The Ring of the Seven Worlds

L'Anneau des 7 mondes #1-4

by Giovanni Gualdoni, Gabriele Clima, Davide Turotti

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action/Adventure and Manga all blend into this Steampunk saga about interconnected worlds at the mercy of an invasion.

Seven planets linked to one another by the multidimensional gates of a giant ring. Only the passage to Nemo, one of the Seven Worlds, has remained sealed for three centuries in order to imprison its people after they savagely attacked the rest of the Empire. When the infamous gate reopens and unleashes the ancient enemy, Timo and Luce, two teenagers from the planet Mose, are caught up in a war they were not prepared to fight.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Steampunk

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Gualdoni frequenta il Liceo Artistico di Busto Arsizio e la Scuola d'Arte del Castello Sforzesco di Milano. Nel 2000 è chiamato da Gabriele Clima, direttore artistico di Mediacomics, a prendere parte alla creazione di Armadel, il primo iperfumetto al mondo, ovvero un webcomics con collegamenti multimediali per testo e immagini. Oltre al gioco online legato a questo personaggio, Gualdoni scrive, in team con altri sceneggiatori, i primi 2 episodi intitolati Il respiro delle Stelle e Il re dei topi

Nel 2001 dà vita al Settemondi Studio, gruppo di fumettisti e non solo, finalizzato alla creazione e alla promozione di progetti originali di serie a fumetti.

Agli inizi del 2002 produce per la Francia per conto di Soleil Production la serie Akameshi, un fantasy che si svolge nel Giappone dell'era Edo, la cui realizzazione grafica è affidata a Stefano Turconi. Parallelamente, assieme a Matteo Piana e Davide Turotti, inizia il lavoro sulla saga L'Anello dei 7 Mondi (di cui sono usciti finora tre dei quattro volumi previsti), pubblicato da Les Humanoïdes Associés, e poco dopo Starlight, una serie di fantascienza comica ambientata in un futuro che si rifà nel designer allo stile pop anni settanta (con i disegni di Alberto Ponticelli e i colori di Davide Turotti). Tutte queste serie sono state ripubblicate anche in Italia dalle Edizioni BD.

Dopo Starlight, Gualdoni produce Fantaghenna e Teknogeo, due altre serie per l’editrice francese Paquet, co-sceneggiate con Giustina Porcelli e disegnate rispettivamente da Stefano Turconi e Gianfranco Enrietto. Queste serie sono state pubblicate a puntate anche in Italia sul magazine Brand New! edito da Free Books. Nel 2010 Fantaghenna è stato poi ristampato in albo cartonato dalla stessa Free Books.

Il progetto più importante di Gualdoni è Wondercity, Il Collegio delle Meraviglie, una serie realizzata da uno staff che riunisce alcuni tra i migliori autori della Walt Disney Italia e i coloristi dello Studio Tenderini. Il lavoro è stato pubblicato a livello internazionale, Italia compresa, dalle edizioni Free Books in uscite bimestrali.

Sempre da un’idea di Giovanni Gualdoni nel 2006 viene realizzata la serie Dr. Voodoo, con matite e pennelli di Luigi Cavenago, sempre per le edizioni Free Books. Lo stesso anno Gualdoni firma la sceneggiatura dell’episodio 47 della serie John Doe, intitolato Cosa sarebbe successo se....

Dalla fine del 2006 Gualdoni lavora come redattore per Sergio Bonelli Editore, per il quale ha realizzato diversi episodi di Dylan Dog tra cui alcuni per la nuova collana Dylan Dog Color Fest.

Nel 2007 una collaborazione tra Gualdoni e lo sceneggiatore Marco Belli ha portato alla realizzazione della saga in due volumi L'Ultima notte, su disegni di Werner Maresta e colori di Donatella Melchionno.

Nel 2008 Gualdoni e Chiara Caccivio hanno pubblicato il loro primo libro di letteratura per ragazzi, Rumbler, Il segreto del Qwid, edito da De Agostini.

Da gennaio del 2010 fino al maggio 2013 Gualdoni sostituisce Mauro Marcheselli come nuovo curatore di Dylan Dog, ruolo poi assunto a partire da settembre 2013 da Roberto Recchioni.

Reviews

[Oneirosophos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the most dissappointing scifi bd I've ever read. Humanoids turns out to be a downer in its selections, in contrast to Europe Comics' ones.

TROTSW has beautiful art, plenty beautiful action scenes and some very cool characters. Overall, is a well-designed comic. But the narrative is a mess! It goes back & forth constantly, in time & space and is very heavy on exposition, in an extremely tiresome and complicated (!?) way.

After the middle I had lost every interest in the story and I just went along with the ride, like watching a mindless, badly written big budget post-apocalyptic disaster flick. I am quoting the only good catchphrase it had:

"-It all happened so fast.
-That's how life is. A few moments of glory amongst an eternity of boredom"

Skip this.

[The Kekistani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing comic book I felt sad to finish. Deep intertwined story, perfect art style and lovely color palette. This one reminded me of the Brass Sun I recently read, many worlds connected by a system, they fight among each other and so on, it was also an amazing book. All in all if you are into standalone, dense stories you need to read this one too. Also I loved the airship concept, almost in between sci-fi and steampunk.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the art is wonderful, the writing is decidedly less so. I can't remember thge last graphic novel I read with so much exposition. I appreciate the author's desire to explain everything but it can be done in a better way (or maybe be part to the imagination). Any time you have a 3 page monologue followed by another character saying "we know all this..." you know you have a book in need of a serious editing session.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really not sure what to make of this beautiful, complex graphic novel. Published originally in French, it focuses on Timo, the son of the Supreme Director of the Merchants' Guild, and Luce, a girl skilled in aerial acrobatics & flight who belongs to an Aerial Circus. Together they navigate an uncertain and complicated war that rages across multiple lands. The illustrations are lavish & complex, the plot complicated. I supposed that makes sense when you are dealing with an inter-planetary war with 7 different worlds. As best as I can figure is some of what happens:

Mose: Where most of the action takes place, it is renowned for its airships. Within Mose, politics is complicated with different guilds vying for power such as the Air Merchants, Demolitionists, and general Merchants, among others. Of course, individuals jockey for power positions within those guilds and try to undermine one another. Some outsiders work alongside guild members in get-rich-quick schemes that reek of corruption. Such is the case with Leponte, who tries to convince Timo's father to continue his support of a massive archaeological dig. When Timo's father refuses, Leponte works with a pair of assassins to rub him out. Meanwhile, a group of people (race of people?) known as the Entombed wait in the shadows (literally) to strike. I am still trying to figure out who exactly the Entombed are, what they are so secretive about, etc.

Enter the people of Nemo, a land that was sealed off from the other 6 as it was deemed harmful to the other worlds. Well, the people of Nemo have returned and not with fresh baked scones either. Borea, the capital of the Air Merchants' Guild is attacked. A tremendous amount of people are killed by Timo, Luce, and the nefarious, weaselly Leponte manage to escape.

The point of view shifts frequently making for a confusing narrative. Readers get snapshots of the story from different perspectives (such as from a Nimo commander, Nimo makeshift governor, a bold, young Air Ship crewman, a young member of the Entombed, the rebellion at Borea, various senators of the Seven Worlds, advanced people of unknown origins, and pirates). Frankly, it's enough to make your brain hurt.

When the twist finally comes at the end, after much carnage, betrayals, backstabbing, escape attempts, magic, etc. it makes you want to go back and read the book again to see if any of it makes sense (it still doesn't to me).

Overall, a great book. I really enjoyed the themes & questions the creators explored such as "What makes a person beg for their loved one's life one moment and callously commit murder the next?" The graphic novel has lots to say about war, corruption, and human nature.

On the book it is labeled 13 + and that sounds right to me. There are a few swear words, plenty of stabbings & deaths, a bit of sexy clothes but no nudity (p. 29 shows a bit of nipple showing through a shirt). I think this would be okay for high schoolers and many middle schoolers. More sensitive 6th/7th graders may want to skip this one which is why I am not putting it into my school library. There is one brief mention of a couple being a lesbian couple but it's not really spelled out (p. 70).

[Amelia Kow · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pacing of the story was done rather poorly, and the way in which the world works was also not communicated properly as well. When the truth was finally revealed at the end, it was extremely underwhelming, and felt rather abrupt as the links between the past, present, and future was not clearly drawn which led to the reveal seeming like a ditch attempt by the author to make the storyline interesting. It just felt like I've spent my time reading 230+ pages for nothing :( Wasn't intrigued by the story nor the characters. Character development was poorly done as well, and I felt no attachment whatsoever to any one person.

Timo's uncle was initially introduced as a character that was supposedly intended to betray Timo and Luce, but that did not happen. What was his personal motive? I don't know and I don't care lol. Similarly, what in the world is the significance of a magician or a "master" in this world who is able to command Edon? What was Edon? These were also unclear and seemed to have been poorly integrated into the story. Edon's ability could have been explored so much more, and the potential he had was ENORMOUS. But he dies after receiving a single shot to his head after doing literally nothing for the crew, even though he was supposedly a being that was nothing and everything at the same time. It was so frustrating. Who's master Ilo? What exactly is Kiona's role in this world as well? Who are the entomed? Who is the emperor? Why is the emperor important and if he truly is so important why was he allowed to die in the story without an explanation of what his role is in the world? I HAVE NO FLIPPING CLUE. Too many loose ends left unresolved, and we readers have to make do with and accept this lack of explanation because the "rings of the 7 worlds are in fact 7 parallels of the same universe and too many things could be done differently in each parallel hence no single answer can be given for anything since anything could change from one world to another". I literally read 230+ pages of what seemed to be a storyboard/array of random ideas of another work that the author intends to produce.

I really really rarely ever leave a rating of 3 stars and under, especially for graphic novels, but this was just poorly done and it's such a waste as the illustrations were beautiful and the story itself was promising and could have amounted to a lot more. I think it's the first book I've read that made me so angry to have wasted my time too, but I read through the entire thing because I can't stand not finishing a book I've started, and also because I thought things would come to light further down the book. Boy was I wrong.

[Augusto Bernardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent stand alone comic that seems to be really underrated. Had a unique and simple but beautiful illustration style and composition and story made this comic be a real page turner. I practically blazed through the whole thing in one long and very pleasant sitting. This is what I think the future of comics should be like. Easy to read, very dynamic and exciting and stand alone stories as opposed to never ending additions which are hard to read all of them. I think that format is something that is hurting comics more than generating interest. In regards to the story, I really liked the scence fiction elements with multiverses and time travel with subtle hints of other magic. WAS mysterious enough to get me extremely interested without being cliche. The plot twists were outstanding and are masterfully planned.
I highly recommend this comic to anybody wanting to get into some different comics.

[Dennis Scotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanta ciccia sul fuoco, forse troppa e decisamente poco insaporita; un pò il problema per ogni personaggio che viene presentato durante l’arco narrativo, un peccato visto il grande potenziale della storia e del mondo in cui è ambientata, protagonisti che vengono presentati in sordina ma da cui percepisci un potenziale, ahimè mai soddisfatta. Essendo una graphic novel un plauso si potrebbe fare decisamente a tutto ciò che è l’espressione facciale, molto meno per le scene in movimento o di azione, abbastanza statiche, peccato perché a mio avviso, magari con il doppio della lunghezza sarebbe potuto uscire un gran bel fantascientifico.
Però leggetelo comunque ahahahaha

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pity how they finished the story. The fourth volume is more a summary than an well-deleoped story: it's all too fast, as I have read from other comments, with great gaps than needed to be filled.
However, even with these flaws, I liked it.

[Thomas Haverkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story with sudden changes in the plot.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice art and interesting plot, but the ending was odd.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really unique and unexpected ending!

[Zachary J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pages of exposition just to end it on, “We all know this…”

Interesting art style that keeps me interested, but the writing could be SO much better.

[Himi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was finally able to get this in English. Had I known it would be licensed, I would have waited, but that’s fine. It’s a great story and was worth the French the first time around. I made the mistake of reading it in 2009 or 2010 before it was completed. I think the final book came out much later and during the wait, I forgot about it. I was even more excited reading it in English because I didn’t have to deconstruct and reconstruct each line as I went and this time I knew I was going to actually read the ending.

The Ring is a great story about the beginnings and endings of things. Though there are seven worlds, the story’s primary focus is on Mose, the first of the seven. It starts out with a spotlight on most of the main players and then the story begins to unfold as we learn how these people are connected. There have been wars, great wars, but Mose is supposed to be in a state of relative peace at this point. So when word of enemy forces gathering begin to spread, some people’s disbelief delays action and they suffer greatly for it. Even still, the force with which the enemy attacked, they hardly stood a chance. Add to that failed treaties, old wounds, and dirty dealings, vies for power, and sinking cities and you’ve got nothing to look forward to but complete annihilation.

Before and during the battles many governments fall, some are further corrupted, and others follow their escape plan. And out of the chaos rises unlikely alliances and unlikely heros.

The story was really interesting to follow and when crux was revealed it was almost disappointing, but then quickly not. I love when an event in a story occurs and it makes you reconsider everything that has come to pass through a new lens.

And the art was great, too!

[MacBudgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was rather good.
The art was, although not being in my favourite style ever, quite polished and professional, and the plot (and underlying ideas behind the story) was quite clever.
However, there were a few things left unexplained in the novel, and things set up which never came to anything. Why, for example, did we have a character set up at the start to be a minor bad guy, who ordered the death of a main character's father, travel along with them the entire time, only to serve no real purpose connected to this? There were also a few bits and pieces which felt, frankly, unnecessary.
Overall, though, this book was quite enjoyable, with a solid ending.

[Drsilent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an unexpected find and a really neat graphic novel! Kind of steampunk-y with some time travel and environmentalism thrown in, it reminded me strongly of Miyazaki's Nausicaa (the manga version). The art style is refreshing, definitely European with perhaps some Japanese influences. It apparently has been available in French for a decade, can't believe I never saw it before... I'll look up the authors and see what else they've done now.

[Gbadebo Ayangbile · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite an interesting read. The art was superb, there was some influence of Japanese style of manga drawing. But the story was engaging and easy to follow.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this a lot. I think the ending was a bit abrupt and contained a little too much Tell rather than Show, which is why I only gave 4 stars.

But it has cool airships!