I always like Asterix, but like many of the later books, this was sort of formulaic and blah. The Romans weren't even that funny! ( )

This has all the Classical (geddit?!) elements of an Asterix story; violence, boar, pirates, Caesar's latest plan to conquer the last outpost of Gaul that still resists the Empire and so forth. It also shows the more whimsical tone and more meandering plotting evident in the other volumes written by Uderzo. Feminism comes to ancient Gaul in the form of a female bard who wears breeches and teaches the women of the village to question accepted gender roles. Unsurprisingly, chaos ensues, and that's before Caesar's Secret Weapon arrives to add to the mayhem!

This isn't out there in the stellar regions with Asterix in Britain, Asterix in Corsica or Obelix and Co. but it's still funny and full of surprises. ( )

Six out of ten. CBR format. All the mothers of the village get together to employ a female bard to replace Cacofonix. This turns out to be useful when Caesar employs a troop of female legionaires to finally conquer the Gauls. ( )