Girl Genius Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones

by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio

Book Overview

Adventure Romance, Mad Science Agatha Hetrodyne is the last heir to the Maddest of Mad Scientist families, and now she's returned home to claim the family castle. Unfortunately, it turns out that she's not the only one with that idea, and the Castle is a hopeless death trap.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1890856479
• ISBN13: 9781890856472
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Studio Foglio
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 7.3" x 10.7"
• Age Range: 13 to 16 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 11

Customer Reviews

I want a hat like Gil's

This is, in my opinion, one of the funniest volumes of Girl Genius. I love Castle Heterodyne... I love Castle Heterodyne's skewed logic and twisted memory... "I can kill people in the sky! - Yay! Do that! Kill everyone in the sky!" This also has Gil's amazing new hat, declaring him to be a Schmott Guy! And then there's the epic stage battle between Gil and Zeetha, with a spork gun and the walking cage! And Mamma Gkika!!! If you haven't read Girl Genius before, none of that will make any sense, but that just means you should hustle over to[...] and start reading. Go! Now!

To Claim Her Own

Girl Genius is a long-running story. Now appearing regularly on the Web, the books collect the story into a permanent library that can be read without batteries. From one premise springs the milieu: that among human beings there are some with the potential and drive to become Mad Scientists. This is The Spark and those possessed of it are called Sparks. Sparks dominate history. Sparks rule Europe. As Volume Eight opens, Agatha Clay has been revealed as Agatha Heterodyne, Spark, last and forgotten heir to a long line of villains and heroes. She has endured adventure and peril to reach the doors of her ancestral home. She must enter it as a criminal, for Castle Heterodyne is now reserved for the worst of humanity: Mad Scientists, murderers and jackals in human shape. Not one is a match for the Castle, which is fanatically loyal to the missing Heterodyne family. It is also damaged, its personality splintered. And it is quite, quite insane. Here Agatha must prove herself to the other prisoners and to the Castle. And she must enter alone, even as an imposter has gotten in ahead of her. Outside the Castle events are brewing. Klaus Wolfenbach, the powerful Spark who rules Europe, believes that the young Agatha is the shadowy Spark who devastated Europe a generation ago. His heir Gilgamesh is devoted equally to his father and to Agatha, and must find a way to save them both. And darker stormclouds hang over the horizon, as long-term readers of Girl Genius will know. Volume Eight begins at a measured pace. The reader can meet the characters and survey the milieu and some of the many storylines. Soon the story picks up steam and roars away and over the top, again and again. But such is the Foglio art that it never quite goes off the deep end. The Foglio artwork remains a wonder. Phil's drawing, layout and plotting (the latter with his wife Kaja) make full use of the medium's possibilities. (Watch for Easter Eggs and shout-outs to other artists.) Color artist Cheyenne Wright may be a Spark himself; the color never detracts from drawing or story, but provides both mood and sense of place. And the story gets better, a tarantella of Jeopardy, Awesome, and Funny. It is little wonder that Girl Genius was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story of 2008. The Foglios caution the parents of very young readers. Romance, family descent, and bloodlines are integral to the plot and characters do appear in their underwear from time to time. (Kaja Foglio is very fond of Victorian underthings.) And of course there is violence, for this is a story of Blood and Thunder in the very best tradition.

Girl Genius delivers yet again

The Girl Genius series keeps getting better and better. The blend of humor, drama and romance is perfect. I look forward to each printing, devour it, then lament the wait for the next volume. If you are looking for a great story set in a fun and unique era... look no farther. Girl Genius will have looking around the house for whatever you can cobble together into a coffee machine... or death ray, if you prefer.

My first review of this is a 4??

I should be ashamed, since the last SEVEN issues were 5's. But that's no secret. Everyone loves this comic it seems, for good reason. This one is a little let down though because the plot is kind of thin and the jokes are just a little corny. Just to warn dedicated readers. But it's still great and I'll be looking forward to the next one.

Girl Genius Wins a Hugo!

Girl Genius, the story of the Spark (aka mad scientist) Agatha Heterodyne, has always been entertaining and action packed- but this volume takes the adventure to a whole new level. The story opens with Agatha entering her ancestral home, the Castle Heterodyne, which she has never so much as set eyes on before. The castle is packed with dangerous prisoners of Baron Wulfenbach, who, depending on who you talk to, is either a heartless dictator or just a guy trying to keep the peace. The prisoners are trying desperately to repair the castle, which is apparently sentient and *began* as mad, bad and dangerous to know and has now upgraded to having multiple personalities and a nasty persecution complex as well- though the latter is admittedly well-earned. The prisoners, needless to say, aren't having a lot of luck with that. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, and several others of Agatha's old friends are also trying to enter the castle for various reasons and in various groups. But they might have a little trouble finding her, as she's adopted the persona of a mass murderer in order to enter the castle and drops quickly out of sight with the reluctant aide of a former enemy, turned minion. The castle has also taken an interest in her love life, so who knows what it'll spring on her next. This volume, winner of the first Hugo award for Best Graphic Story, keeps the pace fast and the characters on the nose. It's an absolute page-turned, and it'll keep you on pins and needles until the very bitter end!