Asterix and the Soothsayer: Album #19 (The Adventures of Asterix)

Love the Asterix series and now I can have all the books on a single device ! This is wonderful

Big fan of Asterix and Obelix.

Another gripping tale from the bronze age. The authors are astute observers of human motivation and mannerisms. This translates into hilarious drawings and an engaging story from Goscinny, with his unrivalled ability to bring ancient history to life.

Glad you had this in stock as always anther great adventure of Asterix &Obelix you will like this one to.

When a conman comes to the village claiming to be a soothsayer and foretelling wonderful things for the villagers futures, it is hard for them not to be all taken in. That is, all but our hero Asterix, who realises the Soothsayer for the charlatan he is and sets out to convince the village of the deception. When the local Romans become involved in the deception and try to get the villagers to leave the area based on false fortune telling, then uncovering the fraud becomes all the more urgent. This is another wonderful Asterix adventure and a great addition to your collection. As is now customary you get many humorous names (like Voluptuous Arteriosclerosus) and delightful animation that ensures you will come back to this book again and again. Also this time the woman of the village get involved in the Roman bashing and the end of adventure feast is all the more deserved because of it. If you are a fan of the Asterix series then this will not disappoint and makes for quite a good starting point if you are new to the books as well.Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

Five stars!Asterix: Asterix and the Soothsayer: Album 19 is a great one!

One of the best albums of Asterix has a soothsayer arriving into the rebel Gaul village during a storm (which I guess has the Gauls in a vulnerable mood, since one of the few things they fear is the sky falling over them). All its inhabitants (save Asterix) fall for the con man, who is showered with presents in exchange for favorable predictions. Even Obelix becomes fascinated by the stranger. Eventually, the Romans decide to use the soothsayer to convince the Gauls to flee the village, which they do. When things are becoming real dark for the future of the Gauls, Panoramix (who was in a convention of druids) arrives, and with Asterix plans how to convince the villagers to come back, and get even with the soothsayer (who, imprisoned by a Roman general, who wants him to augur a future as an emperor, isn't going through a good time either). A very good book, overall, that is strongly against gullibility and superstition.

This episode is a true classic from the golden age of Asterix. The masterful artwork shows Uderzo's wizardry at the height of his powers and the story itself is one of the funniest in the whole oeuvre. The opening sequence is an unrivaled panache of superb pacing, drama, and humor; the rest of the story is a hilarious piercing comment on human foibles. Of course the whole thing is rendered especially clever by Goscinny's tried-and-true use of the ancient world as a mirror for our own--one of the most consistently entertaining aspects of Asterix and one that at its best gives the series surprising depth and substance. Absolutely one of the best of the series.

This is my favourite Asterix book ever. Should be read in schools to kids to teach them to avoid charlatans and con artists lol. The art is spectacular in this one.

A fan of the comic for years

On a dark and stormy night, the occupants of the last village in all of Gaul to hold out against Roman invasion are scared by a storm because they fear it is a prelude to the only thing they fear, the sky falling on their heads! During the storm a soothsayer visits them and foretells that when the storm ends the weather will get better, and that is what happens so the soothsayer must have real powers!The villagers visit the soothsayer bringing him gifts so he can tell them their futures (which always happen to be things they would like to hear e.g "your husband will become rich and handsome" or "your business will become more popular". But one villager Asterix remains unconvinced.The soothsayer is captured by the Romans, who tell him they consider soothsaying a threat to security and he will be sent to work in a mine, not wanting to be sent to the mines the soothsayer reveals he is really a fraud that flatters people by telling them what they want to hear and the Romans make a deal to let the soothsayer go if he can scare the villagers into leaving their village. Hilarity ensues.This is a very interesting book to analyse, for example the fact that people on both sides (Gauls and Romans) are taken in by the soothsayer and the how and why they believe him is very interesting. One part I particularly like is that when the soothsayer tells the Roman commander he is not a real soothsayer the Romans deiced to test him by getting him to predict the outcome of the rolling of two dice, the soothsayer predicts seven( which by the way is the most common number to appear from the rolling of two dice) and seven appears, thus proving the soothsayer to be real and he should be sent to the mines! The soothsayer shocked that he was right points out that if he was a real soothsayer he would have know seven would appear and would have chosen a different number because of the punishment for being a real soothsayer, thus him getting it right proves he is not a soothsayer! The Romans are unconvinced.Although this is a children's book it is also a very powerful satire of gullibility, logical flaws, con men, politicians and other talkers of nonsense. I had read this as a child, but after seeing it on the book recommendation list of a website about nonsense in the martial arts, I reread it as a adult and only then did its full brilliance sink in.

One of the funniest of the Asterix books, and one that has aged particularly well as we are put upon with more and more shysters and opportunists in modern life. Asterix is increasingly put upon when a Soothsayer turns up in the village with an eye to taking them for all they've got, but the Soothsayer's own plans are hijacked by a sleazy Roman commander who wants to be the one to say they finally conquered "All" Gaul. Can Asterix out think them, will the pirates (the African pirate's features are the only poor spot in the art, still racist caricature), and will Cacofonix ever be recognised as a great talent? Great art, great story, great fun.

Très bonne histoire pour apprendre l'anglais en s' amusant en complément de la version en français.