A fine tribute to Sherlock Holmes is included in this police detective adventure set in an alternate universe where Napoleon won at Waterloo and all the people are animals. Our hero is a kick-ass Scotland Yard inspector facing down a French mobster trying to take over all the gangs in France and England.

But our hero is also a badger.

As with [b:Blacksad|7342071|Blacksad (Blacksad, #1-3)|Juan Díaz Canales|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403207759s/7342071.jpg|534073], no matter how much I enjoy the story, I'm still thrown out of it a little by all the animal heads. While I enjoy anthropomorphized characters in humor or adventure, like Winnie-the-Pooh or Uncle Scrooge, they always seem weird in a dramatic setting with adult themes. But if you are into that, I can't imagine anyone does it better than Talbot does it here in this final volume of the Grandville series. ( )

"Your maiden aunt canoodles with a duck-billed platypus!"

Grandville's Inspector LeBrock is back for his final case. Beautiful artwork with a whimsical twist make for a fun read. There's a gang war going on and the leader of one pack is out for revenge; LeBrock must stop the war and protect his loved ones. I will be procuring the previous four in this series as soon as possible.

( )

With Grandville Force Majeure, Bryan Talbot’s Grandville pentalogy has come to an end and I while it wouldn’t be accurate to say I was heartbroken, I am definitely seriously bummed out. Bryan Talbot’s imaginative series of graphic novels has become an all-time favorite of mine. I'm not usually that big on anthropomorphic characters but the magnificent artwork, dynamic alternate-history steampunk setting, action-packed plots full of clever twists totally sucked me in. If you like subversive plots like V for Vendetta, you should appreciate Grandville.

Grandville Force Majeure is the final book (following Grandville, Grandville Mon Amour, Grandville Bête Noire and Grandville Noël) in a five-volume series of graphic novels. It can best be described as what you would dream after mixing Sherlock Holmes, Wind in the Willows, James Bond, and psilocybin mushrooms.
The Grandville of the titles is a nickname for Paris in this alternate universe where the French won the Battle of Waterloo and rule the world. Paris is the center of all cultural and political activity.

On my Series ranking scale¹ I give the Grandville series rating of four. While the series has a substantial and evolving backstory and they are best read in order, readers without the inclination or access to previous books in the series will still be able to enjoy this book.

FYI: Although this is technically a cartoon, its target audience is not children. Parents who control their children’s access to reading material may wish to review this one first.

Hint: If you are looking for a copy of these books, check with your local library to see if they have access to Hoopla digital content.

¹ A Note on Series:Some people insist on reading series in order starting at the beginning. I believe that this is absolutely necessary with some series and unnecessary in others. In my reviews I assign books in a series a score of one to five in which the higher score denotes increased importance of reading the book in order. A series with returning villains, an ongoing story arc, and evolving family dynamics will rate higher than one where the plot in each book is totally unrelated to the others. As an example, a Nancy Drew book would be a one. There is no evolving story arc. Nancy hasn’t grown any older in fifty years and, face it, Ned is never going to propose to her. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is a five. Reading the trilogy in order is essential to fully understanding and appreciating the story. One book picks up right where its predecessor leaves off and Fellowship of the Ring contains information that readers of The Two Towers really need to know. Besides, Tolkien originally wrote it as a single volume.

* The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. ( )