A spark in outland

"A spark in outland" or "Ein gnista utomlands" is a federal adventure novel published by the federal author Tova Tovasdottir and is a hit that pushed the author into the spotlight, while originally from Imeriata proper did the author grow up in Sydvinland where her family moved and the climate and history of the realm she grew up in has clearly affected her writing. However Tova has gotten some critique by her research that can be described as lackluster, especially when it comes to Rohane Alistan culture. While it is true that most federal subjects feel ill or at least very uneasy when visiting the country is this not a universal constant for most humans as the book implies, if this was due to Tova just assuming this was true for everyone or foreshadowing for the main characters' true heritage remains debatable. The golden tower crisis is also hardly mentioned or glossed over in the book making it a bit unfortunate that the book is supposedly taking place in the modern day and age, however as Tova started writing prior to the crisis is this understandable and most likely down to poor planning.

Plot

The plot revolves around Gazzer, a young Alistinian man that is very much down on his luck and trying to find a place in the world in Rohane Alista, while a good horseman and skilled swordsman is he still struggling a lot with college that is slowly burning his will to live out of him, something that is not particularly helped by him working in a small run down store, and him having a girlfriend that constantly tries to push him into taking their relationship further but constantly seems to dodge any questions about marriage. However her family is of a great bloodline so he does not have much say in the matter of continuing the relationship. His parents seems very unwilling to listen to him and there is very little to ease his spiritual suffering. This is not made easier by the fact that the very air in Rohane Alista iis sickening and he like most people visiting it feels ill constantly.

This however changes one day when he passes out due to a lack of sleep and overwork from his studies at his computer, to his shock and horror does a fearsome being appear before him, Bel the lord of Battle and the silver forged God of war appears before him and tells him that in his veins is king blood and that Gazzer can trace his linage back to the ancient schvart dynasty that once ruled as kings in their ancient realm first as independent princes and later as loyal vassals under the Stjärnkhrone dynasty and that He has come to tell Gazzer that the Gods have tasked him to ride to the Imeriata because an oath his ancestor once swore needs to be upheld and slay a vile demon that once again plans to walk on the mortal plane. To aid him in his duty will Bel give him a mighty sword capable to slay beings of such darkness.

Gazzer wakes up in a cold sweat the next morning when he is woken by a running lad knocking on his door to tell him that his employer needs him to show up for work immediately, Gazzer tries to protest that it is a holy day in Alistran religion and they should by ancient rights and obligations be allowed to take part in the required rituals, however the lad simply replies that their boss told him to show up or he is fired and he cares not.

Themes

The stories are often stories of self sufficiency, self reliance, duty to country and family, but also crosses themes such as Imerian high culture, colonialism. However the comic has also been known to even risk censur as it has been known to tackle social issues as well and gotten into hot water with royal authorities more than once over various political issues. Once even resulting in duels or threats of duels by fans and members of the censor board and the royal internal affairs advisory's cricle of education that also deals with propaganda and censoring when the authorities tried to make the authors tone down a certain storyline critical of export of slaves from the federation abroad.

Reception abroad

After Imeriata Digitised covered the comic series in a MalTube video, a steady increase in sales was noted in Malgrave. Aventyren i Kargmark has since received praise for it's varied storylines and rich backstories, with generational characters and a rich involvement of the surrounding region.

While popular across Malgrave, a survey commissioned by the Royal Malgravean Times established that Aventyren i Kargmark was slightly more popular in the overseas territories which was seen as a sign of overseas residents resonating with the overall story arcs of the comic series more compared to mainlanders.

In 2020 it was reported that TVN were working on securing the rights for a televised version of the comic series, however, this was put on hold due to the unrest in the Research Colony.