Castle in the Stars: The Moon-King

Le Château des étoiles ALBUMS #2

by Alex Alice

What if man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969? In this breath-taking fantasy graphic novel, Alex Alice draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth-century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder to enchant adults and younger readers alike.

In anticipation of their maiden voyage, Seraphin and the Knights of Aether had prepared for everything—except treason. The villainous chamberlain wants to overthrow King Ludwig and claim the electro-aetheric technology for Prussia. The only escape for the king and his companions lies in the frosty skies above Bavaria.

The aethership’s first flight is asuccess, but their respite is short-lived. As long as the chamberlain is free to spread his lies, these travelers will find no safe harbor. To save the king’s throne, they must push the ship even farther—out of the sky . . . and into the stars!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinée, Comics, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Fantasy, Middle Grade

64 pages, Hardcover

First published July 4, 2014

About the author

Diplômé d'une école de commerce, Alex Alice est un dessinateur et scénariste français de bande-dessinés, connu principalement pour sa série "Le Troisième Testament".
Cette série de quatre albums est un thriller ésotérique largement inspiré des œuvres d'Umberto Eco.
Passionné par les opéras de Wagner, Alex Alice travaille actuellement sur une trilogie basée sur le mythique "Der Ring des Nibelungen", et prépare un film d'animation se déroulant dans le même univers.
Il a par ailleurs récemment publié une prequel au "Troisième Testament" : Julius.

Reviews

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con este segundo volumen de ‘El Castillo de las Estrellas. 1869: La conquista del espacio’, se cierra el primer ciclo de la serie. Estamos en un ambiente puramente verniano, con una buena dosis de aventura, ciencia ficción y steampunk, y un tratamiento de personajes muy del estilo de Hayao Miyazaki. Ha sido una historia muy agradable de leer, con unas estupendas acuarelas de la mano de Alex Alice.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seraphin, his father and friends, have escaped the clutches of the court spy in the now functional aethership. Along with King Ludwig of Bavaria, they are headed into space, but find navigation impossible because of a stolen part. They crash land on the moon, and have a limited timeframe and desperate plan to get back safely to Earth, making repairs to the ship. But, the King has other plans, exploring the moon environs with unabashed interest.

The plot was harder to follow than in the first book. The illustrations are still amazing, but need to be larger (i.e., pages are too crowded for no reason), and further plot depth would help readers.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seraphin and his friends are trapped in the aethership along with the king, rising steadily into the ether and approaching space. There is only one chance for them to get home safely, but the ether is more powerful than they bargained for.

I loved this second volume in the series! The artwork is truly beautiful, and I love the expressive lines and colors. The story is imaginative and emotional, and I loved the character development in this one!
Such a great series!

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segundo tomo del " castillo de las estrellas" Poco puedo decir aparte del hecho de que me ha gustado mucho más que el primer tomo y que que en este sí que se ve más reflejado el estilo aventurero- científico que caracterizaban las novelas de Jules Verne.

[Karine Mon coin lecture · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encore un très bon second tome. Série à découvrir.

[Cocoontale · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai passé un bon moment avec ce second tome mais je suis loin du coup de cœur. La beauté des planches est indéniable, le travail sur les couleurs et la profondeur est épatant (et c'est d'ailleurs ce qui a motivé mon intérêt) mais au niveau de l'histoire, j'ai trouvé que cela partait un peu dans tous les sens. Je pense être peu sensible au côté scientifique de cet univers et dans ce tome-ci, il faut reconnaître qu'il est plus appuyé.
A voir avec le tome 3 auquel je laisse sa chance !

[Malex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Des dessins toujours aussi magnifiques, une histoire un poil moins palpitante que le premier tome mais on se laisse largement emporter dans cet univers :)

[Yaroslav Chernovol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Що ж.. Пройшла певно вічність з того моменту як я читав «Зоряний замок» Алекса Аліса. Свого часу видавництво Артбукс затягнуло мене в цей світ Жуля Верна, маленького принца та назад у майбутнє. Але щось новин за продовження не чутно. Тож продовжую збираю тепер і англомовне видання. 

Одна з приємностей другого тому - коротка довідка подій першого тому. Інженер Арчибальд, Серафин, Софі, Ганц та принц Людвіґ рятуються з лебединого замку при спробі державного перевороту. 

З цього й починається другий том. Дослідники на ефірольоті прагнуть піднятись на висоту 13 км, для того, щоб експедиція відбулась, узяти зразки ефіру і все таке. Їх накриває ефірний шторм. Вони опиняються на орбіті місяця. Є трохи часу, щоб за допомогою орбіти місяця повернутись на Землю. Як завжди все йде не по плану й експедитори вимушено висаджуються на місяць. 

Далі відбувається низка подій, дослідження місяця, таємна печера з моделлю сонячної системи, таємна тронна зала і ще купу пригод. 

Загалом другий том завершує першу арку ефірольота та путівки на місяць. В третьому тому вже має відбутись путівка на марс, здається. 

З малюнком все так же чудово. Алекс Аліс неймовірно працює над малюнком, композиція, панелі, персонажі. Все шикарно. Наче знов впав у п'ятнадцятирічний екстаз малого мандрівника.

Хотілось би звісно щоб ми таки побачили другий том українською..... Але.......

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

On peut dire que j'ai mis le temps pour lire cette suite, mais mieux vaut tard que jamais. Et puis ce fut un régal.

J'ai la chance d'avoir une bonne mémoire des intrigues que je lis même des années après. Souvent j'oublie les titres, les auteurs, les noms de certains protagonistes, mais rarement l'histoire elle-même. J'ai replongé dans ce récit comme si j'avais lu la première partie la veille. Et j'ai retrouvé la même ambiance, ces dessins magnifiques, ce mélange bien calibré entre réalité historique et aventures imaginaires. Il y a du Jules Vernes dans tout ceci...

Tout était presque parfait. Je dis presque car si l'album est d'aussi bonne facture que le premier (qualité du papier, format généreux, couverture magnifique etc...), j'ai trouvé qu'à deux reprises le récit est allé un peu trop vite en besogne. J'ai même eu une fois l'impression d'avoir sauté des pages. Après vérification, non. Dommage, mais malgré ce bémol, j'ai été enthousiasmée.

Une suite est prévue dans un autre cycle. Je serai au rendez-vous.

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Castle in the Stars series. This is a decent book but I continue to find the watercolor-like illustration and small caption boxes to be a bit hard to follow. I like the story and the characters though.

In this book our intrepid heroes end up in the aether on their airship when the worst happens and they crash on the moon. They quickly find out that they have been betrayed by more members of their party than they originally expected and are unsure of whether or not they will ever be able to make it back to Earth.

I enjoy the adventure theme to this story. I also liked that there was a quick synopsis of what happened in the last volume right at the beginning of this one. At times the illustration can be hard to see and follow (some of the characters look alike and the pictures are really small).

The story in this book is getting very political and I don’t enjoy that as much as the adventure the kids had in the first volume. Still, it was decently done.

Overall I didn’t enjoy this volume as much as the first one. There were too many politics and I feel like the illustration was a bit hard to follow. I am unsure whether or not I will continue this series at this point. My 11 year old son also reads this series and he felt the same way; he said it was okay but not great.

[Mélanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toujours aussi captivant, bien qu'avec moins de rebondissements que dans le premier tome. Une aventure pour grands enfants, qui mériterait une adaptation au cinéma.

[Ken Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still brilliant!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

1870 steam punk trip to the moon.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most amazing graphic novels about cosmic adventures I have ever read :) Highly recommend these books to every fan of adventure stories, graphic novels, sci-fi and steampunk!

[Rockleese · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ART.

[pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le mélange entre faits scientifiques et science-fiction est ma tasse de thé, j’adore

[vic · Rating 4 out of 5]

que d'aventures pour finir en vacances en bretagne, que demander de plus

[Pixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Définitivement amoureuse de cette bande-dessinée, de ses délicates aquarelles, de ses compositions magnifiques et de son histoire emplie d'espoirs, d'aventures et de sentiments élevés. C'est beau et ça fait du bien. Je trépigne d'avance de suivre la suite des avrntures de Séraphin, Sophie et Hans.

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

La beauté graphique de ce récit ne doit pas faire oublier la qualité de l'histoire. Car qualité il y a, et très nettement.

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une passionnante et belle conclusion à cette duologie. Les dessins sont absolument magnifiques, et c'est une très bonne série d'aventures !

[OpenBookSociety.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://openbooksociety.com/article/c...

http://openbooksociety.com/article/ca...


Castle in the Stars: The Moon-King
Le Château des Etoiles #2
By Alex Alice
ISBN13: 9781626724945
Author’s website: alexalice.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

Summary

What if man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969? In this breath-taking fantasy graphic novel, Alex Alice draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth-century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder to enchant adults and younger readers alike.

In anticipation of their maiden voyage, Seraphin and the Knights of Aether had prepared for everything—except treason. The villainous chamberlain wants to overthrow King Ludwig and claim the electro-aetheric technology for Prussia. The only escape for the king and his companions lies in the frosty skies above Bavaria.

The aethership’s first flight is a success, but their respite is short-lived. As long as the chamberlain is free to spread his lies, these travelers will find no safe harbor. To save the king’s throne, they must push the ship even farther—out of the sky . . . and into the stars!

Review

Continues the story of Seraphin and his father as they journey into outer space and through the aether barrier, along them come Sophie and brother Hans, and King Ludwig. On their way to cross the Aether barrier (atmosphere) they learn that they are missing a crucial piece of device and end up flowing in space.

As they try to find a way back home to Earth they come across a shiny light from the moon that damages them even more. They now have a small window of time to make the necessary repairs and get back home.

The Castle in the Stars: The Moon-King has very beautiful artwork with a compelling story that captives the reader. The story is interesting and catches the reader’s attention with its mystery and fantasy tale of space travel different to what we have learned in our world. At the same time, the characters are easy to like, their innocence and bravery make them the best candidates for this travel into the stars.

This book has stunning artwork that brings to life the story that is being narrated. Its watercolor technique suits the time setting in which the story takes places and was a great choice to interpret the landscapes of outer space and the moon.

Most of the characters in this expedition have their own agenda and while trying to accomplish their goals they endanger the rest of the crew members and seem to believe they are correct. In my opinion, both the king Ludwig and Seraphin father will do anything to prove they are correct.

While It’s easy to follow along with the story, I do recommend you read the first book in the series to understand better the characters. I’m also interested to see where the author will take the characters after how things ended in this book.

If you are a fan of Alex Alice and his work, then I recommend you Castle in the Stars: The Moon-King. In this book, a family and a king follow a logbook into the stars and end up stranded on the moon.


*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

[Nicole Chenot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books. The story keeps so well with the history that the fantastic parts seem just as real and natural. The layout is perfect and the water colors are absolutely breathe taking. My eye doesn't get lost like it does sometime in classic manga and the expressions lend a depth to the story beyond the words themselves. They are the essence of romantic.
I wish I were the king. With all his melancholy over fleshly things he sees past human ambition to the glory that awaits those who look beyond. It's almost as if he could see what he eventually discovered at the end of this second book the whole time and was breaking his heart over trying to grasp it from earth before he finally got this ship. Once he attains it he walks with certainty the path know one else can see, that Seraphin and Sophie can only sense, and takes his place that his heart has yearned for in faith. The Kings story is inspiring for those of us discontent with mediocracy and the shallowness of being a cog in the machine of civilization- marching toward progress, progress, progress by means of meaningless work and even more meaningless bloodshed. It shows when we lifted our eyes above these things and see what is above, what is eternal, and yearn for it and work to see it ever more clearly in truth, our faith and hard work may just be rewarded.
The story of Seraphin shows those of us that still believe in progress and the beauty of humanity that we can make a difference and that humanity can step forward in a positive way inspired by wonder and curiosity, to work more for the joy of discovery and less for selfish gain.
I like that this is a real story, not just action scenes and suspense and dialogue like a lot of graphic novels coming out now.

[Kayt O'Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the adventure that started in The Space Race of 1869 , our heroes find themselves (big spoiler for the first book, be warned) with King Ludwig of Bavaria on the spaceship, fleeing from his treasonous chamberlain who wants to overthrow the king on grounds of insanity and claim the aether technology for Prussia.

Definitely not the kind of story you could enjoy if you skip the first book.

Speaking of, compared to the first book it feels like a lot less happens in this one. Largely because the first book covered a lot of geographical space, as well as the building of the ship, shenanigans involving spies and politics, and all the stuff I mentioned in the spoiler above. This book takes place in two locations: the ship, and the moon.

The art is still beautiful and the watercolors are to die for, particularly the delicate shades of blues used in space, the moon and the moon mountain court-things fully of planetary models. I was getting extreme Victorian sci-fi vibes, that whole idea that inside the earth you would come across lost worlds with large and extreme environments. Or heck, even the Cave of the Crystals in Mexico, which while real, gives off that same this-is-incredible-how-is-it-real vibe.

While the immediate story wraps up at the end of this volume, the overall story clearly isn't done, as one character is doing their own thing (the king decides to stay on the moon, which incidentally humans can breathe on) and I'm sure we'll come back to them in the next volume.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conclusion of the story! Or, the "pilot" story, anyway.

This part is less irritating, probably because it's (sometimes) easier to follow the middle of a story to a conclusion than to start from the beginning and abruptly cut off... or, it has been in my admittedly arbitrary reading selections. It also encapsulates the past's romantic vision of the future, before that meddling "reality" kicked in to prove the moon does NOT have atmosphere or monsters or stuff like that.

A lovely space travel story with Victorian aesthetic!

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Three and a half stars rounded down to three.

Seraphin and his crew, which includes the King of Bavaria, have barely escaped the treacherous chamberlain with their lives. They are now stowaways on the magnificent aethership, but their respite is short-lived. To save the king's throne and prove his sanity, they must push the aethership even farther—out of the sky . . . and into the stars! In the exquisitely illustrated Castle in the Stars series, Alex Alice delivers a fantastical adventure set in a world where man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969, and he marries this compelling high-concept premise with intricate, breathtaking art.

I would say that I enjoyed this book a bit less than the first. The first had intrigue and mysterious circumstances. It had tension which increased my level of attention and care for the characters. In the second book, the characters are carried away in the aethership, narrowly missing major injury or even death by those out to stop them. They eventually end up on the moon, and have to start making plans for how to get home, as the aether ship has some serious damage. With the king acting very strange, isolating himself and seemingly plotting and locking himself away, the rest are very unsure what is going on. Eventually the king reveals himself and what is actually going on is a huge shock to the rest of the crew. Will they ever get home? This book lacked the tension and excitement of the previous book, though it still kept my attention. I am still very interested to see where the story goes next.

[Spikkee R Djinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retomando la lectura de esta maravillosa bande dessinée. Recapitulando los acontecimientos del volumen anterior, Seraphim y su padre viajan a Baviera para continuar sus experimentos sobre el éter y los viajes espaciales. Al mismo tiempo, padecen una serie de contratiempos provocados por las ambiciones del jefe del reino vecino de Prusia, lo cual precipitó el despegue de la Eternave hacia el espacio.
Una vez iniciado el viaje, la tripulación soportará varios inconvenientes técnicos que los forzarán a aterrizar en la Luna. Iniciando así una expedición que los llevará a lugares insólitos, como cuevas con gravedad imposible y descubrimientos impresionantes, como los vestigios de un pueblo que alguna vez se afincó en la Luna. Cuando logren reponerse de sus contratiempos, tendrán que encarar la difícil elección de volver a casa o continuar su viaje por las estrellas.
A diferencia del volumen anterior, donde la historia era inferior a la calidad del dibujo y el estilo del color, en esta ocasión Alice logra combinar ambas cosas de excelente manera. Nos cuenta una historia llena de aventura y amor por la exploración espacial, con guiños al genial Julio Verne y la proto-ciencia ficción del siglo XIX. Además, el estilo del dibujo y el color, que se asemeja a pinturas hechas con acuarela, resalta la belleza de los paisajes lunares imaginados por Alice. Uno de los momentos más bellos del tomo es el despegue de la Eternave. ¡Qué talento el de Alex para imaginar algo así! Por esta gran mezcla de técnica y argumento, este volumen se lleva sus cinco estrellas. ¡Felices lecturas!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though someone tried to sabotage the takeoff, King Ludwig's aethership has made it into the sky. He, Professor Dulac, Dulac's son Seraphin, royal maid Sophie, and local boy Hans are on their way to the aether. Dulac just wants to get there and return to Earth, but King Ludwig has bigger ideas. When further damage to the ship is revealed, the group is forced to land on the Moon. Will they survive? And if so, what will they find there?

This feels like classic steampunk, like something Verne might have written. The depiction of the Moon is like nothing I've ever read before and was fresh and new. There's a solid grounding in real history and Bavarian culture, while adding the very non-historical steampunk elements of aether ships and space exploration. Each of the characters on the ship has different reactions to their situation and what they hope will result, so in addition to world building we get somewhat complex characters. And there's some beautiful artwork in here too. Hand this to readers looking for something a little bit different who either like historical fiction or scifi or explorer stories.

Notes on content: One instance of swearing in German. No sexual content. There are some perilous situations and some of the characters get scratches/cuts when the ship transitions to zero gravity, but no one is seriously hurt.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

This reads like a Miyazaki movie; this could be a movie someday for all that I know. Everyone is talking in their reviews how they liked the first book better and that this one has times where it is hard to read/understand because it is so detailed, so fine. I have to agree. I guess you could blow this up to twice its size or you can just understand that some things will be lost.

Thank you to Alice for putting the synopsis from the first book at the beginning (it's good to have a refresher), as we jump straight into the action and I was already getting some of the characters mixed up (the princess? good person or bad person? hmmm...). I kept pausing while reading to think about our world and this world in the book and things like my lack of actual scientific knowledge towards space travel--"where does the actual earth's atmosphere occur?" I wondered "is it anywhere near the aethosphere?" and "how about that 'snow' on the moon?" At least I know enough to know that you CAN'T breathe on the moon!

Love all the mysteries that aren't solved and all the asides between the characters. Hoping some answers might come in book 3!

p.s. keep a watch out for not just one but TWO boot to the head occurrences! You go, Sophie!

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! J'ai vraiment adoré ces deux opus! La trame narrative fait beaucoup penser au livre Autour de la lune de Jules Verne, sauf qu'on y va ici dans du plus fantastique, avec une plume et une rigueur que seul Alex Alice tend à nous faire apprécier. N'étant pas exactement du steampunk, la bande-dessinée se rapproche quand même du genre en exploitant une source d'énergie autre que l'énergie fossile pour le fonctionnement de l'engin. J'ai aimé me plonger dans cet univers somptueux, affinée, remplie d'une humanité que je n'aurai jamais pensé pour un tel genre de récit. Les dessins, quant à eux, imitent les anciennes bandes-dessinées tout en conservant cette étincelle de modernité qui, au final, confère au récit un côté dramatique et ludique à la fois. Le tracé d'Alex Alice surplombe mes attentes, et me donne l'envie, à mon tour, de me plonger dans ce vide intersidéral et de contempler la lune longuement. Mais la force de cet opus, ce sont certainement les rebondissements, qui nous tiennent longtemps en haleine. Dans l'éthernef, l'on ne s'ennuie jamais, et je suis sûr que cette bande-dessinée vous donnera le goût de lire d'autres BD du même auteur!