Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Hunting Harkonnens

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The Road to Dune

The Road to Dune

This is the start of the Dune Universe readathon, a short story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson collected in The Road to Dune book

An interesting story set in pre-Butlerian Jihad times and showing the main Harkonnen lord as still being ruthless and exploitative. Though his son Piers wants to change.

It introduces us to the Cymeks and thinking machines.

Overall had a very 70s feel to the story which seems very appropriate for the start to the universe.

Exciting little adventure with a lot of foreshadowing

Ionheart

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Lukas Kummer. Top Shelf Productions, (168p) ISBN: 9781603095587. Graphic Novel, read 21/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Ionheart

Ionheart

I’m pretty much asking for any non-Manga graphic novels from Net Galley at the moment (I received this in exchange for an honest review) as there is so many good ones coming to print right now across so many different genres.

Ionheart initially places us in a world of knights, demons, princesses, castles, and quests, with a returning knight and a some nods to Arthurian legends.

This is suddenly all upturned when the demon is revealed, though there are quite a few hints when magic items are shown.

Transdimensional high jinx then ensues, identities are revealed, motives and back story is expanded upon and the twists and turns get better and better.

The graphic style of the story telling is nice and crisp with a great use of bold colours and theming short sections of the story together with one main colour as an indicator really works and keeps the story going.

The story of Billy is a brilliantly twisting one with a fascinating ending (?) and lots of different threads weaving backwards and forwards through time and universes.

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.

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.

Predator (1987)

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Predator (1987)

Predator (1987)

Right from the start you could smell the testosterone oozing from the screen, but in the right way.

This is another vehicle for the talent that is Arnold Schwarzenegger, as most of the 80s was. He did action but each of them seemed to have a little bit of a twist that took them just outside the run of the mill action films.

Team this up with John McTiernan who really knows how to direct a half decent action film (Die Hard!) and we have a marriage made in heaven.

What looks like a straight forward action blaster from the start, rescue mission that’s really a cover up for a CIA operation. Lots of gun fire, betrayals, and goodies win out in the end.

But the brilliant twist on this is the addition of one of the best sci-fi protagonists of the 80s, The Predator, and an excellent but sparse script moving the action forward and piling up the tension.

Completely forgot how much I enjoyed this film, and was lucky enough to see it in the cinema when it came out.

The alien proceeds to hunt the special ops group, upping their testosterone at every step, and knocking them off one by one.

Though still don’t really get the bit with Billy near the end, just a bit silly, but then again it is a silly film, good but silly.

The ending is an absolute classic, setting up further films for the franchise.

Predator | June 12, 1987 (United States) 7.8
Director: John McTiernanWriter: Jim Thomas, John ThomasStars: Stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Summary:
Source: imdb.com