Customer Reviews

Asterix & Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book

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

 

 

I grew up with my brother reading Asterix to me, I own all books, they have been read "a million times" and - most of them - are really delightful to read!
But this new book does not deserve the title "Asterix-book". It does not contain a real story, only bits, some pages are filled with one huge picture (well, too many pages contain these one-picture-unit, I got the impression that pages had to be filled, no matter how).
I was really diappointed and the "guide" that occupies the inner pages is not at all Asterix like ...
So, I am sorry to have spent the money ... it was a pretty disappointing book
I tried to rate zero stars ...

This is definitely not a book meant for starter Asterix fans - this is more like a finale book! Once you read this book, you realize that this is precisely that - an adieu by Uderzo. It is highly improbable that he will write another Asterix book again, and so we get this Birthday book, which is basically a collage featuring characters from all the other books making an appearance in this book. The book itself is not terrible, but it's not good either! Rather like a Curate's egg!

The story is weak, however I would still recommend getting this title just so one can complete one's original Asterix collection. As events have it, Asterix will probably live on and continue making appearances in new titles, however they will be titles by other authors, not Goscinny or Uderzo. That spoils the charm! I wish Uderzo had gone the Herge way, but there you have it, he's not!

So, like I said - get this book just because it's going to be Uderzo's last!

If you are an Asterix fan, you should get this book; almost all the characters from the entire series come together, and it is just like a review of everything you have found in all previous Asterix books.
The story may be a little weak, but this book was not drawn for the story. I think it is a great tribute to 50 years of Asterix. I agree that humor is a little subtle in this book, and that, in my opinion makes it even better. If you are not an Asterix fan you can go for another title; however, if you are, you will love this book.

What can I say? I buy the Asterix books for my middle school sons who adore them. They were first introduced to them when they were in grade school, by some friends from France. I was always an anti-comic book mom, but how can I complain when world history is thrown into the story? Both boys (ages 12 and 14) read and reread all of the titles we own. We have the paperback versions and the bindings are very sturdy and hold up to all the wear and tear and usage. They love 'em!

I do like Asterix comics. My 5 year old knew a lot about history from these books - maybe not quite accurate history, but a bit of the names and such.

This book is a collection of unrelated stories linked together by other unrelated stories as other people said. I would disagree however that it is "total crap". Humor is a bit more "subtle" than normally expected from Asterix books. There are too many references to things younger readers would not understand. Also, I guess something got lost in translation.

On a positive side graphics are gorgeous. References to old books are well placed. The way pages are used is more modern. And the stories are not as bad as "Falling Skies" and "Magic Carpet".

This book is just some random crap. Not a single story. A bunch of pictures from older books, some dialogs that don't come even close to funny, and some short stories that are just ridiculous. For example, various women of the village discuss finding spouses for Asterix and Obelix. WTF?!

The whole thing just makes me think somebody is trying to rake in money just because people know Asterix.

I'm building a collection, but this is junk! I would return it, but will have to pay the shipping penalty...
Deserves 0 stars!