Cover Image: The Lost Ages 1

The Lost Ages 1

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This was the first graphic novel that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a few things that could have been done differently to improve it slightly but I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
I enjoyed the overall story of the novel, however there were parts that fell rushed and not explained enough. I can understand that its maybe nice to have the reader fill in tbe blanks themselves but I just wasn't what the story needed. It would have been nice to bulk it out a bit, with some character backgrounds and elaborating a bit on some of the action. Overall, I enjoyed it but it seemed rushed and needed to be a bit longer for a more well rounded story.

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Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: A few millenniums after the fall of a French civilization in the year 1000AD into the titular lost ages, modern society as we know it has crumbled and rebuilt itself from scratch. In this rough terrain follows the conflicts between Anglia and other neighboring tribes as they try to survive.


My Thoughts: Story (4/5) – Most of these types of stories I’ve seen generally revolve around people who’ve survived an apocalyptic catastrophe trying to rebuild out of the remaining resources at their disposal. Thus it struck me as a bit original to see a plot where a relatively less evolved progeny of humans emerge from the rubbles of a completely eradicated and forgotten contemporary society.

Characters & Worldbuilding (2.5/5) – Eh, I feel like they could be much done to improve in those departments in future volumes. After the beginning scene where the ancient civilization collapses, the reader is abruptly thrown into this new world with little context regarding the history and topography of how these tribes formed or any hint to what led to the downfall of our modern world. Therefore, we’ve mostly left to figure out the universe’s dynamics based on what’s given away through the dialogue, an experience I would consider similar to waking up in the middle of a battlefield with no memory of anything that occurred previously which brings me to my next point.
Dialogue (3/5) – It was serviceable and moved the plot forward as it should, but it was nothing remarkable worth writing home about.

Art (5/5) – This was the best part of the book. The desolate landscape scenery in particular did a great job evoking the unforgiving, wild atmosphere one could imagine from such a setting.

Final Thoughts: The Lost Ages 1 was an average age for me. The art was impressive but the executive was less so and rushed. However, I see the potential for improvement in coming installments.

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The Lost Ages is an interesting fantasy story that hinges on the set-up that a huge catastrophe rendered the Earth as primitive, perhaps more-so, as the stone age for thousands of years. This was the result of a huge meteor storm in 1000 AD that caused a literal "dark age", killing a lot of life on the planet. Humans cowered in caves and basically just existed from then on. Set "many thousands of years in the future" from that point, the world has gradually moved back to a point where it could be seen as your typical high fantasy setting not unlike Conan. This alternate earth has evolved without humans in any sort of dominant role much of its existence, meaning that fearsome beasts are high up the food chain and are evolved for bloodthirsty precision when it comes to hunting the last shreds of humanity.

We find out later, than records of the before times do exist and the main character's father Primus is attempting to harness some of the advanced (for 1000 AD) technology found within. This of course angers other tribes and forces our main characters on an adventure to find a new homeland and learn from these old texts. While this book really only gets moving along plot-wise at the very end, I will be excited to read more of this. The unique premise, much different than what I'm used to with sort of book, and the gorgeous artwork made me an immediate fan, so I hope this lasts for a while. If you are a fan of high-fantasy and especially things under the Robert E. Howard umbrella, such as Conan, I'd definitely recommend checking this out.

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Volume 1 of The Lost Ages begins with a cataclysmic event that resets humanity and turns them into a nomadic society. The artwork was great and the story was very exciting with a lot of action. I think that I will be reading future volumes.

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The Lost Ages Volume One: The Fort on the Moors by Jerome Le Gris and Didier Poli was enjoyable enough.

Before critiquing Le Gris's writing, I understand that I read an English translation of a French GN, so I'm aware that there may be some translation issues that I may have had issues with that I do not blame Le Gris for. There were characters, specifically Primus, that spoke almost inhuman. Using words like 'verify' so nonchalantly as if you're not a robot doesn't read very realistic even for the smartest person in the clan to say. This problem doesn't show up often in the translation, but, when it does, I'm pulled out of the story. Besides that the dialogue is fine if not a bit clunky.

Le Gris's story has a lot of potential! I enjoy the premise of a split timeline where an apocalyptic event happens in the year 1000 that forces humanity to restart civilization all over again. Starting the story, however, from the perspective of a monk seeing the apocalypse and then transitioning thousands of years into the future makes the monk seem like he's more important than he is in this volume. It felt like it was tacked onto the beginning of the story to exposit information rather than being a good start to a story. That was a glaring problem through the entire GN. There was a lot of expositing about the world the characters are in rather than exploring the world with the audience before the story is set into motion. Once the story is set into motion, the world is still being explained to us still without any exploration. I know that this is only volume one of the story, but it feels like we're moving through this world at a lightning fast pace without any moments to take in the world. The conflict in the story felt like it could go somewhere. There was a lot of tension between the characters that would be amazing to explore, but, once again, that lightning fast pace doesn't really allow us to know the characters too well before they either die or are forced to leave the settlement that was such a big deal to them in the first place. There was no time to feel saddened by the death of the clan, the was no time to be saddened by Elaine's losses, there was just action. So in that way the characters felt a little flat.

Poli's artistic style of the GN was executed well enough to tell the story that was going on and you could obviously follow along clearly to the beats of the story, but I didn't find it terribly striking in any particular way that made it seem distinct from other GNs I've read before. Not bad in any sense that I noticed but not really remarkable either.

I still enjoyed what what I read for the most part. The premise was interesting, the character's had some promise, and the world looked like it had potential! I wouldn't disregard this GN entirely, but I don't think I'd pick up the follow up volume or read it again. Because of the lightning fast pace of the story, it leaves no room for the characters to be fleshed out in any meaningful way, nor does it allow for the incredible world to be explored.

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**e-ARC received by the author and publisher of NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.**
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Name of the publication: Europe Comics
Date finished: June 20, 2021
Pub Date: April 21, 2021
Review: Every aspect of this book is exquisite, intricate plot and detailed narration. The art is superb. This is a fun read, I was stressed out due to the fight scenes at the same time I enjoyed it! This is a great graphic novel that really gives the perfect picture in my head as I read this story. There are many different findings in the novel and I can’t wait to read the next book.

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Thank you netgalley and the author/publisher for the chance to review!
The lost ages is set 1000 years after a major apocalyptic event. Basically the world is barbaric and there is no plant life. I thought it was okay. There was a lot of action and the illustrations were gorgeous but the story lacked oomph.

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This post apocalyptic graphic novel takes place in an alternative Earth after a prophesised apocalypse has come to pass, setting civilisation back to practically caveman times. Now generations later with all previous knowledge of the world before, the people of Anglia have formed clans to restore balance and to help survive the wilderness.
This is a very fast paced action based story. Sometimes I found this story moving a bit too fast as I found it difficult to connect to the emotions of the clans members, especially the main character, Elain as they struggle with loss and all of the all of the events that occur in this first volume. However I did enjoy the art style and since it was left on a cliff-hanger I am interested to see where the story goes.

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I loved this Graphic Novel/Comic Book alot. It was something different from what I have read before. But I liked it a lot and I hope there is more to come to continue with this story.

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Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy.

In a brutal tribal world, a meteor storm and the endless clouds following forced humanity into caves for centuries, waiting for sunlight to return. But humanity had flourished before those events, having a medieval way of living. The survivors of the Age of Gloom must now work harder to survive or recover the lost knowledge of their ancestors.

This was a good first installment, it does a lot of set up and background work for the plot to, hopefully, move forward significantly in the second volume.

The only character there is really a chance to try and start to know is the MC, Elaine, whose name is really modern compared to everyone else. It's a weird choice that takes some getting used to.

I really liked the art, it had a beautiful colour palette and some softness to it.

Overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read. I think the story has potential to grow in scope and scale as it progresses.

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I liked the art in this post-apocalyptic pseudo-fantasy, but I didn't much care for the writing. Firstly I had issues with the world-building; while it did have some nice, evocative elements, it didn't feel terribly plausible or well thought through. The characters' clothing and possessions were too sophisticated for the culture the book kept claiming they had, for instance. More broadly, I felt the pacing was off, with the script moving too fast and trying to force emotion on you in far too little time.

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This was my first read from NetGalley. When I chose this one I didn't realize it was a graphic novel. I figured I'd go ahead and check it out even if I don't read many of those. I was pleasantly surprised. The artwork throughout is gorgeous! I liked the brief location and history setup at the beginning of the book and from there the action picks up right away. It ebbs and flows a few times in the brief 60+ pages available for the story. I believe that is the hardest part for me is getting used to such a short sampling of the story. But to be honest it did really leave me wanting to see/read more of this adventure and see where things go from here.

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don't care for the characters and was so short. Feels like a lot happened but also like nothing happened.

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Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Ages was a great introduction to this new world. My favourite part of this graphic novel was definitely the art, and I wish that the story itself had drawn me in a bit more. I felt like we should have gotten a more in-depth introduction to this tribal society so that I knew how important it would be for them to find something like wheat. I wanted to feel more connected to the characters by the end, but I didn't. I don't think that I'll be continuing to read the series, but if you like to read books about a post-apocalyptic future where human society has reverted to its tribal nature then this will definitely be the graphic novel series for you.

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Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!!

I’m not one to normally read graphic novels, it was no diffent than reading mangas and webtoons though. I suppose it just felt different because the art was most definitely immaculate. It’s a fantasty graphic novel so seeing the words enact onto drawings and seeing the emotions of each charcater had me in tears, for not the reasons you may think. I’m dying to read the next one if there is because of how much I felt joy in reading this.

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This was a really interesting reading experience for me as it was my first foray into graphic novels. The art style in this was eye-catching from the start and reminded me of some of the graphics from some of my well-loved video games. This kept me intrigued enough to lead through to the end of the book. The writing in this piece did what it needed to do to move the storyline along and get the point across though it came across as a little basic and left me wanting slightly more...

Overall this was an enjoyable experience and I am grateful to this graphic novel for opening up a new aspect of the reading world to me!

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Fantastic! I loved the story and the art! I loved the vibe and the colors. I loved the naration. I could see this as a movie unfolding in front of me. The only thing I didn't like was how short it was.
I also found the change or narrator a bit confusing. At first, it was a guy, and then all of a sudden the chief's daughter was telling the story. That was a bit out of place, but overall, I really enjoyed it.

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The Fort on the Moors is the first volume in The Lost Ages, a post-apocalyptic fantasy graphic novel set thousands of years after a cataclysmic event. Meteors fell from the sky, and humanity hid in caves. After some time, the Earth began to reset itself, and humanity emerged from the caves only to find a dangerous, hungry planet.

We follow some people from one of a handful of clans. These clans split a chunk of land, rotating through preexisting structures as animal migrations allow. These hunter-gatherers have loose alliances with each other, as long as the rules are followed.

Then ancient knowledge enters the picture. One clan risks starting a war to see if they finally figured out agriculture, but they quickly realize not everyone wants to move past hunter-gatherer lifestyles. The knowledge is passed down one last time, and the newest knowledge holder needs to escape the trivialities of clan-justice in order to possibly save them all.

The volume leaves off just after the setup for the rest of the series is done. That being said, the issues grouped together do flow nicely, and the stopping point is a natural breakpoint.

All in all, is The Fort on the Moors or even The Lost Ages anything new or innovative? Not really. Is it entertaining? Yup. Is the art good? Spectacular. Will I be following along with this one? Absolutely.

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On December 999, a monastic scribe is finishing a book. An apocalypse occurs in 1000 where all knowledge is destroyed. Then several millennia later Primus, a Moors clan leader finds a scrap of pre-apocalyptic knowledge. A few thousand years later, the clans have separated in hunting specific herds. Hey also share the forts. If a clan tries to use a fort at the wrong time, it means instant death. However he has discovered that wheat is growing in the fort. Primus can’t wait to let Elaine his daughter know that wheat can be grown. (The earth. Doesn’t normally grow plant life successfully.). The Moon clan tells Primus if he and the clan leave now, he won’t kill them. Primus continues to stay telling and showing Elaine the scraps of print that has survived the apocalypse telling Elaine there must be a center for this kind of knowledge which may give humanity a chance to live better than they do now. Will Elaine find it?

The graphic novel is about self determination and hope. It is an excellent beginning of a series.. it aroused my curiosity to see what was going to happen. The illustrations are expertly drawn and colored.making I did notmy want the volume not to end.

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So the premise of this dystopian graphic novel is that there was an event, such as a meteor strike, that blotted out the sun for generations. So, no sunlight getting through to grow any plants. And, somehow people, for the 11th century survived, through pure determination and willpower.

So, if you can get past then, we also have warriors fighting against clans, and the mutated animals who also somehow survived.

By the time I got the story bit, I didn't care about the protagonists. Sorry. It was just a bunch of fighting and lamenting.

But, if you like that sort of thing, then be my guest.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>

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