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    Agatha H. and the Airship City
    Agatha H. and the Airship City
    Agatha H. and the Airship City
    Audiobook9 hours

    Agatha H. and the Airship City

    Written by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

    Narrated by Angela Dawe

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Adventure! Romance! Mad Science! The Industrial Revolution has escalated into all-out warfare. It has been eighteen years since the Heterodyne Boys, benevolent adventurers and inventors, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Today, Europe is ruled by the Sparks, dynasties of mad scientists ruling over—and terrorizing—the hapless population with their bizarre inventions and unchecked power, while the downtrodden dream of the Hetrodynes' return.At Transylvania Polygnostic University, a pretty, young student named Agatha Clay seems to have nothing but bad luck. Incapable of building anything that actually works, but dedicated to her studies, Agatha seems destined for a lackluster career as a minor lab assistant. But when the University is overthrown by the ruthless tyrant Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, Agatha finds herself a prisoner aboard his massive airship Castle Wulfenbach—and it begins to look like she might carry a spark of Mad Science after all.From Phil and Kaja Foglio, creators of the Hugo, Eagle, and Eisner Award-nominated webcomic Girl Genius, comes Agatha H and the Airship City, a gaslamp fantasy filled to bursting with Adventure! Romance! and Mad Science!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJan 25, 2011
    ISBN9781441878502
    Author

    Phil Foglio

    Phil and Kaja Foglio are the cocreators of the Hugo, Eagle, and Eisner Award–nominated webcomic Girl Genius. The two have contributed artwork to the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering and have collaborated on the gaming comic strip What’s New with Phil & Dixie.

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    Reviews for Agatha H. and the Airship City

    4/5

    144 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A fun romp through a steampunk world. Goblins with over the top transylvanian accents. Mad scientists.
    • 5/5
      A great comic romp of a story. Can't wait to listen to the next one.
    • 5/5
      This is the 2nd book in the Girl Genius series. It starts with Agatha waking up after being abducted to castle Wulfenbach. Once again Agatha ends up running around in her underwear! Gil Wulfenbach suspects there is more to Agatha than a pathetic student. Girl Genius is a web comic about a mad scientists who seem to be able to break the laws of physics, and it all happens in a gaslight/steampunkish universe. Great art, great story and lots of fun.
    • 4/5
      This an enjoyable and very humorous tale with much intrigue, plot twists and exploding action. It is worth listening to.
    • 2/5
      Agatha H. and the Airship City is based on a number of graphic novels by the same authors. And it's... okay. It's a fun adventure story, female protagonist with brains, etc. But something felt off to me -- the way her figure was constantly emphasised, the whole bit where she was in her underwear... I don't know what the context of that is, but if it worked in the comics, it didn't work here. Especially since the opening made her seem so very young, and then suddenly it's all about her being a young woman and people perving on her. Bleh.I might check out the graphic novels, but I'm not going to read any more of the books. I don't think they make good adaptations, or the authors don't translate their ideas well to a novel rather than a webcomic. It felt pretty mediocre, which is kinda disappointing since I know people adore the series.
    • 3/5
      I thought the first half of the book was really fast paced and amusing , second half still enjoyable but I found it ended abruptly,Fun YA book.
    • 4/5
      Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City is the second collected volume in the Girl Genius series, with material from issues 4-6 of the comic. It's also the first of the series in full color, which is welcome; the color works much better than the B&W art.In general this volume works better than the last - the art has only occasional hiccups, mostly from the tendency towards wild over-exaggeration of character's expressions - a good fit for the book, but overplayed at times here. More importantly, the Foglio's continue to give room to their imagination, and the "mad science" part gets better as the comic develops.There's great pacing here as well - both the backstory and main story unfold at a good pace, and revelations around the characters are built up. While probably not the best volume of the series, it's an improvement over the first and probably the best place to start.
    • 3/5
      I was very excited to find this book on the shelf at my local bookstore (it took them a while to get it in). I have been reading the Girl Genius comic for several years, so a novelisation was of interest to me.

      The writing is solid, though some stylistic elements may take getting used to, particularly if you are unfamiliar with steampunk and/or Girl Genius. Content-wise this novel covers the same time period and story elements as the first three volumes of the Girl Genius comic. There are some minor differences between the two, and the novel expands on several background story elements that aren't really covered predominantly in the comic.

      Unfortunately, reading the novel doesn't let you see all the intricate background details that are shoved into the art in the comic. Including said details would be impractical; if nothing else it would completely bog down and derail the story. So as an example, in the novel we have to be content with knowing Gil's personal library has bookcases crammed with books, and some of the broad categories those books fall under. In the comic we can read the titles of many of those books (things like Who's Who, What's What, Cultivate a Maniacal Laugh, and Oops!) and get some chuckles.

      All in all I would say this is a good companion work to the comic, not a replacement or substitute. They work best together. Reading the novel had me jumping back in to reread the comic, because I was craving all the little humorous details that just didn't translate over to the written word.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic. I already read and liked the comic book version of this story, but I must say I love real books over comic books any day. It has the same amount of action that was portrayed in the comic and who doesn't love a girl who can fend for herself?
    • 3/5
      The prose quality is pretty terrible, but the story is exciting and I look forward to getting caught up - with the comics.
    • 4/5
      I have read all of the Girl Genius comics, so I have to review it through that lens. As a reworking of an existing story into a new medium, it's pretty fantastic - I don't think it supersedes the splendid comic, but it adds a lot of internal dialogue and depth to the characters that otherwise takes a lot more time to shine through. I would strongly recommend the book for fans of the existing comic - although I think I'd point new readers at the comic first, as well.
    • 5/5
      Interesting. It doesn't quite match the graphic novels (it covers the first three books) - there's a lot more explanation, for one thing, more even than is needed because it doesn't have the pictures. Scenes are rearranged and reordered, usually making a) more sense and b) the story deeper and richer. Things like - in the graphic novels, there's one Jägermonster with Gil at the blacksmith shop - one who is shown, and does all the talking. In the book, there's half a dozen of them, and some of them say things while others stop them...it makes a lot more sense of (more or less) the same lines. There's whole (usually small) scenes added - trying to rescue Dr. Dim - and other bits added into scenes that showed up in the graphic novels, usually explaining emotions or sudden changes of apparent motive. Overall, I like the novel much better - as I said above, it makes more sense and is richer, especially in characterization. I do tend to prefer text to images. There are scenes where an image from the graphic novel illustrates the novel beautifully - near the end, when a frustrated Gil suddenly looks a great deal like Klaus, for instance - but overall, the novel carries the story better. Which is kind of amazing, since the graphic novels carry it beautifully... Next, please! Oh - I read this as an ebook, with no illustrations. I have a vague recollection that there's an illustrated edition in paper form - if so, that might be the best of all worlds.
    • 4/5
      When is a picture not worth a thousand words; when you could stand to have a little more context and background. That's the value of the novelization of the long-running comic series. There's also the matter that the tale of Agatha Heterodyne as a fable of female empowerment is played up just a bit more; this is without losing any of the deranged fairy-tale flavor of the comics.
    • 4/5
      As the tagline says, "Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!" - and this book delivers in spades. It was just TONS of fun from beginning to end. It's based on the first three graphic novels in the Girl Genius series, and it has many of the strengths of those graphic novels (sharp dialogue, humour and sense of whimsy), while at the same being able to convey more of the characters' backstories and thoughts, and really revel in the world-building. Would I enjoy it so much if I weren't a fan of the graphic novels? I honestly am not sure - I'd still recommend starting with the originals, but OTOH I introduced my sister to the series via the audiobook, and she really liked it (speaking of which, I have to say that's it's a funny experience, reading a book after having listened to the audiobook first; I could totally hear narrator Angela Dawe's voices for all the different characters). A favourite quote:[Agatha:]' "So what you're telling me is that you - Gilgamesh Wulfenbach - the person next in line to the despotic, iron-fisted rule of the Wulfenbach Empire - have no deadly, powerful weapons lying around whatsoever! That's just great! What kind of Evil Overlord are you going to be, anyway?""Apparently a better one than I'd thought," Gil said, suddenly thoughtful.' (Heh)On a final note, I do love the cover art for this novel, even if its Agatha isn't as… buxom as I'm used to seeing her.
    • 4/5
      (This review is of the audiobook)I hate trying to compare different media incarnations of things I enjoy. They are just so different, and they're MEANT to be different -- it makes comparison difficult, and the comparisons usually fall well short of the mark. So I'm not going to compare this audiobook to the online comic that I've been reading for years. I'm really not. Not much, anyway. ;-) The story that the Foglios tell is incredible, and anyone who is interested in steampunk at all should enjoy the book right away. Every mad scientist trope is done, redone, and mocked in the course of the books (and comic, of course). The greatest thing about the audiobook would have to be that it gives some more insight into how the characters are thinking, and some more backstory. The greatest thing about the comic is that it's visual, so you can SEE the wonderful things that the Foglios have invented for us. And of course, the characters. I don't think I'd recommend one format over the other, though I think if I was recommending to someone unfamiliar with the Girl Genius universe I'd say get the audiobook first, then pick up the comics as soon as you are finished it. But if you enjoy steampunk, humor, science, and foolishness, get this book and listen repeatedly.
    • 4/5
      Seeing as I started playing D&D about 33 years ago, the Foglios are like old friends. It's great to see their stuff getting popular. I was told about the Girl Genius web comics by the same friend that introduced me to D&D (and hence Phil and Dixie) and Robert Asprin's Myth-series (illustrated by Phil). Of course between kids and work and dogs I never found time to read them. I even saw the book heavily discounted at a Borders "closing sale" and didn't pick it up. Obviously fate/god/the flying spaghetti monster meant me to get into this series. Because a few weeks later there it was on my Amazon Vine list - Free and Audio just go so well together I couldn't resist. At first I thought the narrator's voice was sub-par but once the accents kicked in I really liked it. The story was fun and filled with the type of characters you'd find in Robert Asprin's myth novels (sorry but it's hard to separate them when in both series' you're picturing Phil's artwork). Lots of action and the mystery of Agatha's background. Plus you're never sure if Gil is really a good guy or a bad guy. This is not serious stuff but unless you're just completely new to the Foglio's style you knew it wouldn't be. The biggest problem I have with the book is it's ending. It really seems to just stop in mid-scene. Like the budget ran out or something. It's definitely a cliff hanger and it sounds like to find out what happens next I'm going to have to check out the webcomic or buy the newest graphic novel (not free and not audio). So hopefully karma (or Santa Claus) will drop a copy of it in my lap sometime in the next 4 months.
    • 3/5
      As an insatiable reader and longtime fan of the Girl Genius comic, how could I pass up the opportunity to catch its debut as a novel? While the comic genius of the graphic version ensures that it will always be my favorite incarnation of Agatha's story, the new format is eminently entertaining and a rollicking good time all round. I would recommend this novelization to any fan; it is quite a bit of fun to find out what the girl genius universe looks like in black and white, and there are snatches of things to come for the diligent reader. However, for those new to Girl Genius, I would urge starting with the comic, which remains more engaging, intricate, and satisfying than the text-only version.
    • 4/5
      For some reason, telling the same story in prose and as a graphic novel is a challenge. For every graphic novel that falls flat when retold in words alone, there's a "comic-book adaptation" of a prose novel that leaves you wincing. Since I love the Girl Genius webcomic/graphic novels, I was braced for a not-all-that-great story when I started reading this novelization. The novel was much better than I expected, but not five-star material. In the end, it's the original version's humor that doesn't survive the translation to solid prose, but the story is solid enough.What it boils down to is this: when the Foglios are narrating something original to this novel, the story shines. When they're relating a scene from the graphic novels this book is based on, the story is still decent enough, but it feels well-worn and sort of flat. And since the authors are adding bits to scenes from the graphic novels—a little back story here, a character's thoughts there—this means the story quality can change from one paragraph to the next, and back again in the third, while in terms of the story, you're still reading the same scene.So is it worth the read, if you've read the original already? A qualified yes. I think all those little additions will add a lot to my next rereading of the graphic novels. Sometimes a little expository lump really is the most efficient way to give the reader necessary information, and prose novels are better for that than graphic ones. But a reader already familiar with the original should probably go into this accepting that it won't be perfect.
    • 4/5
      I read the webcomic Girl Genius and thought that the novel would be set in that world but not repeat the story of the comic.I was surprised that it was mostly a novelization of the first year of the comic.While this is a great way to expose new people to the wonderful world of Girl Genius, which is wonderful, fans of the comic will only find a few items which seem new.We get a few tantalizing clues to plots going on in the comic which is great. It is also a great excuse to reread the comic (which I've done once since the first time I read the archive of the comic--you have to start from the beginning, so there is lots to read before you'll catch up to today's comics).New readers should enjoy this introduction to the wonderful world of Girl Genius but I hope they go to the comic which is one of the best webcomics out there. (or buy the graphic novels)--KK
    • 3/5
      The novel was not as amazing - by a long shot - as the web comic. The web comic - or its printed equivalents - are well worth reading and re-reading.Perhaps I am spoiled by "deeper" novels - I'm a Stephen Donaldson and Terry Pratchett fan - but the translation from comic to novel seems to be more of a transcription.The good news is that most of the "new" information - like chapter one - offers a decent read. But much of the novel feels like, "OK, in this panel we see the characters doing Y and Z, and saying, 'blargh'. Now in this panel, we see..." That just doesn't offer a particularly exciting or captivating experience.In addition to buying their book on Kaja Day, I bought Piers Anthony's conclusion to the Mode series. Anthony's style in DoOon Mode seems similar to the Foglios'. Neither compares, IMO, to Pratchett's "Wintersmith", to pick one example.I recently read both Wintersmith and another of Anthony's Xanth novels ("Dragon on a Pedestal", which I first read two decades ago). I read each for myself, and then aloud to my late daughter when she no longer could do so herself. Wintersmith "worked", while I felt Dragon was just OK.In this manner, I don't think the AHatAC overall will hold up to a re-read as well Wintersmith did. I hope that the panel-by-panel replay style can be updated in future novels to something more like the Chapter One pre-story about the Heterodyne Boys; the pre-story was not something we had seen in the comic (directly) and was far more readable on its own.I am happy to have "helped" Studio Foglio by buying the novel, but I also look forward to them either tuning their craft in subsequent goes or at least finding a better editor.
    • 5/5
      This is the text version of the Girl Genius series of graphic novels and web comic. I am a fan of the grphic novels and so I enjoyed the novel very much.