{"id":133,"date":"2013-12-22T01:23:29","date_gmt":"2013-12-22T01:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swordandbarrow.com\/wp\/?page_id=133"},"modified":"2026-10-23T19:54:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:54:05","slug":"artesia-afield","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swordandbarrow.com\/wp\/?page_id=133","title":{"rendered":"Artesia Afield"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artesia leads an army out of the Highlands to aid the Middle Kingdoms against the resurgent Empire of Thessid-Gola; the Empire\u2019s legions have swept across the land bringing death by sword and fire, forcing Awain, the High King of Therapoli,\n to split his army and attempt to relieve besieged cities. As Artesia and her captains seeks to join the northern army led by the High King\u2019s marshal, the Grand Duke Owen Lis Red, they are confronted with the myriad dangers and\n distractions of life on campaign. They encounter the Thessid enemy for the first time, meet and hire mercenaries from distant lands, and learn of the Empire\u2019s terrifying allies, the Isliklids, who heretically claim descent from\n Islik the Divine King. And through it all, Artesia is plagued by dreams and haunted by ghosts, as she ponders the choices she has made, and those she hasn\u2019t\u2026<\/p>\n

Originally published as a six-issue comic book series by Sirius in 2001, then collected by Archaia, and now maintained by Aegis & Gorgon in digital and POD editions, available via\n DriveThru<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Awards & Nominations<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Selected as Best Comics Entry<\/strong> at the 2004 DIY Book Festival<\/p>\n

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Critics’ Reviews<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn but two collections Smylie has created perhaps the most fully realized fantasy world I’ve ever encountered, be it in prose or comics<\/strong>… A triumph of richly woven plot, fully realized alien cultures, and all-out\n blood-letting.\u201d<\/p>\n

       — Bill Baker, Blood in the Gutters<\/p>\n

\u201cThunderous wars drawn out over huge battlefields. Mystical warriors crossed with flesh and blood soldiers. A wondrous female lead that is as dangerous as she is beautiful and seductive\u2026 It is not easy to capture the horrors\n of war on paper, but this talented artist has found the way to do that. It is hard to adequately describe Smylie\u2019s art except to boil it down to one simple word: amazing\u2026 This book is of the highest quality<\/strong>\u2026one\n of the best titles on the shelf today.\u201d<\/p>\n

       — Brian Jacques, www.ugo.com<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Artesia Afield<\/em> is classic fantasy material done extremely well\u2026and finding fantasy executed with this level of skill is very rare.<\/strong> Mark Smylie has created a rich historical, political\n and religious background for his novel [and] Artesia is a real character, and she makes her choices with awareness of what they will cost herself and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

       — Petra at the Lair<\/em> at www.noflyingnotights.com<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond simple storytelling, the other extraordinary thing about this book is that it attempts to tell a story of ancient warfare on the Operational level. Briefly, there are three levels of war: tactical, operational and strategic. Tactics\n is how you win battles, and strategy is how you win wars. Although both can be complex, they are both easier to understand than operations, which is the study of how you win campaigns. Operational planning seeks to string battles\n together to form a cohesive campaign to achieve limited and specific military objectives above division level. I dare say that Artesia Afield<\/em> is probably the only comic in history that has attempted to deal with war at this level;<\/strong> the study and planning required to pull it off must have been prodigious\u2026 This is a great book. If you\u2019re a fan of military history or of epic fantasy, Artesia Afield<\/em> is definitely for you\u2026 I guarantee you\u2019ll see\n some things here that you\u2019ve never seen before in a comic. This story is one of the uniquely great stories in independent comics<\/strong>.\u201d Grade: A<\/p>\n

             — Dan Head (US Military Academy Class of 1995; former SQDN Planner, 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry), Comics You Should Be Reading<\/em> at www.paperbackreader.com<\/p>\n

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