Moebius’ & Jodorowsky’s The Incal is Must-read Sci-Fi Epic masterpiece of fiction.
This is one of the greatest metaphysical noir SFF epics of all time! And the art is like nothing you’ll ever see.
Even if you are not usually a graphic novel reader, I must urge you to try on The Incal, even from a strictly writing standpoint it is pure genius.
If Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo dominated the East in the 1980s with its grandiose, philosophical, cyberpunk – with extraordinary art in terms of both story and illustration – then The Incal dominated the West during a decade with its innovative metaphysical space opera noir that is equally as mind-blowing, just in wholly different ways.
Each work, Akira and The Incal, are often dubbed “the best comic book” ever written.
And it is hard to argue.
The Incal inspired The Expanse series – both books and film – as well as countless other works of SFF literature and graphic novels.
From the minds of two artists who spent countless hours attempting to adapt Frank Herbert’s Dune – which never completed – Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud took their work someplace entirely new as one labyrinth after another are peeled back, like a giant space onion, to reveal deeper dangers, steeper odds, and more intricate plotlines for The Incal’s John Difool and company.
The story’s trajectory evolves as much as the characters do, which is to say a lot because swallowing the Incal can cause a stone pterodactyl to speak its well-formed, growing mind!
I love the dark sense of humor that adds brevity to the most dire of circumstances threatening whole planets, galaxies, and universes and all who dwell within them.
But the visual art by Moebius is enthralling.
I spent hours just staring and studying The Incal’s artwork, panel by panel, illustration by illustration, with my jaw seated heavily on the floor.
There are no words to describe such brilliance, such genius.
Myriad styles converge or stand alone, emergent in exactly the right spot in the story to add the enormity or the intimacy needed to hit home.
And then The Incal ends in an amazing, unforeseen, and a classic fashion that elevates the entire book.
THE GREAT WHEN: A Long London Novel by Alan Moore is 5-Stars, or more, if you are so inclined, as the first book in the The Long London Quintet series marks the liftoff of a brilliant new nest of allies in the city we know of as Fantasy Fiction.
The use of prose and language in this book are wholly fresh and draw upon a uniquely impactful identity.
The only book I can think of to compare THE GREAT WHEN to, because of that innovative sense of self and ever-intriguing and nuanced dialect, is A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess. But Moore’s work here is a totally different being.
The following is a Spoiler-free Book Review of THE GREAT WHEN by Alan Moore.
It is the voices in this story that give it so much life!
The voice of the narrator is as surefooted as the 18-year-old protagonist Dennis’s is not.
It is the sputtering youth’s tone, just as it is the magician artist’s, or the ever-coughing chain-smoking bookshop owner Coffin Ada’s, or the crime boss Jack Spot’s as he discusses the methodical weighing of life and pain in his steady tones (as he will stop at nothing to attempt to break in to the Great When itself) that permeate the pages with sound and further a world that is so, so real.
If this London is what they call the Smoke, then that place is the Fire… – THE GREAT WHEN.
Hidden so that no one but those brought in by the fantastical backbone universe of The Great When’s London itself can see it, the magic, the terror, the alternate takes on 1949 London that occupy the same space as the normal blokes like Dennis reside in are greasy jewels clinking around in a vast labyrinthine digestive tract that runs that part of the world, known or not.
And if that description is too abstract for you, know that this tale starts with a book and its mysterious danger.
The book that does not exist in London or anywhere in Dennis’s world, but he mistakenly buys it for the bookstore he works at and is instructed to – before dire things befall him (and his very skin) – return it to another place that does not exist: The Great When.
I love biblio-mysteries that involve rare volumes, tomes of frightening implications, as is the case here.
The names, Ironfoot is so much fun, the speech, you will feel this London in your bones, my son, the stretching shadows that cover an otherwise thriving shop’s tables and chairs in burlap sacks in The Great When’s overlayed version continue to taunt your mind’s sense of reality and reason.
I have read nothing like Alan Moore’s THE GREAT WHEN, and I cannot wait for the next part of the series.
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton: historic Phantasia Press relaunch, as the first fine press dedicated entirely to Sci-Fi-Fantasy returns in the 21st Century with a resounding BOOM and a limited edition classic.
Science-fiction is often fun, but it is rarely so fun as to keep you laughing and clenching your stomach muscles as Mickey7 tries not to die.
Mickey is the only Expendable, a disposable employee that uses a synthetic copy of his body, on the entire human colonization mission to terraform the ice world Niflheim – and yes, there are giant bug-like alien neighbors that have not been thoroughly researched just yet.
Ashton brings a stark amount of humanity – wit and wry humor – to the character Mickey.
And that sense of the human quality is vital, because Mickey7 learns that his seven-time downloaded memories can inhabit not just one Expendable body at a time, but two.
Does he have two souls now? Or no soul? Or is he just a carbon copy of a soul, loosely downloaded and distributed on a barren rock of a planet?
I am reminded of two great authors when reading this novel: Robert Heinlein, especially Starship Troopers, and Joe Haldeman.
“Apparently three hours of training lectures aren’t enough to overcome a billion years of ingrained instinct for self-preservation.” ― Edward Ashton, Mickey7
If you like your sci-fi cooked well done with marbled laughs and a side of action and suspense, then Mickey7 will be very appetizing on the plate atop your tbr.
And if you want to hold the very embodiment of science fiction in your hands, then look no further than the Phantasia Press signed and numbered limited edition.
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, illustrated by Barclay Shaw from Phantasia Press.
Deep space colonization, interstellar ships, and then . . . shimmering on the never-before-seen distant horizon of an alien world is . . . a bright silvery-white, preternatural book.
From out of the legends of the twentieth century and the epic limited editions featuring the likes of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Stephen King, Phantasia Press stands tall as a jet black monolith and returns to us, readers, of the 21st Century earth!
The numbered limited edition of Mickey7 glitters and glints in light as the hot foil stamping and Metallium paper look and feel astounding in the hand.
Pictures do not do this book justice.
Every facet of the Phantasia Press Mickey7 highlights an extraordinary attention to detail that truly captures the soul of the story.
From the scintillating binding and slipcase, to the hexagon textured end-sheets, the previous iterations of Mickey6 and Mickey5 on the cover, and the great illustrations of Barclay Shaw, this book is an epic offering from the one and only Phantasia Press.
And there are a few copies left for sale at, of course, $177.77 USD here.
TOUCHED by Walter Mosley: sci-fi that cuts like a razor, in the vein of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.
I do not say that lightly.
Combine Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Jordan Peele, Ray Bradbury, and you will have an iota of an idea of what the impactful fiction Mosley has put forth is like in TOUCHED.
Not only is this gripping, thrilling science fiction, but TOUCHED also invokes strong philosophical arguments and commentaries on 21st Century America and the earth as a whole.
The tale of Martin Just – who has been abducted by aliens and thrust back into the tumultuous world – pays homage to one of the greatest novels of all time, Slaughterhouse-Five, and its unreliable narrator and fellow alien abductee, Billy Pilgrim.
The essence of the characters, from the pilgrim to the just, explores deep psychological elements pertaining to their reaction to the most awful circumstances and their ability or inability, at times, to rationally experience the passage of time during the experiences.
Vonnegut examined the brutality and senseless violence and murder that occurred during wartime, WWII, where he was a POW during the bombing of Dresden, Germany.
What Mosley does so well in TOUCHED is to instantaneously transport the reader into the mind and body of the protagonist, Just, so that the reeling man who desperately wants to gain a grip on his newly found mission and alter ego, Temple, is sent sprawling in the bigoted, biased, and insanely unfair American society.
TOUCHED by Walter Mosley is a classic.
For Just returns from the aliens in a dream-state and wanders erect onto his bedroom balcony where the African-American is spotted by white Los Angeles police who also see a child on the sidewalk. And their immediate reaction is to arrest the sleep walker and wage war upon him.
What plays out is a painful coming to terms with what the mission means, what Just’s life means, and also what his alter-ego Temple wants to do to survive and thrive.
Temple is wired to protect that alien mission to cure the peoples of earth, and the universe, of diseases like the racist violence haunting Just and his family, and Temple will go to any lengths to save Martin and his family and comrades.
The police and the criminal justice system in LA play out in a realistic and agonizing manner that tears at the reader’s guts.
The whole while, the mission and Just’s understanding of it evolves and moves rapidly to counter a foe that creepily approaches him in a bid to end all life, to eradicate the diseases, rather than cure them.
If you like action every bit as hard-hitting as Mike Hammer and Jason Bourne, then you will fall in love with the strength of Martin Just, and his vengeful side, Temple, who kicks down all kinds of doors.
There is sexiness in the writing, there are coming-of-age motifs for the middle-aged protagonist, as well as tropes of familial love, and redemption, for even the worst of humanity that Just/Temple encounters.
The Devil In A Blue Dress and Easy Rawlins are rightly hailed, but TOUCHED and every one of Walter Mosley’s works deserve a read.
Babel By R.F. Kuang: a revolutionary historical fantasy epic that examines the influence of cogent language and its romantic secrets, bitter deceptions, and intoxicating effects that mark the meek and the brash, the power-hungry and the marytrs.
Babel By R.F. Kuang may be the best book I read this year.
If you are a fan of language or translation or history or great characters being challenged beyond your wildest prescient thoughts, then you must read this must-read, this phenomenal tale by R.F. Kuang.
As with many great stories – especially in the SFF-speculative fiction realm – the character’s path needs to resonate deeply, and Kuang’s protagonist Robin Swift does this while being utterly captivating.
The name he chooses after being dragged from his home in Canton and near-forcibly adopted by an English professor is one stemming from a love of literature that he identifies with, Robin Swift.
The following book review of R.F. Kuang’s Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is SPOILER-FREE.
Robin Swift’s journey is so real, it hurts.
His awe at his first foray into an English bookstore, or an Oxford library, is moving and relatable.
You swell with joy, with Robin, as he delights in the exotic tastes of desserts from bakeries for the first time, just as you will feel the shock of betrayal least looked for when it lashes out at him.
Betrayal is a theme in Babel.
“Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.”
Language and story metaphorically and literally make magic in Babel.
Words reside at the center of civilization but also at the panopticon, whether for use in aiding humanity, or in enslaving it.
Seeing the black, white, and gray areas in Babel proves difficult for those involved in the tower, the school of translation at Oxford, of Babel, for the spell of comfort, happiness, fulfillment, and friendship casts a certain amount of myopia that runs deeper than the magical silver bars the translators create and maintain.
The history in Babel is, itself, a mythology by which Kuang makes the reader climb and dive off a cliff and deeply submerge into the early 19th Century as the riotous age of colonialism is at a zenith, and at the same time depict Oxford University – and the college life that Robin embarks on – which is outwardly fun, but filled with racism, misogyny, and final exams that can cause the students to bleed out.
Make no mistake, Babel will tear at your heart, gouge deeply, and continue to stay with you, long after you finish reading.
Babel is a masterpiece of fantasy literature that reaches depths similar in scope and artistry to the most deeply moving and impactful symphonies, works of literature, epic poems, and fine art.
David Mack’s Star Trek: Picard – Firewall 5-Star Book Review gives a Spoiler-Free account of the new prequel in the Star Trek: Picard Series, and TFF is also simultaneously publishing an Author Interview here for the first time, as David Mack was kind enough to take the time to speak with R.J. Huneke about this brilliant novel.
At the heart of this gripping science-fiction story is identity.
What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to face rejection and prejudice because of one’s appearance?
How do we come to grips with the evolution of our personality, our self-understanding, and our self-reflection as the years roll on into adulthood?
Not only is Star Trek: Picard – Firewall a great Star Trek story, but it is a phenomenal work of fiction, in general – this is a classic.
Anyone can enjoy the venture into the thrilling world of Seven of Nine…even if you have never watched or read Star Trek.
I love the accessibility of David Mack’s Firewall, and though I am admittedly a big Star Trek fan, it is quickly apparent when reading this that anyone can enjoy the venture into the thrilling world of Seven of Nine at this tumultuous time in the character’s life, even if you have never watched or read any Star Trek.
Star Trek: Picard – Firewall isa powerful and moving queernormative coming-of-age story about Seven of Nine in the years leading up to her role in Picard (the mini-series).
For Seven of Nine is not just searching to find her way as an independent adult, and a human, when she had her formative years taken away – along with many of her memories – by the alien cybernetic organisms known as the Borg, but she is also struggling to learn her identity as a bi-sexual woman and as a person who is prejudiced against for her appearance, in her visible remains of the Borg implants.
If you are not familiar with the TV series Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: Picard, Firewall brings the reader into the life of a character who was commandeered by a cyborg alien force as a child and who lost many of those years and even into early adulthood, because her mind was a part of a hive mind Collective.
Seven of Nine has had nearly all of her robotic elements – her implants – removed, but some on her face remain.
And so many people dehumanize her, so much so that her application to join Starfleet is rejected.
Up to that point, her human identity was that of a Starfleet officer.
When this is denied, she seeks to escape earth and find a way to feel like an included member of human society, and a new way of life that suits the personality that is still forming within her.
The writing in this book is enthralling, from the world-building to the character development, and the memorable prose.
To be human means to struggle to find a path in life, and so meanings found in Firewall’s coming-of-age storyline are very visceral and accessible.
You feel for these characters, especially Seven of Nine.
Firewall is a deeply personal and impactful book full of piercing themes.
Seven of Nine deals with PTSD, brutal anxiety and depression, and even feelings of neurodivergence.
There are keen metaphors in Firewall for the struggles of LGBTQ+ folks, especially for trans youth and trans people youth seeking identity.
Seven of Nine is an extraordinary person who deals with love and hate and creature comforts in equal measure, while striving to retain that sense of being a good person in familiar ways that we can all recognize within ourselves.
The Bookshop.org description of Star Trek: Picard – Firewall:
A thrilling prequel adventure based on the acclaimed TV series Star Trek: Picard! Two years after the USS Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds herself rejected for a position in Starfleet…and instead finds a new home with the interstellar rogue law enforcement corps known as the Fenris Rangers. The Rangers seem like an ideal fit for Seven–but to embrace this new destiny, she must leave behind all she’s ever known, and risk losing the most important thing in her life: her friendship with Admiral Kathryn Janeway. [bookshop.org]
Firewall debuted on February 27, 2024, so get your copies, Fictioneers!
