Customer Reviews

Asterix and the Golden Sickle (Asterix (Orion Hardcover))

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of my favourite Asterix books.
Asterix and the Golden Sickle was first published in French in 1962 and in English in 1975.
Asterix and Obelix journey to Lutetia (Ancient Paris) to buy a desperately needed Golden Sickle for the Druid Getafix.
On the way there they easily deal with the mobs of bandits that attack them on the road , and also cannot find lodgings at Sundinium (Ancient Le Mans )
because they are there during the great-Ox-Cart race -The Sundinium 24 hours.
When they get to Lutetia they find that finding a sickle will not be so easy and that Obelix's cousin , the great sickle maker Metallurgix is missing .
To get to the bottom of this they must battle against the Lutetia underworld as well as the Roman authorities (and make a journey through the forest that will later become the Bois de Boulogne).
I wont spoil the ending but we all know that every Asterix adventure ends with a feat under the starry sky to welcome our heroes back to the village.

I have been reading about the adventures of Asterix and Obelix for years. I first learned about them while living in Europe and I still have all my copies with me back here in America. It's really hard to rate one over the other. They are all so much fun to read. All their names crack me up. I recommend any Asterix book to anyone of any age! They are all great!

I read all the Asterix & Obleix books as a kid (a friend of mine owned them). I decided to get this one for my 7 y.o son, to encourage him to read. Some of the words are tough, but he does like to look at the pictures and try to read it. I forgot how funny the names were (or perhaps I didn't get the Latin references as a kid) - the dog is Dogmatix, one of the Romans is Ginandtonicus, the village Druid is Getafix, and the village Chief is Vitalstatistix - ha! I plan on slowly acquiring the entire series - great fun!

I remember reading this book with my stepson, then age nine, and thoroughly enjoying the amusing names and wily ways of the Gauls as they overcame the Romans. It was a joy to once again be able to read these Asterix books with my grandson, now age nine. I would recommend these comic books to children of nine to ninety who would also enjoy amusing situations in which the little guys overcome the big guys, while at the same time learning a tiny amount of history.

This was a purchase made for my 12 year old son. The reason for the four star rating is that the story dragged on a little too long. His comments follow:

"This is the second book in the Asterix series. I have read most of the books, and this is one of the best. After Getafix the druid breaks his golden sickle, he can no longer cut mistletoe for the magic potion. So Asterix and Obelix travel to Lutetia to get a new one. But the sicklesmith, Metalurgix has disappeared! In order to get a sickle, Asterix and Obelix must discoverthe secret behind the sickle-traffickers. It is a good book and you'll enjoy reading it."

A great review for a great series. The story is funny, intelligent and educational.

Rene Goscinny, Asterix and the Golden Sickle (Orion, 1962)

Poor Getafix was, perhaps, Rene Goscinny's most hated character early on in the Asterix series; he has to have been, because in the series' early book, it always seems to be Getafix who's somehow gotten into dutch. This book is no exception; Getafix's golden sickle has broken, and Asterix and Obelix have to go get him a new one. This turns out to be, of course, far more trouble than expected, as the golden sickle maker (one of Obelix's distant cousins, as it turns out) has disappeared, and someone's running a black market in golden sickles...

If you're familiar with Goscinny and Uderzo, you know what you're getting here; no big surprises, nothing more or less than you get from the rest of the series-- a good, fast-paced story with fine wordplay, good (if somewhat crude, and politically incorrect in today's society) humor, and lots of Legionnaires getting their behinds kicked. It's all in good fun. ***

"Asterix and the Golden Sickle" is the second comic in the "Asterix" series, originally published in 1962. It's one of my favorites, too, and sees Asterix and Obelix go to Lutetia (Paris during the Roman Empire) to get a golden sickle for their druid Getafix, leading straight into the comic "Asterix and the Goths" (1963). There's lots of colour, locations and laughs along the way, and I can read it again and again. I like the early comics a lot, actually. Worth a read for fans.