Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria - The Mighty Nein

Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria

by Matthew Mercer

Journey through Wildemount alongside the motley group known as the Mighty Nein!

Encompassing the first chapters of Critical Role's second campaign, this tome illustrates the adventures of our unlikely heroes as they meet in Trostenwald, struggle through a heartbreaking encounter with the Iron Shepherds, and more. Featuring stunning works by artists from the Critter community, Critical The Chronicles of Exandria -- The Mighty Nein is a beautiful way to revisit the origin of the Mighty Nein through the perspective of Expositor Beauregard Lionett and the archivists of the Cobalt Soul.

The deluxe edition of The Chronicles of Exandria -- The Mighty Nein boasts 264 pages of art created by the Critical Role community and accompanying text written by Liam O'Brien, Taliesin Jaffe, Dani Carr, and the cast of Critical Role . It also includes the following extras, exclusive to the deluxe

Genres: Fantasy, Art, Graphic Novels, Comics, Dungeons and Dragons, Fiction, Gaming

261 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Storyteller, Voice Over Guy, Dungeon Master, McCree, Cor, Yusuke, Jack Cooper, MacCready, Levi, Chrom, Leon Kennedy, & keeper of the #CriticalRole...

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be another story. Something like Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins.
It's not.
It's actually some very lovely art and text descriptions for characters.



Now, I borrowed this online from Hoopla, so I couldn't preview what was inside in the same way I could have if I'd had a physical copy in front of me. So. I was pretty disappointed.
A wall of text with a picture is not my jam.



I didn't know who these characters were so I didn't care what these snippets of information about them said. I tried skimming some of it, but I was lost and quickly gave up on reading. I looked at the pretty pictures and closed the book (so to speak, b/c...digital).



However!
For fans of whatever this is?
It has some gorgeous character drawings inside and I'm sure those of you who actually know and love these characters will be quite impressed.
So. Yeah. Recommended for fans of whatever this is.

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a love letter to the mighty nein. Critical Role is my bread and butter, and c2 is my absolute favourite. I am incredibly attached to all of the mighty nein, every NPC of c2 and generally just everything about it. This book is mainly an art book for it, with INCREDIBLE art by critters from all around the world. Absolutely beautiful and stunning. It also includes text entries about each of the MC, a few NPCs and most of guest characters. I will say I sort of wish there was a bit more text entries in form of bonus content? What I mean is that most of the text entries are things we know, and instead it could’ve been an opportunity to give us new insights. There’s some of that (e.g. Marion’s letter to Jester<3) but there could be more.

Still, what a beautiful collection of works. I will forever be The Mighty Nein #1 fan

[Sandra (LadyGrey Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review coming soon

[Mareike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely gorgeous book collecting stunning fanart for (a little under) the first half of Critical Role's Campaign 2.
I just want to sit with this book and let my eyes feast on the art for a week or so.

I also really enjoy the notes from Beau's journal and how they reflect her first and subsequently changing impressions of the rest of the Mighty Nein up until roughly ep. 50). And then there's the marginalia by some of the other archivists of the Cobalt Soul. I am very fond of this kind of stuff in fictional books.

I really hope they'll do another volume for the rest of Campaign 2.

[Crowinator · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day I'll get the hardcover version but in the meantime seeing the art on my iPad through the Hoopla edition was gold.

[Sterling Wesson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve got mixed feelings. It was certainly very pretty and filled with a lot of amazing art work, but also considering how expensive it was I was a touch let down their wasn’t more meat to it all. I feel like there was potential to make this almost like a history book on the mighty Nein and their adventures through Beau’s eyes but in the end I think it’s more around 20 pages of semi interesting text and the rest just an art book. It’s nice art, and I can see myself looking back on it from time to time if I’m feeling nostalgia over the Nein, but I’m a touch dissatisfied with the content.

[Eduarda De Carli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning and incredible artwork by Critters all around.
I was hoping there would be more text, more of Beau's writings, but it was wonderful anyways.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a stunning book. Perfect for fans of Crit Role! The art is lovely and the little report snippets are so fun.

[Twisted.Plots · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: Not a lot of text, pictures are beautiful.

[Emília · Rating 5 out of 5]

the artwork is stunning and the little insights into how Beau saw the others is great

[liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

marking this as my first book of 2024 i don’t care it counts i love it it’s beautiful and gorgeous and perfect and i love the mighty nein so much they mean everything to me

[Helene Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

i lobe them all so much

[Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Critical Role / DND.
My new obsession.
Beautiful artwork.

[Madeline W · Rating 2 out of 5]

REVIEW: Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria The Mighty Nein, Matthew Mercer
RATING: 2.75/5 stars

While the artwork in this collection is great, the randomness of the organization and the sheer surplus of text made it extremely hard to follow. I know it was fun for many to see how Beau's perception of the Mighty Nein changed over the course of the campaign (or at least the first half at that), but all of the revelations were things you could pick up on from observing Marisha's character during the show, more or less. I loved how these different excerpted moments reminded me of my favorite CR moments, but that's just the unfortunate thing: this collection hardly added anything new like the recent graphic novels. It literally reads like a textbook. This is not even taking into account that I had to read the digital version through Hoopla, which was an experience in itself and not necessarily as conducive to zooming as OverDrive's mechanisms.

I complain about high fantasy a good deal when it comes to books because the amount of exposition can be too dense. Additionally, authors tend to include information that they find interesting - which is their entire world - versus what readers find interesting, which usually ends up being approximately fifty percent of what is given. This text was quite reminiscent of those one hundred pages of appendices at the end of LOTR. It was not what I was expecting or hoping for, and frankly, I did not like it too much. However, I can see how this would be perfect for many, so props to Matt Mercer and company for putting it out into the world.

[AHCuteArt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why did you read this book?
I purchased this book on sale in a pack and just got around to reading it.

What format did you read this book in?
Read it as an eBook on Kindle.

Is this an educational book or a book for entertainment?
I read this book for pure entertainment purposes.

What genres do you think this book belongs to?

Art, Fantasy

What was your favorite part of the book?
I really liked the artwork.

Who would you suggest this book to?
I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of the later seasons of Crit Role and want to get their art book.

What is your general opinion/ rating of this book?
This was okay. I was expecting a comic book, but instead, it was an art book with some character details. It wasn’t bad per se. The artwork was amazing, but if you don’t know who the characters are, you will easily get lost. Great for fans but not so great for people not in the know. Since I hadn’t seen the latter seasons of Critical Role, I had no idea who these characters were, and I was lost. Overall, if you’re a fan, I think you might like this.

[Eeva H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hienoa fanitaidetta kirja täynnä. Tekstiä olisi voinut olla hiukan enemmän. Vaikka taidekirjahan tämän on kyllä tarkoitus olla, että sikäli. Osan piirroksista olin nähnyt jo ennenkin, mutta osa oli uusia. Teksti koostuu ikään kuin Beaun muistiinpanoista eri hahmoista ja sitten Cobalt Soulin ihmisten tekemistä reunamerkinnöistä.

Critical Rolea katsomattomalle tämä ei varmaan aukea ihan samalla tavalla, vaikka hienoja piirrokset hahmoista ja eri kohtauksista ovatkin. On varmasti ollut valitsijoilla tekemistä, kun ovat käyneet läpi valtavia fanitaidemääriä. Kirjassa päästään jonnekin tuonne toisen kampanjan jakson 47 loppuun, joten melkoisesti olisi jo taidetta koottavaksi seuraaviinkin kirjoihin - juuri nyt kun kampanjassa mennään jo jaksossa 120 ja paljon kaikenlaista on ehtinyt tapahtua tässä välissä.

[S.M.M. Lindström · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Critical Role, this is a book for you! A collection of gorgeous art in many different styles that portrays the adventures of the Mighty Nein from their first day together to their time as temporary pirates working to solve Fjord's issue with dreaming about giant eyes and coughing up seawater afterward.

I like this art book most of all the three current once of the Exandria Chronicles, since it's got fun in-character notes from characters in it! It's extra interesting since many footnotes are written by Archivist Zeenoth and if you're up to date on the campaign (today's date being the 9th of March 2021) you know why that might be...a thing.

Highly recommend this to all fans of Critical Role and beautiful and cool art!

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous artbook and character profile collection for the early section of the Mighty Nein's campaign, designed as if compiled by the Cobalt Soul from Beau's notes on her travelling companions and their adventures. It details the (early) profiles of the Nein, various NPCs, and various organisations and events they encountered.

I was sad to reach the end. And also sad that it stops before reaching the Xhorhas arc, so nothing from the Kryn Dynasty in here. Desperately hoping for a part 2 to cover more NPCs as well as the later revelations of the Nein (Nott's history, Fjord's history, the Traveller's identity, etc.).

[Astoria (Jax) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to give this 5 stars but although the artwork is phenomenal and I wish I could give each individual artist props, I had issues. The little pieces of information we got for each character was enough insight to keep my happy and invested but the written in text made it difficult to read it properly on a computer. I get the appeal of having the character's writing be in the margin but as far as accessibility goes, it does not lend itself to easy reading for those with sight issues. I read it via my computer and even that didn't make it any easier to decipher through all the cursive.

[Ay Oh Be · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't actually listened to MN yet. I'm still finishing VM. So I don't know if this cleared up or confused most of the story for me.

What is do know is that I am really excited to meet these characters and follow their adventures.

The Art is wonderful. I often spent several minutes just looking at the pieces, admiring the skill and style is so many of them. I love the variation in styles and the many ways the a single character can be rendered, yet all recognizable as themselves.

These books are beautiful.

[Pedro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I read it as an ebook, which I understand is not the best format for appreciating an artbook.

There are a few good artwork pages. But the texts are just a collection of non-cohesive scraps of information. It is not even the complete information, because it doesn't include things for the whole campaign. Neither does it provide any extra information about the character's backstory. It is just a collection of random thoughts and accounts of unimportant moments.
This is simply a collection of fanart and the styles are so diverse that the transitions are too radical.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't a read as much as it is a visual feast. The variety and extent of fan art dedicated to the Mighty Nein, paired with Expositor Beauregard Lionett's notes, make this a delightful book. I particularly enjoyed the margin notes from the archivists of the Cobalt Soul. If you are a fan of Critical Role or just like good fantasy art, it's worth taking a look at this coffee table tome.

[Rachael Arsenault · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is honestly just so beautiful. All the art is incredible, and looking back on the M9's journey through a new lens is simultaneously fascinating and nostalgic. I love Beau's observations and commentary alongside notes from the archivists, not only because it offers a new perspective, but also because there are nuggets of lore and world/character building in there.

Now to wait impatiently for a second volume. :D

[Shaun Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria the Mighty Nein is less of a book, and more of a love letter to the fans of the insanely popular web show Critical Role. The book is basically a set of reports from Beau to the Cobalt Soul sandwiched between some absolutely amazing art provided by the show's fans.

The lead time on bringing a book like this to market is quite long so the character profiles will be a little old for people who are up-to-date with the show, but the way it is set up there is plenty of scope for further books in the series covering later events.

If you're looking for a story or some deep dive into the world, this isn't really for you. However, if you're looking for a beautiful coffee table book with some breathtaking artwork and some little in-jokes and character pieces, then you'll really enjoy this.

It is certainly one for the show's fans rather than people new to the world of Exandria, but if you love the show, chances are you'll love this.

[(DixiewinxEqandMore) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal with all the artwork & lore, really puts everything the gang has been through on the campaign. It also makes for a great coffee table book. I enjoyed learning more about Beau, Jester; Caleb and Molly. Their stories seemed to be more fleshed out in terms of all the annotations featured by Caleb or Beau. I can definitely see how reading this on a e-reader would be less than ideal.

[Aloysius · Rating 4 out of 5]

After enjoying the Amazon adaptations of the First Campaign of Critical Role, I decided to get into looking into the 2nd Campaign and their group, Mighty Nein.

I appreciate the larger cast, the more... dubious and shadowy backstories of many of the members, and the interesting twists and turns in the quests that the Mighty Nein get involved in. Their personalities and stories get a full hearing in this in-universe publication.

[Irati · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a collection of very pretty art of the characters and events of the podcast.

It's funny that I've bought this without having actually listened to the podcast but in my defense I love fantasy art, the art on here is gorgeous and I plan on listening to the podcast asap so it's worth it having bought the book anyway.

[Kash · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most visually stunning, and heartwarming books I've ever had the pleasure of reading! It's so clear that a lot of work and care and detail went into the curation and production of this book and it's truly spectacular. Would 10/10 recommend for anyone of is a fan of the show and the stories that Critical Role are telling <3

[Ryan Case · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting to see the book as a collection of Beau's notes - it makes it more "real" in a sense, but Beau is notably somewhat scatterbrained and messy, which makes it hard to follow at times. If you like the show, you'll love this book, but it will be a mess to anyone that doesn't know the backstory going in.

[Peter Blease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written collaboratively, ‘in character’, this book is stunning. The artwork ranges from charming to outright beautiful, and the overall presentation is excellent. Now I wish I could find a copy of the other two volumes! Haha