Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

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Adam Szym. Oni Press, (168p) ISBN: . Horror, read 16/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

The cover of this intrigued me when I saw it on NetGalley, and who doesn’t love a good old alien abduction? (and it’s put out by Oni Press who seem to be on such a great streak over the last couple of years)

Three interconnected stories involving aliens and their interactions with humans, all three are so strong as stand alones but the interactions between them and the end themes make this work wonderfully as a whole.

The black ink dark artwork with no colour is an excellent choice for such stark tales, the shadows are where all of the darkest acts of horror occur and this all plays out a bit like a pulp movie which in a way mirrors the first story, Little Visitor, where a communist film company tries their take on E.T. (the ameerican movie) but as the story unfolds a tragedy occurs and this is the story of that tragedy seen as flash backs, the whole story uses film techniques to great effect, strong and punchy visuals carry this along to it’s conclusion.

The next story, A Cordial Invitation, takes us to a New Year party in the middle of nowhere, with a twist, another that has a very filmic feel, almost Rocky Horror but with the horror amped up quite a bit. A sacrifice, a journey, a cult, what more could you want?

And the final story, Frolicker, is the most disturbing really as the strangers who encourage the violent thoughts into a teens head have been there before but this time they are more insidious, who are they and what is their agenda, Children of the Corn comes to mind here.

A brilliantly realised project, dark and haunting, otherworldly but firmly planted in a filmic tradition of graphic novels though this really seems to loan from film making quite strongly it turns it into a wonderful graphic experience.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Skin Police Vol. 1: Crimes Against Nature

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Jordan Thomas, Daniel Gete. Oni Press, (96p) ISBN: 9781637158074. Graphic Novel, read 23/04/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Skin Police Vol. 1: Crimes Against Nature

Skin Police Vol. 1: Crimes Against Nature

Set in a future of almost zero fertility, cloning, instability, and societal collapse.

Oh yes, the cloning…

It was thought that the cloning would help keep the world population stable and people thought it would be a joy to raise a little version of themselves, all really good ideas, though a bit vain.

But there was one major setback, three out of four clones would ‘pop’ and turn into hallucinating blood thirsty killers.

The United Nations of Europe, a one-party superstate with some nods toward the Mega Cities of the Dredd world, has come up with a solution, total eradication. But after societal upset and collapse with records going astray and a lot of the ‘Dupes’ being procured on the black market this is difficult.

In comes Eckis, a very Dredd-style character with his Andersen rookie along for the ride, and it is such a ride. Future tech, traitors, underground resistance, government conspiracies, and an enforcement agency with a shoot now… no questions later attitude.

The art style is nice and graphic with lots of reds and bright colours often at odds with the world we find ourselves in, the internal ‘thoughts’ of the dupes who pop are excellent and imaginative, there are a couple of subplots running through to humanize the main characters, and the ending of Volume 1 is a great reveal!

Another great offering from Oni Press and I’m looking forward to the rest of this coming out.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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EC Cruel Universe

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Corinna Bechko and 9 others. Oni Press, (176p) ISBN: 9781637157855. Science Fiction, read 13/04/25, eBook ★★★★☆

EC Cruel Universe

EC Cruel Universe

Earlier in the year Oni Press released Epitaphs from the Abyss, a horror anthology in comic form which I really enjoyed. So when this science fiction anthology showed up I jumped at the chance to read it.

This anthology does what I love about anthologies really well, loads of different art styles and story types that are constantly swapping up the energy of what you’re reading.

As always in any anthology or collection some stories are much stronger than others though there were no real disappointments here.

Some of the stories were short and punchy, a few required more thought and were a bit longer but it was in part this mix that made the anthology so much fun.

There were some I enjoyed more though and these were; The Deleted Man, Behave, Doomsday Particle, Paring Knife, and ORGAN1C, nice fun reads all.

Another great read from Oni Press

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Dune Saga

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The cover of my first copy of Dune

The cover of my first copy of Dune

In memory of David Lynch I think I’ll read the whole of the Dune universe for the first time, and read it in chronological order, all the short stories, novellas, and expanded universe.

I’ve been reading the original saga since the late 70s and it was one of the first series of books that I remember being excited about a new addition coming out, but I’ve always avoided reading any of the books outside of Frank Herbert’s original six just in case I was disappointed and it spoiled the whole ‘universe’, but now I feel I should really give them a go to round out everything.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the David Lynch film no matter what other people say, and no matter how much it diverted from the source material. It was visually stunning for the time and I’m going to watch that again this evening, and will probably watch all the Dune TV and film output as well as read the books.

There is an article on Tor.com called ‘Where to Start with the Dune Universe‘ and I’m going to follow the chronological reading order they recommend, and to this end have just got myself a copy of ‘The Road to Dune’ that has a lot of the early short stories in it.

I’ll give a really brief review of each story/book as I read them so you’ll see this post pop to the top of the blog occasionally as I read another part of the saga.

  • “Hunting Harkonnens” (story, The Road to Dune / Tales of Dune)
  • Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
  • “Whipping Mek” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • Dune: The Machine Crusade
  • “The Faces of a Martyr” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • Dune: The Battle of Corrin
  • Sisterhood of Dune
  • Mentats of Dune
  • “Red Plague” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Navigators of Dune
  • “Imperial Court” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • Edge of a Crysknife” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • Dune: House Atreides
  • Dune: House Harkonnen
  • “Blood and Water” (standalone excerpt from House Harkonnen)
  • Dune: House Corrino
  • Fremen Justice” (also published as “Nighttime Shadows of Open Sand”, standalone excerpt from House Corrino)
  • “Wedding Silk” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Princess of Dune
  • The Duke of Caladan
  • The Lady of Caladan
  • The Heir of Caladan
  • Dune
  • “A Whisper of Caladan Seas” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • “Blood of the Sardukar” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • “The Waters of Kanly” (story, Infinite Stars)
  • Paul of Dune
  • Dune Messiah
  • The Winds of Dune
  • Children of Dune
  • God Emperor of Dune
  • Heretics of Dune
  • Chapter House Dune
  • “Sea Child” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • “Treasure in the Sand” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Hunters of Dune
  • Sandworms of Dune

 

  • The Road to Dune
  • Tales of Dune
  • Dreamer of Dune [biography of Frank Herbert]
  • The Dune Encyclopedia [hard to get]
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Crypt of the Moon Spider

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Nathan Ballingrud. Titan Books. (128p) ISBN: 9781803368801
Crypt of the Moon Spider

Crypt of the Moon Spider

A wonderfully Gothic re-imagining of the moon in an alternative 1923.

There is so much of the science fiction of Verne and Wells in this novella, but then tempered by a very dark creeping horror with a Lovecraftian flavour, cosmic and visceral.

Set on the moon among the forest that Galileo thought was a sea is a sanitarium called The Barrowfield Home, a place treating melancholy with experimental procedures involving spider silk from a long dead Moon Spider.

A cracking tale that had me gripped from start to finish, with a slow build setting the place within a universe that suddenly exploded into a startling conclusion there wasn’t a foot placed wrong.

The whole story was tight and paced so well, I especially liked the inclusion of some back story for Grub which really added flavour to the conclusion.

Looking forward to the next episode in the Lunar Gothic Trilogy!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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El Fuego

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David Rubin. Oni Press. (256p) ISBN: 9781637154915
El Fuego

El Fuego

Set in an indeterminate future where a colossal asteroid is on its way to smash into the earth we follow the story of Alexander Yorba, a renowned architect tasked with developing and completing Plan B.

Plan B is a habitat on the moon that was meant to save humanity if the Icarus rocket fails to destroy the asteroid as planned, both of these plans have a bit more complexity to them than initially stated.

At the start of the novel Alex finds out he has terminal brain cancer and we follow the trail of self-destruction that happens in the last of his few months alive whilst watching this mirror in the deterioration of society as the asteroid gets closer in the last few months of the planet.

A searing indictment on fame and self deceiving behaviour, we watch as all the layers are stripped bare and a person gets submerged in a madness based on their own narcissism.

Richly illustrated with an almost dream-like quality alongside the burst of visceral anger as Alex and society spiral into destruction, with a lot of colour juxtaposition to reveal parallels. The depiction of a decaying and fiery world at the end is so strong, especially in its contrast to Alex’s mental state.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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