Asterix at the Olympic Games (Asterix (Orion Hardcover))
£4.61
Simply the best - I loved Asterix when I was a boy, now my son loves them. Of all the books this is the one I remember most fondly. It has some of the very best characters, classical allusions and gags. And all so educational too..
Asterix competes for Olympic glory - Asterix at the Olympic Games is the 12th of 31 adventures published between 1961and 2001, This adventure is from 1968, now re-released in a re-inked and re-coloured edition. The story is set in the time of the ancient Athens Olympics (and this review is written during the modern Athens Olympics). The Gauls travel to Greece to compete in the Games, intending to win a Palm of Victory with the use of their magic potion. A classic adventure, which I would rate in the top 10 stories. Highlights include the Gauls travelling to Greece, behaving as if they are on an 18-90 holiday, The demoralising of the Roman athletes, The picturesque descriptions of the local Greek populace and the Olympic stadia. There is satirical comment on drug taking in Sport, and thirty years after first reading this book, I finally got the joke about the athlete from Rhodes. This adventure is so good because it has a strong story, in which not everything appears to go the Gauls own way. This re-inked and re-coloured edition improves little on the original 1972 UK edition, but is still fresh and pleasant.