- Ferri, Jean-Yves and Didier Conrad.
Astérix: Le Papyrus de César.
Vanves, France: Editions Albert René, 2015.
ISBN 978-2-86497-271-6.
-
The publication of Julius Cæsar's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
(Commentaries on the Gallic War) (August 2007) made a sensation
in Rome and amplified the already exalted reputation of Cæsar.
Unknown before now, the original manuscript included a chapter which
candidly recounted the Roman army's failure to conquer the Gauls of
Armorique, home of the fierce warrior Astérix, his
inseparable companion Obélix, and the rest of the villagers
whose adventures have been chronicled in the thirty-five volumes
preceding this one. On the advice of his editor, Bonus Promoplus,
Cæsar agrees to remove the chapter chronicling his one reverse
from the document which has come down the centuries to us.
Unfortunately for Promoplus, one of his scribes, Bigdata, flees with a copy
of the suppressed chapter and delivers it to Doublepolémix,
notorious Gallic activist and colporteur
sans frontières, who makes the journey to the village
of the irréductibles in Armorique.
The Roman Empire, always eager to exploit new technology, has moved
beyond the slow diffusion of news by scrolls to newsmongers like
Rézowifix, embracing wireless communication. A network of Urgent
Delivery Pigeons, operated by pigeon masters like Antivirus, is
able to quickly transmit short messages anywhere in the Empire.
Unfortunately, like the
Internet
protocol, messages do not always arrive at the destination
nor in the sequence sent….
When news of the missing manuscript reaches Rome, Prompolus
mounts an expedition to Gaul to recover it before it can damage
the reputation of Cæsar and his own career. With battle imminent,
the Gauls resort to Druid technology to back up the manuscript.
The story unfolds with the actions, twists, and turns one
expects from Astérix, and a satisfying conclusion.
This album is, at this writing, the number one best-selling book at
Amazon.fr.
December 2015 