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A quest for the Holy Grail unlike any you’ve ever seen begins here – in a world where the American Civil War ended in a stalemate, the Catholic Church controls Europe, and sorcery determines political power!



#3 Familiar...but not quite


It's Paris of the 1930's. But it's not the Paris in our history books. Everything is different, yet some things are the same. How did the altered setting affect you the reader? Were you able to suspend your disbelief? Did you "buy into it"? How? Why?

This is an easy one to answer. :D

I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I found the description was so well done, that it never occurred to me to question it, even though we all know it is total fiction.

I think having Le Journal de la Liberte, which I love reading, scattered throughout the comics, helps to make it appear so real too.

I know this isn't part of the discussion, and if I am jumping the gun Karen, please feel free to delete this bit, but it seemed the appropriate time to say just how much I am enjoying the way this is writen. I keep forgetting that it is a comic, despite all the pictures, and find I am thinking of it as a novel. I've read other books on similar topics, the DaVinci Code being the obvious one to mention, but none of them have grabbed me quite as much as this one.

I know this story was writen before all the others, and I just feel that the other authors shouldn't have bothered.

There, I needed to say all that, and feel much better for it.

As you were!! :lol:

Anne x

Thanks for jumping in here first today Anne! I didn't have any problem either, I love altered worlds. I'm rather in awe of the authors who create these worlds. I think Arvid's done a fantastic job, rather like Rowling with her Harry Potter series. You just have to jump in "buy the ticket and enjoy the ride." BUT I can see where maybe someone would have a hard time confusing fact with fiction.

But what I wonder too is what does this allow the author to do that they can't do in a "real world" setting? Ok..off to work for me...

I agree, Anne - I had no difficulty accepting the setting. It was described and drawn in such detail that it was entirely believable. I was totally convinced by the characters and had sympathy with some and acute dislike for others - I leave you to work out which was which! ;) Part of my gullibility stems from my readiness to accept fiction for just that, ensuring that even familiar settings can take on any face the author wants to give them. I do wonder sometimes whether having the pictures there for you is a good or a bad thing. So much of the pleasure of reading fiction is using your imagination. That is not to say I didn't enjoy all the books, because I did, and look forward to reading more.

Hang on to those thoughts Footlight as that's the theme of tomorrow's discussion point!

LOL

When I read I am there - in the place the story is set in. I forget the here and now and go where the author leads me. It used to drive my mum nuts! She would be in the same room as me and ask me something and I would not hear her as I was in the book. Rex Mundi failed to do that - I'm not sure if it is the comic layout or the story - or a combination of both. It could also be that I am not comfortable with the world that is created in the story - there are some aspects of the story that I found distasteful (not the murders) and/or predictable.

I, more often than not, read fiction because authors can create, change, and basically have carte blanche with their locations, characters and stories. So I had no problem accepting this setting and found that the beautiful illustrations added details to what I was already imagining.

Rose thank you for this:

It made me wonder if it was the illustrations that were a hindrance to me as they imposed an image on my mind and so stopped me from imagining the world of the story.

While reading the series the illustrations of Paris fit the story which made the story line enjoyable. I do not know much about Paris anyway so I did not see any conflicts and also this is fiction so I say "enjoy the world" the author presents. This may not be the right place to express this thught but I had more difficulty with the history of the Catholic church and all references to the Middle Ages than with Paris.

This is the problem I have with graphic novels. I love letting descriptive writing allow me to create settings, characters, etc. Having said that, I think the illustrations in the first 3 books are wonderful and I enjoyed looking at them.

As for the question about the setting, I didn't have a problem with the way it was described. I look at these books as fantasy stories that have elements of realism. It was the same for me with the V for Vendetta setting-------seems like it could be real, but not quite. I liked the newspaper pages throughout as that's where more background information was provided, too.

I agree with Donna the newspaper articles were a creative way to "tell" the story-it drove me crazy at first trying to find the rest of the newspaper articles until I realized that only snippets were provided.

I too loved the modern world references..."Paris Huguet-Renoir, heir to her father's sprawling hotel-and-casino empire." for example. LOL

Karen good points maybe we will see references to a bald-headed troubled young woman in future issues.

:claphands

Good one Anne r!!!

Could not resist. Rude I know.

Well who knows what Arvid will do?? :shistle

Too funny Anne-----don't get me started-------- :lol:

Well, I would rather it be a completely new world, and different nouns be used. Not Paris, and not a 'sort of' map of Europe. Either that, or just keep the original map of Europe, and make up the story around it.
So, no , I guess I'm not buying into it. However, some University student may find it alot of fun.
I am having difficulty suspending my disbeleif, especially until the magic starts. Up to then, I felt like I was reading a non-fiction history book. and the doctor would be like a Sherlock Holmes. Kind of confusing, really. :blink:

Well I'm not a university student any more and I sure like it. I am a lover of books of all kinds, fiction, non fiction...doesn't matter to me.

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the storyline. I guess every time I start a new fiction book, I am ready to suspend my disbelief. That's a welcome part of reading fiction to me. But that's just me. ;)

Just my opinion-Rex Mundi is not my favorite book that I have read this year but I am glad I read it because it exposed me to a different genre-the graphic novel and lead me to this forum to discuss ideas with others who have read the book. I also am thankful that I read Rex because it led me to 5 other graphic novels which are fascinating and are great reads. I want to complete this series to see how it ends and how the screenplay unfolds if it does make it to film-the possibilities are endless where this story could go-which is fascinating so bottom line I am hooked. B)

Me too Nurseanne8. I am hooked. I want to read "From Hell" now.

One of our discussion questions to come will be about where we think this will go..woo hoo.

Isn't it funny how we all see these things differently!!

I am far too old to be some University student, but I love the fact that the real place names were used, as a completely new world would have been a little too Sci-Fi for my liking.

Anne x

Good points Jeppody-with the use of names of real places Mr. Nelson was able to create his own"reality" for the Rex Mundi series. In my opinion he did this on purpose to confuse and challenge the reader to reflect upon his own images of Paris/Europe/Great Depression/preWW2 to assist the reader to enter the world of Rex Mundi to understand the events as they unfold. We always question ourselves at times with "what if" questions and Mr. Nelson employed this technique to write his book. I myself found this quite entertaining and also motivated me to do a bit of internet surfing to reacquaint myself with the actual historical events. Just my thoughts. JDR members what is your opinion? :)

I'm also in the camp of liking the "real" settings----with their twists! Can't really add anymore than what's been said.