Customer Reviews

Asterix the Legionary (Asterix (Orion Hardcover)) (Book 10)

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Tip: out of stock does not mean you cannot find it in other bookstores.

As a child, I read all of the "classic" Asterix books in Swedish. As an adult and now living in the U.S., I am reading them again to my children, but this time in English. This is a good classic. In Swedish, this book was called Asterix in Africa, but I read this English version to my children. As others have pointed out, the Asterix books are not very popular in the U.S., but American kids (like mine) are not much different from European kids, so I think someone is missing a business opportunity here. American kids respond positively to these books.

Asterix and Obelix live in a village in Gaul that the Romans failed to conquer. The reason for this is that the village druid knows how to make a magic potion that endows the villagers with super human strength. In this book a villager, Tragicomix, is kidnapped, and later he and his girlfriend are sold as slaves in Rome. Asterix and Obelix set out to find him and rescue him (them), but to do that they have to join the Roman army. Their search leads them to North Africa. It is an interesting and entertaining story full of lighthearted good puns. Thanks to Obelix the Roman army finally got good food.

In general I find that, children the age 5-13 really enjoy these books, and so do my children. Adults can enjoy these books as well. The Asterix comic books are a great way to teach children ancient history. Naturally, the adult needs to help with the differentiation between fiction and history. From these books, my kids have learned about the Roman Empire, the ancient Greeks, the Vikings, the Goths, the Phoenicians, ancient Gaul, ancient Egypt, and the ancient Mediterranean world in general.

My ten year old started loving these books at the age of eight and he cannot get enough of them. My six year old started liking them at the age of five. Even though many Asterix puns may be a little bit above his head, my younger son still loves these stories.

In my opinion the best Asterix albums are: Asterix and the Normans; Asterix in Corsica; Obelix and company; Asterix the Gladiator; Asterix the Legionary; Asterix and Cleopatra; Asterix and the Goths; Asterix in Belgium; Asterix and the big fight; and Asterix all around Gaul. The last title is a translation from Swedish and might be wrong.

The comic book I purchased was translated by a Robert Caron in the 1990s. I much preferred the version translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge in the 1970s. The newer translation is nowhere near as funny as the older one. I wish they had never tampered with the original English translation.

I wonder why Asterix is not better known in the US? Probably because Americans are not comics fans and also are generally ignorant of things European, including European history and culture, which play a big part in the Asterix books. Be that as it may, these comics are extremely well-known outside the US...and for good reason! They are witty, clever, funny, and educational. They are popular with all ages and I loved them as a university student. This one, "Asterix the Legionary," is one of the best. Other great ones are "Asterix the Gladiator," "Asterix and the Big Fight" (le Combat des Chefs), Asterix in Switzerland" (Asterix chez les Helvetes) and "Asterix in Britain" (Asterix chez les Bretons). The stories were written by Goscinny, one of France's best writers of witty children's books (e.g., "Le Petit Nicolas," "Lucky Luke" etc).

These comics have become classics and part of French culture. They were begun in the early 1960s and continue today, with story and drawings by Uderzo, Gosinny's partner. The newer books (the last six or so), written after Gosinny's death, generally lack the intellectual spice and wit of the earlier ones however. As classics, they compare to Herge's Tintin (basically begun in the 1930's) but Asterix is less based on exotic adventures and more concerned with tongue-in-cheek comic treatment of European peoples and history. The background of these adventures is the Roman Empire and Gaul (France) around the time of Julius Caesar. They are educational insofar as one can recognize the many literary, historical, political and cultural allusions in the adventures. Even university professors have written books on Asterix (for instance, "Asterix, the Whole Truth" and "Asterix auf Grosser Fahrt" from professors at the University of Amsterdam, explaining the accuracy of the historical background and the allusions to ancient art, religion, sport etc.).

I've only read Asterix in French and German, but I assume that they are adequately translated into English. In German there are also translations in about 20 different dialects, which are great fun to read! For the real "Romans" among us Asterix is also available in latin..."il sont fous ces romains!"

First published in French in 1967 as Astérix légionnaire , it was first published in English in 1970.

Beautiful , young , Panacea returns to the village , after two years studying in Condatum (Rennes) , and Obelix falls head over heels in love with her.
Panacea,however , is engaged to Tragicomix , who has been forcibly conscripted into the Roman army , as part of Julius Caesar' s war effort against the Romans who support Pompey.
Despite Obelix heart being broken by the news of Panacea's engagement,he nonetheless is enough of a gentleman to offer to bring Tragicomix back ...
Once more this is an interesting commentary on Europe at the time of writing , with the Roman Empire being something like the EU today.
In their regiment there is a Greek , a Briton , a Goth (German) , and An Egyptian , as well as a translator , much to the distress of the two Centurions.
This makes for a lot of fun.
Once more we get to see a guest appearance by Julius Caesar.

This book gets my vote for the best Asterix book, along with the Mansion of the Gods. Just plain funny and awesome. Go read it!!

Esta es una muy interesante historia de Asterix y Obelix, en este caso van un busca de la pareja de una chica que llega a la Aldea y de la cual Obelix queda automaticamente enamorado.

The sometimes hysterical adventures of Asterix, Obelix and the entire village are always entertaining. My kids crack themselves up, and even I can't help but chuckle at some of the antics. Great fun reading.

He leido todos los titulos de la coleccion y puedo decir que este esta entre los mejores. Clasico estilo Goscinny-Uderzo que hizo la serie tan popular.

This is my favorite Asterix book! The best part in the book is when Asterix & Obelix get recruited into the Roman army and the ensuing scenes in bootcamp as they prepare for deployment. Those are laugh aloud artwork (and dialogue). This might sound discriminatory but the clever use of hieroglyphics whenever the Egyptian "recruit" is around remains unequalled in the rest of the series (except, of course, in maybe Asterix and Cleopatra).

First published in French in 1967 as Astérix légionnaire , it was first published in English in 1970.

Beautiful , young , Panacea returns to the village , after two years studying in Condatum (Rennes) , and Obelix falls head over heels in love with her.
Panacea,however , is engaged to Tragicomix , who has been forcibly conscripted into the Roman army , as part of Julius Caesar' s war effort against the Romans who support Pompey.
Despite Obelix heart being broken by the news of Panacea's engagement,he nonetheless is enough of a gentleman to offer to bring Tragicomix back .
Asterix and Obelix set off for Condatum where they join the Roman army, and after having driven their commanding officers crazy, and having changed protocol in the Roman Army , they embark on the journey to North Africa , where things really become interesting.
Once more this is an interesting commentary on Europe at the time of writing , with the Roman Empire being something like the EU today.
In their regiment there is a Greek , a Briton , a Goth (German) , and An Egyptian , as well as a translator , much to the distress of the two Centurions.
This makes for a lot of fun.
Once more we get to see a guest appearance by Julius Caesar.