Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil

By: Wes Al-Dhaher
Illustrated by: Aurelio Mazzara
Publisher: Tales of Khayr LLC
Publication Date: January 25, 2025
Reviewed by: Diana Coyle
Review Date: February 14, 2025

During the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mehmed I wants to rebuild the empire, reclaim lost territories, and spread dominance over the Balkans and Wallachia in Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil by Wes Al-Dhaher. Within the walls, a group by the name of The City of Angel operates to ensure that Christianity will reign no matter what the cost. The people are used to kidnappings, bribery, and political assassinations to achieve the ultimate goal. But they aren’t too sure about the rumors that people are being sucked into the earth and devoured by something sinister. The citizens aren’t certain if the rumors are fact or fiction, and prefer not to know firsthand because if they do, that means something has happened to someone close to them.

Young lord Nikephoros lives a pampered life with his mother, Polychronia, in Constantinople. He is training and studying to be an archon, also known as a ruler, within the next few years. At just 15 years old, he still has quite a bit to learn. His best friend, Adam, is a commoner and doesn’t command the same respect as Nikephoros does, but that doesn’t stop them from being friends. One day Adam decides to see if Nikephoros will go investigate the rumored tunnels that run unground throughout the city. Once the boys go underground, their lives are changed forever. What happens when they both go underground to investigate?

This reviewer’s first impression of this book was that it was extremely detailed in historical reference throughout the short pages, making it feel authentic for the time and setting of this graphic novella. All the rich historical details set the tone for the story and made it feel even more believable to the readers. We see how Nikephorus was in training to hopefully be a ruler within the next few years and how he was taking his training and studying extremely seriously. Adam, in contrast, was a commoner and didn’t have to worry about the training and schooling that his best friend had to worry about. So when he took Nikephoros to investigate the underground tunnels, immediately a red flag raised. From that moment on, their lives would never be the same.

As for Nikephoros’ mom, Polychronia, the first impression of this woman was filled with curiosity and something indescribable. She seemed to be harboring something within, although readers have to wonder as they’re reading along just what it could be and why she was withholding whatever it was from Nikephoros. She wasn’t to be trusted by any means. Then when she met up with Fausta, a mysterious woman that Nikephoros saw his mom associate with, things took an even more sinister turn. When her son confronted her about the meeting, she lied to him that she never saw Fausta before that meeting. This proved that Polychronia wasn’t to be trusted.

One thing worth mentioning was that this graphic novella was presented to the readers in a very unique fashion like no other graphic novella seen on the market. Instead of telling the story with illustrations, the author decided to present the written portion of the story first, followed by the continuing storyline purely through graphic illustrations only. The illustrations provided by Aurelio Mazzara were very detailed and presented in black in white for the remaining pages of this graphic novella. Each illustration provided the readers with many details to absorb as they tried following along the remaining pages of this wordless story.

Quill says: Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil by Wes Al-Dhaher is one graphic novella that is uniquely presented to the readers for them to interpret the written portion of the story differently from the graphic portion. The characters are multi-layered and the illustrations are richly detailed. If you are looking for a fresh approach to reading a graphic novella, this is one to consider.

For more information about Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil, please visit the author's website at: talesofkhayr.com.