What do you think?
Rate this book
Les Contes de l'ère du Cobra #1-2
Opowieści z czasów Kobry
Przepięknie namalowana i świetnie napisana baśń tylko dla dorosłych osadzona w arabskich sceneriach. Autorem jest Enrique Fernandez, jeden z mistrzów współczesnego, hiszpańskiego komiksu stworzył komiks, którym zachwyciła się międzynarodowa krytyka, jak i rzesze czytelników.
Wiecie, co ma moc obalania tyranów? Poezja. Dobry wiersz sprawi, że twoje serce zacznie szybciej bić, a t wój umysł rozgrzeją skrywane emocje. By jednak narodziło się takie dzieło, musi narodzić się jego autor. Przejść niezwykłą drogę od namiętności przez ból do piętna wojny. Sian i Irvi kochają się, ale świat w którym żyją, uczucia ma za nic. Tu liczy się złoto. Kiedy piękna Sian zostaje sprzedana księciu, zwinny niczym małpa Irvi postanawia ją uwolnić. Niestety bezskutecznie, bo wpada w sidła... własnej chuci. Nie mogąc znieść swojej słabości, winą za wszystko obarcza władców. Poprzysięga wypruć flaki wszystkim książętom świata...
Wiecie, co ma moc obalania tyranów? Poezja. Dobry wiersz sprawi, że twoje serce zacznie szybciej bić, a t wój umysł rozgrzeją skrywane emocje. By jednak narodziło się takie dzieło, musi narodzić się jego autor. Przejść niezwykłą drogę od namiętności przez ból do piętna wojny. Sian i Irvi kochają się, ale świat w którym żyją, uczucia ma za nic. Tu liczy się złoto. Kiedy piękna Sian zostaje sprzedana księciu, zwinny niczym małpa Irvi postanawia ją uwolnić. Niestety bezskutecznie, bo wpada w sidła... własnej chuci. Nie mogąc znieść swojej słabości, winą za wszystko obarcza władców. Poprzysięga wypruć flaki wszystkim książętom świata...
104 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2012
About the author
Enrique Fernández
57 books35 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 21, 2022
Impressive in all ways- my most rounded definition of *****! I'd call it a 5 star with just a few "but"s*.
Using the storyteller staging the story to an audience within the narrative added an excellent dimension with it's obvious payoff at the end which gives a reader like me something to guess at as it progresses.
The art has a wonderful lusciouspressiveness that magnifies emotion with panache!
*->but, to my eyes, it disadvantaged the action by making the motions over-indulged and even blurry/confusing.
Another issue of mine was the way the storyteller over-ambiguously ended his story. I know what Fernández was going for but I would have had him present his options differently which would've allowed...
Using the storyteller staging the story to an audience within the narrative added an excellent dimension with it's obvious payoff at the end which gives a reader like me something to guess at as it progresses.
The art has a wonderful lusciouspressiveness that magnifies emotion with panache!
*->but, to my eyes, it disadvantaged the action by making the motions over-indulged and even blurry/confusing.
Another issue of mine was the way the storyteller over-ambiguously ended his story. I know what Fernández was going for but I would have had him present his options differently which would've allowed...
July 14, 2018
As an art book, Tales From The Age Of The Cobra looks gorgeous. Fernández's background is in storyboarding and his layouts, paneling, colors, and pencils are exquisite. But, from page one, this is a predictable fable with no particularly interesting characters.
The book opens with the "Let me tell you a tale" framing device, where the narrator is presenting this story to an audience we don't initially meet. And the story he is telling is of a girl who is "a flower on a dungheap" and her acrobatic love interest, and how they are kept apart by a society that forces her to marry someone who goes on to kill her future lovers and...uggggggggh.
The inside cover reads "Tales From The Age Of The Cobra is a captivating parable and timeless tale of passion, violence, and humor in the sprit of 1001 Arabian Nights and Aladdin -- but one that blasts the conventional cliches to bits."
I have no idea what cliches were even slightly bent, nevermind blasted to bits. I think it hit absolutely every trope, and didn't do anything interesting to them. It's not bad. It's not a terrible story. It's just that if you are going to do a story "in the style of" an Arabian Nights fable, you need to bring something interesting to the story. A point-of-view character that an audience won't instantly recognize, a different era/region of the world/gender combination than the many previous versions of the story that exist. You need some sort of hook to make a familiar story your own.
I didn't find that hook in this story.
I would recommend it to people who care more about art than story, and friends who are comforted by stories that they've heard/read dozens of times already.
The book opens with the "Let me tell you a tale" framing device, where the narrator is presenting this story to an audience we don't initially meet. And the story he is telling is of a girl who is "a flower on a dungheap" and her acrobatic love interest, and how they are kept apart by a society that forces her to marry someone who goes on to kill her future lovers and...uggggggggh.
The inside cover reads "Tales From The Age Of The Cobra is a captivating parable and timeless tale of passion, violence, and humor in the sprit of 1001 Arabian Nights and Aladdin -- but one that blasts the conventional cliches to bits."
I have no idea what cliches were even slightly bent, nevermind blasted to bits. I think it hit absolutely every trope, and didn't do anything interesting to them. It's not bad. It's not a terrible story. It's just that if you are going to do a story "in the style of" an Arabian Nights fable, you need to bring something interesting to the story. A point-of-view character that an audience won't instantly recognize, a different era/region of the world/gender combination than the many previous versions of the story that exist. You need some sort of hook to make a familiar story your own.
I didn't find that hook in this story.
I would recommend it to people who care more about art than story, and friends who are comforted by stories that they've heard/read dozens of times already.
April 17, 2020
(4.0 of 5 for a nice "Thousand and one-night" tale with colourful art and thrilling story)
I admit - there is awful a lot narrative right from the start, which is a bit annoying for me and should be done in comics with wariness. The work with the panels and sequential flow of them is great so the narrative it's bearable, but the start was a bit rougher for me. The story is great, it's composed like a retelling of the tale (thus the extended narrative), the main epic story inside a narrator's story (kind of "Thousand and one-night" style). It's well-executed, thrilling and very enjoyable.
The art is awesome, colourful, rich but it wasn't a match for me right from the start. Even the setting is in some kind of Arabic-Persian kingdoms, the visual is very "European" so in some scenes it felt like middle-ages in Europe or something Hellenic (ancient Greece). Another thing there is a kind of comedy style to the characters - facial expressions, moves, etc. Which is a bit weird (at least on the beginning) because this is classic (fairy) tale, there is not direct comedy purpose, for example, like with Asterix. Sometimes it feels too expressive because the style is used only somewhere, so there are whole pages looking serious and dramatic followed with few silly comical gags and grimaces. But the art is good, dynamic, there is an excellent use of perspective (which I appreciate) and good work with light and shadows. It looks very rich, dreamy and in general, it's very enjoyable.
I admit - there is awful a lot narrative right from the start, which is a bit annoying for me and should be done in comics with wariness. The work with the panels and sequential flow of them is great so the narrative it's bearable, but the start was a bit rougher for me. The story is great, it's composed like a retelling of the tale (thus the extended narrative), the main epic story inside a narrator's story (kind of "Thousand and one-night" style). It's well-executed, thrilling and very enjoyable.
The art is awesome, colourful, rich but it wasn't a match for me right from the start. Even the setting is in some kind of Arabic-Persian kingdoms, the visual is very "European" so in some scenes it felt like middle-ages in Europe or something Hellenic (ancient Greece). Another thing there is a kind of comedy style to the characters - facial expressions, moves, etc. Which is a bit weird (at least on the beginning) because this is classic (fairy) tale, there is not direct comedy purpose, for example, like with Asterix. Sometimes it feels too expressive because the style is used only somewhere, so there are whole pages looking serious and dramatic followed with few silly comical gags and grimaces. But the art is good, dynamic, there is an excellent use of perspective (which I appreciate) and good work with light and shadows. It looks very rich, dreamy and in general, it's very enjoyable.
February 11, 2018
Enrique Fernandez's gorgeously drawn Arabian nights style tale is exquisite, the work that's gone into making this is amazing. The EuroComics translation paints the story in words that matches the beautiful artwork and the whole is a fabulous journey from innocence through darkness and despair through to revelations and redemptions.
If you're a fan of amazing artwork and boy's own adventures of damsels in distress, evil overlords, magic, gunpowder and true love, this is definitely one for the collection.
So, why only four stars? In trying to set the scene, Enrique's changes from light to dark lack contrast and scenes that should be moody become muddy with panel transitions that require too many double takes to figure out what the intent is.
If you can see past this and are prepared to invest a couple of hours, this is as rewarding as any Hollywood blockbuster. I'm already looking to see what else he's written to add to my collection...
If you're a fan of amazing artwork and boy's own adventures of damsels in distress, evil overlords, magic, gunpowder and true love, this is definitely one for the collection.
So, why only four stars? In trying to set the scene, Enrique's changes from light to dark lack contrast and scenes that should be moody become muddy with panel transitions that require too many double takes to figure out what the intent is.
If you can see past this and are prepared to invest a couple of hours, this is as rewarding as any Hollywood blockbuster. I'm already looking to see what else he's written to add to my collection...
April 30, 2016
Fernandez é un genio! La storia é bellissima per non parlare dei disegni e della colorazione. Un vero maestro! Sono assolutamente conquistata!!!
March 2, 2018
Interesting book. The artwork is amazing. I won this book through goodreads.
October 28, 2024
(3.6) This romantic embedded narrative has intense artwork with multiple stories (so pace yourself) Character development is detailed yet mercurial storytelling keeps the reader locked.
December 5, 2021
fucking amazing man. the style of drawings are spectacular, a pleasure to eyes! it grabbed me from the first page and even despite the story i couldn't put it down.
the story... it's folkloric, a tale. at the beginning i thought it will be a epic love story of a beautiful virgin and a callow boy, about one page later it turned out a story of some weird seperated-lovers and a wacky king. then it took one more turn n became an epic story of revenge and love. interesting for sure.
btw it's NSFW. it has explicit graphic and disturbing contents.
"...and you will find no comfort in this gilded prison. Together we shall do away with all those who built this despicable prison. I will show you the true path of love. We shall put an end to this cruel tradition. Kings, princes and noblemen of all known lands, hear this: from now on, they will find no love here!"
xoxoxo
iko
September 26, 2018
This book is absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous! Every panel on every page is a fantastical work of art. I quite liked the story as well, it has a very fairy tale feel but fills in well with characterizations and sass. It reminds me of a mix between the animated film The Thief and the Cobbler & The Chronicles of Master Li & Number Ten Ox. Some small parts of the story leave something to be desired, but overall this book is a glorious thing to devour.
February 28, 2025
An inventive story told with stylish artwork enhanced by a vivid combination of glorious colours, Tales from the Age of the Cobra is a graphic wonder of great skill, yet the narrative falls short of the high visual standard, and never delivered the full spectacle I was anticipating. It’s possible that something important was lost during translation, but the storyline was both too slow and too fast at different points, and sometimes confusing, with numerous pages presenting little that I would say was essential to the core tale. The art is truly fantastic so I still enjoyed reading this, but hoped for more.
September 13, 2021
Fiabesco e orientaleggiante, molto più di quanto quelle appendici nasali in copertina vorrebbero farvi credere.
Racconti di una storia vecchia come il mondo che nella chiave di Fernández mi è sembrata tanto antica da poter essere reinventata senza stravolgere la ricetta originale. Non innoverà il mondo della narrativa, ma è una ruota di colori e passioni da cui valga la pena lasciarsi ipnotizzare.
Racconti di una storia vecchia come il mondo che nella chiave di Fernández mi è sembrata tanto antica da poter essere reinventata senza stravolgere la ricetta originale. Non innoverà il mondo della narrativa, ma è una ruota di colori e passioni da cui valga la pena lasciarsi ipnotizzare.
March 25, 2024
Tales is a stunning book. I double-dip far too often, but this one! UGH! The art takes you back to an early nineties animated film. The character design is stunning, and the color palettes make it so you can feel the mood and environments in each scene. The reader is sucked into every scene beautifully. So, if the art doesn't get you, the storytelling will. It is such a well-done book. Library edition, please!!!
January 4, 2022
Probabilmente la mia storia favorita di Enrique Fernandez. al di là del colore e del design che è sempre il suo indiscutibile tratto distintivo, la trama è intrigante e originale e i personaggi sono interessantissimi.
February 19, 2018
I love the colorful illustrations. The artist is very talented. I understood most of the story, but there were parts that I had difficulty with. Still, I am giving this book 5-Stars!
July 14, 2018
Great art just can’t carry a story burdened with tired, old cliches.
December 26, 2019
Uma história inusual, com um traço e cores fantásticas. Aventureira. Inspiradora mesmo.
August 27, 2021
Wished the story matched up to these insanely beautiful visuals
April 8, 2022
The art was unique. I didn’t really like the story, though.
May 30, 2022
Je n’ai pas été aussi enjoué que par les illustrations qui sont magnifiques mais j’ai eu du mal a rentrer dans l’histoire…
July 6, 2025
lite skev men fantastiska bilder!
August 10, 2015
Una storia più inusuale di quanto potrebbe sembrare scorrendo la trama, in cui i personaggi sono riusciti a farmi appassionare ai loro drammi.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews