The Girl & the Galdurian

This is an adorable fantasy adventure about a girl who has to venture out of her home and her comfort zone to find her grandfather...who happens to be a pig wizard. I really liked the characters, the world, and the art and can't wait to see more. I also appreciated that Bea, our MC, seems to struggle with anxiety (or something similar, it's not expressly stated) in a way that visually fits the world. I appreciate how the medium was used to explore how anxiety can make us feel and some of the ways we can push it back. Looking forward to getting my hands on volume 2 asap!

Now THIS is what I want in a Middle Grade fantasy graphic novel! I absolutely devoured this book with my kids and didn't want it to end. The artwork is stunning, the storyline is compelling, and the characters are all fantastic. I love the dynamic between the Bea and Cad, and I can't wait to see where their epic quest takes them next!

Very pretty world, awesome illustrations, and a good adventure. It's a gradual reveal, so there's more to come, but this installment does a great job introducing us to the characters and the quest. I particularly like the depiction of anxiety as a visible shadow, and how Bea fights it off. Is it just me, or does this borrow from the Dark Crystal? between the Skexies-like Tikarri and the 3 eyed-witch, it just seemed evocative to me.

This gorgeous graphic novel series opener is blurbed by Kazu Kibuishi, and this is most apposite for it is sure to appeal to Amulet fans.
Lizard-like creatures play in a cave and awaken something terrible... and the story begins. Bea and her cat Nimm live a happy and peaceful life with their adopted grandfather, the Pig Wizard. But then Bea meets Cad, member of the long-lost race of Galdurians, and her adopted grandfather disappears. Strange signs and creatures are seen, and they begin a dangerous and seemingly hopeless journey to find the Pig Wizard and save the last of the lights that keep their world from being plunged into darkness and overtaken by the evil shadows that threaten it.

Bea is scared and worried, Cad seemingly indifferent show more to the dangers that surround them. They struggle to understand each other and to face the many dangers in their journeys through increasingly unstable lands. The story ends on a note of tragedy, but with hope for the future and a repayment of kindness from a mysterious creature.

This has lovely, otherworldly illustrations. Soft, glowing lights show strange creatures, from humans to anthropomorphic animals, that populate a world with no natural light. Readers will be drawn in by the excellent world-building, the growing camaraderie between the mismatched characters, and the exciting plot.

Verdict: This isn't particularly ground-breaking, but it's excellently done, both in text and art, and if you have readers desperate for the next Kazu Kibuishi (which, by the way, has no projected pub date as of now) they will devour this new series. And then, of course, be desperate for the sequel to this one! So it's a self-defeating cycle really.

ISBN: 9780062990464; Published September 2020 by HarperAlley; Purchased for the library show less

I purchased this book solely on the wonderful light in the illustrations. The character of Cad is refreshingly humorous and charming, as well as good with a sword. The girl, Bea (spoiler) suffers from anxiety, which is creatively expressed as waving black lines around her body when she is starting to feel overwhelmed. I felt this worked very well and I know children who will read this and find this resonates with them.
I loved being dropped into a world where things are quite different, without any explanation (many characters are animals; there is a bit of backstory told by Cad some way into the story).
There is nothing particularly novel about the story (fantasy quest), but the different characters met along the way are fun and there show more are laugh out loud moments (fire, cat, say no more). I really enjoyed reading this and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next one. I am going to buy myself a copy now. show less

It was the illustrations that made me pick this title up. With the title of LIGHTFALL I soon learned that "light" was a main theme in this story and the illustrations were brilliant visuals showing bright yellows that filled some of the pages.

Strong female lead that has anxiety issues but has learned by focusing she can overcome her anxiety and fear. When she encounters Cad the Galdurian who helps her out of a predicament they join together (along with Bea's cat) to look for Bea's missing grandfather. But they are drawn into events that affect the whole world as evil has been released and paths cross with our adventurers.

Review: There is no lead-in summary so it took me a while to catch on to the plot. It might have been useful to have show more a quick summary paragraph at beginning. The dark parts are very dark and some of the images are hard to make out...and it would have been helpful to have a wider margin at the gutter so I could have opened the book wider to view more of the illustrations without fear of breaking the binding. There are some scenes of violence and death. I thought the choice of a cat going along on a very long journey was interesting because most cats are not very helpful -- including this one who sometimes curls up to nap when help is needed...but there are a few times when the cat earns her keep by clawing the bad guys thus changing the winning events.

The ending was left hanging so I'm ready for the next volume and hope it arrives soon. But in the meantime, I may read this one again because I probably missed a lot especially since a lot of the story was in the illustrations. show less

Nice quest story, pleasant art, really lovely color palette. In many ways this first of three volumes is still a lot of setup, with some probable inspirations - Lloyd Alexander, Peter Dickinson, and the Jim Henson movie Labyrinth all come to mind - but it works. I'm less taken than other reviewers with the depiction of the protagonist's anxiety, which feels a little gimmicky, especially in such a fantasy world context.

EDIT: Improves a little on the reread. A good solid beginning.