I'm not gonna lie, I requested this solely for the cover art. Upon receiving it I discovered it was book 4 in the series, but it did a great job of catching you up so you could enjoy the story in this book. I definitely want to go back and read books 1-3, the story is that good! There is steampunk galore, which I love so much mixed with the wonders of space travel for a great story. Also the art is amazing and beautiful, some of the pages I would just stop and stare at, they were that incredible. A great series to be sure!

This has to be one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time. I'm seriously tempted to get my hands on volume 5 in French because I must know what happens next and the translations just aren't happening fast enough! More, please!!

Seraphin and his aethership-mates make it to Mars and find a world teeming with strange life forms and weird versions of aetherite that solidify after you walk through a seeming puddle. Searching for the previous Prussian expedition turns up no survivors, including Seraphin’s father. But Gubbard reveals the true nastiness of his plan to get Seraphin and the others to agree to go to Mars in the first place! Seraphin is wounded and wakes up abandoned by his fellows. He stumbles upon what he thinks is a winged beast, badly injured, but still he feels the need to save the creature from being a feast to other beasts. The creature ends up being a prominent figure in a fractured Martian society, one half dying out, the other exiled to the desert.

Mars is a beautifully imagined world that readers can dive into if they just suspend disbelief and let themselves be engrossed by Alice’s illustrations. There is also a poignant criticism on the pitfalls of exploration - after discovery comes exploitation - and it is a sentiment that rings true throughout history. Alice once again leaves us with a stupendous cliffhanger, and the translation of volume five is not even on the horizon yet.

This is volume 4 of the series, and I haven't read the previous volumes, but I picked up the story well enough to follow what was happening, and well enough to wish I'd read the first three volumes! Alex Alice has done a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of planetary romance, with lots of adventure and some swashbuckling as well. Just a whole lot of steampunk fun on Mars, with a dastardly villain, capable young people, and absolutely gorgeous landscapes. The art is to-die-for beautiful, with that dreamy sort of coloring that is both subdued and vibrant at the same time, with some definite Winsor McCay vibes going on. I can't say enough about the art in this, there are spreads that will make you wish for poster versions to hang on your wall. I'll be looking for the previous volumes to get the full story so far, and I'll be looking for future volumes to see what happens next!

#CastleintheStarsAFrenchmanonMars #NetGalley

Seraphin, Sophie, Hans and the villains who have commandeered their ship have arrived at Mars. They are looking for any signs of the King or the past expeditions and stumble into Martian political unrest. Can Seraphin and gang wrestle back control of the ship from Gudden while they are on Martian soil, or is he just going to get them in a worse mess?

This is no fault of the actual book, but the digital ARC I got was quite challenging to read (font was either super tiny or very garbled when blown up). So I feel like I just finished a visual workout/decoding exercise. Whew. The book itself is a great addition to the series. It makes some poignant observations about the common negative aftereffects of exploring, while also looking at the good that an outsider can bring to a tricky political situation. Our heroes spend a lot of time going out of the frying pan and into the fire, but Mars is cool to explore with them and I’m quite curious to find out what happens next. Hand this to readers who like graphic novels, interplanetary adventures, and steampunk.

Nots on content [based on the ARC]: One minor swear. No sexual content. (At one point a girl has to take off a dress to dry, but given the Victorian era clothing her underthings still are quite decent.) Some shooting going on that results in some injuries. (Only teensy bit of blood shown.) Some punches and pushing around. Past deaths discovered, and the local flora and fauna seem a bit hungry for Earth flesh (though quick wits deny them a new taste).

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this comic book. It was fun ride into the what if? I never read The Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs but one image reminded me of it. I loved how the Martians came together because of one person's compassion towards an "alien" unknown. If you haven't read the other books in the series you might be a little confused, but if you have read them, this is a good addition to it. Needless to say, I want the next one!!

The fourth installment in the alternate history, steampunk graphic novel where man reached space one hundred years earlier finds our main characters facing challenges and adventures on Mars. The art work is delicate, but bold, with strong lines that portray decisive action and clear emotion. The colors are aethereal, and are the perfect backdrop to the story line. As with the other three graphic novels, there is suspense and otherwordly adventures all set to backdrop themes of friendship, family, and loyalty. The biggest con is the lack of diversity, where all characters are white and even the aliens initially appear to be blond and blue-eyed. Overall, a decent continuation to a good series.

Castle in the Stars: A Frenchman on Mars is the fourth book in the graphic novel series by Alex Alice that follows a steampunk journey first to the moon and then to Mars. Like the others, it’s a bit of a mixed bag in its art-text balance. I’ll let you read the reviews of the first two here and here rather than recapitulate the plot, focusing here instead on the artwork and the words. The few plot points that are vitally important is that one character is searching for his lost father, another for her lost king, all while an imperialistic Prussia is readying for war not just against nations on Earth but perhaps against other worlds as well.

The artwork in all the books is simply lovely (though the first is my favorite). Exquisitely detailed in places, teasingly soft and vague in others. The settings and life forms on Mars are a beautiful mix of otherworldly compositions and shapes and forms suggested by places and life on Earth. While the artwork in book one was stunning and vibrant, book two, set on the moon, turned to a cooler, bluer, and less varied palette, representative of the difference between the two worlds. Here the palette changes again to, no surprise given the setting, a soft red, both to reflect the actual color of the world and also its sense of an ancient world waning in life and energy. It’s a nice move, both aesthetically and for its haunting nature.

Unfortunately, the text and plotting continue to be weaknesses in this series. Events happen too quickly and abruptly, problems are too easily overcome, and there’s an overall rushed and perfunctory sense to the plotting. Meanwhile, the text itself has its own issues, one being (and this is a hill I continue to fight on for this series) that there’s just too much of it. I know that seems somewhat counter-intuitive given the complaint about rushed plot, but the text, which is as noted the weakest part, crowds out the book’s best part—it’s gorgeous artwork. Given a choice between less text and more art or the reverse, it’s a no-brainer as to which I would choose. Plus, the evocative nature of the artwork and the otherworldly settings really cry out for a more restrained text, more along the lines of poetry’s concision or a children’s picture book that lets the art carry much of the plot and emotion. Even if that means sacrificing some plot threads, I’d rather see less text. Especially as the prose rarely rises above pedestrian and often rather falls into clunky exposition (especially via monologue).

The series therefore is hard to rank via an over-simplified star system. I’d give the art a five and the text a two. You’d think just splitting the difference would solve the problem, but I think that undersells just how enjoyable it is to simply look at the books. So I’m continuing to highly recommend the series with the caveat of don’t expect much from the story or text.

This is the fourth part of the steampunk graphic novel series by French Author Alex Alice. The Knights of Ether are on their way to Mars, to find the King and rescue Seraphin’s father.

On Mars they not only get separated, but they encounter mysterious creatures, an ancient dying civilisation on Mars.

The painted backgrounds and the pictures of the space ships are exquisit.

As always, we are left with a cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to book 5.

I was so happy to see that the fourth book of this French steampunk graphic novel was about to be released in English. In this volume the party has voyaged to a Mars which of course has a dying civilization and mysteries which can be only hinted at. If you enjoy steampunk at all this series has been written for you!

A Frenchman on Mars is the 4th volume in the Castle in the Stars series. I love the lush, gorgeous illustrations, but the story is getting a bit hard for me to follow in each new volume; I keep forgetting what some of the main plot points are. The series really would be better off as a few omnibuses and not short single volumes (though I know this is how the original French is released).