Graceling the Graphic Novel
Graceling is now available as a graphic novel, gorgeously adapted by Gareth Hinds, the award-winning artist whose other adaptations include The Odyssey, The Iliad, Beowulf, Macbeth, and King Lear.
Katsa is a Graceling, one of the rare people born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she lived a life of privilege until the day her ability to kill a man with her bare hands revealed itself during a royal banquet. Now she acts as her uncle’s enforcer, traveling the kingdom and threatening those who dare oppose him.
But everything changes when she meets Po, a foreign prince Graced with combat skills who is searching for the truth about his grandfather’s disappearance. When Katsa agrees to help him, she never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace — or about a terrible secret that could destroy them all.
Published in 2008, Graceling has been translated into thirty-three languages and is on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Best YA Books of All Time. Released in 2021, Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel adaptation is a stunning delight that balances scenes of action with moments of quiet reflection. See for yourself:
Gareth made some process videos as he did the work for Graceling. They’re fascinating and you can watch them here.
Praise
“Hinds’s graphic novel retelling is faithful to Cashore’s original story, honoring her world-building, characters, plot, dialogue, and description; his art brings the highly visual tale to life, from dramatic fight sequences and beautiful landscapes to details like a blush on Katsa’s cheeks and ice on her eyelashes…. This rich graphic novel adaptation should delight existing fans of the Graceling realm and attract many new ones.” — School Library Journal
“This gorgeous adaptation of Cashore’s bestselling novel maintains all of the action, suspense, and romance of the source material.” — Booklist
“The action is terrific, the story is well-developed for readers unfamiliar with this world, and the ethical questions raised… are compelling and handled with nuance. The true heart of this version, however, are the illustrations themselves. Hinds trusts readers to find meaning in silences, sometimes pages long, and hover there, soaking in subtle gestures that tell the story as much as the fast-moving action scenes.” — BCCB
