Troy est un monde fascinant, où la magie intervient dans le quotidien de tous. Chacun en effet possède un pouvoir, petit ou grand, plus ou moins utile. L'un a le don de figer l'eau en glace, l'autre le pouvoir d'émettre des pets colorés... Lanfeust, lui, sait fondre le métal d'un seul regard. Dans son village, il est donc tout naturellement devenu apprenti chez le forgeron. Mais le contact d'une épée venue des lointaines Baronnies révèle en lui une puissance exceptionnelle : il ne dispose plus d'un don unique mais d'un pouvoir absolu et illimité. Accompagné du vieux sage Nicolède et de ses deux filles aux caractères si dissemblables, Lanfeust est emporté dans un tourbillon d'aventures au cours desquelles il croise les plus incongrues, les plus surprenantes et les plus dangereuses des créatures.
Christophe Arleston is the common pen name of French comic book writer and editor Christophe Pelinq. He is best known for creating the Lanfeust of Troy series and its many sequels and prequels.
This one was definitely an improvement storywise, but also characterwise. Like in volume 3 there's some actual story and action. There's also a fair deal of gore (lost limbs and blood) so if that's not your thing I'd avoid Zanfyst. It's also the first volume where Cixi doesn't sexually harrass or assault Zanfyst, so also a definitive improvement. The story itself is divided into two parts; a travel part and a confrontation part, so to speak. Questions from volume 3 are also answered. And of course, they keep enough open to continue the series though this one does come to a close and can be used as an ending. I honestly like the mid-series ending, knowing a new arc will start next volume and then run through another four volumes. I hope the rest will not regress to the standard of the beginning of this series, but keep to what is seen in this and volume 3.
For the first time, the series is beginning to drag. Many pages are spent on a dull misadventure involving a maritime wedding. If the author couldn’t come up with something more interesting, it would have been better to summarize; not everything should be dramatized.
The anticipated confrontation between Thanos and Lanfeust arrives — they battle twice actually. The first battle is decent, and has a clever resolution. Lanfeust uses his power to melt flung coins, turning them into deadly projectiles. The decisive second battle is underwhelming, lacking the requisite epic spectacle. In a bad deus ex machina, Lanfeust is saved by a flying dragon from Eckmuhl.
Very little world building of interest in this volume either, other than some frogs that power the paddlewheel of a riverboat.