This is the first Asterisk novel, thus it introduces many of the themes that follow in the following 30-odd books: the premise of a Gaulish village resisting against the might of the Roman army; the Romans getting a good biffing from those villagers whenever they attempt to take it; Asterix’s craftiness; the magic potion as produced by the druid, Getafix, that gives those who drink it great strength; Obelix who has permanently high levels of strength due to falling into the potion as a boy and he can never have it again as the consequences would be tragic, yet he does want it; Obelix's love of wild boar...
The story here is good too. It tells the tale of the Romans sending a spy into the village to find out where their great strength comes from which leads to a kidnap plot on the druid, and Asterix gets involved too, but all ends happily with a great banquet to celebrate (another theme carried through into the other books).
The drawings themselves are a little cruder and less refined than the later books (just look at Obelix on the cover and compare him to the way he looks within), which is understandable given this is the first, but this is the ideal place to start if you’re new to Asterix.
(This book is listed on Amazon here.)
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