Last year I had the pleasure of reading two books from Cinebook, publishers of English translations of Europe's finest comics, often called Bande Dessinée. Bande Dessinée, or BD for short, means 'drawn strips'. Comics are far more popular on the continent than in the UK, in fact Cinebook's website declares that 'one of every eight books sold in France is a comic book'. I can only dream of such a situation in the UK!
Cinebook publish a wide range of European comics, from stuff created for kids to hardcore sci-fi, to fantasy, to romantic literature, to period drama and to crime. You will find something for every taste in their catalogue. All listings on their website give an age range as well, always helpful!
So over the next few days we will publish two short reviews of Valerian and Laureline: The Empire of a Thousand Planets and Lament of the Lost Moors: Siobhan.
Disclaimer: Cinebook kindly provided a free review copy of The Empire of a Thousand Planets for me when I bought Lament of the Lost Moors (review coming soon) at the November 2013 Thought Bubble comic convention. However I can assure you that all views are my own, positive reviews cannot be bought!
Writer: P Christin
Artist: J. C. Meziere
Colour work: E. Tranle
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Lettering and text layout: Imadjinn
Publisher: Cinebook
What's it about?
This is a sci-fi book about two space travellers, Valerian and Laureline, sent to explore a planet called Syrte to discover whether the Syrtians could threaten earth. Syrte is a bit of a strange planet - it's the capital of an empire (hence the title of the book) and is a key trading point. You can buy absolutely anything you want there. The planet is ruled by an ancient dynasty but there seems to be a powerful religious sect with a lot of influence. Our two heroes have to pass as locals and navigate Syrtian society to fully explore. Of course they can't quite manage this and that's where the adventure begins.
Cinebook publish a wide range of European comics, from stuff created for kids to hardcore sci-fi, to fantasy, to romantic literature, to period drama and to crime. You will find something for every taste in their catalogue. All listings on their website give an age range as well, always helpful!
So over the next few days we will publish two short reviews of Valerian and Laureline: The Empire of a Thousand Planets and Lament of the Lost Moors: Siobhan.
Disclaimer: Cinebook kindly provided a free review copy of The Empire of a Thousand Planets for me when I bought Lament of the Lost Moors (review coming soon) at the November 2013 Thought Bubble comic convention. However I can assure you that all views are my own, positive reviews cannot be bought!
Writer: P Christin
Artist: J. C. Meziere
Colour work: E. Tranle
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Lettering and text layout: Imadjinn
Publisher: Cinebook
What's it about?
This is a sci-fi book about two space travellers, Valerian and Laureline, sent to explore a planet called Syrte to discover whether the Syrtians could threaten earth. Syrte is a bit of a strange planet - it's the capital of an empire (hence the title of the book) and is a key trading point. You can buy absolutely anything you want there. The planet is ruled by an ancient dynasty but there seems to be a powerful religious sect with a lot of influence. Our two heroes have to pass as locals and navigate Syrtian society to fully explore. Of course they can't quite manage this and that's where the adventure begins.