Xena: Warrior Princess: All Roads - Genevieve Valentine - Book Review

XENA Warrior Princess - All Roads

Synopsis

To the thrill of rabid fans the world over, television's Xena: Warrior Princess is back for swashbuckling new adventures! After the Twilight of the Gods, the world is precariously uncertain, and Xena and Gabrielle have been missing for twenty-five years. The power of Rome is growing; Caesar is determined to conquer by lies what he can't conquer by force, and the people at its edges know what's coming. Our heroines return to stop him before they have to wage war against a man they once called a friend... but along the way, Xena will have to confront her past against a rogue band of women warriors, and Gabrielle, whose secret visions are becoming prophecy, will have to protect her partner at any cost.

Available at Amazon - 

https://www.amazon.com/Xena-Warrior-Princess-All-Roads/dp/1524101605

https://www.amazon.in/Xena-Warrior-Princess-All-Roads/dp/1524101605

About the Author

Genevieve Valentine, novelist, comic book writer and cultural critic, one who wears many hats. Her short stories have appeared in over a dozen Best of the Year anthologies, including Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. she has written Catwoman for DC Comics apart from Xena.

Xena the Character

Xena ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112230/ ) is a fictional character initially created as a secondary character for the TV series Hercules The Legendary Journeys, a highly rated series, ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111999/ ). She is the most famous creation of Robert Tapert who is himsel known for 3 reasons. 

Firstly not many people identify with him as the co-founder of the production company, Renaissance Pictures with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, famous for the cult movie The Evil Dead and also the creators of the Hercules and Xena series. 

Secondly he along with Sam Raimi is also the co-founder of Ghost House productions which has among its many successful ventures, The Evil Dead reboot, The Grudge, drag Me To Hell and many other movies in the horror genre. 

Lastly and more romantically he is also famous as the husband of Lucy Lawless, Xena in the syndicated series. 

If you don't know about Lucy Lawless, i.e. Xena, then please read here ( https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005128/  ) and also look below 👇

This is a picture from this comic book and features Lucy Lawless as Xena, from the television series which has inspired this graphic series. The similarities of the characters in the art and series are quite clear.

The book consists of 6 Chapters and an additional Chapter with Bonus materials. As depicted below 

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Being inspired by the TV series the artwork reflects much of the series with characters depicted in the art being true to the series. The art is mellifluous and changes to a darker indistinct tone in the later chapters especially midway through Chapter 4, as the artist changes. Apart from this the art is inspirational and depicts the characters and the countryside around ancient Rome well.

This book and the storylines in it derive their presence from the 6th season of the TV series where the duo of Xena and Gabrielle have been away from Rome for a long time having faced Rome previously and Xena made a champion by the current Caesar in bards tales. Caesar's armies have been ripping into the countryside and recklessly massacring and pillaging villages and a rebel throng of women are offering stiff resistance to Caesar's army. 

This book is for fandom with it being a continuum of the series 6th season and several if not all plot points have some derivation from the show and lot of the interactions and deep rooted relations between the characters are embedded from historic interferences from the show. A gross new comer could find it difficult to understand some of these relationships and access and familiarity that the characters seem to have with each other having developed over the 100 odd episodes of the series.

The book can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the series if one accepts the lines in the story as gospel and doesn't ask for proof or isn't overawed by jumps in the story.

I would recommend at least a reading of the season 6 episodes synopsis if not viewing the series would go a great way in accentuating the pleasure of enjoying these adventures.

The stark contrast where this book does break away from the TV series is in the relationship between Gabrielle and Xena. Where in one case the TV series was all over the place, this book clears all misconceptions in their relationship.

The series was a favorite of the Critics who praised it for its strong female central character and Xena has a strong cult following with lots of attention in fandom, parody's , etc. This book also does no wrong in keeping the mystique alive.

I recommend this book for fans and also to those who enjoy sword and sorcery in their books.

Please do not forget to post your comments. I am an equal opportunity person so would love to hear your love or your hate. Please write what you did not like or whether the book was an absolute disaster for you and why.

You can also follow/like my review at Goodreads here -

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4667378435