Soleil: Scourge of the Gods, Volume 1

by Valrie Mangin

After a thousand years of peace, the Orbis - the Roman Galactic Empire that thought itself almighty - trembles down to its foundations. The Huns, savage warriors that came out of nowhere, are trying to conquer it. King Attila has already pillaged and burned dozens of planets without any legion being able to stop him or even slow him down. And unfortunately for Rome - Kerka, the Hun's goddess of chaos herself - is back. But the Gods have a taste for tragedy: Kerka has been reincarnated in the body of Flavia Aetia, a young Roman girl. Is Flavia truly this macabre divinity? Is she the by-product of a terrifying plot? Or is she only the victim of a terrible destiny? A free adaptation of Hun king Attila and the Roman general Flavius Aetius's confrontation, Scourge of the Gods replays the eternal struggle between order and chaos on the galactic level. Collects Soleil: Scourge of the Gods #1-3.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction

152 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2009

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

A retelling of Atilla The Hun's conquering of the Roman Empire, in a futuristic setting. Nothing special here, dialogue was a bit stiff and illustration was average.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic retelling of Attilla the Hun's military campaign against the Roman empire and its general, Flavius Aetius, set in alternate universe involving spaceships, planets and divine intervention. In volume 1, readers are introduced to the two main characters, Attila who is the brutal warlord who defies his peace-loving father by waging war against the Roman Galactic Empire, and Flavia Aetia, a young Roman girl who is supposedly the reincarnation of Kerka, the Hun Goddess of Chaos. Manipulated by Attila, Flavia innocently reveals the secret location of Rome and is forced to watch as her family and her home planet are destroyed by the rampaging Huns. Rather than wallow in pity and despair, Flavia fights back and sets off an internal power struggle between her faction and the Emperor's forces just as the Huns appear on their doorsteps.

Intelligent and complex, volume 1 is a terrific mix of mythology, history and politics wrapped up in a very engrossing and mesmerizing package. The central theme in the book is clearly the struggle between chaos and order but the underlying theme is the struggle between fate and destiny. In other words, either Rome has fallen before and will fall again or the future of Rome still uncertain even though there is good possibility that it could fall? Yes, I know that it's a very complex philosophical argument but the author does a terrific job of exploring it.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting retelling of part of Roman history. This is not the entirety of the story, though, and unfortunately the second volume is out of print. However, I'm probably going to track it down at some point to see how the plot twist about the empire's origins is handled.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of Huns versus Romans in the far future when memories of Earth have disappeared.

[Luís Baixinho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Junta ficção científica aos deuses romanos.. duas áres do meu interesse. No entanto acho que exagera na violência explícita (pelo menos no primeiro tomo) e na quantidade de reviravoltas.