A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION
SELECTED AS ONE OF Slate‘S 10 FAVORITE COMICS OF 2016
This first volume of what promises to be a rousing adventure is gorgeously drawn and full of characters to root for—and against.
—Slate, Slate‘s 10 Favorite Comics of 2016
Geis is a genuine surprise, an engrossing fantasy tale that manages the neat trick of seeming both familiar and fresh. […] Geis is an extraordinarily thoughtful book that confirms Deacon’s arrival in comics from the world of children’s literature. Even if the presentation still has one foot in that genre, there is enough genuine dread within to keep grown-up readers turning the pages.
—The AV Club
This first volume in an anticipated trilogy is a lightning paced, tragic, and gripping start; readers will eagerly await the next outing.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review
Alexis Deacon’s Geis is probably my standout book of the year at the moment.
—Zainab Akhtar
Readers will give themselves over to the dreamlike, immersive narrative […]
—Kirkus Reviews
Deacon’s artwork is beautiful, elegant. I already mentioned I’m a fan, right? But to see him do such finely-detailed work in a graphic novel is remarkable. The palette is dominated by primarily soft, pastel hues, and his lines are both precise and fluid. He paces the book well and sets a mood both mysterious and sinister
— but always riveting and quite entertaining. I was bummed to see the story end. (For now.)
—Julie Danielson
With stunning artwork and strong control over the delivery of the story, Alexis Deacon has turned in a spectacular opening chapter. It’s sharp and assured and engrossing, and you’ll go crazy waiting for the next installment.
—Multiversity
The action is non-stop […] it is utterly fascinating.
—Youth Services Book Reviews
Children’s book illustrator Deacon (Croc and Bird) starts an epic fantasy with his first graphic novel. In an unnamed fantasy world, the Great Chief Matarka has died leaving no heir. The Chief Judge, the High Priest, the Lord Chamberlain, the Grand Wizard, and the young daughter of the Kite Lord are among those summoned to a trial to determine who will rule in her place. But an evil sorceress has taken control of the contest and tricks them all into agreeing to a cursed geis, or taboo, sending them on scattered quests across the land. Tangled forests, deserts, bat-filled caverns, rivers, and medieval towns are rendered in loose brushwork with clumps of gorgeous detail, a meeting of Maurice Sendak and Pieter Bruegel. The early scenes are colored in a palette of soft ochers, pale blues, and peaches. The pages darken to include greens, moody violets, and charcoal blacks as the contest gains deadly urgency, with this first volume ending in a startling cliff-hanger.
—Publisher’s Weekly
The graphics are well done, the story is interesting, and there will be more of this story. Any who survived the first test now has another test coming up…
—Book Faerie
A suspenseful, exciting story with a little bit of a dark streak.
—Stephanie’s Book Reviews
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