Not the very best Asterix book but still a very good story. This one tackles the issue of charlatans and irrational beliefs when a conman soothsayer descends on the Gaulish village by chance and quickly discovers that many of them are very gullible indeed. He then begins to live the life of luxury by telling the villagers what they want to know (becoming rich, successful et cetera) in return for free food. When the Romans discover his "power" over the villagers then the very existence of the village itself is in question...
This probably has one of the more adult plots in the series with plenty of social comment, such as how the best way to control men is through their women, and the best way to control them is to play on their anxieties and insecurities. How irrational belief can take hold of a community and end up with rational members being sidelined. You can also see some delicious satire against marketing and advertising and how it can blur our realities...
Overall it is not quite up the level of the very best Asterix books in terms of humour and action (the former is often very subtle but often inspired - one favourite was the soothsayer not minding that a goose bought to him to read didn't have entrails as he was fed up reading tripe - and the latter takes awhile to get going) although it is one of my favourites (indeed the second one i ever read) but still very worth your while.
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