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About the Author

Series

Works by Christophe Arleston

Gnomes de Troy, tome 1 (2001) 53 copies
Sangre T 01 (2016) 13 copies
Voyage aux ombres (2011) 12 copies
L'Expédition d'Alunÿs (2010) 11 copies
Elfes T25: Vengeance noire (2019) 11 copies
Bloedband (2014) 9 copies
Lanfeust Quest Vol.1 (2007) 8 copies
Elfes T30 (2021) 7 copies
Le Codex d'Opale (2006) 7 copies
Lanfeust Quest Vol.2 (2008) 5 copies
Propergol sur le Capitole (1998) 4 copies
Froide vendange (2006) 3 copies
Grillade Provençale (1995) 3 copies
Lanfeust Quest Vol.5 (2010) 3 copies
Lanfeust Quest Vol.4 (2009) 3 copies
Lanfeust Quest Vol.3 (2009) 3 copies
En, to, Troy (2008) 2 copies
Simbad (2011) 2 copies
Den himmelske salve (1994) 1 copy
De poorten van chaos (2010) 1 copy
Trolls de Troy (2005) 1 copy
De blodrøde koraller (1996) 1 copy
Chaud beffroi (1997) 1 copy
Adieu ma joliette (1998) 1 copy

Associated Works

Astérix et ses Amis : Hommage à Albert Uderzo (2007) — some editions; some editions — 86 copies
Trolls de Troy, Tome 21 : L'Or des Trolls (2016) — Créateur — 16 copies

Tagged

6 (48) 9ème art (95) @médiacolette (22) adventure (77) ballonstrip (49) Bande (47) bande dessinée (128) BD (713) Carlsen (30) Collectie 500 (55) comedy (27) comic (202) comics (232) comix (138) couloir1-5 (17) Dessinée (47) fantasy (499) fiction (26) first edition (35) FR (47) France (16) French (134) graphic novels (37) hard copy (22) hardcover (135) heroic fantasy (75) humor (89) Lanfeust de Troy (20) magic (26) read (19) science fiction (130) sf (53) softcover (60) Soleil (25) Splitter (82) strip (83) strips (19) to-read (26) Trolls de Troy (26) Troy (76)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Arleston, Christophe
Legal name
Pelinq, Christophe
Other names
Arleston, Scotch
Birthdate
1963-08-14
Gender
male
Nationality
France

Members

Reviews

While I understand the popularity of the "héroic fantasy" genre of franco-belgian bande-dessinée and can appreciate its importance, Lanfeust is a little more (less?) than I can handle. The rampant sexism combined with the flimsy storyline (and the early death of my favorite character) create a book that I could have lived my entire life without reading. Yes, magic powers and alternate universes are pretty cool. They're also no longer original or groundbreaking; in fact, they've become a bit trite. Though this series is remarkably popular (no doubt due to the young male fantasy crowd), it is evident in the first book that its popularity is very loosely, if at all, correlated with its literary or artistic value.… (more)
 
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ctanons | Jan 26, 2021 |
Christophe Arleston is first and foremost known for his comic book series Lanfeust. He's written more than that, of course, but not any novels. Except for [b:Le Souper des maléfices|33387156|Le Souper des maléfices|Christophe Arleston|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481737983s/33387156.jpg|53429282], which came out first in 2015, but was reworked and re-released via Éditions ActuSF (in the Bad Wolf collection) in 2016.

The basis of the story is, as far as I know, quite original: food manipulation and the impact on the economy, society, etc. Or, a reflection on today's society, where companies like Monsanto tamper with pesticides, grains and what not, so they can reap great profits, while farmers suffer the consequences. Not to mention the soil getting exhausted. Not to mention the reducing of the nutritional value of certain foodstuffs.

The various characters are well distinguished: Ib Morkedaï (the 'dynarque', for which no English translation exists, but he's the ruler of Slarance), Zéphyrelle (the last of Morkedaï's inspectors, who rises in rank very rapidly), Duke Plucharmoy, Fanalpe (a master chef, working for Plucharmoy), Fiollullia (so-called niece of Morkedaï, with a vicious temper and whom Fanalpe has a crush on), Ploutre (her assistant-maiden, who seems to have her own agenda), and more.

Practically every inspector (police spy, if that term fits better) has been killed off in the investigation of the increased consumption of beer, the highly reduced quality of wheat for bread and alike, etc. Ib Morkedaï has no choice but to send the youngest of the pack, Zéphyrelle, out to investigate what is really going on. She's free to do it her own way, but has to report back on a regular basis.

And that's what partly bothered me: Zéphyrelle uses many disguises, can transform from being a student to being an old lady, and so on, on a very short notice. I know it's a fantasy story and the primal goal is to entertain, but how she manages to change clothes and accessories almost on the fly, without a real hiding place and no one nothing anything weird about her outfit, is a riddle to me. Later on in the story, when she suspects Fanalpe of having to have a hand in the food crime, she seems to be a very good cook, too. There was no previous mention of any of her skills. That's a bit of a problem to me, the sudden mention of skills and possible weaknesses, and always at the time of action.

She sets to work and manages to trace the ship that brings the tampered wheat to the harbour and which company is responsible for the sale. Zéphyrelle also manages to get on board and travel back to where the manipulated foodstuff comes from, all without disclosing her identity, but collecting enough information to report back to the dynarque (Ib Morkedaï). Meanwhile, someone wants to take him out, to disrupt the investigation.

Fanalpe meanwhile tries his best to come up with new recipes and combinations. Not in the least to seduce Fiollullia, who seems not to care for the love of men. Ploutre, on the other hand, gladly throws herself onto men, by contrast. He, Fanalpe, has learned there's an ancient cookbook by a famed master chef, but it's safely locked away in the library of the dynarque. He convinces the librarian, who's fallen asleep over his books, in the middle of the night, to give him the key. Fanalpe wants to create a magical dish that will enchant Fiollullia and make her fall in love with him.

However, he can't do it directly, so he convinces the duke (a big, fat, chubby and cunning man) to invite her for dinner. To prepare the dish - he had originally planed an entire menu, but due to time constraints, it became supper -, Fanalpe needs specific ingredients and spices for the magic to work, and under specific conditions... for which there's even some time-travelling involved, which can have serious consequences when not follow-up correctly.

As you can imagine, not all goes according to plan. And the outcome of his efforts is even one I didn't expect. It's not only about food manipulation, but also about manipulating people.

Since Fanalpe's dream is not coming true, it ends terribly for him. He gets accused of murder. He has to stand trial in court, but remains humble and as honest as he can be, so as not to aggravate his case. It's only thanks to the intervention of Ib Morkedaï that the true story is told: Who's behind the company that tampered with the wheat? Who's behind the murder of the duke and Fiollulia? Who had an interest in all this and why? Ploutre came into a picture now and then throughout the story, but played a minor role compared to the others. It seems financial problems played a role in her choosing an evil way to not get poor, but also acquire more and more riches.

It wouldn't be a good story if there was no happy ending. All's well that ends well. The people of Slarance were given the order to not consume any beer any more until further notice. The company that traded in the tampered wheat - Ploutre had contact and richly rewarded an alchemist to do the tampering - had brought back loads of proper and nutritious wheat, thanks to Zéphyrelle's intervention as a rich lady asking the captain to go get it as compensation for treating her brother (another of Zéphyrelle's disguises) well. The city's treasury was apparently more than full, thanks to good management, to restore the economy and public health.

This all in all entertaining (also because of the pinches of humour) story - which has its flaws, I have to add (not everything is solved; there are some holes in the story) - is indirectly a complaint against food tampering (and at the same time a declaration of love for food, as master chef Fanalpe proves), against the Monsantos of the world, against the lobbying of multinational companies who only seek high profits. It's also a crime story, with a lot of suspense, but also room for love (as the title suggests, something along the lines of 'The Enchanted Supper').

As it's a story about food, Mr. Arleston threw in many terms of ingredients and dishes. The writing itself was of not always that easy to understand (if you're not a native French speaker, for example), meaning you need a more than average knowledge of the French language.
… (more)
 
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TechThing | Jan 22, 2021 |
This ninth issue is a passable but ultimately disappointing ending to a high-speed series.

The series The Shipwrecks of Ythaq follows three protagonists (two female, one male) who are among the few survivors when their interstellar passenger liner crashlands on a wondrous but completely unknown planet. A kick-ass military heroine, a materialistic sex-kitten, and a poet-cum-engineer enthusiastically amass a bunch of allies and, having traipsed around for eight issues due to behind-the-screens machinations, finally figure out what made them crashland, what the overarching storyline was all about, and whether or not they get to go home. At this point they’ve gone through kidnappings, teleporters, a massive siege, equipment failure, rickety flying ships, and numerous attempts on their lives. They’ve survived confrontations with sea monsters, sky monsters, torture chambers, killer bugs, dragons, pirates, space marines, and both arctic and tropical killer climates. In short, it’s been an exciting journey and a wonderfully diverse journey in the best sword and planet tradition.

The artwork for the entire series is lovely, a classical ligne claire wedded to careful attention to detail and a warm colour palette.

It is all the more galling, then, that in the final issues (8 and particularly 9) the series takes a nose-dive into tawdriness: the resolution just cannot live up to the high standards set by the series up till this point. There’s a sharp turn towards the conventional, and, at one point, the laughable.

In issue 1 the kick-ass heroine acquires some magical powers, but hardly uses them throughout the series, relying on both wit and physique to keep her companions safe. But the finale reverts to 1970s values in that the entire climax suddenly revolves around the male character becoming super-powered for no adequately explained reason and finally bedding the comparatively chaste female protagonist whose magical powers then promptly disappear; the sex kitten gets a minimal reward. Admittedly, there were hints in earlier issues, where the wimpy male protagonist (non-military) was regularly expected to save and/or protect a military kickass heroine, but even back then the series clearly dealt with three main characters. This ending abruptly pretends that the series was the poet’s story all along, leaving it struggling to find something relevant to do for the female protagonists; his sudden and complete dominance over all protagonists and main side characters is completely unwarranted and out of all proportion. To wit: out of the blue his mind absorbs a humongous, eternal, planet-killing telepathic entity, thereby saving the planet and the galaxy. Of course. And he does so -- this is where the big twist becomes laughable -- through the power of poetry. This is where I felt as though the authors just weren’t trying any more and had defaulted to a boring climax that required minimal creative (or progressive) input.
… (more)
½
 
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Petroglyph | Aug 30, 2014 |

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Works
286
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Members
5,678
Popularity
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Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
49
ISBNs
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