Ancient Astronauts
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Millions of galaxies are scattered across the cosmos. Lost among them, a world similar to ours develops in its own solar system. On Plaine, a highly developed planet-nation, the dawn reveals Onys, a young and daring archer. She emerges from sleep, short of breath, alerted by something heavy and dangerous lingering around her. An imperceptible but undeniable entity, defying the laws of physics, manifesting itself like a cloud of smoke, almost palpable. A presence whose mysterious nature would soon shake her perceptions of reality.
A sci fi fantasy worldbuilding graphic novel by master watercolor illustrator Vincent Pompetti.
Reviews
Sci Fi Fantasy Worldbuilding in Ancient Astronauts
Additional information
| Page Count | 168 |
|---|---|
| Format | |
| Creator(s) | Vincent Pompetti |
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This book was provided in return for a review.
The good part: the art. The watercolor technique adds a dreaminess that is quite pleasant. It also serves to emphasize the horror of the dramatic parts.
On the other hand, the dialogue is stilted and the plot feels both cliché and simplified too far.
Sandra E Wong Orloff –
Ancient Astronauts offers an interesting blend of genres with a unique tale of life and struggles in an inventive universe. The illustrations were beautiful, the renderings and inventiveness part of the fun. I read a translated version so, like other reviewers, I did feel some of the nuances were lost in the translation and some of the dialogue and flow was challenging. While I did find the story intriguing, some of the characters were a bit of a mystery to me. This is book 1 of 2 so maybe we come to learn more about the heroes, their backgrounds and motivations in a future book. My favorite things about the book was definitely the illustrations.
Sierra James –
Ancient Astronauts (AA) centers on the home coming of a run-away princess whose tyrannical father is using her image to further oppress her people. This book is a true blend of sci-fi and fantasy as title implies, and contains many of the good and bad bits of those genres.
The art in AA is gorgeous (and the extra illustrations in the back are a treat too!), which reflects the complex and fantastical world of the text. These fantastical elements build off of and highlight the emotional line of the book — overcoming trauma and building a new life after abuse. Elements of the world (or more accurately “worlds”) are really fascinating and would be good for anyone interested in the more esoteric or political elements of series like Game of Thrones. The plot hurtles forward at breakneck speed, through several planets and dimensions, making it difficult to put down.
However (and this is my issue with a lot of sci-fi), because of the jam-packed plot line and the need to establish multiple cultures and settings, there wasn’t much time to develop the vast cast of characters. Additionally, though AA balances the dialogue and illustrations well, some of the characters lines seemed throw-away or interchangeable. Though I cared deeply about the world that Pompetti created in this book, none of the characters were emotionally interesting to me, which took away from my reading experience.
Regardless, I look forward to reading the second book in the series and think that with a little more space, AA could become a genre-bending classic!
Sue Loh –
I appreciated it more for the art than the story. There’s a bit too much unfathomable magical stuff going on, both by the good guys and the bad guys. The result is that we drift through an unpredictable world that does not become more understandable / clearer by the end, so the events appear arbitrary. I am impressed by the amount of work that went into building all the artwork. The artwork is pretty decent.
Bay –
Artwork and storyline are inspiring. An unusual theme places great emphasis on non-physical abilities. I spent a pleasant hour with this artwork.
Amazon Customer –
This incredibly unique story is great for passionate lovers of the often intricate fantasy and science fiction genres. The world building in this comic is fast, but unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Writer and illustrator Vincent Pompetti clearly has a deep well of creativity that he poured into Ancient Astronauts. The watercolor style of the story makes it feel both ancient and futuristic. The art really pulls you into the uncertainty and wonder of the world Pompetti’s creating.
Gorelenore –
I received a review copy of this from the publisher with a wonderful email about the artwork throughout being wonderfully hand-painted in watercolor. I found this unique and the sci-fi plot sounded interesting. Since reading through this graphic novel I have learned that it was originally done in French, which may have led to some of the issues I had with it. Don’t get me wrong, the art is what saved it, so props for that, but the story fell very short for me. Maybe it was a lost in translation kind of issue or maybe not, I am not sure.
The story was imaginative and interesting to some extent but I felt like the author tried to pack too much in to too -short of a medium. A novel with this much world building and detail would be good, a graphic novel… I think it was too hard to read through the text and not feel like it was slow and dragging. If you are a sci-fi fan it might be easier to read, I don’t read it often, so there might be techniques used here that I just don’t understand as well.
Some other notes:
It was REALLY hard for me not to call it “Ancient Aliens” … isn’t that a US History Channel show? I don’t know, but I kept calling it that.
And
What on earth was the main character wearing? Are you telling me that in the future women don’t just wear pants? But instead just underwear and a split dress/tunic thing over them? I found that very hard to believe and don’t think it furthered the plot at all or even enough to be a justified artistic choice.
I tried to like this one, the art brought it up a star in my rating, but I just could not get into the story like I wanted to.
Bruna S K –
Great story and illustration. Great work, can’t wait for the next ones!!!
Leroy Holmes –
Great story, beautifully illustrated. Looking forward to Constellation!