In search of the mysterious aether (a source of incredible energy), Claire Dulac travels to the stratosphere in a balloon - and does not return. Her husband, the brilliant engineer Archibald Dulac, is sure that he has lost his wife forever. But their son Serafin is still hopeful.

A year after the disappearance, Serafin and his father receive a lead - a letter from an unknown sender, which says that Claire kept a ship's log. The letter asks them to come to a Bavarian castle, where an ambitious young king awaits them, dreaming of taking flight in an ether-charged ship. But dangers await in the castle of heroes - there are people who will stop at nothing to conquer space.

book chips

“This book combines a twisted Jules Verne-style plot with Miyazaki-style illustrations. Explosive mix!

Every frame is a work of art.

Who is this book for?

For all comic book lovers.

For those who love adventure stories.

— For those who love the classics of science fiction.

— For those who appreciate beautiful books.

About the series

In total, 3 volumes have been published in the Star Castle series so far, a fourth is being prepared. The series is popular throughout Europe. In 2017, at the Angouleme Festival of Drawn Stories, a separate exhibition was dedicated to the series.

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Let's temporarily put aside domestic publications and return back to foreign comics. Today I will tell you about one wonderful story from France, which I happened to read during the New Year holidays. This is the first volume of Star Castle. 1869: The Conquest of Space" by Alex Alice, translated and published in Russia by the publishing house "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber".

In the first volume, no conquest of space has yet taken place, but acquaintance of the reader with the main character, a boy named Serafin. A year before the main events, his mother died in an attempt to find the ether, having lost control of a balloon at an altitude of 13,000 meters. For those who do not quite understand what kind of ether this is - a small digression into the history of physics.

It was like this: before Einstein's discovery of the theory of relativity, all scientists, to one degree or another, adhered to the theory of the existence of a certain substance "ether", which was considered the carrier of light, magnetism and electricity. Simply put, at that time, no one believed that light and electromagnetic waves could propagate on their own, and people believed that there must be some kind of medium in which they propagate. This medium was called ether. And even in those days they also did not know about the vacuum in outer space and were sure that it (space) was filled with ether. This allowed the scientists of those times to consider interplanetary flights possible, subject to the subordination of the ether. In reality, no one has been able to isolate the ether as a separate substance that can be operated on, but Alex Alice admits the possibility of its existence and builds the entire setting on this. After all, before she died, Serafina's mother was able to get the ether in a compressed form, which she managed to write about in her diary, which, by chance, came to the King of Bavaria, Louis. And a year after the tragic events, the king sends an invitation to work to Serafina's father, motivating him with the diary of his wife.

This is where the plot of Star Castle begins. I will not describe it in detail, but will limit myself to listing the main actors. So, there is the King of Bavaria, Louis. There is a main character and his father, a brilliant engineer, who is invited to his service by Louis. There is Otto von Bismarck, that great unifier of Germany, who seeks to annex Bavaria to the northern German kingdoms. There are children Hans and Sofia, who serve in the castle of the King of Bavaria and with whom Serafin quickly finds a common language. And there is a dream. A dream to harness the ether and conquer other planets, which both King Louis and Serafin burn passionately. It is this dream that is the main idea that drives the plot.

I liked Star Castle for three simple reasons. Reason one: it's amazingly drawn. These magnificent watercolors, soft pencil line, wonderful aircraft designs, accompanied by detailed drawings, will not leave anyone indifferent. And if there is such a person, then I am sincerely sorry for him, because one cannot help but love this beautiful traditional school of French drawing, which, by its very existence, checkmates all people far from the world of comics who believe that comics are stupid pictures for children ( and of course about superheroes).

The second reason for my admiration is, of course, a wonderful plot. It may not be replete with some unexpected twists and it does not have three layers of subtext, but, nevertheless, it is certainly good. The good thing is that he is not afraid to seem simple, he is not afraid to say directly that those characters are positive, but those are negative, without introducing halftones into the plot. This is the purest children's story, and it will resonate in the heart of any adult who has not yet forgotten what it is like to be a child who dreams of adventure and discovery of uncharted lands. And the narrative is built exactly like a textbook - a prologue, an outset, a development and a climax, at which the first volume ends very abruptly. Right, very sharp. It's not even a standard cliffhanger, it's, you know, more like they did in the old cartoons, right in the middle of a tense psychological moment or extremely exciting action, breaking off the series with the inscription "To be continued". So the first volume ended the same way, leaving me in an unbearable expectation of a continuation (fortunately, the second volume has already been released in Russian, and with the first opportunity I hope to receive it and finally find out the continuation!).

Well, the third reason, which is slightly less significant than the previous two, but played an important role for me, is that there is a proper steampunk in Star Castle, which I love very much. Proper steampunk, as it was originally created, is not an image of the industrial cities of the 19th century, in which people wear light brown jackets (or corsages) hung with gears and use strange mechanisms whose principle of operation cannot be explained by even the most far-fetched assumption in science. A real steampunk, the founder of which can be considered Jules Verne, about how, with the help of some reasonably explained scientific discovery, progress made a sharp leap forward, and many modern mechanisms (mainly various aircraft) appeared in the 19th century. In the Dishonored series of games, for example, such a discovery was the study of whale oil and the production of very energy-efficient fuel from it. In the "Star Castle" the explanation is even more logical - as I said at the very beginning, in those years science officially believed in the existence of the ether, and since no one could get it, the properties that were attributed to it were very diverse - here you and the finished scientific background of the plot. Plus, as I already mentioned, well-designed aircraft and flight ammunition designs, plus scientific calculations in the characters' dialogues - all this creates a whole picture of that very correct steampunk, and it warms my soul.

The Russian edition itself is beyond praise! I have absolutely no comments on the translation and design, and therefore I can only note the quality of the publication. "The Castle" is published in a large landscape format, in cloth binding, which makes the book very pleasant to the touch. The paper is also of very high quality, which is not surprising, because the book was printed in Latvia (it is noteworthy that this is not the first publishing house to print its books abroad). This edition seems to be created in order to present it as a gift.

Overall, my experience with this book has been positive. True, it has the only, and, in my opinion, a very big minus - it ends too quickly (70 pages is the standard for European albums, but very few compared to standard American or Japanese volumes). Seriously though, I really didn't find any flaws in this book. Of course, due to its light simplicity, it may not “go in” for lovers of a darker, harder and more confusing one, but it tastes and color... If your heart is open to adventure, then Star Castle is definitely for you!

1869 Explorer Claire Dulac seeks to discover aether, the mysterious element that makes travel among the stars possible. But the balloon expedition ends in tragedy - Claire mysteriously disappears. A year later, her husband, engineer Archibald, and son Serafin receive an anonymous letter promising to tell about Claire's fate. The heroes go to Bavaria to the castle of a young monarch who dreams of flying to the stars on an ether engine. Soon, Serafin and his father find themselves at the center of a political struggle for the secret of the ether.

Chateau des etoiles. 1869: La Conquête de l'espace

Genre: adventure, steampunk
Artist and screenwriter Story by: Alex Alice
Original Output: 2014–2015
Edition in Russian: "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber", 2017

Drawn stories and graphic novels in a steampunk setting - pretty. In addition to comparative historical savvy, they require extraordinary artistic skill from the author. Star Castle is a good example of proper steampunk.

First of all, let's talk about the graphics. Watercolor by Alex Alice captivates from the first glance at the cover and falls in love with herself from the first page. Graphic novels by artists of this level should not be read - they should be watched. Detailing, colors, elaboration of mechanisms, equipment and costumes of the 19th century - everything is done at a high level. The pastel shades and pencil outline capture the romantic steampunk vibe well.

You can argue about definitions for a long time, but Star Castle is precisely high-quality steampunk in the spirit of an alternative history. The author elegantly reworks the real historical period and complements it with suitable details. He doesn't follow the simple path of stuffing all the ladies into corsets, giving the gentlemen goggles and saying, "That's how it should be!" The steampunk world is depicted honestly, though often with large strokes.

The plot of Star Castle is similar to the scripts of old adventure films - in a good way. Such a story could come from the pen of Jules Verne or be born from the animators of Studio Ghibli. There are no long expositions here, the narrative rushes forward at full speed, and the reader can only hold on to his hat at sharp turns. "Star Castle" is a novel for children and youth, so children are invariably at the center of events. But there is no pretense in this, the author honestly and logically explains why adults cannot do without the help of young heroes.

Halftones in the characters, at least in the first volume, there was no place. The boy Serafin and his companions are kind and brave, King Ludwig is mysterious and dramatic, the villains are villainous. But this naivete is one of the main pluses of the book. It doesn't matter if you're ten or thirty, deep down we all want exciting adventures in the company of true friends, dangerous chases and happy endings. Let's leave the existential matters to other works.

Separately, it is worth praising the publication. High-quality localization of any comic, especially BD, is not an easy task in principle. But the MIF publishing house succeeded. An excellent translation, a painstakingly chosen font, and a gold-embossed cover will honor any book collection. The only negative of the "Star Castle" - the first volume is swallowed in half an hour, breaks off at the "most interesting place" and leaves in the agonizing expectation of the second book. For children, this format may be just right, but an adult comic book lover would like to get at least two volumes of the series under one cover.

Outcome: Almost a reference example of a steampunk comic and excellent youth fiction.