Review: Asterix and the Magic Carpet

Asterix and the Magic Carpet by Albert Uderzo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the events of Asterix and Son, the Gaelic village in Armorica, once burnt down was rebuilt in all its homeliness and insanity. With no immediate Roman threat on the horizon the Gauls are busy with rough housing each other and generally enjoying life. The only dampener, is Cacophanix, who has learnt a few new verses, and somehow has even made the heavens angry. For every time he sings, it is followed by a great downpour.



Amidst this revelry, a new visit drops in. As in literally drops in from the sky. Watziznehm (Sweet pun alert), is a fakir from the far away eastern subcontinent on the bank of the river Ganges. Who has flown all across the ancient lands on top of his trusty magic carpet.

His land is suffering from a great drought, the people are suffering. And there are those who would use this catastrophe for their own advantage. Guru, the religious leader of the land, is demanding a human sacrifice of the Princess, Orinjade, in order to 'appease' the gods and bring back the rains.

Distraught, the king sent his trusted fakir to Armorica, to find the bard who can make the heavens weep. Never to turn back someone who has come for assistance empty handed (and perhaps scheming to relive themselves of the bard's singing) the Gauls are all to happy to sent Cacophanix, along with our beloved duo & dogmatic to save them. But seeing as how this is an Asterix adventure, nothing goes as expected.

This Issue around, we add another civilization to our menagerie of ancient lands. My own personal Indus. The stereotype is strong in this one. Magic carpet flying, needle bed sleeping, snake charming fakirs, cow worshippers, elephant tamers, a superstitious lot, all of it is on display, played mostly for laughs.

But what makes it engaging is when, halfway through, it becomes a wildlife safari, displaying all the diversity of fauna which the subcontinent has to offer. And what happens when said wildlife meets a bunch of superpowered Gauls.






The story is straight forward, there is a distinct lack of puns and satire as well as the Roman legions which are the hilarious spice to these tales. But you know I always appreciate a story where Cacophanix is front and center. Plus seeing how he's progressing, he's gone from human WMD to a enochian entity of smiting proportions.

So, for a breath of flesh air atop a floating magic carpet, I give it a solid 4 out of 5

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