Isso é Henry's Quest da Graham Oakley.
A small kingdom based on the principles of King Arthur's Round Table sends out its knights on a quest for the legendary substance called gasoline.
Há mais detalhes (e ilustrações) em esta revisão da Goodreads :
Henry's Quest is a post-apocalyptic childrens picture book.
Yes you heard me correctly.
The story concerns Henry, a shepherd in a chivalric society who takes up the King's quest to find the magical PETROL to win the hand of the princess (who wears a tattered Elvis t-shirt).
The story itself is a bit clever, it probably would go over most children's heads. I discovered this book in the local library at the age of 8 or 9 and while I understood some of the story, I fell in love with the illustrations. Graham Oakley is a wonderful illustrator.
As an adult the joy is still there. The detail in the illustrations makes full use of the decaying remnants of society with cars being used as chicken coops and knights wearing cricket pads and air raid helemts.
Esta resenha do Daily Kos tem mais imagens e enredo:
So the following day, Henry and "a bunch of rather well-to-do knights" set out seeking gasoline. Through several pages of pictures, Oakley shows where Henry journeys along his quest. Oakley's imaginative illustrations captures what life could be like in post peak oil Britain on his quest. One of the places he visits is an overgrown Esso oil refinery and a fort built into an overhead powerline tower structure.
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Henry's quest eventually takes him to a great city where gasoline still lurked. The smokestacks in the city belch black clouds of smoke and surrounding the city walls are piles of abandoned automobiles and household appliances. The city is ruled by the emperor as a police state. The citizens are kept amused by the imperial lottery, discos, taverns, casinos, bingo parlors, night clubs and more.
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Henry then tells the emperor of his quest for gasoline and the emperor tells him that he has plenty of gasoline and will personally accompany him to the Imperial Gasoline Repository and present him with some gasoline of his own. Plus the emperor would send two of his most trusted servants to assist Henry in bringing the gasoline back to his homeland. Interestingly, Oakley depicts the gasoline repository full of oil drums with USA and USAF stenciled on them.
Encontrado procurando por livro britânico ilustrado rei quest gasolina