Point of View

The novel is presented in third person from various perspectives. The authors and artist use the third-person perspective and the limited perspective as a means of presenting and withholding information.

The varying perspectives are necessary for building suspense. For example, Valerian, Laureline, and Albert are traveling around Earth in a series of missions involving nuclear weapons. They do not know who is hiring them or what is causing the events. The limited perspective makes it possible for the author to keep Jal's identity and involvement a secret until the moment Valerian meets him. Keeping that piece of information as a secret makes it possible for the authors to build suspense. The use of suspense is not vital to the novel, but it does add a level of interest that would not otherwise exist.

Another example of this limited perspective is seen in the interaction between...