- Title:
- Curtain Call
- Author:
- Jaromir Krol
- Release:
- August 19, 2012
- Format:
- Series
Curtain Call stars famed (and deformed) actor Francis Jeridan. After experiencing a traumatic facial disfigurement on stage, he’s forced to wear a mask and has lost his spot as the leading actor in his troupe, ‘Personne’.
What Jeridan wants more than anything is fame and when he gets an offer that seems too good to be true, his patience is tested when his drunken co-performer enters the room and begins to take the spotlight off of him.
I’m really not sure who this story is supposed to be for. It mentions the city of New Ashos, Auras (the currency used in the videogame Two Worlds II), a couple of towns not in the game and that’s about it. It’s only connected to the lore of the games with the tiniest of threads, which is enough to leave people not familiar with the series wondering what these references are. As for me, a long-time fan of the Two Worlds series, it’s not satisfying as a tie-in because it has so little to do with the game world. It adds very little to the lore and world of the game, that it seems almost a waste of time to read.
As for a short thriller, I found it enjoyable but completely predictable. I predicted the ending very early on and as the story changed, I predicted a different ending. Only to realize I had predicted it correctly both times.
The novellas contain various pieces of re-used and possibly some original concept art, but it can be misleading as it really has nothing to do with the story. One piece of cover art features a hooded character with facial scars, the character Emperor Gandohar. But somebody unacquainted with Gandohar’s face might misinterpret it as the character from the story.
Seeing as the only legal way to obtain the English version is through the videogame distribution platform Steam, I say give this one a hard pass. The German version can be found on Topware Interactive’s online store as well as Amazon, but unless you like mediocre thrillers and can read German, there’s really no appeal.
English Cover 
German Cover