The following blog post contains SPOILERS for The Hollow, Project Nought and SOMA
Guess who finally watched The Hollow!
I've had this show on my watchlist for way too long (purely because of the character design) and knew nothing about it. Absolutely freaked out at the end of season 1, and immediately had to rant to my mum about it. Almost stopped watching, cause I was scared there was gonna be more live-action sequences, but luckily not.
But anyways, it was really good! Would definitely recommend! :P
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Project Nought is a fast-paced science fiction graphic novel. It follows Ren, a young man in 1996, who suddenly finds himself over a hundred years in the future. He has been brought to 2122 by a mega corporation, Chronotech, which uses its newly invented technology as part of a program to educate current students about the past.
The story takes a few twists that had me riveted; I couldn't put it down! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, but I thought the story was crafted well, and it surprised me a few times.
It's also queer normative, with several queer characters and relationships. The main romance involves Ren and a student he is paired with, Mars. Although it's not the main focus of the graphic novel, the relationship is genuinely sweet and features a few particularly poignant scenes. There are some great friendships that I liked, too!
I really enjoyed this and am really happy that I picked it up. I'd recommend this to any fans of graphic novels, especially readers who love great art, diverse characters, and fast-paced sci-fi storylines!
My Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘 (4.25/5 stars).
Pages: 336 (Kindle Edition)
Tropes/Tags: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Queer
Contains Depictions Of: Nothing too heavy, but there are a few warnings that may spoil parts of the story. You can see the warnings on my Storygraph review if you need them.
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Possibly the best book I've ever read!! It's a scifi/time travel graphic novel with lots of great queer representation, and that's all I'll say because I don't want to spoil it.....
If you haven't read it YOU NEED TO!!!!!
Anyways. Phoebe fanart be upon ye
(note that on most sites I go by hazel-nut-tree so that's my watermark)
I wanted to draw Mars but he's a lot harder for some reason?? I ADORE his character design, I just Cannot Draw Him. Anyways Phoebe is both similar to characters I'm used to drawing and is one of my favorites in terms of personality, so I had to draw her!!
Owned?: No, library
Page count: 330
My summary: Ren Mittal blinked in 1996, and opened his eyes in 2122. Taken to the future by tech conglomerate Chronotech to teach students about what life was really like in the past, he learns quickly that when his time is up in 2122, he will be sent back without any memories - too bad he's falling for his guide, Mars. But to complicate things more, it seems that Chronotech are up to something shady. Are Ren and his friends in danger?
My rating: 4/5
My commentary:
This was an interesting one. I always mine the graphic novel shelves of libraries that I'm covering for anything that looks good - I'm not into Marvel or DC or superheroes of any kind, so I'm mostly looking for indie stuff that catches my eye. And I gotta say, this was a good find! There was a lot going on, from the time-travel shenanigans that bring our protagonist to the year 2122 to the dangerous secrets at the heart of Chronotech. It was well-paced, the art was colourful and appealing, and there were jokes that at the very least merited a sensible chuckle. (My favourite was Mars referring to Ren as being like the Edward to his Bella, and Ren being confused as to what that meant.) I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm glad I grabbed it!
Our characters here are pretty good. We have Ren, an overwhelmed and out of his depth guy who is trying to come around to being in the future; Mars, his guide who is a giant tech nerd, and Chronotech nerd specifically; Phoebe, another subject from the 90s who is bubbly and outgoing; and Jai, a nonbinary person who was close to a subject who died and who thinks something's up with Chronotech. They complement each other really well, and the tighter focus on a smaller group really helps to sell the story - I always had a good sense of who these people were and where they were up to in their stories. They had quirks, they had personalities, they felt real to me in every way that mattered.
The setting was interesting - turns out the spacefuture isn't all that different from now. I'm not sure if I should count that as a worldbuilding flaw or if it's just that the focus of the narrative wasn't on the 2122 setting so much. After all, the fish out of water status of our 1990s protagonists were experiencing was a character beat, not a world beat - it became more about how they were adjusting to the idea that they'd lose their memories than the fact that they were in the future. Honestly, I didn't mind it. I love a character-focused narrative, and that was what we had here. The future was a backdrop.
And like I said, this book is very well-paced. The plot goes along at a sharp pace, with plenty of twists to keep moving. My one quibble is a sequence at the start that's very disjointed - Ren wakes up, runs onto the street, then wakes up again later with no explanation. It's something that does actually get explained later, but the disjointed start to the book kind of put me off initially. I get it, and I'm not sure there was a better way to do it necessarily, but it still felt a little off. That said, everything goes along well - there were never really any points where I felt like the story was lingering too long on one thing, or rushed too fast past another. I could easily have read this entire thing in one sitting, it was absorbing! I'd definitely recommend it.
Next, back to Roman Mysteries, and the aftermath of the volcano.
