Depuis la nuit des temps, l'avidité des hommes a créé la discorde avec la nature et les autres créatures du monde. Les terres ont été recouvertes d'une brume épaisse qui transforme des créatures magiques en bêtes féroces. Gherd veut devenir une guerrière, mais ce statut lui est interdit car seuls les hommes peuvent y accéder. Déterminée, la jeune fille participe en cachette à l'épreuve d'initiation : commence alors une aventure qui va la pousser au cœur des secrets du royaume des Brumes...
A solid fantasy adventure for kids. Gert's family was killed by a large beast. When she stands up for a reptilian creature she is banished from her tribe. Now the two of them must work together to try and determine why their world is troubled by the beasts. There's some good messages about trusting in yourself and making your own found family. The art has a very Cartoon Network look to it.
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)
Gert is just a young girl when her parents are killed by a sacred beast. And needlessly, at that: Gert's mother Bia, a healer, was experimenting with sacred stones to quell the uncontrollable rage of the beasts who live in the fog. While Bia's theories are largely met with derision by her peers, when a beast corners Gert by the forest, Bia is able to subdue him with the help of a stone. But then the village's beast-hunters, led by Gert's father, bumble-rush onto the scene and escalate the conflict, leaving Gert an orphan.
Gert is sent to live with her uncle, who wastes no time embracing the sacred stones: not to forge peace with the beasts, but rather to make them more compliant and easier to kill. Meanwhile, Gert trains as a warrior, hoping to find and slay the beast who killed her parents. But beast-hunting is the realm of men - and anyway, Gert inherited her mother's kind and compassionate heart, which makes her a terrible hunter indeed.
When Gert's attempt to hijack a beast-hunter initiation goes horribly awry, she's cast out of her village - but embarks on magnificent adventure that will transform not just her life, but those of all the kunya, molkhog, and sacred beasts that share her world.
GERT AND THE SACRED STONES is a lovely, all-ages tale about the power of friendship and found family; living in harmony with nature; and extending one's circle of compassion to creatures who don't necessarily look or behave or think like you.
I'll admit, I was a little confused at first, trying to figure out how all the animals - human and non - relate to one another. There are the kunya, or humans, who position themselves in opposition to everyone else; the molkhog, a species of humanoid nunhumans who can speak the humans' language but mostly live separately from them; and the sacred beasts, the nonhuman animals of the story. The kunya seem to lump the molkhog and sacred beasts together, which is puzzling at first - but also such an annoyingly human thing to do, this us vs. them thinking.
Yet, it's not just the kunya who are capable of wrongdoing: in his quest to defeat the fog (and free the beasts from its influence), a molkhog oracle defeats unspeakable acts of depravity. (And I'm not even referring to the god-slaying!)
In the end, Gert rejects the violence and bigotry of her people, forging a better way forward. While I wouldn't necessarily call this a vegan-friendly story - there is some circle-of-life, food chain killing that's justified for all the inhabitants of this world - it is rather animal-friendly. Also, the illustrations are spectacular and I enjoyed the variety of creatures dreamed up by Carità.
Idea e personaggi molto originale e ben realizzati. Ho apprezzato molto i disegni. Forse avrei preferito un formato più grande e con copertina rigida. Peccato per il finale, forse troppo affrettato e buttato li, senza una vera e propria riconciliazione con gli eventi successi all'inizio della storia. Un paio di pagine in più e il problema si sarebbe evitato.
Prima scrivo la recensione, poi vediamo quante stelline mettere.
Punto primo: un'altra recensione si lamenta che i personaggi di colore sono sempre i cattivi della situazione. Però io non credo di aver visto personaggi di colore. Il cattivo della situazione è sì marroncino ma io l'ho interpretato come un essere non umano, visto che ha un muso lungo e corna.
Punto secondo: i disegni non mi piacciono molto. Sono morbidi e rotondi ma... non so... forse troppo "moderni" per le mie abitudini di lettura. Inoltre credo che la disegnatrice sia più brava a disegnare i personaggi non umani rispetto agli umani: Puc è riuscito benissimo, secondo me. Belli anche gli sfondi.
Punto terzo: la storia. Meh. Da un lato la parte in cui a Gherd non è permesso diventare un guerriero mi sembra attaccato lì con lo scotch, perché va di moda. Anche perché la storia dopo va da un'altra parte. Non male, un po' confusa forse, perché ho dovuto tornare indietro a leggere un paio di pagine per capire meglio la costruzione del mondo. Molto semplice.
Potrei dare un'altra possibilità a Marco Rocchi in futuro. Per adesso rimettiamo sullo scaffale.
Okay, bonus points for the fat little owl cat griffin thing. It’s adorable. I originally thought I’d give this about a 3 stars rating and then I thought about how well the images contributed to the story. You could give this to a really little kid or you could as easily hand it to an older reluctant reader. The images do such a good job of conveying the story even though there’s not a lot of dialogue on any given page. It has enough going on that it would still be interesting to an older kid while being simple enough to read to suit a younger child. There is some violence and dead parents but if a kid can get through say a viewing of a Star Wars movie the content here would be more than ok for them.
J’ai été séduite par le dessin, la palette de couleurs qui est composée de couleurs chaudes et d’un peu de bleu, de l’héroïne. Je me suis vite attachée à Gherd, l’héroïne de ce livre. Elle est touchante, courageuse et ne se laisse pas influencer par le chef de son village. Elle se fait son propre avis et n’a pas peur de prendre des risques.
C’est un livre qui est destiné à un jeune public mais il séduira aussi les grands. L’histoire fait passer plusieurs messages sur le féminisme, l’écologie. J’ai passé un très bon moment avec Guerd et son entourage. J’ai dévoré ce livre en une journée.
"Como muchas historias, esta presenta a una mujer fuerte que desafía las reglas habituales de la sociedad en la que vive. A pesar de no poder convertirse en una mata bestias por ser mujer, ella lo intentará a pesar de las adversidades. ¿Estará lista para convertirse en una mata bestias y vengar la muerte de sus padres, o su destino tomará otro rumbo?
Me encanta el estilo vikingo sobrenatural que se presenta en la historia. Los paisajes son fantásticos, y el dibujo de los personajes es muy lindo.
Disfruté mucho cómo la historia, muestra la transición de hostilidad a amistad a lo largo de su desarrollo. Creo que aborda temas como la aceptación, el perdón y, sobre todo, la idea de no rendirse ante situaciones difíciles
Na tento grafický román som náhodne narazila v edičnom pláne vydavateľstva a vyzeralo to moc milo, chcela som si to hneď prečítať.
Gerte v detstve nebezpečné zviera zabije rodičov a ujme sa jej strýko, nečelník kmeňa. Chce bojovať ako ostatní, ale nemôže, lebo je dievča. A potom v lese narazí na bytosť, s ktorou ujde a jej plány sa zmenia.
Mala som pravdu. Je to milý príbeh o odvahe, zlobe aj pomste a hlavne o tom, čo je správne. Je to príbeh pre všetky vekové kategórie, je to vhodné ako pre deti, tak aj pre dospelých. Má to veľmi pekné ilustrácie, čo je pre mňa osobne dosť dôležité. Plus to má mega roztomilé zvieratko, ktoré bolo mojou obľúbenou postavou. Rozhodne to stojí za prečítanie.
...someone saw Princess Mononoke. Numerous aspects of Gert and the Sacred Stones are a direct rip-off of that Miyazaki film, including a beast god who is killed by clueless humans and becomes a giant blue jelly monster. It's, uh, not great in terms of copyright infringement.
In terms of storytelling and artwork, Gert is above average. It's a fun read, even if it offers few surprises, and the art is creative and colorful. A young girl's parents are killed by a beast, but through the whims of fate, she learns to love beasts - and save the world. Nothing special, easy to parse, definitely a rip-off of a much better film - still probably worth a read.
Bande dessinée agréable à regarder et originale. J'ai apprécié le côté fantasy et les différents habitants de cet univers, ainsi que l'évolution de l'héroïne. Des héros plus étoffés auraient toutefois été bienvenu. Beaucoup de personnages secondaires sont agressifs et énervants, ce qui ne rend pas la lecture très agréable et j'ai trouvé le rythme un peu rapide. C'est dense et ça va vite, ce qui laisse peu de temps pour prendre plaisir à découvrir l'univers. Rien à redire en tout cas côté dessins, ils collent à l'histoire et sont suffisamment expressifs et dépaysants pour s'immerger dans ce nouveau monde.
Such a sweet, magical tale! The creators have taken the classic story of vengeance and redemption and constructed their own world to tell it in. For how short it was, the worldbuilding and lore are impressive. The illustrations are clear and vibrant, with a good balance of youthful and intricate. The message is a timeless one of peace, love, belief in oneself and the goodness of others. It may be a bit predictable in general, but it has some of its own unique flair that was a pleasure to experience.
A wonderful story about the importance of trust, friendship, and doing what's right - even when it's hard. I also really loved the illustrations. I do have to admit that the drawings when the God spirit takes over Gert's friend to enact revenge did *kind of* remind me of a certain boy with certain abilities who was possessed by a certain god spirit at the end of Book 1 of his adventures. If anything, though, that comparison and reminder made me enjoy this graphic novel even more. Also, I want my own sacred beast like Pook! :-)
Dynamiczna, pełna przygód historia o strachu przed innością, który łatwo może być wykorzystany przez osoby żądne władzy. O podążaniu własną drogą i solidarności, w tym wypadku międzygatunkowej. Z wyrazistą, zdeterminowaną młodą bohaterką. Mój 8-letni syn zobaczył w niej podobieństwa do "Jak wytresować smoka" - ja tego filmu nie widziałam, ale we mnie też "Gerda" wywołuje wiele skojarzeń wizualnych i fabularnych. I to poczucie, że wiele elementów tej opowieści skądś już znam, jest dla mnie pewną wadą tej książki.
Ciekawe przygody walecznej dziewczynki, która próbuje zrozumieć świat pełen bestii i zasnuty wieczną mgłą. Zło okazuje się być ulokowane nie tam, gdzie można się spodziewać, a świat można jeszcze uratować.
Przyjemnie narysowane, szczególnie miasta i krajobrazy. Niestety historia wymaga nieco dopracowania. Gdyby usunąć kilka niemądrych sytuacji czy skrótów myślowych, popracować więcej nad wiarygodnością budowania relacji, to byłby znakomity komiks dla młodszych i starszych czytelników.
This is my first graphic novel and I enjoyed it, but I thought that it was a bit short.
I really liked the art in this book, and I thought that the beasts were really interesting. I wanted to see more of them as they only really appear at the end.
I liked this story and I want to try other graphic novels.
This is a perfectly fine fantasy-adventure graphic novel, particularly for young readers -- especially those who are interested in the idea of a young girl being sword-wielding hero, with no apologies. The book is translated from Italian, so yes there is some clunky dialogue a few places. But it's carried along by engaging characters (of various species) and some truly beautiful panoramic panels.
I read this with my 5 year old son. He and I enjoyed it although some of the fantastical elements I had to explain. It was a cute, fun story, not overly complicated but definitely something a young reader would enjoy.
Wszystko fajnie, super ilustracje, tylko czemu jest to tak perfidna zrzynka z Księżniczki Mononoke? Koncepcja, elementy świata i fabuły, nawet dialogi takie same! Dobre pierwsze wrażenie, ale dalej już tylko rozczarowanie :/
Molto piacevole. Una protagonista femminile e coraggiosa. convinta che non si può fermare la violenza combattendo l'altro, ma comprendendolo e curandone le ferite. Utile oggi. alcuni spunti della trama un po' scontati (il potere che seduce chi se ne avvicina) o chiusi rapidamente , ma ok
Une bd jeunesse sympa, avec un postulat de départ plutôt basique. L'univers est intéressant et aurait mérité quelques pages d'approfondissement en plus.