Lumberjanes Original Graphic Novel: The Infernal Compass (Lumberjanes)

by Lilah Sturges

[Quirky Cat]

The Infernal Compass is set in the same world of the Lumberjanes, but separate from the ongoing plot of the series itself. It was created by Lilah Sturges (Everafter, Thor: Worthy Origins, The Magicians) and Polterink.
What’s interesting about the binding of The Infernal Compass (and a couple of the other Lumberjanes stories) is that it is in hardback, and on the whole probably smaller than a single graphic novel. However, where the graphic novel may have several plots and issues, the Infernal Compass is all one plot.



Fans of Molly will be happy with this novel, as she’s by far the biggest focus throughout. It still has the same Lumberjanes feeling of course, so the rest of the campers are important…it’s just that the focus is on Molly because in a way it’s her emotional turmoil that sets the plot off.
As per usual there are lots of laughs here; though I feel like a lot of them should go to Jen this time around (her exasperation is both hilarious and adorable). I feel like I should start a chart to keep track of all the old fashioned words for trouble she manages to dig up. The word of this volume is ‘hijinks’ in case you were curious.
Oh! And let’s not forget the ship names that came up for a certain adorable couple. You can probably guess who I’m talking about, but I am so not ruining all the names everybody came up with. Those you’re going to have to read on your own.
This novel was really nice in that it took a break from all of the chaos (and let’s be honest, in the Lumberjanes world there’s a whole lot of that) and let the characters (well, some of them) explore their emotions a bit more. It was refreshing, in its own way, and something that I think they (and as such, we) really needed.
More than that though, I love how they were able to tie those emotional journeys in with an actual plot (which may have brought along some chaos…it’s the Roanoke cabin, what do you expect?). It was impressively done. And of course the plot itself helped some of them learn an important lesson. Though I have to wonder, will we be seeing those characters again? Realistically probably not – we never really saw any of the other characters once their plot was done. Well, not most of them anyway.
This was a great novel and a ton of fun. Perfect for any Lumberjanes fan out there. This is the third book of its kind, so if you haven’t read the others you should go check them out. It’s also the only one that I don’t have signed…so I’m going to have to work on fixing that!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks