Book Review: Castle in the Stars: The Universe in 1875 (deluxe edition)

An absolute delight

Alex Alice is a French graphic novel writer and artist with more than 20 years of experience.

Castle in the Stars is actually a series of graphic novels published in 2017 to 2020. There are four volumes (one, two, three, four) and each is a large 64-page hardcover packed with beautiful watercolour art.

Castle in the Stars: The Universe in 1875 is a 220-page hardcover artbook that looks deeper into the same universe and provides more context to the graphic novels, and also expands on the universe. There's also an additional book, also a 220-page hardcover, called Prototypes which looks at the creative process behind the making of the main artbook. Each book is €50 and if you get both at €100 you also get a slipcase.

These two books were originally released through Kickstarter campaign which was successfully funded in November 2022. The books are now available available for sale to the general public through publisher Caurette's online store.

The review copy that I received the publisher also came with extra goodies such as postcards, maps, bookmarks, restaurant menu designed as in-world memorabilia. I don't see this goodies listed on the publisher website so these are probably the extra goodies created for backers on Kickstarter.

These are the two prints that came with the books which are huge (29 x 32cm) hardcovers.

That's the beautiful cover art of the main book hidden behind the dust jacket.

The universe for Castle in the Stars is heavily inspired by novels from Jules Verne. The premise of this book and the stories from the Alex Alice's graphic novels are also set in the 19th century with an emphasis on the technology. For this universe, mankind has discovered the mysterious element aether that made flight and space travel possible.

The book is packed with beautiful watercolour illustrations of the characters, worlds and flying ships. From what I can see, it probably took years to create those detailed artworks which are absolutely gorgeous. Some scenes remind of the looks and feels of Miyazaki movies. You can tell that Alex Alice is an extremely accomplished artist just from the quality of the art. This artbook is a work of art, and is most definitely one of the best artbooks from 2023.

The best part of the book is it fills you with a sense of wonder and excitement. It's the same sense of wonder and excitement when you're traveling overseas. Through the pages, you'll get to learn about the history of the world and the technological advancement.

Below are some pages from the main book:

And that's the cover art for the second book Prototypes which covers the creative process of making the main artbook. This second artbook has plenty of commentary and sketches. This is an excellent companion that provides some context to how much work was needed to create such a sublime project.

Both books are published with a mixed of matte and low gloss paper. The binding looks durable. Production value for the books is very high.

It is obviously very satisfying to see some of the artworks reproduced so huge.

The two artbooks are fantastic. Yes, they are pricy but once you see the art and production value you'll know you've made a good purchase, and it's a great way to support artist and the publisher who put out quality books like these.

By the way, I can't think of why you would only buy just the main artbook. I feel like you'll be missing out on a lot if you don't also get the second book.

Here's the link to where you can buy the books:
https://www.liberdistri.com/pl/accueil/818-alex-alice-castle-in-the-sta…