kurtwombat's review against another edition
2.0
There is a good story in here somewhere and at moments it does peak through but mostly it is lost in a blur of rushed story-telling, confused art work and a mauling of history. From the beginning I found myself putting in way too much effort trying to figure out who was who during the herky-jerky prologue that was the main character’s youth. Then when the battle for Athens was under way, it just grew worse. Most of the dialogue was inelegant and the art work under-conceived—just throw a bunch of stuff in there and have someone shout what’s happening. When you have to reread portions to figure out who is who in a story designed to mimic the impetus of a runner you have already lost the race. As implied by the cover art and the title the best part of the book is the dramatic run at the end much of which is thrilling and well executed (dialogue at a minimum). However, by this point I was shouldering enough annoyance to hinder my interest in the goings on and what should have been a stirring victorious conclusion became just the last pages of a book I was closing so I could read something else.
sacajaguido's review against another edition
5.0
This is the story of the battle of Marathon and the runner, Eucles, who was tasked with making an impossible trek. This messenger was sent to run to Sparta and back to Athens in order to gather the support of the Spartans from the Persians and when he fails to convince the Spartans he must then outrun the Persians to warn Athens. The story is told through flashbacks to Eucles past as the reader learns about this former slaves tough childhood and his burning hate for the former King of Athens (who is part of the Persian invasion fleet). These flashbacks and the tension that leaps from the page through the rough and fluid artwork drive the story forward; the reader is able to follow Eucles impossible journey and through the battle scenes they're able to feel the exhaustion as Eucles runs, and runs, and runs.
pwbalto's review
4.0
My son Ezra, 11, just finished this book. Closing it, he said, "You know, they always say that history is written by the winners. And ok sometimes that's because all the losers are dead, but sometimes maybe it's because the losers just don't want to talk about it. They're like, 'Ugh, shut up, go away, don't remind me.'"
quietdomino's review
3.0
This is a graphic novel about Athenian democracy and long distance running. The art works well to evoke the fleetness of motion engaged in by almost all the characters; that blur of action also helps the book speed rapidly through your mind and out the other side.
wmcduff's review
3.0
Not bad. In the vein of 300, an alright story, but the sketchy art style didn't do all that much for me.
lukeisthename34's review
4.0
Really interesting take on Marathon idea. Little hard to keep characters straight with art style but a realnpage turner.
akmargie's review
4.0
Really strong art and a solid retelling of the legend of Marathon. Would be a good next to 300.
jowillwrite's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
THE MONTH: AUGUST, 490 BC.
TEMPERATURE: 108 DEGREES, FAHRENHEIT
DISTANCE FROM ATHENS TO SPARTA: 153 MILES.
When I was younger, there would come a point, every summer, where I wouldn’t see my dad for about 21 days.
Jo- “Dad, can we go out to the park? It’s actually sunny today!”
Papa W- “Open a window or something then.”
Jo- “Dad, I just got my shoelaces caught in my bike and I just fell over my handlebars and landed in a patch of nettles and I’M BLEEDING TO DEATH.”*
Papa W- “Go and ask your mum for a plaster.”
And the reason? The reason for my childhood neglect?! **
The Tour de France.
You may be wondering why, in a book review about the origins of the Marathon, why I am telling you about a traumatic childhood memory.
Two reasons, really:
1) This is the reason why I’m not a rabid sports fan.
2) The siblings and me used to visit my grandparent’s for a few weeks every summer. This was mostly because we absolutely loved going to visit them and they loved having us, but … sometimes I wonder whether it was just a coincidence that it happened to fall on the weeks when the men are scaling the Pyrenees.
Now, I’m getting to the point.
I’ve come to love the cycling and I’m currently glued to watching the lad’s bid for this year’s Grand Slam but my true love will always be the athletics.
And this is because of my grandma.
Every year, the two of us would sit in her living room and drink tea while we watched the Olympics and the championships and we would discuss the chances of GB bringing home gold and how fit Philips Idowu looks this year.
Well, that could have just been me because my grandma will always be a fan of the running events (and *cough* the lycra-clad runners. It seems my grandma would rather have a runner as a grandson-in-law than a triple jumper with “silly coloured hair and facial piercings” *sigh* grandmas, eh?) and, here is where this story becomes relevant, we’d always get up early to defy time zones and watch the marathon.
(Got there in the end, didn’t I?)
So when I found out that there was a graphic novel about the origins of the race on Netgalley, I had to request it.
One of my resolutions this year was to read more historical fiction and, well, I don’t think I could get much more historical than a book set in 490 BC.
My knowledge of Ancient Greek history begins and ends with the one time when one of my friends made me watch 300 and I fell asleep. So, as you can imagine, there were times when I got incredibly confused as to what was happening. But, even though there were a few parts that tripped me up, I appreciate that Yakin didn’t feel like he needed to regurgitate a history book. I sometimes feel that authors are so determined to let the reader know just how much research they have done that the story gets lost, but it really wasn’t the case here. The dialogue wasn’t crammed with historical detail and it always felt natural.
Yakin’s words perfectly portrayed the strength, the drama and the tension of the original story of a man who is willing to do the impossible to protect his city.
For the majority of this book, my heart was pounding and there was an uncomfortable lump in my throat!
And Infurnari’s illustrations… wow.
The details in the battle scenes are nothing short of spectacular. I spent about ten minutes just staring at one particular page trying to take in every single section.
I have to admit, there were a few characters that looked really similar and I found it a bit difficult to tell who was who and why the baddie has suddenly become a goodie and the goodie has become a baddie.
There were far too many angry men with beards in this book.
But, on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s something completely different to anything I’ve ever read and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this to anyone who is a fan of graphic novels, historical fiction and sports.
*This actually happened. Well, not the whole “bleeding to death” incident but I did fall into some nettles and I scraped the skin off my nose. School pictures were, of course, the following week because my life, ladies and gentlemen, is ridiculous.
** This may have been slightly exaggerated for comedic value.
I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley.
You can read this review and lots of other exciting things on my blog here.
THE MONTH: AUGUST, 490 BC.
TEMPERATURE: 108 DEGREES, FAHRENHEIT
DISTANCE FROM ATHENS TO SPARTA: 153 MILES.
When I was younger, there would come a point, every summer, where I wouldn’t see my dad for about 21 days.
Jo- “Dad, can we go out to the park? It’s actually sunny today!”
Papa W- “Open a window or something then.”
Jo- “Dad, I just got my shoelaces caught in my bike and I just fell over my handlebars and landed in a patch of nettles and I’M BLEEDING TO DEATH.”*
Papa W- “Go and ask your mum for a plaster.”
And the reason? The reason for my childhood neglect?! **
The Tour de France.
You may be wondering why, in a book review about the origins of the Marathon, why I am telling you about a traumatic childhood memory.
Two reasons, really:
1) This is the reason why I’m not a rabid sports fan.
2) The siblings and me used to visit my grandparent’s for a few weeks every summer. This was mostly because we absolutely loved going to visit them and they loved having us, but … sometimes I wonder whether it was just a coincidence that it happened to fall on the weeks when the men are scaling the Pyrenees.
Now, I’m getting to the point.
I’ve come to love the cycling and I’m currently glued to watching the lad’s bid for this year’s Grand Slam but my true love will always be the athletics.
And this is because of my grandma.
Every year, the two of us would sit in her living room and drink tea while we watched the Olympics and the championships and we would discuss the chances of GB bringing home gold and how fit Philips Idowu looks this year.
Well, that could have just been me because my grandma will always be a fan of the running events (and *cough* the lycra-clad runners. It seems my grandma would rather have a runner as a grandson-in-law than a triple jumper with “silly coloured hair and facial piercings” *sigh* grandmas, eh?) and, here is where this story becomes relevant, we’d always get up early to defy time zones and watch the marathon.
(Got there in the end, didn’t I?)
So when I found out that there was a graphic novel about the origins of the race on Netgalley, I had to request it.
One of my resolutions this year was to read more historical fiction and, well, I don’t think I could get much more historical than a book set in 490 BC.
My knowledge of Ancient Greek history begins and ends with the one time when one of my friends made me watch 300 and I fell asleep. So, as you can imagine, there were times when I got incredibly confused as to what was happening. But, even though there were a few parts that tripped me up, I appreciate that Yakin didn’t feel like he needed to regurgitate a history book. I sometimes feel that authors are so determined to let the reader know just how much research they have done that the story gets lost, but it really wasn’t the case here. The dialogue wasn’t crammed with historical detail and it always felt natural.
Yakin’s words perfectly portrayed the strength, the drama and the tension of the original story of a man who is willing to do the impossible to protect his city.
For the majority of this book, my heart was pounding and there was an uncomfortable lump in my throat!
And Infurnari’s illustrations… wow.
The details in the battle scenes are nothing short of spectacular. I spent about ten minutes just staring at one particular page trying to take in every single section.
I have to admit, there were a few characters that looked really similar and I found it a bit difficult to tell who was who and why the baddie has suddenly become a goodie and the goodie has become a baddie.
There were far too many angry men with beards in this book.
But, on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s something completely different to anything I’ve ever read and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this to anyone who is a fan of graphic novels, historical fiction and sports.
*This actually happened. Well, not the whole “bleeding to death” incident but I did fall into some nettles and I scraped the skin off my nose. School pictures were, of course, the following week because my life, ladies and gentlemen, is ridiculous.
** This may have been slightly exaggerated for comedic value.
I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley.
You can read this review and lots of other exciting things on my blog here.
smlunden's review
3.0
This was compelling and moving, but I still had some issues with it. I had a lot of trouble at the beginning trying to figure out who was fighting who and why. I also had trouble discerning some of the characters from one another, especially as they aged. I almost stopped in the middle because I really had no idea what was going on, but I grasped a few salient points in the second half.
pyress21's review
3.0
Cool graphic novel. A little hard to follow who all do the characters are because of the sepia tone of the book though.