Intricate illustrations in multi-sided geometric panels give this graphic novel a futuristic and otherworldly feeling, which is perfect for the subject matter: a retelling of Greek myth in a war-torn, modern world. The world-building is rich with expansive desert landscapes, city scenes, and the mountain where Prometheus is imprisoned all delicately depicted. The story is slow to start and I found myself confused about the intertwining storylines and time shifts, but in the second half of the story the momentum starts to build and story arcs become clearer. The story ends on a cliffhanger, which should make readers desperate for the next volume.

An intriguing premise. I saw parallel's to Netflix's Kaos series.

Ambitious, layered graphic novel blending myth, politics, and loss into a visually stunning narrative. Nilsen’s detailed line work and muted palette creates a world that makes you lean in to the page, while the story - a mix of ancient legend and modern existentialism - unfolds with deliberate, meditative pacing. It'll be too strange, psychedelic and slow for some, but I loved it.

Published by ‎ Pantheon on March 11, 2025

I have to hand it to Anders Nilsen. He does not lack ambition. Not only does he take on a big story, merging Greek mythology with modern strife in the Middle East, he invents a new mythology of his own, one that sends a thirteen-year-old girl named Astrid on a mission that will either save the world or cause it to follow her into darkness.

Astrid acquired a suitcase but has not investigated its contents. A talking chicken tells her it might be used as a weapon but she will lack the knowledge to wield it. The chicken (which sometimes manifests as a less loquacious owl) tells her that her treasure is of immense importance to the human race.

The story is anchored in the myth of Prometheus, who spends each day chained to a mountain where he plays blind chess with the eagle who will eat his liver before the day ends. In some panels, the eagle is in flight, apparently communicating with Prometheus by telepathy, while the art focuses on urban marketplaces, streets filled with armored vehicles, soldiers mingling with vendors and shoppers, and pigeons perched on roofs next to buildings that have collapsed. Prometheus and the eagle chat about various subjects, but Prometheus has recently been obsessed with his unexplained plan to regain his freedom.

In another plot thread, a European soldier who calls himself I.O. is fighting or smuggling goods in a place he calls East Bum-fuckistan. I.O. and fellow soldier Nico come across and share their beer with a hitchhiking American. The American is trying to lose himself after killing some family members under circumstances he does not reveal. A teddy bear strapped to his backpack gives him advice that helps him survive. I.O. has made a promise to a dying friend that he will safeguard the friend’s monkey, but Nico — who is supposed to be helping I.O. with a side hustle — makes off with the American and the monkey.

And then there’s the swan who transforms each night into a red-eyed human male and appears in the bed of a young woman who is being pressured to choose a husband from an unappealing group of suitors. Some of this might seem silly, yet it all fits within the context of a modernized myth, given the prevalence of talking animals in Greek mythology.

The storylines will apparently be tied together at some point by the Omega, whose followers (“the Rings”) believe he is the Roman god Jupiter. The Omega long ago prevailed in a war against the maker, the progenitor of the gods. More than that we don’t yet know.

The plot is intelligent and the story is occasionally moving. By the end of the first volume, we see the contents of Astrid’s suitcase, which raises more questions than it answers. We also see inside a tower that seems to be protected by radar and a military presence, a tower occupied by a tormenter of Prometheus. I would be worried that such an ambitious beginning to a story might get lost without reaching a destination, but the story is told with confidence, suggesting that Nilsen has a plan that will eventually cause the storylines to cohere.

I’m not an art critic, but I was taken by the minimalist nature of the graphic art. Many panels tell the story in images rather than text, as good graphic novels should. Volume 1 of Tongues left me intrigued. I look forward to volumes to come.

RECOMMENDED

I always gravitate toward an interesting attempt at a mythos retelling. I forgot this was one when I started reading it, but it didn't take me long to realize that it was.

Thank you #NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the review copy of #TonguesVol1 in exchange for my honest review.

All of this to say, Tongues was not for me. I see the attempts at modernizing this godly mythos but it falls flat. Part of the nature of these godly stories is that their actions and abilities out weigh that of what people can do. Mixing too much technology onto the side of the humans (and the Gods) starts playing with the purpose of these narratives a bit too much for my tastes. I've found that stories like Chaos have been able to modernize the God myths without losing their core interests too much because the actions of the characters aren't heavily changed in modernity. There's no God who suddenly is able to take energy from another godly being and encase it in some mad science experiment. There's no nuclear bombs that the gods are fighting over. It just feels like this story is trying to do too many things. Which is a shame, because that really kept me from getting into it right away. I can see these characters will come together in following volumes and the final section definitely did start to hook me but it just felt too little too late.

Art wise it wasn't my favorite either. That's not to say this is bad by any means but the style was rough in a way that made it hard for me to stay in the story.

I’m honestly not really sure what I just read. I have no idea what this story is even about. There were way too many words and seemingly no storyline. I don’t get it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this graphic novel.

I really enjoyed the artwork and how the panels of the story were all set up. The overall idea behind the story was really interesting as well.

However, the different POVs got a little confusing and the pacing could have been just a bit better.

I liked it mostly, but I don’t know that I will necessarily continue on with the story. I think maybe this is more of a ‘this just isn’t really for me’ situation than the story itself.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley. Content warning for violence.)

In the near future,* Prometheus awakens after a long sleep. At this point, the god has been imprisoned on a mountainside for several millennia; his only company, the eagle who stops by on the daily to dine on his liver. Lucky for him, the liver of a god is not without its gifts: over the years, his tormentor and her progeny acquired the use of language, and now the two are friends. Eagle brings him news of his children, the humans, and bird and god wax philosophical on love, life, freedom, and the future. Despite his dire circumstances, Prometheus is certain that he'll one day walk the Earth again.

Meanwhile, a cult known as Z traffics in children and just generally causes chaos and mayhem through Central Asia (I had it pegged as the Middle East, but I guess there is some overlap), all in service to Omega - believed to be the second coming of Jupiter. Young Astrid is swept up in their plans when she's kidnapped from a shopping mall. Or maybe her fate is sealed earlier: when her adoptive father finds an orphaned baby floating down the Nile River, strapped to a car seat; when she is visited by visions of Athena(/)Seshat; or when the gods begin to suspect that she is the only one who can stop Jupiter's resurrection. Either way, her path is about to collide with those of Nico and I.O., two mercenaries on a side quest; their monkey, Mike; Teddy Roosevelt, a depressed young man wandering the desert with a teddy bear strapped to his back; and Hermaea, in chicken form.

I wasn't sure what to expect of TONGUES, VOLUME 1, but it certainly wasn't this. Nilsen has created a story that's epic in scope, but beautiful and heart wrenching down to the smallest details. I especially loved the relationship between Prometheus and Eagle - though they were doomed to be enemies, over the years and centuries and millennia their friendship blossomed and grew into something spectacularly lovely. A camaraderie that defies both nature and the gods. After Prometheus's seeming demise at the hands (err, mouth) of Might, when Eagle has to relearn human language, and the cognition that it engenders? I got chills.

The denouement of the story involves a plot by Epimetheus to eradicate the humans - a plague on the Earth, and oppressors to the nonhuman animals that Epimetheus so loves - and honestly, the vegan in me was kind of rooting for Epimetheus. The debate between Prometheus and Epimetheus resulted in some of the most thoughtful and engaging comic book panels I've ever read, even if I'm predisposed to land in Epimetheus's camp (and recent events in American have only cemented my position ... although surely Prometheus would point out the hopeful optimism of the resistance as a reason to wait and see how things play out).

TONGUES is a retelling of the story of Prometheus, set in modern day, with some trippy science fiction elements. I also detected undertones of THE LAST OF US, thanks to the face-growing fungi; and SEVEN, aka, "What's in the box!?!"

If, like me, your grasp of Greek mythology is tenuous and relies mostly on SUPERNATURAL, no worries: TONGUES is amazing, worth all the time you'll spend googling minor characters, and will definitely leave you desperate to learn more. Pro tip: there's a handy run down of the main characters at the back of the book, so flip to the last pages before starting. It will save you a ton of time and mis-identifications (I clocked Omega as Zeus; Violence as Hera; and Might as ... I don't even know what. A futuristic android? I'm still not entirely sure what they are, tbh).

As for the art, it's breathtakingly intricate and enchanting. The products of Prometheus's green thumb; the Hecatoncheires Gyges; and our maybe-savior Astrid all stand out as especially captivating. And, again: Prometheus's daily congress with Eagle - stunning in both form and content.

Honestly, I cannot recommend TONGUES enough. I just hope we don't have to wait another ten years to find out if Astrid is indeed the Chosen One.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I think this graphic novel was interesting, however I unfortunately didn’t find it too engaging. I enjoyed reading it for the most part, but I was never really itching to pick it up. I also found the text to be a bit hard to read. Normally I read graphic novels on my phone; but, I had to pull this up on my laptop and even then some of the pages felt a bit hard to read. I think some of my difficulty might have more to do with the font choice: it definitely fits the vibe of the story, but the handwritten aesthetic makes it less legible in my opinion.

This graphic novel has beautiful illustrations that are equal parts stunning and unsettling. There's also interesting dialogue and interactions. I loved the different fragments of stories slowly intertwining, some of which were familiar, and I'm looking forward to see where they all intersect. I do wish there was a bit more of a conclusion since this book is over 300 pages long; the ending is a bit disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for the arc:

I found this novel to be very interesting and engaging, but frustratingly incomplete. This is the first part of something bigger, but it alone does not feel like a complete piece. There are a lot of moving parts but they're quite fragmented, which isn't necessarily bad, but I did not feel like they came together in a way that makes much sense at the moment. Obviously further volumes will create more context and wrap things up, but the first volume should still be able to exist as it's own piece.

This makes it sounds like I didn't like the novel but that's not true. I found this to be very good. I like how all the different myths tangle together and I'm very intrigued to see how Nilsen resolves their stories, whether he deviates from the norm or sticks to it. I very much want to see the outcomes. I especially loved the sequences with Prometheus. The dialogue in these scenes was philosophical and thought-provoking without being overdone and inaccessible. I also really liked his design and the overall motif of fungus apparent in the illustrations. The unique shapes of the panels (namely the human/monkey ones near the beginning) were so fun and engaging too. I don't normally pay much attention to the shape of panels in graphic novels but Nilsen makes them stand out so much you can't miss them.

My biggest issue with this was the quality of the arc provided. I acknowledge this is not the fault of the author and that's part of why I don't want to give this a rating just yet*. I don't know if it was just me, but the quality of my arc was very low. The entire thing was fuzzy and almost felt 'out-of-focus'. This was so bad that sometimes I was unable to read quite a few of the speech bubbles that had text on the smaller side. The smaller the text got, it started to become an indecipherable blur, giving me a headache trying to focus on them. Obviously, the final copy will not look like this on shelves or EPUBs, but because I couldn't fully engage with the book in the way it deserves, I don't want to give it a rating until I can re-read it with high quality images and text.

Overall enjoyed! Will definitely revisit and check out the next volume(s).

*NetGalley does not allow you to publish a review without including a star rating. I chose 3 as it felt the most neutral. A star rating was not chosen on Storygraph to reflect what the review says.

~ARC Reader~

Thank you to Netgalley and the Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage catalog for this ARC.

First off, this is absolutely beautifully illustrated with fascinating and stunning details. Some of the organic shapes, especially drawn around Prometheus, are just so visually engaging that I had to pause and just trace over them for a bit to see how they all intertwined together. The three intermingling stories left me really wanting for more in this first volume - I felt like we got a lot of set up and no real pay off. I'm curious to see where the stories lead, but I feel like I may have been more interested in just one of the tales being told to fruition, rather than being given three that seem to have only just begun. I think the retelling of Prometheus is interesting (though it's not a tale I'm intimately familiar with) and the artistic style chosen for the god figures is as gorgeous as it is unsettling. And while the other two tales seem to have potential (Astrid's moreso then Roosevelt's), and certainly intermingle - I'm still left with a sense of disconnect at the end of this volume. We haven't begun to knit together in a meaningful way for me yet - just loose threads leading in the direction of each other. I hope the second volume is not far out so that my curiosity can be swiftly sated.

This was interesting but confusing. I was able to follow parts of it as I am familiar with Greek mythology. The story had some compelling characters. The dynamic between Prometheus and the eagle that eats his liver once a day is fascinating. Seeing the way they interact provoked thought. Trying to figure out what is going on is not easy. It takes careful reading. This volume interested me enough to want to see where the story goes next.

The illustrations in this is so amazingly beautiful. I really loved the style and thought it was so well done. I seemed to have an issue with a lot of the words showing up on my digital copy. But the illustrations were so perfect that I have to give this 5 stars.

I don't think this was for me, despite my interest in it. I felt overwhelmed with the multiple POVs and became a bit confused. I do appreciate the art style though and the composition of the panels.

I feel a bit bad for giving this such a low rating because I think this just wasnt for me. Meaning I think it was an interesting idea and the execration was also interesting and I think I’m a bland person because it was too…interesting for me and I completely admit that. The art style didn’t grab me at all and I was just confused. Please don’t take my review as anything but personal preference!!! I would still try this out for yourself

More like a 3.5 that I’m rounding up! This is incredibly illustrated really found this style quite unique and the story telling is a mashup of various god tales and I’m really intrigued by it. Definitely worth a read and will be on the lookout for more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Tongues (volume 1) is the sort of book you bring out when people who claim graphic novels aren't reading need to be set straight. It's three parallel stories set in a future Central Asia as the chained god Prometheus waits for the day of his release and other gods, humans, and the unknown move to change the divine and humanity's own future.

It's a volume thick with words and philosophy and pondering and rife with a really gorgeous sort of storytelling that can only really be done in graphic novel format, where even the shape of the panels contribute to the story itself, and although it's marketed as a retelling it really instead feels like a continuation of the story of Prometheus (with really interesting takes on the designs of the gods themselves) and what could happen in this modern age to a god, a crow, and those around them.

I appreciated too with any character that wasn't wearing any clothes that they were lines and shapes, more impressions of a Body (as most if not all of the gods were nude, but not just them!) and no super detailed... details there. It added to the otherworldly designs of the gods themselves and didn't detract when the humans (rarely) were nude too.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon and to NetGalley for the eARC here - I'm interested in volume 2 so I"ll keep an eye out!

I love Greek mythology and retellings, but this one was too strange and loosely connected. I do think the panel compositions were super interesting.

It is all a game. These characters are all pieces on the board. No one can see the whole board.
That is the best way to describe what I just read. I’m curious to see what the next volume reveals.

#ThxNetGalley #AndersNilsen #TonguesVolume1

I really appreciated Nilsen’s approach to constructing this graphic novel, particularly the way the panels break free from the traditional grid structure. This unconventional layout adds a unique flavor to the book and is definitely one of its strongest aspects.

However, the story itself is a bit more challenging. The narrative is dense and slow to unravel, and by the end of the first volume, you’re still left with a lot of questions. It takes time to fully invest in the plot, and there’s a sense that this book is laying the groundwork for something larger, making it difficult to grasp without the future volumes. The references to Greek mythology add an interesting layer, but as someone who isn’t an expert in that area, I couldn’t help but wonder if I missed key clues that would have provided more clarity. There may be deeper connections that went over my head.

As for the art, it’s a mix of innovation and inconsistency. The presentation is engaging and fun, but the quality of the drawings didn’t entirely win me over. While I admire the creativity behind the illustrations, the style itself didn’t resonate with me as much as I had hoped.

All in all, this is a promising start to what could be a fascinating series. The first volume is heavy on plot but can also feel vague at times. It’s a slow burn, and while I enjoyed the experience, I didn’t love it. I’d give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars, hoping the next volumes bring more clarity and depth to the story.