Since posting my review of the part I of chapter 2 back in June of 2020, I left the other three albums of the series on a table ready to read. Teasing myself. Waiting for the right moment to continue.
That time has come. I just had to read Julius III.
Like the preceding tome, our diminishing group of travelers continue their eastward trip, through (what will become) India, the Himalayas, and into Tibet. This voyage of faith is one that taxes the travelers to the brink. Each character is well-established by now.
There are two main revelation in this tome. The chapter (composed of tomes II and III) is called "La Révélation" so that is no surprise.
The first revelation is on personal level where the characters' outlooks and faith are shaken and put to the test by the events therein. It would be hard NOT to have a crisis of faith considering some of the elements. Some characters turn back, some abandon the quest while others persevere on the quest.
The first one is the origin of the raven-knights that have been plaguing the protagonists from the start of the series. This was an interesting reveal, even if I felt the scene where we discover the secret fell a tad flat. Like everything, it has a biblical link that most people would recognize and interesting. The scene felt forced. Almost as if the author went "Okay, let's info-dump this and move on". "Interesting" as in "not great, but not bad either"
The ending sets up the finale, a finale I am very excited to read. I said to myself "Oh wow, what a shift," no doubt this sets up the "First Part" (Reviewed here). For the longest time, I wondered how the two plots could link, but this is getting to the real meat of it.
As always, Julius the Roman is the most interesting character of the bunch. His evolution is realistic and very relatable. Definitely a stand-out character from the series - a good thing as he is the titular character. I can't wait to see what will happen to him next.
This book was sparse on dialogue with many of the discussion done with facial expression. I went through it so fast, despite my attempts to slow myself down. The art is as top-notch as the rest of the series. My one ding is that differentiating the men is difficult at times because they are all bearded with long hair and look similar. Even Julius is has to find in the group. Historical, but drains some enjoyment.
So where does it rate. For the first time in the series, I waffled between 3 and 4. Comparing it with other 3s, it was much higher, but it was lower than most other 4s. I settled for 3.5, rounded out to a weak 4/5. This one is the weakest of the series so far. Despite this, it sets up the series finale.
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