Cover Image: Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869

Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869

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Member Reviews

Really enjoyed this one and loved the female protagonist and the retro sci-fi aspect. Gorgeous illustrations and a great plot / storyline- can't wait for the sequel.

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This "little" book is wondful, fantastic, a delight to read and look at. Not only the pictures are fantastic, the story is too.

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Gorgeously illustrated steampunk alt-history that asks: what would happen if Ludwig II had a spaceship? Unfortunately, like most awesome graphic novels, it is way too short and now I'm desperate for the sequel.

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Loved it! Loved it! So glad that First Second translated this great graphic novel! The art is amazing! The story is fantastic

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Why do graphic novels always seem to end just at the most exciting part. Let's build a ship to study Aether, that mysterious gas in the sky that could save the world. To accurately describe this story it is time to get out the mixing bowl. The first thing we have to do is throw in some Hugo Cabret, add some Golden Compass (any version), melt a box of crayons, and a big handful of cogs and sprockets. This futuristic historical ship building is part adventure, part science, part thriller, and all fun.

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Castle in the Stars in an exciting aerial adventure comic, but perhaps not for overly young readers, since there's too much text and historical plotting. Basically it's historical Germany meaning Bavaria and Prussia that are fighting for power. Seraphin and his father are building an airship that runs on aether, but the Prussians want to steal it and the Bavarian king must flee with Seraphin because of treason. The beginning of the comic is very confusing and Seraphin's mother is gone. It's hard to keep track of anything, since the plot is all over the place and it's basically too packed. The idea is marvelous as well as the setting of the 19th century with a hint of steampunk. Flying and everything is still new and very foreign and the gadgets look awesome. The comic would need more pages and a slower tempo to make this more appealing especially for younger readers.

The art looks quite beautiful and the cover is awesome. The line work is very thing, mellow and soft and the water colors blend in perfectly. Almost too perfectly, as the speech bubbles kind of stick out nastily because of that. The panels are interesting and the angles too with lots to look at - if there weren't so many speech bubbles that is. The comic is filled with them, which makes this heavy and unappealing, really. Less talk, more action, I'd say. I hope this gets better or at least slows down if nothing else.

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An interesting story with intriguing elements of science and space travel although I found it difficult to connect with the main narrator.

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Loving the artwork in this graphic novel. A great story as well.

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