La Voie du Rige

I have just received from amazon the last tome of the series La quête de l’oiseau du temps written by Serge Le Tendre and drawn by Régis Loisel. (The series has been partly translated in English as Roxanna and the quest for the time-bird.) I have loved this series since the first cycle was published, about twenty years ago, and the second cycle (which takes place thirty to forty years before) is even better! The quality of the drawings by Loisel is superb, with a clear mastering of colour and shade, and the fantasy plot is deep enough to keep the series more than attractive. The end of the first cycle was highly climactic and the second cycle contains enough threads and first rate characters to be gripping despite the slow publication rate (the first volume appeared in 2004 and the second one in 2007, as advertised below).

The story is slightly less innovative/informative in the third tome than in the two previous ones, with less of a “global picture” , but the central character of “Le Rige” only appears after a tense expectation and the final redemption words (“do you want to become my pupil?”) are quite surprising.