This is one of the best stories I've read and that's not to say I didn't have some hang-ups with it. It's written in a meandering style that understandably put some reviewers off. That's not something that bothers me.
I love it when a story doesn't followed the tried and true path. In this case it managed to tell far more than just the story. It also told a tale of creation, the creation of ideas, of characters and the over-riding truth of existence; that being that living is often tougher than dying.
There are real people throughout this story and a lot of them have small walk-on parts, like the man who raised Ferdos. He's a curmudgeon with a big heart who is generous to fault despite the threat to his life if he's found out.
A bigger character, Guiv, a prince, almost comes off as arrogant but in reality he's concerned about how little power he has to improve the lot of those in his city of Marv in the 9th century. He makes his way out of privileged life because he's seen the growing corruption lurking in the details of palace life. He also had a vision that haunts him, he knows that some doom lurks in the distance and he has seen how it will happen, or, he thinks he has.
As you can see this is a complicated tale and the fact that it's set in two time periods -400 hundred years apart from each other- made it even more intriguing for me. There was some small confusion regarding the sequencing of events in the story but otherwise it's well told and delivers better than most, emotionally as well as intellectually at the end.
Because of the duality of time periods, and the varying paces set, the story reads much more like a good novel doing it's best to tweak every aspect of storytelling from the subtle to the iconic.
For me, it suceeds in ways most epics fail to do. It has a nice emotional poignancy. Both Guiv (9th century prince) and Ferdos (13th cent. man hiding in the ruins of the old palace of Marv, apart from the newer city's legacy of death that should have included his demise) are haunted men. They're both men apart from their societies. They are both aware of knowing something is very wrong but unable to grasp their parts in averting the terrible things bearing down on those around them.
As for the art; it's very popular to utilize this cartooning style but these drawings have depth for their sparseness of detail. The drawings have weight and emotional impact as well as consistent and effective characterization and design. This style perfectly captures everything from the most mundane to the magic and sweep of this epic.
The package is ideal. As a softcover with descriptive end flaps it's easy to carry this sturdy book with you as well as big enough to not miss a thing. It's the perfect way to spend 30 to 60 minutes. At 190 pages of story it's also not as light a read as most graphic novels. One other bonus is that it is not overwritten. This is a beautiful melding of words and pictures. Many pages have no text whatsoever and still the story flows unabated, in fact they are better for lacking in redundant exposition.
I particularly like the ending. It concerns the problems with the interpretation of prophecy.
In closing I want to admit I know absolutely nothing about the electronic game.

I loved comic books as a kid. My friends and I would buy and share our comic books. I remember the excitement when received a new issue of my favorite comics. Sadly those days seem to be part of a bygone era.

Being an older parent ([...]); I've been trying to share my enthusiasm for comics. Unfortunately, the few comics series that are still around are hard to find and don't appeal to my son. So I tried graphic novels. After reading "Watchmen" and a few others highly recommended novels, it was clear the themes in these are, well, mature. My son isn't old enough to understand the complex and mature tone of these graphic novels.

However, I was encouraged when I ran across this graphic novel. After looking through it, it appeared (at least from a fathers perspective) appropriate for my son. I gave it to him and he devoured it. It took him a couple of evenings to read it. He loved it and is asking for more for Christmas.

My son is a good reader for his age. However, he isn't really ready the chapter books that have mature enough stories for him (Ron Dahl books come to mind). Though we read these books to him, he's independent and likes to read to himself. This novel was at his reading level and he found it engaging. We also had several good discussions about people's motivations and the historical context in the story.

I'd say, for me and my son this novel was a definite winner.

Having said that, there are a few negatives about the book.

My wife and daughter had issues with the violence in this novel. To be fair, it is violent, but the violence makes sense in context and the language and themes in the book seemed appropriate for a mature 8 year old.

I found the art work to be average at best. The story was a little complicated for my son, but nothing some minor parental help couldn't resolve. But even with that, my son enjoyed the story and I was able to share the fun of comics with my son. So this was a good start.

My next comic purchase for my son will be the "Ender's Game" series. Hopefully, he will find that even more engaging.

I've played a couple of the versions of Prince of Persia, including the orginal on a monochrome PC monitor & the recent updates on the Playstation 2 that followed the series re-vitalizing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The basic premise of all the series is the same: the Prince is looking for something, and there is usually a Princess involved. In between him and his goal are a variety of traps and guards, cumulating with the person who stole the object in the first place, often a Vizier. The Prince of Persia games originated as a challenge in reflexes and memory, and they took their art design from Arabian Nights, and, perhaps moreso, western intrepretations of Arabian & Persian culture such as The Thief of Bagdad and the series itself has influenced other culture items such as Disney's Aladdin. Ironically, later installments in the series were themselves influenced by elements from Disney's animated film.

Now, nearly 20 years after it debuted on the Apple II, the prince makes another nearly impossible leap into a new medium; comics. How does it hold up? Does it continue the simple story of the original game? Does it involve the time bending of the sequels? Does it relate to the new game? In a move that might initially confuse fans of the game, this comic takes almost nothing from its source material other than the title. There is no dagger of time, no evil Vizier, no elaborate traps to be circumvented. There is a Prince, a Princess, a nominally villainous government official and some intriguing twists of time in the story. But the actual story of a lost prince, his sister and adopted brother and the mysterious temple that houses an ancient prophecy has some elements from various games, but is bound together by a wholly original story. This originality serves the game well, as it makes it easy for a person who has not followed the games that closely to jump in and enjoy the story. It also lends the story a timeless quality and frees it from following any conventions of the video games.

The story, plotted by Jordan Mechner, creator of the series, and written by A.B. Sina, an actual Persian author who now lives in Canada, never runs low on action and keeps even the most expository passages from becoming dull with clever wordplay and inventive dialogue. The one flaw with the writing is that it takes a great deal of time for the relationship between the two stories that are being told to become clear, and even at the end it is left for the reader to determine all the relationships. On the one hand this is very mature storytelling that leaves a lot of work to the reader's imagination, but on the other hand, it is just plain
confusing at points and the relationship between the two stories never has the payoff that I was expecting. After all the mystery being built up between the split stories, I was expecting a more meaningful revelation at the end. It is not unsatisfying, but I don't think it justified the extended mystery.

One aspect that leaves nothing to be desired is the artwork. LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland deliver stunning visuals throughout the book. The art is a visually delightful mix of classical cartooning, painterly colors and sketch-like line work. It creates a distinctive and attractive look that is very different from many mainstream comics being done today. Although it has a very painterly style it is consistently clear and detailed, at times in unexpected ways. This is perhaps the first comic book I've seen that so graphically depicts the aftermath of sword-play. It is violent, but the trauma and bloodshed is more reminiscent of
medieval tapestry battle scenes than modern horror films. The only flaw I could find with the art is that some of the characters are drawn identically, but I believe this was deliberate. Mechner's overview of the series as a whole in the afterward is quite interesting, and he has some well thought out comments on the influences on the series and its place in the tradition of Eastern-themed Western-fiction. All in all, the book is visually stunning and entertaining to read, even if it does get a bit hard to follow, especially in the first part of the story.

The Prince of Persia is a graphic novel based on the long-running and award-winning video game series. That's the series that spans back over a decade to the early original Prince of Persia up through the Sands of Time trilogy on the XBox/Gamecube/PS2.

Prince of Persia has always been known for its acrobatic maneuvers, racing against evil forces, and its evocative Persian setting. Specifically, the Sands of Time trilogy was known for its time-warping storylines and great characterizations. How well does that translate to a graphic novel storyline? Well, it's a little hit and miss.

Gone is the acrobatics and the combat. This is a graphic novel, but it's a lot of storytelling and character stuff over the run-and-slash of the games. Also, while the story takes place (presumably) in Persia, the environment is ill-utilized. The landscapes aren't serviced by the rather rudimentary art, and the whole thing feels a little underproduced. Some more time could have been spent making it really pop with the visual wonder of the games.

That said, the story is pretty solid. It deals with the legend of 'a' Prince of Persia. No particular hero from the games, in fact no particular hero in the story, but instead the idea that in Persia there is always a hero that rises and saves the people. In that respect, it does a great job laying out its story. The epic spans time (like the games? no, but there is a definite time-connected aspect to the plot) and the lives of people who would claim the title of Prince.

Unlike the art, the story is great. It starts a little rough, but once you get going and realize that the book covers two very different time periods, it begins to make a lot more sense. The story, which is full of evils, noble heroes, and the legends that surround them, unfold with a fairytale-like pacing and weight. It would not be out of place with the other legends of that region.

But, in a graphic novel, the words and story have to be paired with some compelling visuals, and as I've said the 'graphic' part of the graphic novel falls very flat. With a different artist it would have been spectacular, but instead just comes off feeling ho-hum. The art isn't going to appeal to anyone on first glance and a fan of the series will flip through, see the dozens of pages of people talking and be turned off, and in the end little effort is made to reach out to either side of the market.

Not to say that the content (past that) is bad. It's not. But what could have been wonderful fan-service or a reach to cross-demographic appeal just seems to be a confused and muddled attempt at both--achieving neither.

I never played the Prince of Persia video game, but I am a sucker for comic books which don't feature superhero cameos and simultaneously are not manga. This book does both the above well.

It follows two parallel stories, set generations apart in the same city, each with a red clad heroine and green clad love interest. Key locations in the city come into play in both stories, and the story will shift between time periods. One pair are in their early teens and have just met. The other couple is married and pregnant. This helps to differentiate the stories visually, although the two couples are obviously supposed to look the same. It seems as if other reviewers call this hard to follow. I'm more for calling it complex. One of the challenges for comic book authors, so I hear, is slowing the reader down as they move across the page. I think the time shifting and little plot threads in the background do this and make for a more successful book. Many of these parallels are visual, so this is well integrated into the comic book medium.

In terms of graphics, this book has solid delivery. The graphics throughout are similar in quality and style to the cover illustration. They have strong black lines and shapes and then strong, usually solid, color shading. Despite what other reviewers have said, I don't find this book particularly graphic. Sex and blood shed do occur, but they tend to take place just out of the frames of the comic and be suggested rather than in your face.

This book is a solid comic book, and worth the time to read. I recommend giving it a look if it's easily available. This is also a good acquisition for public libraries. The tie-in with the video game means there will be a steady trickle of interest, and it is a quality book which can rise to the occasion and meet that interest.