Voyaging, Volume One: The Plague Star [A Graphic Novel]

by Raya Golden (Adapter), George R.R. Martin

Journey across the cosmos in George R. R. Martin's beloved sci-fi universe, the Thousand Worlds, as a ragtag group of conspirators embark on a mysterious mission to gain unfathomable fame and fortune—if only they can survive.

“ Voyaging is an absolute delight as Raya Golden brings Martin’s space opera to life.”—Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman

On the distant planet Hro B’rana, the last words of a dying man echo through the halls of a run-down trading station.

Nearly three hundred years later, a group of fortune seekers embark on a mission to unravel the mystery of the fabled Plague Star aboard a rickety trade ship called The Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices . But their journey will be far more perilous than any of them could have imagined—who will survive this deadly quest and battle it out for the final prize?

A darkly comic meditation on our future as a species, Voyaging, Volume 1: The Plague Star is a sci-fi adventure story of intrigue, greed, deception, and of course… cats. Adapted and vividly illustrated by Hugo Award–nominated artist Raya Golden, this thrilling and action-packed graphic novel brings the first story from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin’s classic collection Tuf Voyaging to life.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

About the author

Raya Golden was born in New York City, and has slowly made her way westward across the United States. She graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, focusing on traditional and digital illustration. Her first graphic novel, Meathouse Man—an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s short story of the same name—was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Novel in 2014. She currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Z Money · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Nyx Solman · Rating 4 out of 5]

looking forward to the next one

[Brian Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the first portion of the book "Tuf Voyaging", this graphic novel tells the story of Tuf Haviland and his discovery of a derelict old Earth seedship - one of the most powerful weapons in the old Earth arsenal. The original novel is a delight and one of my favorite novels. The graphic novel, on the other hand, is a reminder that I'm very picky about art, and no matter how good the story, I can't bear a graphic novel whose art style I don't like. Sadly, the art here was not to my taste.

[Danalli Calhoun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story, but wasn't a huge fan of the art. I wish I would have picked up the original novel, instead of this graphic novel, but didn't realize there was one prior to picking it up.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly even the cute cats couldn't save this one.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, fun read. Beautiful art and a fun concept. Everything you would expect a good graphic novel to be.

[Arthur Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't help but giving this 4 stars, since it makes one of m least favorite GRRM's stories way more interesting. I love some of the other stories in the original fix-up novel, but that one has always been the least memorable for me. However, it really benefited from Raya's gorgeous art. Ever since I read Starport, I've wanted to see her work his the thousand worlds, and now that I got it, I want more. I hope she gets to illustrate some other stories, such as And Seven Times Never Kill Man, A Song for Lya, and With Morning Comes Mistfall.

[SparrowBlue · Rating 1 out of 5]

A complete misfire of an adaptation.

The stories in George RR Martin's "Tuf Voyaging" series are pulpy and often whimsical, but still also very much grounded in GRRM's trademark realism. This artstyle that renders the characters into cartoon boardwalk caricatures is completely tonally inappropriate for the story it's adapting. Everyone looks like mean-spirited Grand Theft Auto parodies of their character in the source material.

The richly evocative environments of the setting are also here rendered as sterile and uncanny liminal spaces. There's a bar scene in the beginning that I think is supposed to be a bustling dive bar but because everyone is spaced so far apart it just looks... lifeless and empty. Unlike the characters, which I personally found offputting but clearly have had lots of thought put into their design and posing, there's a distinctly perfunctory feel to all the backgrounds and environments, as though the artist just could not care less about them.

In adapting GRRM's prose into a graphic novel naturally many lines would have to be excised or trimmed down, but the cuts have not been carefully made here, leading to quite a few non-sequitors where a line makes no sense because it is a reply to a preceding line that's been cut. Yet in other places, entire chunks of Martin's prose have been haphazardly plopped onto the page in dense run-on paragraphs. It works in the novella but in graphic novel format it is clunky and difficult to follow.

If you've been a fan of GRRM's other work and didn't vibe with this graphic novel, please please pick up a copy of "Tuf Voyaging", an anthology of serial short stories of which "The Plague Star" is the first of seven. It's a remarkable, underrated series of stories that's classic GRRM in a lot of ways. This adaptation does it no justice.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars...I'm...honestly not sure what I just read. It was so ridiculous. I don't know if something just got lost in translation with this being a graphic novel and the very cartoony art...but I cannot recommend this. The set up seemed ok but after the initial backstory I really didn't care about ANY of these characters at all.

[Janice Bridger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the cats but not the plague with large pustules and sores!! The goodie has 2 cats- that’s how I knew he was a good person!! The cats are called mushroom and havoc, but there’s lots of baddies and drawings of what is on a space ship, it doesn’t make me want to read many more graphic novels unless more cats!!

[Slowmadic · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read the novel version of this story (Tuf Voyaging), but I couldn't find it on Libby. I hadn't realised this was a graphic novel adaptation until I had it on my loans list. I found the font difficult to read on the screen and I just wasn't in the mood for lots of zooming in, so I returned it after a couple of pages.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recent Reads: Voyaging: The Plague Star. The first volume of Raya Golden's adaptation of George R R Martin's Tuf Voyaging turns its first novella into a graphic novel, a Treasure Island in space, full of betrayals. It works, bringing the characters to life with few changes. Fun.

[Patrick Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Raya Golden at NYCC this year, and she was really funny to speak to. Finally sat and read the graphic novel and really enjoyed as Raya put it "cats in space." Highly recommend to Sci-Fi fans. Looking forward to the next part.

[Makenna Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A battle of skills and wits! This was a fun sci fi story of a plague inducing star, found to be something more! And as always, with a power opportunity presented, comes an epic battle to claim it. I myself was very pleased with the battle that ensued! I'm excited to read the next part to the story!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story, might even read the second volume if they don’t kill a cat again, regardless of whether or not that cat is replaced soon after by a cloned version of itself.

[Zoidberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really unique protagonist gives this sci fi story a picaresque feel

[Hallie Cheyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, looking forward to the next volume, whenever that may be.

[leafy! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were cool, but I don't think this graphic novel was for me. The characters felt very absurdly unrealistic, the story moreso, and the art and the conveying of the story was just unappealing

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid adaptation. I’d really like new stories about the inestimable Haviland Tuf.

[Carenza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

[Nicholas Ghezzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t seem to escape cats haha. I enjoyed the read and hope to one day read more. I may read the tuff stories.

[Ellen Kozisek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. More that I feel like I should have, given some aspects of the storyline. Well written, and nice artwork.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

George R.R. Martin used to write some excellent science fiction, often tinged with horror. This adaptation of his novella "The Plague Star", first published in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, January-February 1985, falls into that category. In this story we see how Haviland Tuf evolves from a canny merchant into... something more. The Tuf series has always been one of my favorites of Martin's and it's unfortunate that he's tied himself up with those epic fantasies of his, for which he seems to have run out of steam to finish, rather than pursue these kinds of stories for which he seems to have a real fondness (or at least, used to). The adaptation and art by Raya Golden is excellent, capturing the tone of Martin's work. It's funny, suspenseful, and gory, all at once. Let's hope that there are more adaptations of the Tuf stories (and perhaps even some new ones by Martin) as promised on the final page.

[Daniel Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voyaging, Volume One: The Plague Star is a fantastic reimagining of George R.R. Martin’s Plague Star novella, filled with almost two hundred pages of Raya Golden’s gorgeous artwork. While past graphic novels based on Martin’s works have been hit or miss, this is one that fans of the author will not want to miss. It modernizes a classic story from the pre-Westeros era of Martin’s career with love and care. Moreover, it might just be the rare example of a graphic novel adaptation that is an even more ideal way to experience the story.

Full review:
https://winteriscoming.net/2023/10/03...