Fever in Urbicand (Cities of the Fantastic) [Paperback]

Peeters Schuiten (Author), Elisabeth Bell (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Cities of the Fantastic | Publication Date: August 1990

Eugen Robick designs the perfect city until a foreign element invades, a grid of beams which grows to gigantic proportions, throwing all well-laid plans into disarray but somehow making everyone realize the errors of their ways...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Belgian artist Francois Schuiten, considered a master fantasy illustrator, is best known for his exquisite, technically rendered architecture. This prowess is showcased in Fever in Urbicand. Schuiten and long-time writing collaborator Benoit Peeters draft a fantastic tale of intrigue about a mysterious small cube that exponentially expands into an indestructible city-engulfing lattice. Join the search to learn the cube's secret and at the same time marvel at one of Europe's master draughtsmen.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918348862
• ISBN-13: 978-0918348869
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great fantasy story, but a cold execution., July 5, 2002

By 

"bat_mite" (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fever in Urbicand (Cities of the Fantastic) (Paperback)

This is a great fantasy story, mind you. But it's not one that invites you into it's world. It doesn't want to be your buddy and hug you, nope, the story keeps you at some length at all times. The story lets you be a witness and see the events, but you get to see them from the other side of the room, and it is a big room.

The story takes place in the city of Urbicand, a city divided by a river. The people from one side of the river never visit the other, in fact, it's almost illegal to do so. Why? Beats me, not even the people from the city know. Suddenly, a cube appears in the desk of famous urbatect Eugen Robick, and the cube starts growing and growing until it connects both sides of the city. But the cube does more than physically connect both sides, it also connects the people emotionally. People start walking on the cube to the other side of the city, meeting the people that lived right in front of them for years for the first time.

But the story has a problem. The main characters are not very expressive. I'm very much aware that the real main character of the whole story is the city of Urbican itself, it's very interesting to see how the city reacts to the giant cube growing on it. The city expresses itself very well. The problem is with Robick the urbatect, he is a very cold and unexpressive person. He rarely expresses much awe for what's happening. If the characters are not amazed by the fantastic events taking place, then how are we supposed to be amazed then?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing urban fantasy, January 13, 2009

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fever in Urbicand (Cities of the Fantastic) (Paperback)

Schuiten and Peeters create a remarkable fantasy world in this elegant B&W graphic novel. As in other of Schuiten's fantasies, this center on the man-made world and the men who make it. Robick, an arrogant urban architect or "urbatect" takes the story's central position. The city is his creation, so he feels, or will be when the untamed angles and wild geometries of the north bank have been taken under Robick's control. Then a small cubical frame appears, given to him after construction workers unearth it. It seem equally natural and supernatural, organic and architectural, uncaring of the human world and life-changing for the entire city.

This carries the peaceful pace and mysterious aura that I associate with Schuiten's work. You won't find bam-pow action in these pages. Instead, it offers musings on the human condition, including compromise between human organization and the forces of nature. Come to think of it, that same contrast plays out with Sophie and Robick embodying organic energy and rigid organization in themselves. This graphic novel doesn't create the highest dramatic tension. Still, it pulls the reader comfortably along through with expressive artwork and engaging mystery.

-- wiredweird