Speaking of "Star Wars", we can still bring the saga of George Lucas that of Loisel & Letendre because in both cases, the authors have succumbed to the temptation of "prequel".
We become aware that this is an extremely difficult exercise since, anyway, this mythological period that falls before the main saga remains for the reader or viewer in the order of fantasy. Therefore, there is great risk that hope to reduce to nothing ...
In one case as in the other, the cold shower was terrible for many fans, disappointed that the result does not live up to their fantasies.
As for "The Quest of the bird of time", the beginning of the prequel (L'Ami Javin) was the worst, with an agreed narrative, which was just going against all atypical findings of the saga main, thus ruining the aura of the series in several respects (including the legendary figure of the terrible "Borak", which showed that nothing was more impressive than what we were told and we never saw !). But with the second volume (The Grimoire of the Gods), hope returned and we found the verve that our authors seemed to have lost along the way, to the point of running nine long years between the first two volumes of what the now called "Before the Quest" ...
After a third volume sawtooth, here is the fourth and final album to date. I naively thought it would be the last. But it was not counting on highly commercial direction that henceforth the series destiny.
Thus, this new step, which picks up where the previous volume we had left (in the field of Rige) has everything a soap opera episode, without beginning or end, which augurs a long series of episodes. ..
It is both gratifying because it's very nice to see our heroes in adventures developed at length, and both extremely frustrating, since it is now waiting three years between each volume to read the story in a step a flash. Because the albums are so fluid and decompressed, they read in an instant, leaving the reader the feeling that the story does not advance!
For now, what about the other: Either the writers know where they go and the end of this prequel will keep its promises, it is leading us by the nose with a series of episodes designed (how many albums?) to enjoy the success of the franchise with no real consistency to the end of the road ... Wait and see.
In terms of the fourth volume of "Before the Quest," it's pretty good. The account is removed, the characters are strong and the design is superb (different designers have fine succeed since the beginning of the prequel, the albums have none the less an aesthetic coherence). Some passages confrontation between some characters are very successful ("Bragon / the Rige", "Bragon / Mara", "Bragon / Bulrog") and consistency of the narrative in relation to the main saga seems quite satisfied. As always with Loisel to the "art direction" (read "storyboard"), the album is masterfully carved with a sense of almost cinematic narrative.
But still, three years of waiting for a book that reads in minutes, Is this reasonable?
To believe that only a fan of the first hour may be able to put 4 stars after such a comment ...
