Utterly Dwarfed

The Order of the Stick #6

by Rich Burlew

Here comes the sixth volume of The Order of the Stick, the fantasy-comedy webcomic that everyone agrees gets longer with each book released! In Utterly Dwarfed, the Order is on their way north to save the world in style, thanks to their new friends on a cool pirate airship. Little do they suspect that while they deal with monsters and the usual plot stuff, one of their own is facing a battle inside their own mind! (It's Durkon, obviously.) And when the gods themselves start taking a closer interest in Roy's band of misfit heroes, this action-packed adventure ends up having repercussions so big, we couldn't fit them on the page! With almost five years of comics, this mammoth collection is our longest book yet (not counting the previous one). Here's what you'll find inside:

All of the comics from #947 to, uh, the end of this story arc!
More than 10 all-new bonus comics here and there throughout the adventure!
A recap of events to-date by "Durkon Thundershield." (wink, wink!)
Foreword by Haley Starshine!
A never-before-seen map of the Northern Continent!
Nine or so pages of navel-gazing author commentary!
A new moderately improved art style that makes some things look better and others worse!
Probably some other stuff!

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Comedy, Fiction, Role Playing Games

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2019

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, by this point you know what you are getting with an Order of the Stick book: zany adventures, epic fantasy action, RPG humor, and oh so many puns. It is one of my favorite pieces of fantasy, which is saying a lot for a webcomic about bumbling stock figure adventurers.

While there is little in the way of new material in this book as compared to what was available online. What this book does offer is a great deal of insight into the creative process and decisions that have done into this series. I found it quite insightful and fascinating, and it gave me a greater appreciation for all the plotting and thought that has gone into this amazing webcomic.

And if you haven’t given Order of the Stick a spin yet, what are you waiting for? You’re only hurting yourself.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Order of the Stick book 6. Serious spoilers for earlier works ahead, as this one makes little sense without them.

Starting with its opening with Durkon as a vampire, which means that a vampire spirit is running his body and holding him prisoner in his own head.

This leads to a lot of incidents of his memories. Meanwhile the quest to save the world goes on with some sidequests and subplots. Belkar's awareness that Durkon is not really Durkon. A thread for Halley's past gets tied off and shows her growth. A fight with giants that goes reasonably smoothly except for drama on the ship. The discovery that the gods are discussing what to do -- it really has reached such a pitch that can be a subplot. Death. A steampunk gnome city. And more.

[Jana Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

More adventures of our favorite stick figure gaming group. At the end of the last volume we were down to one gate, lots of enemies, a few less enemies and one cleric who wasn't exactly with the living anymore. Technically.

I am very polarized about this volume of the book. First of all we get an 'art upgrade' and while I understand exactly why and Rich Burlew explains very well - with pictures - why he made the art choices he did it's visually jarring after so many books drawn differently and it took getting used to. I think I'm okay with it now, but still... it makes the reading feel a little off.

Secondly this book is really focused on Durkon's journey with some hit and miss bits from everyone else. There's a lot going on and it's more convoluted than the first volumes as Burlew digs in to try to explain more of what's going on in the big picture. As well we're seeing scenes in Durkon's head, out of Durkon's head, in the present, in the past and often on other planes. And it's not always as engaging as some of the other volumes. This one was much easier for me to put down for a break and to skim. I'm not sure if that says more about the book or me.

So am I glad we have it? Certainly. It's a strong 3.75 rating that I round up to a four, but it's not the volume I'm going to grab and read out of order just for fun. Except maybe for some of the interaction with the air ship crew, but even then. Yeah, I can see an exciting drive to the end of the series coming, but this part feels slow to me and I'm hoping we're going to pick things up and get on the move.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I told myself "I'll reserve judgement on this arc until it's finished and I can read the commentaries". Now, I have no desire to read the commentaries and even less to reread it.

This arc started out so promisingly too. The gnome town was a fine breather after the end of the desert arc, and I actually loved the godsmoot, with the ludicrous triple layer tie breaker and the rules lawyering fight between Roy and the vampires. Rich does great with these sorts of fight scenes and the godsmoot was no exception. Then everything griiiiinds to a screeching halt. Looking back at the page count, the post-godsmoot material doesn't actually take up that much of the arc's total page count, but by god, I do not care about it at all. The only interesting material post-godsmoot was Thor's explanation of the real state of things to Durkon and the introduction of his alliance-with-Redcloak plan. That was interesting because it was actually relevant to the larger story. Yes, the Order may, technically speaking, be taking care of the most imminent threat to the planet, but it feels like sidequest material. Xykon and Redcloak may have appeared about as much in book five as they did here, but there things were actually happening. Xykon was reaching the end of his patience with Redcloak, and the clock was ticking on the Order to beat them to the gate. Here, they've already beat the Order there, and they're only being held back by the MitD's sabotage.

It doesn't help that Durkon is my least favourite Order member. He works fine as a backup straight man to Roy, and his few running gags are amusing, but I felt he couldn't shoulder a major subplot of his own, and I still feel that way now that all's said and done. I already thought he was reaching the upper limit of his screentime without becoming grating in book five, and here he massively surpassed that. I actually started to feel bad for the vampire after a while. If it was bad enough for me reading it, how much worse would it be experiencing it with mind palace time dilation? I'm dreading the role Durkon might have in the (supposedly) final book as the ambassador to Redcloak.

The art "upgrade" was a mixed bag. The higher resolution is nice, but the vectorized PDFs of the earlier books mostly fix that problem. The improvement in the complexity and legibility of the stick figure style has been an ongoing thing (just compare book one art to book three or four), so it's not like this volume represented an unprecedented improvement. Finally, while the boots are fine, the fleshy hands are a serious downgrade that counterbalances almost every improvement. I thought it was a bad idea when the arc started, and I still think it was a bad idea. I just try to ignore them as much as I can.

I remain cautiously optimistic for the final book. While there are still some really big unknowns (the other planet was barely touched on in this book), the scope of the remaining story does seem manageable for a single final book, especially if it runs longer than these last few, and the Durkon overdose return to acceptable levels.

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This penultimate volume of OOTS is a lot of fun and has a bit of everything: split narrative lines among different groups, flashbacks, foreshadowing, self-referential jokes, author commentary, and all the silliness we've come to expect from these comics. I am glad that one particular plot point got resolved in this book, though, because—while important to the main plot—it was one of my least favorite things. (Also, the resolution for it was very nicely done.)

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 5 out of 5]

More fantasy adventure from the gang. I don't read the weekly panels (personal preference) so I've been waiting a long time for this story. Some lovely reversals, character moments and a few cool reveals. The art has also gone up a level with faded backgrounds and thicker limbs.

[David H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Durkon is surprisingly awesome in this one. I'm also always pleasantly surprised by how well this story holds up once you read it all at once instead of slowly over 5 years.

[Adysnewbox · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Utterly Dwarfed" is the latest "Order of the Stick" compilation (the PENULTIMATE compilation, if author Rich Burlew's introduction is to be believed. Looks like he's heading into the endgame online now!). I'm rounding the grade up to four stars, even though I feel that the actual rating should be around three-and-a-half stars. This volume is definitely NOT as good as its predecessor, "Blood Runs In the Family." The main story arc comes to multiple screeching halts; there are long, long scenes where clerics sit or stand around in sacred halls and discuss rules minutiae and call upon gods who, to this point, have been barely relevant to the story. Our heroes get to have some heroic fights, but with one or two exceptions don't get to shine (Elan and Vaarsuvius feel almost like glorified secondary characters here; Roy gets to gain some proficiency in his legacy weapon and...get drunk, I guess?; and Haley gets some cool upgrades but mostly ties up loose ends of her plot from the previous book). Our main baddies (Xykon & Redcloak) are barely glimpsed either; for much of this volume, it feels like everyone is waiting around for everyone to meet up at Kraagor's Gate for the final battle.

And yet...despite all the obvious stalling, there is still a lot to enjoy here. These strips read MUCH better as a single volume than as separate strips doled out over long weeks/months. Durkon (my sweet dear Durkon) FINALLY gets some much-needed history and depth here, and the true core and nature of his goodness is revealed (along with some pretty great dwarf supporting characters as well). All this while his body is hijacked by a vampire and going on a spree of deceit, death, & destruction! Fun times. Durkon being killed & turned into a vampire was probably my most traumatic moment ever reading this comic, and I was happy to see the story play out in an interesting, meaningful way. Belkar has FINALLY grown as a person, and it's really starting to show in this volume; he's still very funny but has become more than simple comic relief. And Durkon's extended meeting with Thor himself reveals some pretty significant information that will undoubtedly affect the final battle/resolution of the entire comic. Since Thor has been mostly comic relief to this point it was interesting and a nice change to see him taking initiative and being useful!!

I'm also rounding up the score a bit due to the art upgrade; I admit, it startled me and first and took me some getting used to; but I've come to really enjoy the new look. I completely understand Mr. Burlew's desire to grow, change, and experiment with new ideas as an artist, in order to keep things fresh for him and (hopefully) bring all his faithful readers home with a satisfying conclusion. He's shown his mettle as a long-form storyteller, and I like seeing his growth as an artist too. Part of me is dreading the final volume (even though I know it will be a few years in "real time" before I read it), because it will be sad to see this great, funny story end. But even with imperfect books like this one, it's been a real pleasure to be along for the ride.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Order of the Stick continue their epic quest to save the world in book 6 of the long-running online comic! Utterly Dwarfed is a strong, if flawed, volume. The comic’s art style received a significant upgrade when creator Rich Burlew began the strips that would fill this book, and OOTS has never looked better; Burlew flexes his muscles with some lovely scenic frames and dynamic perspectives. A lot of interesting events take place over the course of this book, but I found the overall trajectory somewhat odd. The first half of the book has the mood and backdrop of a climactic confrontation, while the actual climactic arc in the last half of the book feels squashed in, almost claustrophobic by comparison. The settings are dictated by circumstances of the plot, and it all makes sense, it just felt…off. That aside, Utterly Dwarfed is an engaging volume with much to love.

Burlew claims that this is the penultimate volume of OOTS. As such, Utterly Dwarfed had to wrap up a few loose ends from earlier story arcs, drop several huge world-building reveals that illustrate what is truly at stake, and move everyone into place for the final showdown. And in so doing, this book finally puts the spotlight back on one member of OOTS who has been taking a backseat since Dungeon Crawlin’ Fools: the stalwart dwarven cleric Durkon. While Durkon has had his shining moments in the past, he’s always operated largely as a support character who has his foibles but nevertheless can be counted on for a healing touch, a bolt of lightning, a solid thwack of a warhammer, or some anchoring wisdom. The previous volume of OOTS, Blood Runs In The Family, threw Durkon’s role and identity into question, and Utterly Dwarfed finally lets us, literally, into Durkon’s head as his party members race against the clock towards a showdown that will either cement Durkon’s place beside his friends or result in his destruction.

Utterly Dwarfed does not neglect the rest of the order in the process of exploring Durkon. Belkar, in particular, takes his first baby steps out of his own psychopathic comfort zone as he struggles internally to comprehend Durkon’s actions in Blood Runs In The Family. Meanwhile, Roy discovers abilities he never knew he had which may turn the tables when the OOTS at last confront their quarry. And in the final pages of the tome, we learn that there are as yet unnamed parties about to enter the fray. Utterly Dwarfed covers a lot of territory, but by the end, readers will be tingling with excitement for the next few years’ worth of Burlew’s strips that will no doubt bring the saga to an astonishing climax.

[Karl Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This supposedly-penultimate collection of Burlew's webcomic really shines in the author's commentaries; there is a lot of plot advancement and story happening in this installment, and gaining a peek behind the scenes of how it came together was very interesting.

As usual, the content is great because the original webcomic is great, and there are a few additional bonus pages woven in. But forget about it being a webcomic (or, in this form, a graphic novel) - this is another amazing installment of a well-told story that just happens to be told with the trappings of D&D and similar fantasy genre tropes. Ten quatloos on Burlew flipping this into a mini-series when it's all done... and I'll be there for it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another volume, another sidetrek. But, this is the biggest, most ostentatious sidetrek ever, since the Stickers are fighting for the existence of the entire world! And, it's of course a great character study of Durkon, who's largely faded into the background for ... well, the entirety of the book. After this volume, we really know who he is and what makes him tick.

Meanwhile, the main plot is intriguing and fun and exciting — though it really does feel like a digression, and though I'd like to get back to the main plot, this is still worthwhile.

And I'm very saddened to hear that V7 will be the last one, though it's good to know there is an end in site for this saga that's been going on for 15 years.

[John Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant as always. Order of the Stick is my favorite webcomic for a reason, and has been consistently good for more than a decade now (the update schedule is another matter, of course). While it's still very much a story based in 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons, by this part of the story having knowledge of D&D isn't really necessary anymore. This is epic fantasy with a self-aware parody style that can be funny without undermining the dramatic tension. I'm sad to think there will be only one more volume before the story ends.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the Durkan arc. (I think it ends at #1189 fyi)

There is a lot of big plot, but we already know the villians, which was good character development, most of the main party has had their special arc or adventure. Lots of small plot lines have already converged woth the main plot or closed. This is the Durkan arc, we get to world build a bit with dwarves, some main quest progress. It was good, except it felt really long. I liked all the parts well enough but the pacing or complexity decreased for this book.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The penultimate volume of OOTS (the main story, at least). As always, fun, entertaining, well written, strong worldbuilding. The story holds together a lot better when read over a few days than the 5 years it took to appear on the web. If you're a fan of the series, definitely worth a read. If you're not, it might be better to start at an earlier volume.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first physical book I've read for Order of the Stick (mostly because I can't resist reading the web comic) but the behind the scenes interludes and the comfort of reading it in book form make it worth it. That, and I wanted to finally financially support the author whose work I've been reading for well over a decade. Can't wait until the final book is released!

[Brian Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it's possible to read these on line. reading Burlew's thoughts on the process and plotting of the series - never mind not having any buttons to push or time lag on changing pages - make it well worth the investment in the physical copy. Burlew is doing definitive stuff here in terms of RPG storytelling and I'm more than willing to be along for the ride for the remaining volume.

[GingerShimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest in the Order of the Stick series. I really enjoyed this one; it wasn't my favorite. But, as with all in the series, there are really funny moments, moments of suspense, and moments that make you cry. I recommend this to anyone who likes D&D.

[Richard Legault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful tale. As you might guess from the title, it includes a great deal of background and character development for Durkon, which is overdue. It also features a wrap-up for Haley's backstory, character development for Belkar, and the return of O'Chul and Lien. More, please!

[Abby Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bonus material is great and I love the secondary characters presented in this collection.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off slow, with a couple of potentially unneeded digressions, but really sticks the climactic moment.

[Charles McGonigal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penultimate books are always challenging, and this one includes a true story as well as setting up the grand finale. Burlew continually surpasses the high bars he has set in his previous work.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaos Giraffes!

[Francesc · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOOTS es maravilloso

parece que el siguiente volumen recopilatorio será el último.... espero no tener que esperar 8 años =(

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My feels have been hit for maximum damage!"

[Spiros Kakouris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great comic heads to its conclusion (next tome). Sadly there are no LOL jokes anymore... But the story is good and true to the character progression. So, worth its money for me.

[Okoslav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Další skvělý díl zřejmě nejlepšího fantazáckého webkomiksu, jaký jsem kdy četla.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the "art upgrade" for all the reasons Rich outlined in his commentary.

[Diego · Rating 5 out of 5]

THOOOOOORRRRR'S MIIIIIIGHHHTTTT!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series! Hilarious!