I grabbed a Free Read from NetGalley entitled, Fierce by Geoffroy Monde & Mathieu Burniat. It’s a spin-off from the Arthurian legend King Arthur and Excalibur. Fierce is based on the daughter of the dim-gloried King Arthur, who runs away from home to escape an arranged marriage and forges her adventure and free will.

This graphic was fun. I can imagine the staff in the drawing room asking a series of “What ifs” while creating this novel. Fierce had plenty of well-placed humor and twists nobody could have imagined coming.

This book is also not for children. You have been warned.

This was a fun, engaging, and delightful surprise. I enjoyed reading this so much, I apparently forgot to review it. It's become a mainstay on my shelf, and I pick it up regularly to enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A fun read , the depiction of Arthur was a fresh thing to see as he is always shown as a handsome man.

Enjoyed seeing the daughter stand up for herself was a little creeped out when she was walking in the village and a man tried to attack her when she didn’t engage with him … as it so close to real life

3.5/5

Thanks for the ARC

What do you do when your prince doesn’t arrive? This is very entertaining in the way it takes fairytales and legends, and subverts them. The hero King Arthur, is not really a hero. He is a drunk bully who is pressurising his daughter into a marriage with someone who is not all that he appears to be.

His daughter the Princess Ysabelle, decides to run away (because a forced marriage isn’t for her) and find her sister who is a successful business women in a different town. She steals her father’s magic sword and along the way gets into all kinds of situations. No one rescues her and she finds that the only one who can help her is herself and a bit of help from the sword.

Her fiancé the vile Baron of Cumber decides to chase her and bring her back. When Ysabelle finds her sister she realises all that she knows about her family and sword is a lie and she begins to forge her own path and destiny with surprising results.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Well that was...not very enjoyable. And gross. And weird. Really really weird. Do not recommend to anyone.

I had a great time reading this!

Incredibly colorful and imaginative art-style. The variety in character design was amazing! Funny dialogue, an engaging narrative, and a main character I really enjoyed following through the story.

I really enjoyed this. The plot was interesting, one of the better retellings of old stories. This was one of my favourite stories from this year so far. It was the first retelling I've read in a long time that wasn't just trying to shove a message down your throat without any substance behind it.

This graphic novel is a lot of fun. I love the differences this story takes from the King Arthur story. I love these diverging types of tales and hope they follow unexpected paths. The artwork is pretty fun, and not like other graphic novels I’ve read. My 10 year old read it as well and enjoyed it.

This is definitely an interesting take on the classic story of King Arthur. Where most retellings show the greatness and power of excalibur, this one focuses on corruption which is for sure a cool take. However, the execution did nothing for me. I feel like the plot didn’t have clear goals and there was barely any character development, like at all.

Arthur has become an alcoholic and absent father after his wife’s death - definitely an overused trope for me. The plot twist of who Merlin was in the story could have been cool but i just thought it was really gross and paedophillic and really dirties the legend. Excalibur being insane and corrupt could’ve been a really cool plot point and you could have done so much with that but you did this instead.

I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, and i’d say to definitely avoid it if you love arthurian stories cos this will definitely put a damper on that for you. This isn’t the worst thing i’ve ever read but tbh just grossed me out and also bored me at the same time.

TWs/CWs - Alcohol Consumption; Alcoholism; Blood; Body Horror; Brothel; Bugs; Death; Death of a Parent; Forced Marriage; Gore; Misogyny; Nudity; Prostitution; Sexual Assault; Sexual content; Violence; Vomit; War

Lively and entertaining fantasy comic, loosely connected to Arthurian legend. In this world Arthur had to kill off a hoard of invading demons, and therefore needed Merlin to magic a wonder sword – a wonder sword that can walk about on its point, talk and so on. That done, all the fame and glory has gone to Arthur's head, leaving him a maddened old sop, drooling into his red carpet and trying to pawn his second daughter, Ysa, off to a baron in marriage. When she realises she's not exactly going to enjoy that kind of life, Ysa and the sword go off into the world, trying to right wrongs (her) or slash everything imaginable (the sword). But if the power of the sword has already managed to corrupt one soul, why might it not succeed once more?

This is a fun world, just on the right side of becoming daft. Character design tends towards the semi-human at best, apart from Arthur and his family. It should perhaps be said that, despite the lively design and colouring, and the young protagonist, this is not for children – repeated scenes in a brothel at least put paid to that. I dare say as well people will get triggered by the very loose involvement with Arthur, but I didn't mind one jot that it hitches a ride on his legends. Basically it's a simple quest story, but with no actual Macguffin involved that people are seeking – to some extent they already have it, and the book is about the danger of that success, with some lightly worn feminism as well. It is pretty much just about entertainment, mind – and that it is definitely able to provide. A good four stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I loved it and had a fantastic time reading it. This was so funny, outlandish, and deeply creepy in some parts. This might not be a true King Arthur retelling but nevertheless a fun, feminist alternative. This art style was great and kind of reminded me of Adventure Time but this is definitely for more mature readers. Would recommend and read again.

This is a re-imagination of King Arthur’s tale, with unique artwork that may or may not grow on you with reading this story for the plot. There was definitely character development and growth with the story for the protagonist. The ending was a surprise, specifically with how the story turned out. There is a cohesive ending that tied up the story.

Fierce by Geoffroy Monde & Mathieu Burniat is a graphic novel that was originally published in French. The legendary King Arthur is now an old drunkard who spends his days slouched on his throne. He owes his former glory to the magic sword the wizard Merlin forged for him in order to slay the hordes of demons who came to invade the kingdom of Pendragon. The enchanted weapon now suffers from a bad case of boredom, while Arthur's daughter, the Princess Ysabelle, is wondering how to flee the marriage her father has arranged with the vile Baron of Cumber. Both Ysabelle and the sword are determined to change their fate, and to do so they must become allies on a long journey. But the wide world can prove much harsher than life at the palace, and the sword's intentions may not be as noble as they seem.

Fierce is a creative and engaging take on King Arthur's later years. While I have to admit this story flies far from anything I have read or watched in regards to Arthur and Merlin. I really enjoyed the imagination and unexpected turns, not to mention the acknowledgment of how few choices women historically have- and how a poorly run country is bad for everyone. I thought the story had some fantastically quirky moments and characters, and I thought the art dis a great job of enhancing the characters, action, and storyline. Everything worked well together and felt seamless, like one person had done it all rather than relying on the team effort that was involved in creating this graphic novel. There were some great twists and turns, and a good balance or dark moments and humor. One thing to note is that this is not a children's graphic novel. I think young adults would get it, but this was aimed at the adult market.

This graphic novel Estelle the story of King Arthur and Merlin, years after their magical partnership and victory. It presents dark magic, a journey, and the way expectations and dreams can go astray. This comic has adult elements like nudity, which readers should generally be aware of. I enjoyed the art. It reminded me of Saturday morning cartoons, but with slightly darker themes. I like the cast of characters and the twists that make this story very fresh.

Fierce is the story of Ysabelle, the youngest daughter of King Arthur, who decides to stand up for herself and take her destiny into her own hands, rather than be married off to a creepy baron (10/10 for how creepy the baron was).

I laughed often throughout the book, got a lot out of the illustrations - there's so much personality in the images, from the drunken mess that is Arthur, the sliminess of the old Baron, to the bizarre, discomfiting Claude - and appreciated some of the darker story.

All in all, I'm giving this 3.75 because it took me a while to get through (but hey, that might be because I'm not used to graphic novels) but I enjoyed it and would probably buy more from the same writer/illustrator.

Thanks @netgalley and @europecomics for my copy

Very mild (barely a) spoiler warning ahead:
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The whole story has a surprisingly lovely, uplifting ending. I was a little unsure from time to time while reading, but was so glad I kept on and got to enjoy the ending, which really made me smile. Basically, if you decide to take a look make sure to finish it because the ending is sweet and life-affirming 😃

Overall enjoyable! I’m pretty hesitant when it comes to comics translated from French, but while I struggled a bit in the middle (a bit leery about where things were going) I really enjoyed the ending.

I thought this book was absolutely fantastic. I love the characters who were funny and the relationships with each other and character arcs was absolutely beautiful. The art style was spot-on. It was colourful it was playful. It was everything I wanted. I would highly recommend that it sure it’s funny. It gets you in gauged and it’s a very cool story seems more tailored to younger teens so I would keep that in mind but even if someone who’s in their early 20s, I absolutely adore this and I won hundred percent read more from this author in the future

I love Ysabelle and Claude, and the sword is so funny, though I wonder how trustworthy it is! I definitely didn't expect the turns the story made but really enjoyed it. A wonderful ending and a great illustration style.

In this retelling of Arthurian legend, Arthur has fallen into alcoholism and is unable to protect his kingdom, or his daughters. Unwilling to accept being married off to a short, old noble, Ysa runs away… and takes the enchanted sword Excalibur with her. This rollicking tale brings you action, humor, fantasy elements, and a strong female lead. The frank portrayal of sex work makes Fierce a choice for adults or late teens.