2437

This story start in an alternate world where the U.S. Civil War ended in stalemate, and most of the European powers are still colonial powers, Europe is on the verge of war. And did we mention sorcery works and the Catholic Church has a strong grip on society? Yes, all that and more. The story is a quest to uncover the truth about a murder and a stolen scroll, which lead to what appears to be some secret society.

For people who like alternate history stories, they will definitely enjoy this tale. There are conspiracies and secrets, so I suppose people who like things like The DaVinci Code may like this, though this is a lot better written and plotted than that piece of tripe. The art brings the story and the details of the Paris of this time to life. There is much close attention to detail. The details of the alternate world are very rich, and the intriguing story pulls you in. The only small detail, which may irk some readers, are some segments between chapters, in the form of newspapers, which on the one hand interrupt the flow of the story. On the other, this is where you get a lot of the glimpses of the alternate world as well as more connection to the story. So, I leave it to readers to decide if they like the technique or not. I thought it was ok, especially reading some of the small articles on the Confederate States. Overall, this is an excellent series. I will be looking for more. ( )

Not bad at all. Artwork is OK, but the story and storytelling are great. And it does leave you wanting to imerse yourself deeper into that world and try to find out more. ( )

No compelling need to pick up the next one in this series, but I did really like the story printed at the end. It was originally a webcomic, then printed in this special Vol 1 edition about a priest who solves a murder at a circus; it reminded me a lot of the Cadfael TV series in which a cleric in the 12th century solves murders. ( )

Not bad at all. Artwork is OK, but the story and storytelling are great. And it does leave you wanting to imerse yourself deeper into that world and try to find out more. ( )