead and read it anyway and I’m glad I did. I will be getting more books in this series in the hopes that the writing is more like this book and less like the start (volume 1) and am looking forward to the end of this arc.
Also includes a cover gallery of some really good covers.
I enjoyed this volume, but the ending is in the next one, volume 5.
The artwork is really good. It’s definitely one of the better looking Red Sonja books.
The story is interesting and told pretty well. The writing is a big step up from volume 1 which had excessive exposition dumps and an out of character Red Sonja. It’s the same writer, but they did much better here.
After reading volume 1, I had decided to stop reading this series. It was fun but the writing was not working for me. I happened to have this one (volume 4) so I figured I’d go ahead and read it anyway and I’m glad I did. I will be getting more books in this series in the hopes that the writing is more like this book and less like the start (volume 1) and am looking forward to the end of this arc.
Also includes a cover gallery of some really good covers.
July 9, 2025
After the ‘Worlds Away’ hijinks of volumes 1, 2 and 3, this feels like a bit of an afterthought. It also doesn’t include the final issue of the Skath storyline that it begins, ending on a cliffhanger. It would have been much stronger if that was included!
Not a must-have book even for die hard Sonja fans, but there’s still plenty to enjoy. A quick read as ever!
Not a must-have book even for die hard Sonja fans, but there’s still plenty to enjoy. A quick read as ever!
August 13, 2019
I liked the story but why was this compilation only 4 issues and the final issue is not included?!?
July 30, 2023
Still fun stuff but I feel like they should've kept up the Sonja in the modern age bit going a while longer
April 23, 2024
The best arc of Amy Chu's run for my money; still a little "modern day" in the language, but I liked the satirical bent regarding the tourism industry.
December 12, 2022
Rating : 3 ⭐
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews