sci-fi

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Lenni Reviews: “Lynx” Vol. 1, by Samuel Sattin & Tokitokoro

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After a climate disaster known as The Regression, humanity is stuck in a perpetual winter. Detective Lynx Takuma and her enhanced cat partner Skua, have investigating a series of deaths where strange feathers were found at the scene.

While this throws a lot of lore and abilities and backstories at you, it feels a bit flat. I think it’s because a lot of the backgrounds are solid whites. But it is a winter dystopia so I can’t judge it too hard for that. I do love a hard boiled lesbian detective with cool powers and a weird mystery brewing in a complicated world. I think it’s pretty cool so far! 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Callisto” by Steve Niles, Lee Loughridge & Andrea Mutti

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In the year 2526, on a mining settlement on Jupiter’s moon Callisto, Detective Becca Ramos and her partner, Rusty, investigate a series of kidnappings and murders that cause them to run afoul of a cult.

I’m not gonna sit here and say I know how to write a good mystery. Hell, I don’t even really read them because they make me feel stupid for not puzzling out the solution before it’s told to me. This time, I figured it out, and I was still fucking confused. The art is confusing, the plot is confusing, and the whole damn thing left me with the feeling of one big shrug. Which sucks because there are elements I like: scifi and tech and religion all colliding in a tech noir type of story… Right up my alley! I enjoyed Becca, but I can’t say I enjoyed this book overall. 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Essentials” Vol. 2 Bill Sienkiewicz Premiere Edition, by Luke Arnold & Chris Wyatt

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Mathematician Harris Pax is still traveling through realities searching for a way to save humanity.

This volume really takes advantage of the shifting art styles to show the distortion and existential struggle within the mind. It’s also interesting to see Buttons relying on this decaying vessel but – mild spoilers – I wish they didn’t have Harris and Buttons get involved romantically. Partly because it’s predictable and partly because I can’t get over the fact that he’d be kissing a decaying corpse “she’s” wearing as a shell. Characters keep remarking on how the body isn’t looking too good, so I can’t imagine that it smells or tastes very good. If there was ever a time to keep a relationship platonic, it would be between a living human and an otherworldly being puppeting a dead body. Ew… Other than that, I highly recommend this. It’s so cool. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Essentials Vol. 1” Bill Sienkiewicz Premiere Edition, by Luke Arnold & Chris Wyatt

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Harris Pax predicted the end of the world. Unable to stop it, he lives alone in a bunker. When he finds out he’s not the only survivor, he travels through space and time to restore reality.

This gives me Dr. Who vibes with the blend of science fiction, horror, and humor. I think it would have been more fun if each universe had its own art style; really play up the dimension hopping, but that would be a LOT of work. Harris hops around so much, sometimes every other page. But this is cool! I love sci-fi with quirky rules and immense amounts of creativity. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 10, by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

While Ai, the leader of Paupertown makes her move, Hourai is at the Seien-Ji temple to find out why a transfloration graft has failed.

I’m not surprised religion would get entwined with the transfloration process. While I found this mystery plot interesting, it wasn’t enough for me to really get into it. It felt disconnected from everything else going on. Unless this will all factor in down the line? If so, what would justify how long we spent here; especially the reason why the graft was rejected. This was very interesting but the Ivy arc was still my favorite. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 13, by Sui Ishida

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The Yamato Mori is in the upper level of the Tower of Mourning to eliminate Zora. When Zora makes an offer to go with the Yamato Mori, Batista has other plans.

Batista going berserk lets us go into his past and what happened to him to put him in this position. It’s a fairly classic tragic backstory. As that takes up a good portion of this, the battle against him isn’t concluded yet. The reality and time warping powers are amazing to see. You can tell it took a LOT of talent to make it look so overwhelming and off-putting. Very good volume. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Bug Ego” Vol. 2, by ONE & Kiyoto Shitara

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Kokudo revealed universe-altering life hacks to Hitsujiya, who has been using them, but these two aren’t the only ones who are aware of these reality-warping tricks.

I don’t know if this is weirdly weird or weirdly brilliant. Other than how oddly wholesome Kokudo and Hitsujiya’s friendship is, I’m just along for the ride. Play around with a hack that helps you win a prize by tricking your brain into thinking a food you hate tastes good? Go for it. It’s so absurd, I’m just enjoying the journey. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 9, by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The search continues for Dr. Kudai, revealing differing alliances and serious threats.

Most of this is Yomiko trying to find Kidai and all the intrigue and espionage around it. They want to find out who did the procedure on Toshiro so it’s a lot of talking and much slower than all the previous stuff about Ivy. It’s not bad but all the action in the previous volumes set a tone that shifts so differently here. It’s interesting but it’s clearly setting things up to be exposed later so I’ll have to be patient. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Bug Ego” Vol. 1, by ONE & Kiyoto Shitara

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Hich schoolers Kokudo and Hitsujiya find a book of life hacks. As they try out the increasingly strange tips, the results of using it or failure to follow the rules result in some world-bending consequences.

Okay so…. I don’t have a read on this yet. I’m not sure if this is trying to be weird for weird’s sake or is building up into something bigger and more profound/intricate. There are some cosmic horror moments that are interesting and have some cool potential, but my confusion is outweighing my interest at this point. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Parasyte Paperback Collection” Vol. 1, by Hitoshi Iwaaki

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where humanity is slowly being taken over by alien parasites, Shinichi ends up infected. While he manages to contain the being to his arm, he is thrust into a dangerous life with the alien Migi as an ally.

This is another series that I’ve gone so long without interacting with up until now. Finally getting to it, I can see why it’s such a classic. It has horror elements I enjoy, the clueless but well-meaning protagonist, a greater threat looming in the future… I can see where Ajin got its inspiration, while this is, of course, very different. Since it is an older series, the tone and art are very nostalgic, and maybe younger readers will be affected by that, as it’s a completely different vibe from more modern titles. As for me, I like it, and I’m glad I’m able to experience it. 4 out of 5.

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