Wahcommo is a staggeringly imaginative work of world-building that is utterly fearless, taking inspiration from Nordic, Native American, Japanese and Western cultures to create something on par with Tchaikovsky’s Echoes of the Fall or Avatar: Legend of Aang.

Kaya and Fox are flawed characters, young and brimming with confidence and self-importance. Despite the seriousness of the task given to them, the pair constantly bicker and undermine each other. Much of the book explores the burdens of tradition, why they are important to maintain and why it is essential for them to be challenged.

Wahcommo is an absorbing adventure story with plenty of thrillingly action sequences full of blood and magic. The slower contemplative moments where the sweeping vistas of the fantasy world where the story takes place allow you to catch your breath before our heroes go into the breach once more.

NCT’s art is stunning. Blending different fantasy elements influenced by different cultures is incredibly difficult to do smoothly. Here it just works. There are no awkward juxtapositions. The character designs are superb. You can tell a tremendous amount of research and work was taken in creating the look of everything in the world of Wahcommo. There is a tired and lived-in quality to everything on the page; nothing is shiny and new. It is a hard world full of hard people. The linework is rough, giving it a sketch-like quality where the colours adding a great deal of depth and richness to the illustrations.

The chase and battles scenes are up there with the very best. One chase sequence where our heroes are trying to escape capture by town guards that hard turning the pages faster than I could reasonably read and comprehend what was happening.

It is not without flaws. I have seen other reviews complaining that these sequences were difficult to follow, but I didn’t find that to be the case save for some pages towards the end of the book. The ending also felt somewhat rushed, which I think is a fair comment. The plot itself is also fairly basic, but who cares when it is propped up by art as gorgeous as this.

Wahcommo is a treatise on why civilisations rise and crumble disguised as a coming of age story. It is an exhilarating fantasy romp, and I really hope the NCT returns to the world they have created here with more adventures.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Please consider using this affliate link to buy the book.