"The Forest of Time, Vol. 1: Children of the Stone" by Tristan Roulot with art by Mateo Guerrero is a graphic novel about a magical forest and the seemingly timeless children who live there.

A group of children dwell in an enchanted forest. When a magical stone is broken and stolen, it threatens their very lives. A decision is made to send a group after the thief. Many have never left their small village and along the way they meet strange creatures and humans who may want to help or hinder them.

It is a promising start to a fantasy series for middle-grade readers. The art has a particular whimsy about it as well.

I thought this was a good start to a series, the plot and the amount of information needed to find its footing, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. Following a group of kids under the guidance of an older man who seems to have some powers. They don't age and they seemed to be living outside of time.

But now something has happened and time has started again infecting their village and the kids are aging.
They go on a quest to try to protect time and restore it.
It's a really nice middle grade novel for kids.

This book needs to find itself. There seems to be too many ideas thrown on the page with a thought to see what sticks. The reader is in a land where time has stood still. There was a crystal that keep the moon and time from moving on. However the crystal has broken and a shard is missing. Sound familiar? Yeah I thought so too. I wish this was a homage to the Dark Crystal, but except for the basic concept it is nothing like it. Half way through group of children are sent on a quest to find the shard. They are excited to finally grow up, but at the same time, they have been cautioned to not grow up too fast. It’s a slough to keep track of this story. It’s not even saved by the art. It’s nice but seems old. Makes one think of Prince Valliant meets Kirby.

This was a really fun beginning to what I expect will be a fascinating, adventurous romp. When a crystal is stolen from a town of children, four brave heroes must venture into the woods beyond in the hopes of saving the town. The art is delightful, as is the story telling. I look forward to the rest of the story.

Wow this book was so fast paced. I literally finished this is 20 minutes 😅 It was still a pretty interesting graphic novel though, and I definitely want to check out the next volume! I thought the concept of the plot was unique and I like how time works in their little bubble. The part where the crystal breaks gave me so many questions about Marie and the mystery lady. I was very curious what would happen next and need to read more to get all the answers. The worldbuilding was fascinating and left me wanting more. I loved the artwork and would recommend reading the physical copy of this book because the eBook black-and-white version does not do the art justice. Overall, it’s a fun and quick read!

3.5/5 Stars

The Forest of Time is the first volume of "Children of Stone".
It introduces us to it's world: the story is set in a magical village where time is frozen/blocked due to a magic stone (an orb). One day someone breaks into the village and smashes the orb and takes a piece of it. It causes the return of linear time and everyone return to grow up.
Four kids start a quest to restore their magic stone. Each one has a distinct personality that makes it easy to follow the larger number of main characters.
The magic system is generally very well-crafted, and I liked how magic is "distinct" for every character (heal, speed, strenght etc...).
I really loved this kind of art style! It bring to mind comics of my childhood.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys middle grade and fantasy.

I enjoyed this story! It has a unique concept that provided some really interesting stakes. The best part though was the art. The art is GORGEOUS. I can’t wait to read the next installment and find out what happens. I think the one thing I’d like to see more of is more intimidation from the antagonist.

This graphic novel is about a group of friends going on a quest to save they village from a mysterious power that seems to have taken over the world.

Children of stone introduces us to a village made up of children that have been frozen in time by a magic orb to prevent them dying with a single adult in charge of them all. One day someone breaks into the village and smashes the orb and takes a piece of to with them. Four young heroes from the village set out on a quest to save the village and retrieve the piece of the orb however, once they are out of the village you soon realise that the world has been affected by a strange magic that effects the flow of time.

This graph novel reminded a lot of lord of the rings for children with the quest based fantasy plot which I loved, however I found the strange magic and world to be very original and would definitely recommend to fans of high fantasy of all ages! I thought that the fun colourful illustrations perfectly matched the tone of the book and appropriately captured the creepy sense of something sinister going on whilst still be appropriate for children and were very beautifully done. I found it to be a really absorbing story that still provided escapism despite the short length and I can't wait for the next volume to see where this story takes our heroes and further uncover the what's really going on in this world!

For a young fantasy adventure comic, this has a lot of quality. A fair bit of goodwill is taken from us by the last page, promising there'd be answers if we stayed around, and some of it feels a little peculiar and perhaps lost in translation, but there is enough to want to return to this world. We're in a forest settlement where some doodad has stopped time – people mature and everything else, but ageing and entropy have been repelled, so the majority of people look like bratty kids, and nothing changes. Except someone attacks the doodad, steals part of it, and causes the return of something like linear time as we know it. A bunch of the brats then goes out into the world to try and find the attacker, opening the world into quite a pudding of this myth, that trope and that standard character, but it all feels quite decently done. There is definitely a woolliness in how the characters find the token bit of the doodad they each carry Does Something, and clarity is lacking at times to such an extent four stars seems too brave a declaration. But take this as three and a half stars, as I hedge my bets about the potential of this interesting beginning.

Set in the enchanted forest. All white characters. 5 children set out on an adventure to find a thief to take back a Crystal they need for their village to withstand the price of time.

Different parts of the Forest are affected by time differently. In one village, time doesn’t pass and all village members are children except the village leader - “the worshipful one” - who is an adult. They have a crystal that protects them from time so they never age.

One day, a thief breaks the crystal and steals one of the shards to prevent them from fixing the crystal. Time starts to move again so 5 kids from the village set out to get the shard back before time catches up with them and kills them.

I quite liked this, it was interesting and fun. However, I don’t like the lack of diversity in the characters and not a lot happened for it to be a full book on its own. I’d say this is appropriate for children and up and I probably wouldn't buy this for myself or recommend it.

The art for this is almost as charming as the characters. Each member of the cast has a distinct personality that makes it easy to follow the larger number of main characters, and their designs are distinct as well. The premise of the story, that it's a village of children protected by a time-freezing stone, is fascinating. Upon reading the summary, I had expected everyone to be on board with returning time to a froze state, but it's interesting to see the different reactions from each of the characters to the situation. I'm anxious to see how our adventurers fair on their journey.
This is perfect for people who want an adventure with a dark side.

Europe Comics always seems to publish quality middle-grade fantasy books all the time. Titles like Hematite and Magic successfully walk that tightrope of both being suitable for younger readers and compelling for older ones, and this newest book, The Forest of Time – Book 1 Children of the Stone by Tristan Roulot & Mateo Guerrero is no different. Set in a magical village where time has stopped, ultimately making the townspeople stay young forever, everyone seems to be some sort of gifted scientist making said city VERY advanced for a medieval fantasy setting. Our heroes have that magical utopia ripped from them as the catalyst for that timeless state is stolen right out from under them. Five of them band together and face mortality in order to protect their magical way of life.

“Deep in the heart of an enchanted forest, a small village of children lives unaffected by the passage of time thanks to a powerful stone that protects them from it. But when the stone is shattered and a thief runs off with one of the shards, four of the children must set out at once in search of the missing shard before their village is swallowed up by time and everybody in it dies. Armed with four crystals with special powers, the children bravely make their way through the dangerous forest to hunt down the thief, making friends and enemies along the way and encountering one strange creature after another.”

One thing I enjoyed were the subtle references to alchemical terms and Hermeticism (For example, toasting to Hermes Trismegistus). all things I wasn’t prepared to see in what I would consider somewhat of a kid’s book. I won’t claim any sort of authority on it, but I was, at one time, fairly well-read on all manner of esoterica, and my ears perk up when I see even the vaguest references to it. These small details, the gorgeous character design artwork, and the sense of wonder found in this book are a testament to the world-building that all of the creators put into this. Rather than make a bog-standard kid’s fantasy book, care was taken to add some flair to this and make it something entirely different.

This is part one of what I assume will be at least two volumes, and for the most part we do not get much here aside from an introduction to the characters and an establishment of the main conflict at had. It’s a short read, but keeps you engrossed the entire time, and if you are like me you will be interested to see more as it ends just as everything was getting good. The story does have some pacing issues at times, but that honestly could be the translation, and is pretty minor. Overall, I enjoyed this and want to finish the story up whenever I get the chance.

I didn't mind this book. I loved the art style, and I thought the premise was interesting and fun. However, I thought it was a little difficult to follow at the beginning. This being said, I would definitely continue this series to see where it takes us.

Let me start off with I am new to the graphic novels / comic book world. This book starts off with a lot of plot-laying and not too much into the characters personalities. I enjoyed the concept of time standing still in the village and how the children will age if they leave the town to search for the thief of the time stone. Adventures is where it's at! It felt short but I guess with this genre that's how they normally are. I do like where the story is going and I hope to read the next in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I was not paid to write a review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

3 1/2 stars
Great artwork, but the story feels a bit rushed. Overall a fun middle grade graphic novel for kids interested in high fantasy stories. Lots of cool creatures to enjoy!

LOVED IT!!!! The worldbuilding and characters are so cool. Perfect start for a comic series. This is the kind of story I would make my little brother read for him to be interested in books. Magically illustrated. Want to have a physical copy of it, can't wait to read what's next.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I did enjoy The Fores of Time. We had a lot of characters who had to save their city. A magical city who was robbed. Because of that, the protective magic of the stone is dying and it's up to them to save it. Meanwhile in the City, their leader starts to figure it out who the thief could be, and when he realizes they name, we can suspect who might be.

This was a very fun read, about a group of kids venturing out into the world to save their village. These kids ´grew-up’ whilst time stood still… so physically they haven’t grown. So I am guessing mentally they are a lot older than they look, justifying the responsibilities and credit they get in this story. I really appreciated the fact that there was a good reason for the kids to be more ‘grown-up’ (something often lacking in other middle grade books). The characters themselves are fun and likeable, though lacking just a bit of depth (but this book is only 50 or so pages). The world is brilliant and wonderful and I would love to see so much more of it.

I very much like the art and it fits perfectly with the tone of the story. My main gripe with this graphic novel is that I am left with too many questions. I realise this is only the first book in a series, but I feel certain aspects should have been addressed. No body for example wonders about why there are only kids in the village.

This was a fun way to spend half an hour or so, and I would like to continue the series if I come across future volumes (though I am not very likely to go out of my way to look for them).

This was a fun, short fantasy graphic novel. I expected it to be a bit longer for a volume, but it's a good size for readers with shorter attention spans.

Most of the story was setting up the main conflict and introducing characters, which isn't necessarily a thing bad but I was hoping for something more. The illustrations fit well with the world-building and fantasy feeling of the story. There were times when the scene jumped and the transitions weren't as smooth which left me a little confused as I tried to keep up with the characters and what was happening.

Overall, I would probably continue based on what I read, but it's not a story that demands my full attention after reading.