''Sheva's War'' is a five-issue fully painted

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

published in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. It was the final title to be released under the short-lived

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

imprint

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helic ...

. Created, written and painted by

Christopher Moeller Christopher Moeller (born May 1, 1963) is an American writer and painter, specializing in fully painted graphic novels. Moeller's signature creation is the Iron Empires science-fiction universe, comprising three fully painted graphic novels Faith ...

, the story is the second to be located in Moeller's futuristic Iron Empires universe following publication of the ''Faith Conquers'' limited series by Dark Horse in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

Plot synopsis

The ''Iron Empires'' comprise eight nations of peoples scattered across the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

galaxy; being representative of the remains of a decaying human civilization which was once immeasurably vast. For millennia, the alien ''Vaylen'', a parasitic worm-like race, have rolled back the frontiers of inhabited human space, invading the minds of their conquered hosts and gradually eroding human control throughout the galaxy. Ahmi Sheva is the once-young, beautiful and restless baroness of ''Taramai'', a planet located within the boundaries of the ''Karsan League''. She is also a soldier by training and holds the rank of captain in the planetary ''Landwehr''. Frustrated with life in the company of her much older husband and bored by dalliances with a string of younger lovers, Sheva assumes command of local forces when the ''Ganasch'', the deformed ape-like minions of the Vaylen, first infiltrate and then invade her planet. As the narrative unfolds, Sheva is courted by the visiting Philippe of Artois, Count of Karishun, her former mentor and commander and also initiates a new romance with Hardi Degas, a farm-boy turned soldier. She must lead the resistance of her vastly outnumbered Taramai forces against the incursions of the Vaylen in a series of conflicts ranging up and down the deep forested valleys of her planet. Both the Vaylen and the human nobility employ mind-control techniques to optimise the performance of their forces. Indeed, the Vaylen share an acknowledged parasitic relationship with their hosts and as the series progresses treachery rises to the surface of the human defence initiative:

Themes

Moeller's novel has been variously described as addressing the theme of loyalty from a variety of angles, the issues that confront you as one grows older as well as identifying your best role in the society you have chosen.

Other media

In 2006, Burning Wheel released the award-winning

Burning Empires ''Burning Empires'' is an EP from VNV Nation. It contains remixes and alternate versions of tracks from their popular album '' Empires'', plus the "Standing" single. It is a limited edition release of 4,700 copies. The album was made available ...

role-playing game designed by Luke Crane based on the fictional works of Christopher Moeller. Background material contained in the manual drew heavily upon Moeller's plot and literary devices featured in Sheva's War.

Collected editions

In 2004, Dark Horse re-released ''Sheva's War'' in a collected edition trade paperback: * ''Iron Empires vol. 2: Sheva's War'', by Christopher Moeller, Dark Horse Comics (2004), 160 pp,

References

{{reflist

External links

Burning Empires website

Christopher Moeller's website
1998 comics debuts Helix (comics) titles Science fiction comics