Castle in the Stars: A Frenchman on Mars

by Alex Alice

Overview

Alex Alice's Castle in the Stars: A Frenchman on Mars is the fourth volume in a lavishly illustrated graphic novel series set in a world where space exploration began during the Victorian era.

As Seraphin, Hans, and Sophie make their descent to the Mars surface—with stowaway Loïc and the wicked Gudden in tow—they’re prepared for danger. But with its gravity-defying rain and giant carnivorous beasts, Mars is even more treacherous than they expected.

When Seraphin suddenly finds himself separated from his friends and alone in the Martian wilderness, he must trust a mysterious shape-shifting creature to guide him back to safety. But this creature has an agenda of their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250805263
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Series:	Castle in the Stars Series , #4
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Alex Alice is a French graphic novelist whose works have been translated into more than fifteen languages. While traveling around Europe he developed a lifelong passion for the ruins and castles of the medieval and romantic ages. This experience influenced his art, from his esoteric thriller The Third Testament (co-written with Xavier Dorison) to Siegfried, an operatic retelling of the northern saga of the great dragon slayer. In Castle in the Stars, he draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth-century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder to enchant adults and younger readers alike.

Alex Alice is a French graphic novel writer and artist, working in France and sometimes the U.S. Born in 1974, he grew up in the south of France and had the chance to travel around Europe, where he developed a life-long passion for the ruins and castles of the medieval and romantic ages.

This infused his art, from the grim medieval setting of esoteric thriller “The Third Testament” (1997-2003, co-written with Xavier Dorison) to the primeval, mythic world of “Siegfried” (2007-2011), an operatic re-telling of the northern saga of the great dragon-slayer.

In Castle in the Stars, he draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder, to enchant adults and younger readers alike. His works have been translated in more than 15 languages.

Editorial Reviews

2020-06-16
Readers may wish this graphic novel were several times taller and wider.

Alice’s illustrations showcase some of the most glorious landmarks of the solar system, circa 1871, from a castle in Prussia to a crater on the moon and the caverns and canyons of Mars. Often, there are airships floating above them, shaped like enormous birds. Fans of the series might wish the pictures were the size of turn-of-the-20th-century broadsheets, like the Little Nemo comic strips, or posters they could hang on their walls. Even the most ardent fans, who’ve read the previous volumes again and again, may be baffled by the plot, which includes multiple political factions active in multiple parts of the galaxy. But the core of the story is simple enough to follow: There are good guys and bad guys, and they fight—sometimes with airships, sometimes with psychic powers. (No matter how many factions show up, almost all of the characters are white—even a Martian princess appears, at first, to be white and blond.) Like the first three volumes, this book ends with a cliffhanger, but it does resolve most of its major plot threads. It even ends with a kiss. More important, the last page is utterly filled with aircraft, with three balloons apiece. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.3-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 78% of actual size.)

Every page is stunning, like coming across an atlas that covers the entire solar system. (Graphic steampunk. 10-16)

Kirkus Reviews