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kathy_reads's review
4.0
A comic taking place in 2068, in the post- apocalyptic society of Pan.
The people that survived are now trying to stay alive pla ting rice and scavenging among the ruins of a destroyed civilization. Until one day a powerful, technologically advanced Federation forces them to take part in a game to save their lives.
This comic was definitely entertaining and I absolutely loved the outcast Aster for just being her. I will continue with the series because the ending screamed for more! The art style is definitely beautiful (I mean look at the cover??). A comic that I really enjoyed and would reccomend :)
The people that survived are now trying to stay alive pla ting rice and scavenging among the ruins of a destroyed civilization. Until one day a powerful, technologically advanced Federation forces them to take part in a game to save their lives.
This comic was definitely entertaining and I absolutely loved the outcast Aster for just being her. I will continue with the series because the ending screamed for more! The art style is definitely beautiful (I mean look at the cover??). A comic that I really enjoyed and would reccomend :)
midrel's review
4.0
With its ironically warm, if slightly washed-out palette and charismatic art style, Aster of Pan pulls reader into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an as-of-yet not really delved into catastrophe, though likely military in origin. Not a lot actually happens for most of this first volume, we mostly see the ruins of the world as a duo of scavengers roam in search of relics they can sell or exchange for rations. The author takes its time in building and establishing aspects of the world while giving the reader a tour-de-force around some typical locales. This makes the volume to feel somewhat dull at first, but the arty style saves it from being boring.
With its ironically warm, if slightly washed-out palette and charismatic art style, Aster of Pan pulls reader into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an as-of-yet not really delved into catastrophe, though likely military in origin. Not a lot actually happens for most of this first volume, we mostly see the ruins of the world as a duo of scavengers roam in search of relics they can sell or exchange for rations. The author takes his time in building and establishing aspects of the world while giving the reader a tour-de-force around some typical locales. This makes the volume to feel somewhat dull at first, but the arty style saves it from being boring.
Overall, there's enough promising tidbits and nice art to make up for an enjoyable read, though I have to admit the big bad being obsessed by sports stroke up the silly chord in me. Whether the title will take advantage of its pluses remains to be seen, but it is only fair to give it a vote of confidence and enough time for it to fully find its feet.
With its ironically warm, if slightly washed-out palette and charismatic art style, Aster of Pan pulls reader into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an as-of-yet not really delved into catastrophe, though likely military in origin. Not a lot actually happens for most of this first volume, we mostly see the ruins of the world as a duo of scavengers roam in search of relics they can sell or exchange for rations. The author takes his time in building and establishing aspects of the world while giving the reader a tour-de-force around some typical locales. This makes the volume to feel somewhat dull at first, but the arty style saves it from being boring.
Overall, there's enough promising tidbits and nice art to make up for an enjoyable read, though I have to admit the big bad being obsessed by sports stroke up the silly chord in me. Whether the title will take advantage of its pluses remains to be seen, but it is only fair to give it a vote of confidence and enough time for it to fully find its feet.
refractedtruth's review
4.0
This was an intriguing introduction to this universe. I am thoroughly invested in seeing this through.
bbennett128's review
2.0
2, maybe 2.5 stars
— Thank you NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributers for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review —
If you like dodgeball, this one is for you. This is a cute graphic novel with a beautiful art style, but ultimately I feel it lacked a lot of depth and is overall unmemorable. The fact that such a major conflict was settled with dodgeball just didn’t feel believable to me. I also didn’t connect with any of the characters or really understand any of the side plot lines (like the cheating one? It felt random and unnecessary). I’m glad this graphic novel worked for others, but it just wasn’t for me
— Thank you NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributers for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review —
If you like dodgeball, this one is for you. This is a cute graphic novel with a beautiful art style, but ultimately I feel it lacked a lot of depth and is overall unmemorable. The fact that such a major conflict was settled with dodgeball just didn’t feel believable to me. I also didn’t connect with any of the characters or really understand any of the side plot lines (like the cheating one? It felt random and unnecessary). I’m glad this graphic novel worked for others, but it just wasn’t for me
shannonleighd's review
3.0
3.25
Dialogue is a little stiff but I'm guessing that's from the translation. Beautiful artwork and character designs though - I'm always a fan of watercolors.
Dialogue is a little stiff but I'm guessing that's from the translation. Beautiful artwork and character designs though - I'm always a fan of watercolors.
mike_no1's review
3.0
the Dodgeball part is pretty stupid and not a good premiss to hinge the story on.
moonysbookshelf's review
2.0
#AsterofPan
Thanks to the #NetGalley for letting me read and review this one!
I can safely say that I love the cover. The futuristic feeling and modern take on the cover design really made me curious about the graphic novel itself.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where you either follow "the bad guys" or fight against them in a game known as Celestial Mechanics.
I really enjoyed the characters and the world building, together with the representation and atmosphere but the thing that I liked less was definitely the style of the drawings. I guess it was just not really my style with the green and brown colors and I caught myself not paying attention few times because of that. Would absolutely recommend it to all the fans of The Hunger Games as it reminded me of it a lot!
Thanks to the #NetGalley for letting me read and review this one!
I can safely say that I love the cover. The futuristic feeling and modern take on the cover design really made me curious about the graphic novel itself.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where you either follow "the bad guys" or fight against them in a game known as Celestial Mechanics.
I really enjoyed the characters and the world building, together with the representation and atmosphere but the thing that I liked less was definitely the style of the drawings. I guess it was just not really my style with the green and brown colors and I caught myself not paying attention few times because of that. Would absolutely recommend it to all the fans of The Hunger Games as it reminded me of it a lot!
graypeape's review
5.0
Ok, kids, I really liked this one! The art is gobsmackingly gorgeous, and has a Moebius vibe to it. The landscapes of post-apocalyptic France are just stunning, and the characters look great. I enjoyed the story too- I liked that it didn't give us a full explanation of how the world got to the point it's at, rather it gave us what the current inhabitants know of their world, while hinting at things for the reader. This method is satisfying to me; I don't like to know too much, I feel more "in the world" if I only know what the characters know. Here we have the small nation of Pan fighting back against the more powerful nation of Fortuna to avoid getting colonized, and to win their freedom, Pan must win a Celestial Mechanics tournament, which is basically amped up dodgeball. Of course, a hero rises up, someone who can be the symbol of the revolution. Is the story terribly original? No, but it's a good story nonetheless. The world building is well done (by my above standards), the characters fairly fleshed out, though more explanation of the game and its rules would've been nice. I'd give the story 4 stars, but this book gets 5 stars overall because of that sweet, sweet art! Just beautiful.
#AsterofPan #NetGalley
#AsterofPan #NetGalley
chantaal's review
3.0
An odd little graphic novel with some interesting world building, good art, and not the greatest execution. 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.
It's 2068. Post-apocalypse, Pan is a small community that survives on foraging the dead world around them, farming rice, and trading. When a militaristic force from the land of Fortuna show up to take over, the people of Pan are forced into a trial to save themselves from being swallowed up by the more powerful Fortuna. Aster, the main character, wasn't born in Pan and thus is ostracized by the people of Pan, but she's still tapped to join the small group fighting for Pan. Because she's super talented at what they end up having to do. (And what they do?)
The world building is fun, if a little confusing and hard to believe; 2068 is not so far off into the future that people who survived a world-ending event wouldn't know about drones and different types of machines. It's hard to swallow the idea that the people of Pan find everything about Fortuna's "futuristic" technology completely alien. I assume that the world ended pretty close to our current time, since there are tanks and cities to scavenge and radiation is a huge problem. I just can't believe, then, that survivors would completely forget everything about our modern world in the way that it's presented in this story.
Suspension of disbelief aside, I found the actual world building great. (If the graphic novel didn't tell me it was 2068 when it started, I could fully believe this world existing in, say, 2168.) Following Aster and her friend Wallis throughout a typical day was a great way to see this post-apocalyptic world and to understand what their lives are like. They forage, they trade, they try to survive on what little they have. The art direction is fantastic; there are great panels and transitions that really show off what the world is like.
Pacing is the largest problem I had as we move on, however. We barely have time to settle in to the world before Fortuna shows up to demand subservience (and crops) and Pan is forced into fighting against them to survive. The change from slow world building to rapid fire plot movement gave me whiplash, and after that it moved at a breakneck pace until the end. Aster is great at what she does, they lose, they win, the final battle happens, some characterization takes place in there somewhere, and then the book ends and everything is wrapped up.
Setting the story and pacing problems aside, the art is great. Using watercolor gives it all a hazy tone that makes it easier to step into the world. The character work is SO good; almost everyone is their own person, with their own distinct look and feel. I think the dynamics of the action scenes could have been done better; they felt more like snapshots of moments than fluid movement, but I enjoyed it overall.
Ultimately I think this is a very fun idea that needed better execution. Given more time to breathe, it could have been a very good fleshed out story with more characterization to make us love the characters and the world.
I received this as an ARC via NetGalley.
It's 2068. Post-apocalypse, Pan is a small community that survives on foraging the dead world around them, farming rice, and trading. When a militaristic force from the land of Fortuna show up to take over, the people of Pan are forced into a trial to save themselves from being swallowed up by the more powerful Fortuna. Aster, the main character, wasn't born in Pan and thus is ostracized by the people of Pan, but she's still tapped to join the small group fighting for Pan. Because she's super talented at what they end up having to do. (And what they do?
Spoiler
Is play epic dodgeball. I'm not joking. It's literally dodgeball.The world building is fun, if a little confusing and hard to believe; 2068 is not so far off into the future that people who survived a world-ending event wouldn't know about drones and different types of machines. It's hard to swallow the idea that the people of Pan find everything about Fortuna's "futuristic" technology completely alien. I assume that the world ended pretty close to our current time, since there are tanks and cities to scavenge and radiation is a huge problem. I just can't believe, then, that survivors would completely forget everything about our modern world in the way that it's presented in this story.
Suspension of disbelief aside, I found the actual world building great. (If the graphic novel didn't tell me it was 2068 when it started, I could fully believe this world existing in, say, 2168.) Following Aster and her friend Wallis throughout a typical day was a great way to see this post-apocalyptic world and to understand what their lives are like. They forage, they trade, they try to survive on what little they have. The art direction is fantastic; there are great panels and transitions that really show off what the world is like.
Pacing is the largest problem I had as we move on, however. We barely have time to settle in to the world before Fortuna shows up to demand subservience (and crops) and Pan is forced into fighting against them to survive. The change from slow world building to rapid fire plot movement gave me whiplash, and after that it moved at a breakneck pace until the end. Aster is great at what she does, they lose, they win, the final battle happens, some characterization takes place in there somewhere, and then the book ends and everything is wrapped up.
Setting the story and pacing problems aside, the art is great. Using watercolor gives it all a hazy tone that makes it easier to step into the world. The character work is SO good; almost everyone is their own person, with their own distinct look and feel. I think the dynamics of the action scenes could have been done better; they felt more like snapshots of moments than fluid movement, but I enjoyed it overall.
Ultimately I think this is a very fun idea that needed better execution. Given more time to breathe, it could have been a very good fleshed out story with more characterization to make us love the characters and the world.
I received this as an ARC via NetGalley.
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