"Iron Magicians: The Search for the Magic Crystals" is an innovative and immersive comic book that combines storytelling with interactive gameplay. Readers are not just passive observers; they become active participants in the adventure, making choices that shape the outcome of the story. With captivating artwork and engaging puzzles, this comic book offers a unique and entertaining experience for readers of all ages. It's a must-read for anyone looking for a fresh take on the comic book genre that brings together storytelling and interactivity in a truly inventive way.

I was unable to open this file due to the fact that it is a different format than usual. I’m disappointed because it looked like such a good book.

This inventive, gamified graphic novel is a lot of fun, and will definitely appeal to fans of both choose-your-own-adventure and role-playing games like D&D. The visuals are engaging and I loved the steampunk/magic aesthetic. Would definitely love a physical copy to play around with, as navigating was a bit fiddly on the digital copy.

I've had decades of experience of gamebooks, but this was a rare instance of it being in comic book form. It's the usual thing of getting used to the fighting mechanism (and use of spells, here, too), then dashing through the map of the story. Here, Paris needs you to find 30 magical gems to power the protective aura an almost-complete Eiffel Tower will give it. You're ostensibly allowed to go wherever you choose, in whichever order, so the storyline is not set in one strict routine – but the problems might have started before then. I'd been playing for some time and I still hadn't gone past the tutorial stage – so much of the introduction I'd already read is just repeated by characters, and even though you get to have a fight with a rabid dog and get given a spell, amongst other equipping goings-on, nothing had got up to speed. There was just no narrative flow – you were never reading one panel below the preceding, as in a comic, but flicking through to find what you had been told to do. With a gamebook this stage would have been a lot easier, for paragraphs can be whatever length they need – here it was see panel – go to panel – see panel – go to panel ad infinitum, with almost boring repetition. Nothing about this sequential art book was directly sequential.


There never was any real narrative flow of that kind, to be true, but soon I found that didn't really matter. I'd got past the introductory phase, I'd started to see the first mission, and I'd also seen some benefits to this being in comic form. Yes, after I'd flicked to far too much nonsense (mapping my way as I went – time is precious, you know) I'd realised that the art itself offered visual clues of ways to go – on a page of text it might not be obvious which is the door to the outside, or which group of people outside the Louvre to speak to first, while here it's designed to be evident. And the book's format is so much closer to a computer game's, in that (if you're being honest with yourself and the book) it often relies on chance whether you pass the right way with the right amount of money, weapons, spells, or even gender. As always you have to be honest too with the answers to the puzzles and riddles, but some of them hardly make any difference if you get them right or not.

I was still seeing awkward things that kind of gave me negative vibes, though. The mission from the mall can earn you 5 of your 30 targets if you're one gender, and a whopping 7 if you're another. It's also greatly more difficult to even start it if born the wrong way. (Elsewhere the map of the book pretends to split by gender, but goes to the exact same place.)

After thoroughly mapping the mall branch of the story, and one other (saying goodbye to someone I'd yet to meet in the process, and gaining 12 of my 30 thingummies), I thought to give up, aware of my final verdict. But, you know what? I carried on. I really did have the urge to spend time on finding out what the haunted opera singer could reveal (not 12 of my 30, but a few, nonetheless), and indeed what all the other quests showed. Some were silly, fairytale-based fisticuffs; one section pretended to have a much more moral grounding, and tried to relate to the consequences of our actions. One got me through to the main section end and boss fight exceedingly quickly, and on mapping back gave me things I can't remember being used at all. But still, for those conclusions and impressions.

One, this is a book where you struggle to kill yourself by your own poor decisions, it's mostly down to fighting where you will lose your life. Another is that this is immense – yes, I was definitely slowed down by mapping each branch of every plotline as I went on, but even so this is an undertaking. It only has the same amount of story beats as the standard "Fighting Fantasy" game-book, 400, but this feels like there's so much more to do. And while that stayed at the same plodding flick-look-decide-flick-look-decide rhythm, it still certainly engaged. The child-friendly fantasy here is done very well. Finally, however, this has to be bought as a comic book gamebook, and not for the kindle. If the page links are embedded and you can just click from one panel to another, that would be fine – but then that would be an app in my mind, and not an e-book. My review copy was a digital file, and it was really awkward to always scroll to the one exact panel needed, then the next, and so on and so on. I'm sure, however, reading and playing this on paper would be a slow-burning pleasure. But why it's so much easier for girls, I'll never know.

An entertaining RPG graphic novel that has a decent game mechanic and nice artwork. The story isn't the most original, but it kept me entertained and I think most kids would be gripped by oit

This was a fun mix of mystery solving, graphic novel, and a bit of a choose your own adventure feel, while incorporating even more. In other words, a book to really dive into.

I've heard that this was a novel in France in 2014 and was translated. I have not read the other books in the series, but that is not an issue. This adventure surrounds the hunt to restore the power to the Eiffel Tower to keep Paris safe. It's set in a steampunk world around the end of the 1800's. There are downloadable pages to help keep track of progress while solving the mysteries, but these are also in the book. In other words, this is an active read on many levels.

The story is fun, keeps the reader guessing and has unexpected twists and turns to guarantee a return to try the adventure again. The graphic novel style fits wonderfully—something I've never seen in this form, but really enjoyed. The wording is just right for ages eight to twelve, and even slightly older readers will get caught up in the fun.

I recommend this one for all fans of graphic novels, a little steampunk and an adventure which the reader can steer.

What's better than a choose your own adventure novel? A choose your own adventure graphic novel! However, that description doesn't begin to do this book justice. It's really a role playing dice game that children of all ages can enjoy by themselves. Set in late 19th century Paris, you must explore a Steampunk underground world of spells, puzzles, and enemies. Bad choices may lead you to unfortunate perils, but if you gather enough crystals, you might just save the World's Fair by enabling Mr. Eiffel to unveil his epic creation. The digital version of this book is difficult to navigate; that's why I plan on buying my own paper copy to play over and over again. It includes worksheets, a map, a compass, and many other useful items. Also important to note is that instead of turning to particular pages, your choices will take you to different comic cells. This will be easy to flip to in book form, but was hard to find with a digital version.

I was fortunate to receive a free ARC of this book from Netgalley. The above thoughts, insights, or recommendations are my own meek musings.

This is a great interactive graphic novel. It is difficult to read as an ebook but will be amazing as a regular book. Lots of fun.