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Aetheric Mechanics
The year is 1907, and Britain has entered into a terrifying war with Ruritania, whose strange metal planes darken the skies, and whose monstrous war engines cast looming shadows from across the channel. Doctor Robert Watcham, lately returned to London from the front, makes his homecoming to Dilke Street. There lives his old friend and England's greatest amateur detective, Sax Raker. Even as his beloved city prepares for war, Raker is himself about to embark on the strangest (and, perhaps, the most important) investigation of his career: the case of the man who wasn't there. Is the mysterious, vanishing killer, at last, evidence for Raker's long-held belief in a secret criminal mastermind? Is it some apparition uniquely belonging to this city, a place that seems to have lost all semblance of sense two years ago? Or do all the signs point to something much, much worse?
48 pages, Paperback
First published October 21, 2004
1 person is currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Warren Ellis
1,965 books5,765 followersWarren Ellis is the award-winning writer of graphic novels like TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FELL, MINISTRY OF SPACE and PLANETARY, and the author of the NYT-bestselling GUN MACHINE and the “underground classic” novel CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, as well as the digital short-story single DEAD PIG COLLECTOR. His newest book is the novella NORMAL, from FSG Originals, listed as one of Amazon’s Best 100 Books Of 2016.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
December 25, 2008
Trust Warren Ellis to combine a murder mystery, steampunk, war stories, Sherlock Holmes, giant robots, quantum mechanics, and flying cars in just 40 pages. And make it good.
August 25, 2018
An impressive tale! Combining time travel, a complex whodunit and Sherlock Holmes (so named Sad Rakker) is one helluva amazing story. Started off slow, but builds quickly and the ending will mindfuck you for sure. It's the last thing I expected Sax Rakker to have done. But I guess that's what anyone else would've done once confronted with the ugly truth of the unreality of your existence. No one likes to be fodder for an experiment gone wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2010
So. The story is chugging along, doing nothing special, but the art is great right? So I keep on reading. How does it end? It ends like this: *magic happens* and that is unacceptable. Too clumsy. Too assured that its cleverness will save it.
December 23, 2009
It’s not very often that I get to review a graphic novel, so when a friend let me borrow this, I was really excited to tell you all about it.
Aetheric Mechanics takes place in an alternate Earth in which Britain is at war with a place called Ruritania, whose powerful technology is quickly turning the tide of the war in their favor. Doctor Richard Watcham returns from the war front and, upon reuniting with Sax Raker, an old friend and renowned amateur detective, he embarks on an investigation of bizarre origins.
I’m not familiar with Warren Ellis’ work, but if Aetheric Mechanics is any indication of his talent in coming up with weird stories, then I suspect I’ll enjoy just about anything he writes. There’s a lot going on here, and the brief instances that explain the current situation (the war with Ruritania, etc.) add some depth to the world Mr. Ellis is working with. Aetheric Mechanics is also generally visually gorgeous, with an exceptional amount of detail throughout the piece. Add to that a strange, steampunk-ish murder mystery and there’s plenty here to keep you entertained.
The dialogue is particularly strong here, unlike a lot of comics/graphic novels that try to write in a pseudo-Victorian/WW2-analogous era (assuming, of course, that I got the representative periods correct). Raker, for instance, has a distinct voice that will remind some, for reasons that become obvious when you read the story, of other detective types we've come to know. The other characters, while not as distinct as far as attention grabbing is concerned, hold their own in a world that will immediately spark some of the "gosh wow" desperately needed in quasi-SF tales.
The only problems I had with Aetheric Mechanics are probably normal things found within the comic/graphic novel industry. The story was, in my opinion, rushed, and I would have liked to see the story expanded over two or three volumes to give the twist ending greater impact. The result was that the relationships between characters were either left to reader assumption or not developed at all. Also, the lack of color and the pencil/ink combination removed some of the depth that needed to be there in certain panels (particularly the action-packed ones). Neither of these complaints ruined the experience for me, though.
Overall, I liked Aetheric Mechanics, despite its flaws. It’s not perfect, and I hope that Mr. Ellis and his artists continue writing in this world (the ending leaves a lot to be told). I think this is one of those graphic novels that can’t be left without sequels; it’s too big to be alone. If you’re a steampunk/detective mystery fan, then you should definitely check this one out.
Aetheric Mechanics takes place in an alternate Earth in which Britain is at war with a place called Ruritania, whose powerful technology is quickly turning the tide of the war in their favor. Doctor Richard Watcham returns from the war front and, upon reuniting with Sax Raker, an old friend and renowned amateur detective, he embarks on an investigation of bizarre origins.
I’m not familiar with Warren Ellis’ work, but if Aetheric Mechanics is any indication of his talent in coming up with weird stories, then I suspect I’ll enjoy just about anything he writes. There’s a lot going on here, and the brief instances that explain the current situation (the war with Ruritania, etc.) add some depth to the world Mr. Ellis is working with. Aetheric Mechanics is also generally visually gorgeous, with an exceptional amount of detail throughout the piece. Add to that a strange, steampunk-ish murder mystery and there’s plenty here to keep you entertained.
The dialogue is particularly strong here, unlike a lot of comics/graphic novels that try to write in a pseudo-Victorian/WW2-analogous era (assuming, of course, that I got the representative periods correct). Raker, for instance, has a distinct voice that will remind some, for reasons that become obvious when you read the story, of other detective types we've come to know. The other characters, while not as distinct as far as attention grabbing is concerned, hold their own in a world that will immediately spark some of the "gosh wow" desperately needed in quasi-SF tales.
The only problems I had with Aetheric Mechanics are probably normal things found within the comic/graphic novel industry. The story was, in my opinion, rushed, and I would have liked to see the story expanded over two or three volumes to give the twist ending greater impact. The result was that the relationships between characters were either left to reader assumption or not developed at all. Also, the lack of color and the pencil/ink combination removed some of the depth that needed to be there in certain panels (particularly the action-packed ones). Neither of these complaints ruined the experience for me, though.
Overall, I liked Aetheric Mechanics, despite its flaws. It’s not perfect, and I hope that Mr. Ellis and his artists continue writing in this world (the ending leaves a lot to be told). I think this is one of those graphic novels that can’t be left without sequels; it’s too big to be alone. If you’re a steampunk/detective mystery fan, then you should definitely check this one out.
November 3, 2010
I picked this up because I’m a Warren Ellis junkie, and will read anything with his name on it. I’m particularly fond of his APPARAT publishing project, in which he writes comics that might have been if not for the comics code and the superhero takeover. Sort of.
Anyhow, Aetheric Mechanics is a steampunk alternate history London in which quantum mechanics are available to turn-of-the-century technologists, such that Britain has ships in space. It follows the story of a doctor returning home from the front to reunite with his friend the eccentric police consultant…. The mystery they investigate is one of a partly-invisible man who seems to be orchestrating some mass kidnapping of aetheric specialists. The solution to the mystery borders on the Alan-Mooresian, feeling a bit like an issue of Promethia or something equally self-referential. A few other thoughts:
* The art in the comic is good, of course, with the Holmes doppleganger looking a lot like Jeremy Brett. At the same time, I prefer less dense images when the artist doing the inking doesn’t use much shading and the images are in black and white. Like Juan Jose Ryp’s stuff, I’m not as keen on the very dense images the larger panels in this comic use. That said, the cool Victorian space-age dreadnoughts and towering robots are awesome.
* Ellis does a nice job of revealing the Holmes aspect of the story. It occurred to me — oh man, doctor coming back from the war, returning to his “eccentric” roommate — just about the time that it’s actually confirmed for us.
* The resolution is satisfying, but not as amazing as some of Ellis’ other work has been. I guess it’s pretty hard to do that with a novella.
Anyhow, Aetheric Mechanics is a steampunk alternate history London in which quantum mechanics are available to turn-of-the-century technologists, such that Britain has ships in space. It follows the story of a doctor returning home from the front to reunite with his friend the eccentric police consultant…. The mystery they investigate is one of a partly-invisible man who seems to be orchestrating some mass kidnapping of aetheric specialists. The solution to the mystery borders on the Alan-Mooresian, feeling a bit like an issue of Promethia or something equally self-referential. A few other thoughts:
* The art in the comic is good, of course, with the Holmes doppleganger looking a lot like Jeremy Brett. At the same time, I prefer less dense images when the artist doing the inking doesn’t use much shading and the images are in black and white. Like Juan Jose Ryp’s stuff, I’m not as keen on the very dense images the larger panels in this comic use. That said, the cool Victorian space-age dreadnoughts and towering robots are awesome.
* Ellis does a nice job of revealing the Holmes aspect of the story. It occurred to me — oh man, doctor coming back from the war, returning to his “eccentric” roommate — just about the time that it’s actually confirmed for us.
* The resolution is satisfying, but not as amazing as some of Ellis’ other work has been. I guess it’s pretty hard to do that with a novella.
July 31, 2018
Very good. If not my favorite, Ellis is on my top 3 list of favorite comic book writers. Great little story & artwork, my only complaint is that's it's really short. Although the page count is pretty low almost every panel has a lot of good dialog, so in truth, it's probably got as much content as comic that's at least 50% bigger, so it was definitely worth the $6.99 I paid for it.
September 22, 2018
This was surprisingly fun! Truly amazing art by Pagliarani.
Holmes with a twist. A futuristic, beautiful, steampunk ish twist.
Holmes with a twist. A futuristic, beautiful, steampunk ish twist.
September 23, 2017
Ülilühike (40+ lk.) must-valge aurupunk, on ka elemente "Ruritaania romansist" ning peategelane "eradetektiiv Sax Raker", ja tema ustav arstist abiline "doktor Watcham" meenutavad muidugi teadagi keda, Baker Streedilt.
Ainult et ilmelikult lühike oli,ja mõnevõrra segase lõpplahendusega. Mulle jäi rohkem mulje miskist keel-põses naljast kui korralikust aurupungist.
Ja no must-valge mulle eriti ei istu ka, pole kunagi istunud. Keskmine "kolm".
Ainult et ilmelikult lühike oli,ja mõnevõrra segase lõpplahendusega. Mulle jäi rohkem mulje miskist keel-põses naljast kui korralikust aurupungist.
Ja no must-valge mulle eriti ei istu ka, pole kunagi istunud. Keskmine "kolm".
July 24, 2019
I wasn't sure exactly what this was all about, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's basically a steampunk Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson tale, but there's a little more to it than that. There's also a big twist at the end I didn't see coming.
The art fit the story perfectly, and the clean black and white style worked great.
Overall this was good, and probably a bit of hidden gem as many readers probably aren't aware of this one.
The art fit the story perfectly, and the clean black and white style worked great.
Overall this was good, and probably a bit of hidden gem as many readers probably aren't aware of this one.
July 15, 2019
As coisas estão um pouco confusas na Londres de final do século XIX. O poderoso império britânico está a perder uma sangrenta guerra contra a Ruritânia, e Londres desaba sob o peso das bombas trazidas pelas impunes aeronaves. A marinha espacial britânica é impotente face às violentas máquinas de guerra da Ruritânia. Ao lado de tudo isto, o meticuloso detective Sax Raker, acompanhado do seu fiel amigo, o médico militar Watcham, e da sua némesis e paixão, Innana Meyer, investiga o estranho caso de um homem que cintilia. Esse homem misterioso acaba por se revelar um mensageiro do futuro, que tenta destruir um passado fictício tornado real por um acidente no decorrer de uma experiência do Large Hadron Collider. É este o mundo da mecânica etérica, onde os cientistas vitorianos parecem conhecer os segredos do espaço, do tempo e da anti-gravidade.
Aetheric Mechanics é um fantástico pastiche de conceitos, personagens e ideias da ficção. Ellis brinca com mestria com conceitos que vão do Steampunk às tragédias previstas pelo funcionar do LHC, distorcendo personagens clássicas da literatura inglesa do século XIX. É por isso que Sherlock Holmes acaba com o apelido de Sax, de Sax Roehmer, escritor de romances de aventura e autor do Prisioneiro de Zenda, obra onde o país ficcional Ruritânia é descrita. Um pouco na linha da Liga dos Cavalheiros Extraordinários de Alan Moore e do livro The Difference Engine de Bruce Sterling e William Gibson, mas com o sentido visceral que Ellis confere à sua prosa.
Este é um comic que nos agarra, e com o seu final inconclusivo nos deixa com vontade de ler mais. Terá Ellis na forja alguma nova aventura passada nesta Londres vitoriana e etérica?
Aetheric Mechanics é um fantástico pastiche de conceitos, personagens e ideias da ficção. Ellis brinca com mestria com conceitos que vão do Steampunk às tragédias previstas pelo funcionar do LHC, distorcendo personagens clássicas da literatura inglesa do século XIX. É por isso que Sherlock Holmes acaba com o apelido de Sax, de Sax Roehmer, escritor de romances de aventura e autor do Prisioneiro de Zenda, obra onde o país ficcional Ruritânia é descrita. Um pouco na linha da Liga dos Cavalheiros Extraordinários de Alan Moore e do livro The Difference Engine de Bruce Sterling e William Gibson, mas com o sentido visceral que Ellis confere à sua prosa.
Este é um comic que nos agarra, e com o seu final inconclusivo nos deixa com vontade de ler mais. Terá Ellis na forja alguma nova aventura passada nesta Londres vitoriana e etérica?
December 11, 2008
An above-average Warren Ellis story with great black and white art. I was drawn in by the steampunk Sherlock Holmesy-ness, but was impressed and surprised by a way-out there conclusion that explains a lot more than you think it will but still leaves you dying to know what will happen to these characters next. Very short too.
June 13, 2015
This felt more like a long teaser than a finished product. The art is really nice, and the ending is interesting but comes about way too suddenly.
May 12, 2021
The opening page looks like a scene from England in or at the end of World War One. The caption reads, “March 1907 Royal Albert Docks London,” and the ship is a troopship. The uniforms the men are wearing are standard British army and navy of the time.
However, the context is dramatically altered on page 4, when a few men get on a circular platform and it flies away. Britain is at war with a country called Ruritania and the planes of that country routinely fly over British skies. Humanity has also left Earth and traveled to other planets, there is the statement, “American privateers spotted around Mars.” However, despite the unusual context, this story is basically a modification of the Sherlock Holmes tales.
The main character in the opening captions is Doctor Richard Watcham, returning from a tour of duty at the front. He comes back to familiar territory, Dilke Street in London, where he rooms with his old friend Sax Raker. Raker is the greatest amateur detective, often called in to solve the toughest cases.
A man is found dead in the street and Raker is called to investigate. Watcham goes with him and the case revolves around people skilled in the area of aetheric mechanics, the science behind flight. Raker smokes a curved pipe and has the same detached manner to most of the world that Holmes had.
The mystery is a deep one and involves a scientific cabal as well as the ongoing war with Ruritania. It is an odd story, one that fans of Sherlock Holmes will appreciate. However, readers unfamiliar with the fundamentals of the Holmes character may not be able to appreciate the similarities. The sight of gentlemen of London at the turn of the century getting into a cab that hovers over the street was quite amusing.
However, the context is dramatically altered on page 4, when a few men get on a circular platform and it flies away. Britain is at war with a country called Ruritania and the planes of that country routinely fly over British skies. Humanity has also left Earth and traveled to other planets, there is the statement, “American privateers spotted around Mars.” However, despite the unusual context, this story is basically a modification of the Sherlock Holmes tales.
The main character in the opening captions is Doctor Richard Watcham, returning from a tour of duty at the front. He comes back to familiar territory, Dilke Street in London, where he rooms with his old friend Sax Raker. Raker is the greatest amateur detective, often called in to solve the toughest cases.
A man is found dead in the street and Raker is called to investigate. Watcham goes with him and the case revolves around people skilled in the area of aetheric mechanics, the science behind flight. Raker smokes a curved pipe and has the same detached manner to most of the world that Holmes had.
The mystery is a deep one and involves a scientific cabal as well as the ongoing war with Ruritania. It is an odd story, one that fans of Sherlock Holmes will appreciate. However, readers unfamiliar with the fundamentals of the Holmes character may not be able to appreciate the similarities. The sight of gentlemen of London at the turn of the century getting into a cab that hovers over the street was quite amusing.
November 17, 2024
I didn’t quite know what I was getting into when I bought this, only that my flick through in store showed some excellent art with a steampunk vibe. That remains true.
The opening pages were a little off putting with the colonial Britishness of it all, but carry on and see where we’re going.
And then, ah, a doctor returning from war meets with his old friend, the amateur detective. The names and addresses are different, and we’re in a world of aetheric mechanics and space battleships, but I see what we’re doing.
The case was interesting enough, although there was a point near the end where it seemed that everything good that had preceded it was about to be thrown away. Not quite, but still unsure how I feel about the conclusion. The art remains excellent.
The opening pages were a little off putting with the colonial Britishness of it all, but carry on and see where we’re going.
And then, ah, a doctor returning from war meets with his old friend, the amateur detective. The names and addresses are different, and we’re in a world of aetheric mechanics and space battleships, but I see what we’re doing.
The case was interesting enough, although there was a point near the end where it seemed that everything good that had preceded it was about to be thrown away. Not quite, but still unsure how I feel about the conclusion. The art remains excellent.
June 29, 2024
OK, so I am on a Warren Ellis kick. Sue me. This follows the same format as Frankenstein's Womb, basically a glorified 'prestige format' 48 page book. Graphic novella does sound sexier, I'll admit. Like FW, the shorter story length works because the story is long enough to make a point but is not bloated and padded out to fill a 120 page book. There isn't the investment of both time and money that often makes these things seem not worthwhile. I copped an attitude towards the story at first because it seemed kind of "steam punk", but there is a payoff at the end. This story isn't gripping but it is a worthwhile read.
May 31, 2023
The art is gorgeous, the concept is cool, but the written execution is very poor. This won’t make sense to those who haven’t read this, but you simply cannot create a narrative with an ending which the reader necessarily needs to get to, or else they won’t understand (and accept?) why the story has been insufferable and unoriginal up until that point.
July 31, 2017
A very unique book.
Blending a Sherlock Holmes-esque
tale with steampunk and a very shocking reveal
at the end.
A different London than history remembers.
A London with aetheric machines brought
to life with beautiful detail by illustrator
Pagliarani.
Blending a Sherlock Holmes-esque
tale with steampunk and a very shocking reveal
at the end.
A different London than history remembers.
A London with aetheric machines brought
to life with beautiful detail by illustrator
Pagliarani.
August 27, 2017
The artwork is lovely, the story is solid - with the idea of a world of mashed together fictional concepts from the Victorian period explained in a new and different way - and worth the read. It's not Ellis' deepest work, but it is a fun book.
September 15, 2017
This was an incredible take on steampunk Sherlock Holmes. My one complaint is that I hate reading a story that is so deft and detailed in its worldbuilding (even if that world is effectively a fanfiction rendition of another world) but in the end is more of a prologue than a complete tale.
December 28, 2018
A fun little puzzle-box with an unexpected heart. A teensy bit too slight, but just fine when calculating all the subtext. Gorgeous, liquid, highly-detailed art of an alternate yet terrifyingly familiar world.
October 20, 2020
Retro dieselpunk Sherlock Holmes alt-history mashup with a wild ending worthy of the buildup. The art is crisp like fresh watermelon and the story takes you in a direction I doubt you saw coming, like when someone eats the rind in front of you.
September 29, 2021
A Sherlockian tale with steampunk and sci-fi. It's kind of a simplified metafiction and the simplifying felt a bit rushed. The overall concept had it's potential to grow further. But it kinda got wasted.
September 17, 2018
The choice of ending was... interesting.
March 31, 2021
The art was pretty good for black and white' The Story was intriguing and somewhat amusing, right up until the abrupt and irritating ending.
May 28, 2021
An interesting alternative universe take on Sherlock Holmes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2023
I really like the art. The story has a fun twist, but until the twist I wasn't really digging it.
Still, it's short.
Still, it's short.
October 31, 2024
Sherlock Holmes fanfic with a great finale. Beautifully detailed black & white comic.
January 31, 2025
It had quite a lot of layers and different kinds of humour for a graphic novella, and did I like it? Absolutely! The plot twist though... precious for my soul of a PhD student in literature!
February 4, 2025
Pretty fun, with good references and twists and turns throughout. Just a bit too boring at some points though.
7/10.
7/10.
January 7, 2017
I have no idea how I found this book. I was looking through lists of books I had saved in my library catalog and found it there, but I don't recall when I found it, or what attracted me to it at the time. I almost didn't want to read it because I've found Warren Ellis's works to be a bit irritating, but this wasn't a bad read. My initial impression was that it was a good Sherlock Holmes sort of story (I've read a few in the past), hitting the right notes of camaraderie between main characters and the absurd levels of observation and deduction displayed by the detective. Of course, it isn't Sherlock Holmes and so part of my initial reaction was wondering why if they were going to copy so many of the details they felt the need to change the names anyway. Of course the solution of the case provides the explanation, in a way. I found it a bit annoying. The science of course is bad, since yet again we see quantum mechanics being used to justify fantasy, but it also stupidly assumes that thoughts and ideas and concepts are equal to "information" as used in quantum theory. But even setting that aside, the resulting world lacks internal coherence, which is rather annoying. How can Britain have space ships (in the steampunky literal ship that flies into space variety) and concerns about holding territory around Mars, and yet be in imminent danger of being invaded? If the threat of loss is that great, either their fleet should have been destroyed, or entirely recalled to provide defense. Of course the true culprit is plot, which wants to introduce us to ideas slowly to start, but then ratchets up the tension for ultimate drama in the end in under 50 pages.
Ultimately, the story is fun if you ignore all of the justification, and it has nice, clean art, so I liked it. And it is quite short, so it is hard to really hate it for its pretentiousness.
Ultimately, the story is fun if you ignore all of the justification, and it has nice, clean art, so I liked it. And it is quite short, so it is hard to really hate it for its pretentiousness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews