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Les Naufragés d'Ythaq #3
Le Soupir des étoiles
Après avoir délivré Callista et d’autres survivants du naufrage spatial, Granite et Narvarth tentent de retrouver l’épave du Brume de Comête, à bord d’un vaisseau étrangement trouvé sous une cité. Mais leur périple tourne au désastre : le vaisseau tombe en panne, Callista et le sage feng Tao disparaissent mystérieusement…
Granite et Narvarth, accompagnés de Krurgor, vont s’aventurer, quant à eux, dans un paysage étrange jusqu’à une fantastique bibliothèque sculptée à même la falaise, où après une lutte contre de malfaisantes créatures, une partie du mystère qui entoure Ythaq leur sera révélé.
Un épisode où le voile se soulève légèrement… mais où de nouvelles questions apparaissent !
Granite et Narvarth, accompagnés de Krurgor, vont s’aventurer, quant à eux, dans un paysage étrange jusqu’à une fantastique bibliothèque sculptée à même la falaise, où après une lutte contre de malfaisantes créatures, une partie du mystère qui entoure Ythaq leur sera révélé.
Un épisode où le voile se soulève légèrement… mais où de nouvelles questions apparaissent !
49 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2006
About the author
Christophe Arleston
642 books85 followersChristophe Arleston is the common pen name of French comic book writer and editor Christophe Pelinq. He is best known for creating the Lanfeust of Troy series and its many sequels and prequels.
He also worked as "Scotch Arleston".
He also worked as "Scotch Arleston".
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 22, 2024
Easily the best volume. Exciting and dramatic adventure, no politics, and lots of imagination. Characterization is better, but that could also be a function of buildup over time. This volume is shorter than the previous two, and thus better paced, with less fluff. Floch’s art is also improving noticeably.
There are several threads:
The heroes, whose goal is to leave Ythaq (most of the time is rightly spent here)
Ennak, goal unknown, but he is planning something, against Dhokas and the heroes
Dhokas, tracking the heroes
A romance plot involving Navarth, Granite, and Callista
The Ophyde, absent this volume, but probably allied with Ennak
The book opens with the failure of the starcruiser’s thrusters. Creating a problem like this was necessary; otherwise the heroes could have flown away into space and the story would be over.
The ship can still hover though, so Navarth rigs up some sails to create an airship. It’s a cool idea and makes a striking image.
While the ship drifts, Arleston progresses the romance plot. Navarth is writing poetry about Callista, which angers Granite and she storms off. Callista informs the clueless Navarth that she (Callista) only likes rich men and hot ladies, but that Granite is smitten by the simple-minded mechanic. He tries to patch things up with her (Granite), but she’s too angry.
The heroes track a distress beacon to a range of canyons that resemble the American southwest, except that the canyon floors harbor tropical jungles. At night, while the ship hovers over a canyon, Callista and Tao disappear.
SPOILER
Next we get a mystery that turns out to be an author-contrived goose chase. It’s exciting, suspenseful, and imaginative though, so I think it works.
Navarth, Granite, and Banfoo disembark to hunt for their missing friends, while the ship, at Granite’s order, retreats to avoid Dhokas and his oncoming mercenaries. (The circus folks also bid farewell, we may or may not see them again.)
The heroes travel along the canyon floor, following an ancient path. They are tailed by hidden creatures and have the feeling of being observed. A large insectoid beast attacks them. They fight the thing and are saved at the last moment by the mysterious creatures, who then put them to sleep with butterfly dust and take them to a secret city built into the cliffs where Tao awaits.
This city is another visually striking idea — both the exterior, with carved facades like Petra and rope bridges, and the interior, with multi-level libraries, snaking vines, and crystal domes.
Anyway, Tao explains that he and Callista slipped away to seek a treasure — the starship’s logbook, which Callista’s tattoo could unlock, and which might hold valuable clues to the mystery of Ythaq, enabling them, perhaps, to escape the planet. I say this is contrived because there was no reason for Tao to keep the plan secret, only a reason for Arleston to do so (mystery and suspense).
But, they can’t just open the logbook — it has been captured by more of the insectoid beasts they fought before. This is another good example of creating a problem to extend the story and leads to the highlight of the volume — a mission to recover the logbook from the heart of the insect’s lair.
These creatures, a result of butterfly breeding gone wrong, have taken over 1/3 of the ancient city, including the map room where the logbook is kept, and pose a dire threat to the Fengs. The whole sequence is very well done, from the briefing to the mission, and plays out like a combination of the mines of Moria and Aliens.
In the end, Granite uses her fire magic to slay the alien queen and they get the logbook. Tao gets his leg eaten. Callista opens the logbook and they discover that the ship’s wealthy passengers attacked the crew and deliberately crashed the ship. They also find one of those little white spheres.
To learn more, they need to return to the ship and use its advanced equipment.
Ennak rescues a survivor of the ship that crashed in frozen wastes and we later discover why — he is searching for people who possess magic abilities (the survivor is a water mage). It seems that many crash survivors possess these abilities, like Granite. (Note also how Arleston adds conflict to these potentially dry scenes: The survivor isn’t simply rescued from his ship, but from a giant killer ice whale. Ennak doesnt just reveal his intentions; the survivor has to threaten to drop him from a balcony.)
Dhokas tracks the heroes through most of the book, but never catches them and ends up getting captured by a snake-man working with Ennak. This same snake-man later tries to trick the heroes, but Banfoo recognizes him as an unsavory character, and the snake-man slinks away, promising to return.
A few other important things:
Dhokas has a little white sphere that shows a projection of a mountain.
Callista’s mark turns blue.
The heroes rescue a scorpion-backed man from the queen’s lair.
There are several threads:
The heroes, whose goal is to leave Ythaq (most of the time is rightly spent here)
Ennak, goal unknown, but he is planning something, against Dhokas and the heroes
Dhokas, tracking the heroes
A romance plot involving Navarth, Granite, and Callista
The Ophyde, absent this volume, but probably allied with Ennak
The book opens with the failure of the starcruiser’s thrusters. Creating a problem like this was necessary; otherwise the heroes could have flown away into space and the story would be over.
The ship can still hover though, so Navarth rigs up some sails to create an airship. It’s a cool idea and makes a striking image.
While the ship drifts, Arleston progresses the romance plot. Navarth is writing poetry about Callista, which angers Granite and she storms off. Callista informs the clueless Navarth that she (Callista) only likes rich men and hot ladies, but that Granite is smitten by the simple-minded mechanic. He tries to patch things up with her (Granite), but she’s too angry.
The heroes track a distress beacon to a range of canyons that resemble the American southwest, except that the canyon floors harbor tropical jungles. At night, while the ship hovers over a canyon, Callista and Tao disappear.
SPOILER
Next we get a mystery that turns out to be an author-contrived goose chase. It’s exciting, suspenseful, and imaginative though, so I think it works.
Navarth, Granite, and Banfoo disembark to hunt for their missing friends, while the ship, at Granite’s order, retreats to avoid Dhokas and his oncoming mercenaries. (The circus folks also bid farewell, we may or may not see them again.)
The heroes travel along the canyon floor, following an ancient path. They are tailed by hidden creatures and have the feeling of being observed. A large insectoid beast attacks them. They fight the thing and are saved at the last moment by the mysterious creatures, who then put them to sleep with butterfly dust and take them to a secret city built into the cliffs where Tao awaits.
This city is another visually striking idea — both the exterior, with carved facades like Petra and rope bridges, and the interior, with multi-level libraries, snaking vines, and crystal domes.
Anyway, Tao explains that he and Callista slipped away to seek a treasure — the starship’s logbook, which Callista’s tattoo could unlock, and which might hold valuable clues to the mystery of Ythaq, enabling them, perhaps, to escape the planet. I say this is contrived because there was no reason for Tao to keep the plan secret, only a reason for Arleston to do so (mystery and suspense).
But, they can’t just open the logbook — it has been captured by more of the insectoid beasts they fought before. This is another good example of creating a problem to extend the story and leads to the highlight of the volume — a mission to recover the logbook from the heart of the insect’s lair.
These creatures, a result of butterfly breeding gone wrong, have taken over 1/3 of the ancient city, including the map room where the logbook is kept, and pose a dire threat to the Fengs. The whole sequence is very well done, from the briefing to the mission, and plays out like a combination of the mines of Moria and Aliens.
In the end, Granite uses her fire magic to slay the alien queen and they get the logbook. Tao gets his leg eaten. Callista opens the logbook and they discover that the ship’s wealthy passengers attacked the crew and deliberately crashed the ship. They also find one of those little white spheres.
To learn more, they need to return to the ship and use its advanced equipment.
Ennak rescues a survivor of the ship that crashed in frozen wastes and we later discover why — he is searching for people who possess magic abilities (the survivor is a water mage). It seems that many crash survivors possess these abilities, like Granite. (Note also how Arleston adds conflict to these potentially dry scenes: The survivor isn’t simply rescued from his ship, but from a giant killer ice whale. Ennak doesnt just reveal his intentions; the survivor has to threaten to drop him from a balcony.)
Dhokas tracks the heroes through most of the book, but never catches them and ends up getting captured by a snake-man working with Ennak. This same snake-man later tries to trick the heroes, but Banfoo recognizes him as an unsavory character, and the snake-man slinks away, promising to return.
A few other important things:
Dhokas has a little white sphere that shows a projection of a mountain.
Callista’s mark turns blue.
The heroes rescue a scorpion-backed man from the queen’s lair.
July 25, 2022
Les aventures de Granite, Narvarth et Callista se poursuivent sur Ythaq. A l'aide de Tao le Feng et Krurgor le banfoo, ils essaient de rejoindre le reste de l'équipage échoué. Sur leur route, ils trouveront un village Feng où se cache une grande bibliothèque dont certains ouvrages pourraient leur permettre de donner un sens à leurs découvertes. Seulement cette dernière est inaccessible, car habitée par des monstres.
Il est temps de poursuivre sur le tome suivant!
Il est temps de poursuivre sur le tome suivant!
December 9, 2017
Mon enfance.
April 19, 2020
Encore un très bon tome ! J’aime vraiment beaucoup cette série de BD. Très dynamique et beaucoup de suspense.
Hâte de lire la suite et d’en découvrir plus ! 😊
Hâte de lire la suite et d’en découvrir plus ! 😊
Want to Read
December 4, 2014Un luxueux vaisseau de croisi�re s'�crase sur Ythaq, une plan�te qui, curieusement, n'est r�pertori�e nulle part. Parmi les survivants, une jeune et intr�pide astro-navigatrice, un technicien po�te et une belle passag�re. Traqu�s par d'impitoyables mercenaires, ils vont d�couvrir un monde m�di�val o� cohabitent peuples et esp�ces aux coutumes surprenantes. Mais les naufrag�s sont-ils l� par hasard ?. Quel terrible secret se cache derri�re les ors et les pourpres des palais d'Ythaq ?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews