The Legend of Zelda, Vol. 9: A Link to the Past [Paperback]

Akira Himekawa (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

R to L (Japanese Style). In the mystical land of Hyrule, three spiritual stones hold the key to the Triforce, and whoever holds them will control the world. A boy named Link sets out on a quest to deliver the Emerald, the spiritual stone of the forest, to Zelda, Princess of the land of Hyrule. The journey will be long and perilous, and Link will need all his skill and courage to defeat evil. The battle for Hyrule and the Sacred Realm has begun!

Final Volume!

A Link to the Past A terrible tragedy befalls Link's family and friends when the traitorous Agahnim launches a plot to seize the Triforce and unleash a terrible evil on the world. To bring justice to Agahnim, Link needs the Master Sword and sets off on a quest to find it. Link's journey may also help him discover what happened to his parents, and while Agahnim's minions and traps are dangerous, this link to the past may be even more challenging!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Akira Himekawa is the collaboration of two women, A. Honda and S. Nagano. Together they have created nine manga adventures featuring Link and the popular video game world of The Legend of Zelda, including Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords. Their most recent work, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, is serialized in Shogaku Rokunensei.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421523353
• ISBN-13: 978-1421523354
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Akira Himekawa is the collaboration of two women, A. Honda and S. Nagano. Together they have created nine manga adventures featuring Link and the popular video game world of The Legend of Zelda, including Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords. Their most recent work, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, was serialized in Shogaku Rokunensei.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Meh, February 6, 2010

By 

Noodle 19-2000 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Legend of Zelda, Vol. 9: A Link to the Past (Paperback)

I have all of the Zelda graphic novels so far, and I've played all of the games. LTP was always one of my favorites and it had a deep enough story to become a novelization without needing to be changed too much. Unfortunately, the writers took a lot of liberties and ended up losing a lot of the game's storyline in the process. They made a lot of changes, for example, to the story of the flute boy, made Blind totally different, and didn't really touch on the Light/Dark World principles very much. That's only naming a few. To be fair, though, maybe they didn't have enough space to do so, since it was only one volume. For its time, LTP had a very engrossing storyline, and it wasn't transcribed very well here. They also added a new character that was okay but could have been left out completely.

The artwork, however, was beautiful and was like the artwork for the drawings for the game. I've loved all of the Zelda graphic novels so far, and despite what I just said I did enjoy it enough that I'm glad I got it. It's just that rabid LTP fans might be a bit disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is "A Link to the Past"?, April 25, 2010

By 

Ian M. Brown "the Seedist" (Arlington, VA 22203) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Legend of Zelda, Vol. 9: A Link to the Past (Paperback)

You have the main components of "A Link to the Past", but gracious, what deviation! If you love the original LttP exactly as it was/is (as I do), you WILL be disappointed. On its own merit, though, it's not too bad; just forget it's supposed to be based on the legendary game.

The story really moves quickly once it starts. The dungeons and their classic bosses (which have, for the most part, been substituted with non-malevolent entities) are covered in a few brief pages -- yep, just a few pages. Instead of attending to the original story, "Akira Himekawa" invested in characters that didn't/don't exist in the original story. Sucks. To the author's credit, however, she does propose interesting background for the original story.

Great illustration, though sometimes it's goofy. Since this is kids' manga, I guess that's inevitable. Most of the characters are very accurate, but Zelda looks like an anime fairy (or some similar crap). Again, the trick to enjoying this is not to compare it to the original LttP.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Beautiful Work by Akira Himekawa, March 10, 2010

By 

Jemi Linked (New England, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Legend of Zelda, Vol. 9: A Link to the Past (Paperback)

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a wonderful adaption of the famous game. The art work is inspiring and really brings to life the characters we know and love, along with some new Original Characters. I love all the manga adaptions and highly recommend adding this one to your collection.