Trial and Error

With virtually no text, Norwegian artist Øivind Hovland provides the drama, danger, heartache and sheer bloody-mindedness of aviation pioneer Jean Baptiste de Bomberaque, as he attempts to create a powered flying machine almost half a century before the Wright brothers finally get their plane off the ground. Although entirely fictional, Hovland creates a dramatic, monochromatic landscape, and a vision of aristocratic Victorian France that feels as authentic and believable as it’s crazy and fantastical. Like A Day in the Life of Alfred, this book is far from substantial, though its illustrations carry a depth of character that saves hundreds of words.