The Lord of Shadow Keep is a bit crap, coming as it does after Temple of Flame. It lacks a lot of the creative flair in the design of the encounters that made up for any flaws in the previous books. Though there are some, like the lizardman swashbuckler, so it isn’t a complete loss.

While the story leaves me cold (it is sort of a light remix of the Fisher King tale from the King Arthur cycles), I think this book has some of Leo Hartas’ best art in the series. His work often features weird, low angles and fish-eye distortions that really appeal to me and add to the anything-can-happen atmosphere. His inclusion of text in some of these illustrations adds a sense of urgency, as if in seeing the text you suddenly realize that Hartas could have been hiding helpful clues in all the illustrations. He wasn’t, but that doesn’t take away from the vibes…

I don’t think that sleepy-eyed kid on the cover stands a chance. What about you?