Project ARKA: Into the Dark Unknown

by Romain Benassaya, Joan Urgell (Illustrator)

In the year 2182, citizens of a dying Earth flee to a distant promised land in a massive colony ship, the Arka III. They do not reach their intended destination…

In the not-too-distant future, the Earth has been destroyed, its orbit withering and its citizens desperate to escape to the stars. The solution? The Arka project, massive vessels bound for the distant planet of Leonis.

When the passengers of Arka III awaken from their long intergalactic journey, they realize they’re not on Leonis. Not only that, their journey has taken much longer than the planned two hundred years, and has landed them in a starless, seemingly endless void. Eric Rives, the ship’s second-in-command, and his partner Jia Tang are sent on an exploratory mission to investigate the dark labyrinth that surrounds them…but what they find is beyond belief.

Young French space opera novelist Romain Benassaya adapts his own 2018 novel, Pyramides , available now for the first time in English featuring lushly illustrative art by Joan Urgell.

Praise for Romain Benassaya (translated from French)
"...in line with the great novels of the genre such as Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, or Hyperion by Dan Simmons." - Le Tourne Page
"The author lets us imagine a much larger universe, which we could populate at will. A true science fiction phenomenon." - SyFantasy.fr
"...damn I love this universe! It's full of mystery, full of promise too, and I can't help but see in the author a form of reincarnation of a modern Arthur C. Clarke..." Lorkhan and the Bad Kind
"What a frantic storytelling. Twists, cliffhangers, a steady pace. Worthy of a great cinematographic series. The novel places the human at the heart of the plot. Charismatic characters quite mistreated, credible extraterrestrials, surprising genetically modified creatures. Everything is there. In supercolor!" - fan review, Babelio.com

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels Comics, Manga, Comic Book

120 pages, Hardcover

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

Romain Benassaya est né à Nice en 1984. Après des études de linguistique menées à Paris, il enseigne le français à l’étranger, au Canada, puis en Ouganda et à Bangkok. Avec Arca, il signe
son premier roman aux éditions Critic et fait une entrée très remarquée dans le monde du space‑opera.

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Future can only be founded upon principles of plurality, We can't regard certain Views as "flawed" or dismiss them as "irrational tendencies"

I received a copy of this Graphic Novel, in exchange for an honest review, Thanks Romain, Joan, And NetGalley for the opportunity.
4.5/5 Stars
This will come out 18th of July 2023, This is an adaptation of the writer's own novel Pyramides that he wrote in 2018, It's also an English translation from the already published Graphic novel, which is available in French, Tune in because This is a Sci-Fi Extravaganza for the ages!

What can i say, Europe stand up your talents are beautiful, Humanoids and Europe comics are translating as much as they can, But we need more, This really does push so much life energy into the entertainment industry that is comics, We need more i can not stress it enough, The Works are already out there, the translations will expand the Graphic novels to a global audience, no continent is void of English speakers.

Not Only that, so far the translated Europe comics i read were not really European?! Translate the ones that speak of Local hopes and struggles and social issues too!
I remember watching a movie about a French woman, that got layed off from a factory, And the movie was really mundane social drama, but i found it so beautiful, i think it got either nominated for an Oscar for best actress or even won the thing!

Why the subtracted half star? I wasn't a fan of the faces! But honestly after learning at the end that this is actually water color art, maybe i need to ponder and reconsider giving it full mark xD
Luckily for Sci-Fi pencilers, I care so much about details, because screw people, Sci-Fi means galaxies, Colonies on different planets, Space ships, Aliens with intricate new details, You succeed in all that, and make human faces that i don't like, i will still love you to Death!

Romain Benassaya Man, you are brilliant! I know i didn't read as many Sci-Fi as i want, but i watched movies, i played video games, i read 141 Sci-Fi's, But your idea was awesome, The Dystopia of it all, The Brilliance of just stating the obvious, that in order to make ships that can travel a galaxy, They need to self sustain, oxygen and fuel and food among many other things, now while the Writer didn't say how we will do that, or if we do that why we are even leaving Earth?!

I'll tell you why, Because the planet is inhabitable now, Because people who were left on earth, were literally left for dead, leaving for a land and a sky and all that, means the planet turned into a hell hole already!

A lot of aspects i won't speak about, because they are part of the intrigue, most of the graphic novel, was intriguing details, and events, that you are waiting to happen, even though, it was only 106 pages, It was awesome.

And as usual from Humanoids, Double covers i loved them both, and all the previous reads really.

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read original novel Pyramides by Romain Benassaya that was adapted to a comic book by the author himself, so I can't judge on quality and differences, but if the novel is anything as this comic book then it needs a whole lot of work to make it work.
The idea of a dying Earth and giant ark ships that are venturing into the unknown to find a new place for humankind to live is nothing new, but Romain is trying to add some new twists. Alas, even those twists are not genuine and entire comic book looks like a mishmash of different novels (Report on an Unidentified Space Station and Walking to Aldebaran) and movies such as Alien and Passengers, which itself doesn't have to be a bad idea as derivatives sometimes can be fun. However, this comic book fails in so many aspects.
Though the premise and story sound interesting with that cosmic horror feel, writing is dry. Characters are cardboard cutouts, poorly developed with a behavior that cannot be explained easily. Talking insects in the second part were definitely too much.
Art is so so. Environment looks great, but persons look like something drawn by a student in a third grade.
It ends with a cliffhanger, but I'm not sure I want to know what's happening later on.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, traditional SciFi story. Lots of story elements we've seen before, but put together into an interesting story. I hope it continues.

Humans find themselves trapped and must work together to survive. If you know anything about humans, you can predict they won't do that!

The art is also nice. The faces in particular are drawn very realistically, not in a comic-book style. Some here didn't like that. (Maybe it is too close to the uncanny valley for some?) But I like it. And the watercolor painting is also quite nice.

The author of the comic adapted it from his own novel. But as far as I can tell it is adapted from Pyramides and not from Arca, though both take place in the same "story universe".

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

8- In France there's a tradition of adapting French SF-novels in graphic novel (or BD) format. And these tend up to be translated, so I can read them. The great thing about this trend is every book tells a (mostly) complete story just like a novel would - it's not part of a series where you have to wait years till it's completed. And every book has another art style, another design.
This one is a fascinating story that mixed SF with cosmic horror. A space ship leaves for another planet. Suddenly the crew is awakened, they find out they are not where they were supposed to be - and thousands of years have passed and not just a dozen. So far, so good (there are multiple movies with this theme). But then there is the place they end up in - a weird plain without a sun, that stretches on indefinitely. And there are the 'gardeners' - creatures that tended to the plants on board the ship, but that have evolved in the thousands of years that have passed. There are more leaps in time, monsters and the question if the crew should be content with settling in their new environment or try to find a way out.
I didn't especially like the stoic, unemotional main character Eric (who also is very easily seduced by a crew member in betraying his pregnant girlfriend). There were shifts in personality that were hard to accept - I hope they were better motivated in the novel.
But I liked the weirdness of the environment, the art style, and the way the story came to a conclusion without answering all the questions. Enough answers to be satisfied with this book, but also enough questions left open to read on if ever a second volume would appear. I will certainly read this book again, if only for the art and the sense of scale of some of the environments. They would inspire my own imagination, I think.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

83%

I couldn't stop reading this one! I started reading it at work, and usually as a rule I separate work reading from home reading, but as soon as I got home I pulled it up to finish reading it.

The very basic premise of the story isn't anything new; in fact, the way it started out felt almost like a continuation of the 2016 'Passengers' movie, with all the unexpected plant growth - space fiction has been a huge genre since at least the 50's, so you can't expect anything completely and truly novel in the genre. That being said, I was still gripped by the mystery of what the heck was going on. Space fiction can go in so many directions, and this story kept me on my toes wondering which path we were going down.

I'm tentatively excited to see the story continue: this story could easily take a disappointing turn, but I hope it doesn't!

P.S. Eric is TRASH, he couldn't keep it in his pants for even a WEEK while he had a pregnant girlfriend at home?!? He doesn't deserve happiness. I hope his child realizes he's trash instead of viewing him as some sort of hero. Barf.

~Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc. for the advanced copy.

A unique sci-fi vision, with twinges of space horror. The plot is very reminiscent of a free short story that you can find online by Googling: Report on an Unidentified Space Station by JG Ballard, an utterly creepy cosmic horror mystery.

The art was decent, very much in line with the art typical in French comics. The characters are given little development for the sake of world-building, unfortunately, though this is the first in a series of comics. I had to take a star for this though because I think it does hamper the story in the end, especially for the character of Johanna who behaves in a way that makes zero sense, because it's given no reason (and I don't accept "I'm sad because I left my family behind" as an excuse, there was nothing behind it, just telling no showing).

But the world-building is top notch. I am curious to see where this goes!

[Gab · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This graphic novel is an adaptation of the novel Pyramides, originally written in French by Romain Benassaya. I have not read the novel, so I cannot comment on how well it follows the original text.

I enjoyed Project ARKA.
The world and the characters are interesting, and the main dilemma is posed in such a way that it is truly a difficult decision that's causing conflict in the story and as the reader, you do not know which option is the good one.
The situation unfolds in a compelling way.

The art style isn't a personal fave, but the illustrations of the gardens are absolutely beautiful.

Thank you NetGalley and Humanoids Inc. for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

These "generational/cryosleep ship" type of sci fi either work on many levels (e.g., Alien/Aliens movies) or completely fall apart due to having no place to go. While this particular story doesn't hit as many of the clichés of alien horrors stalking poor colonists, there are some seriously problematic issues that destroy any chance of this being good (or even worth the read).

Story: Officer Eric Rives and partner, exobiologist Johanna, are cleared to join the Arka III - the third exploratory ship sent from a dying Earth. They are charted to reach Leonis in a few hundred years of sleep and will settle there with the 1500 other passengers. But they are awakened to find they have not reached Leonis - and instead are stranded in a mysterious place. Along with the insect-like robots who were tending the biodomes and somehow evolved over time, they will have to survive.

As with most stories in this subgenre of sci fi, there is plenty of mystery and often horror aspects as well. It's a slow burn type of storytelling that can succeed or fail based on the characters and how they handle the pressure, stress, and unknown. Unfortunately, with this book, either the translation from French, the translation into graphic novel format from the original novel, or the source prose is deeply flawed. The story and worldbuilding is fine but the ball was dropped with the characters. They felt like wooden dolls walking around and either not reacting organically or randomly going into histrionics for little reason. Our protagonist, Eric Rivas, makes drying wallpaper look more fascinating and interesting. He spends most of the book reacting rather than being proactive -and that's when he's not being inexplicably callous (e.g., his willingness to jump into bed with another woman only a day after learning his beloved wife is pregnant is baffling character development). I honestly was beginning to hope the main character would be revealed as a robot since he had so little life throughout the story. Alas, he was human. Wife Johanna's motivations for her actions are completely unknown and similarly baffling. There just isn't enough character development to give any depth or nuance to anyone in this story.

The artwork is both beautiful and frustrating. Like the plot, the big picture looks good but when it comes to the characters, they are expressionless and wooden. Everyone is super good looking and like the worst of Marty Stu storytelling, both women fall madly for the dull protagonist and both women are stunningly beautiful. It gets old. Action scenes are very hard to tell what is going on and at times I was lost and had to just give up on understanding a certain sequence. It wasn't because of high concepts - it was purely because the art was so static that anything with motion (expressions, emotion, movement) was poorly or emptily illustrated. The colors cheme, however, was quite lovely - a washed out set of watercolors.

In all, I would read the next book to see where it goes but I greatly hope something changes. What we have here should have worked beautifully but fell apart due to odd choices in the storytelling and artwork. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

[First off, I didn't realize this was the first volume of a series. I thought it was going to be a stand-alone graphic novel. This isn't really a qualm about the story, more so of an annoyance that the book isn't properly tagged.]

Earth is dying, and several ships have fled to the stars. This fleet of colony ships is destined for a far-off planet named Leonis, where they plan to completely start over. The passengers of Arka III, the third ship in the fleet, wake up in a place that is not Leonis, but instead, a mysterious place where there are no stars. They also discover that they have been asleep far longer than the two hundred years that they expected. The crew then sets out to explore the strange place that they are now in, only to discover the environment is a bit more hostile than they first realized. There are elements of this that were far more mind-bendy than I expected, a bit reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The world-building in this novel is very interesting, as are the technologies. The plot pacing was a bit off, however. It goes from moving fairly slowly in the beginning, only to do a sudden 180 and take off at Mach eighty. The overall story is interesting, plot issues non withstanding. The character's desire to keep exploring, to find the truth of where they ended up, and to find a way to leave, is something that the reader also wants. You want them to keep going and keep exploring, because you want to know the truth of this mysterious place that they are in. It's clearly an almost otherworldly place, but how did it come to be? The way characters are developed feels a bit odd. It's like they've been given set traits, but then never have the characters expanded on. Some characters do make some VERY odd decisions, that made me pause and go "But...why would you do that? That's so out of the blue?". The art style is interesting. It's done in a painted style, which is very pretty. But the character's faces barely make expressions, and constantly look blank-faced. The action scenes are also just eh. This honestly makes me want to read the original novel to see if the same issues with the plot pacing exist there, or it if was getting turned into a graphic novel that caused these issues. I will be seeking out the second volume, mostly because I want to know the truth myself..

[S.E. Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Project ARKA: Into the Dark Unknown, an adaptation of Romain Benassaya's French space opera novel, Pyramides, promised much but delivered somewhat less than expected. It teases us with an enticing premise, playing on the archetypal narrative of a dying Earth and its desperate citizens seeking refuge in a distant promised land, the planet Leonis. However, when it comes to the execution, the story stumbles and its bright points are often overshadowed by a few concerning issues.

From a science fiction standpoint, the story is genuinely thrilling. The idea of a massive colony ship, Arka III, with its occupants waking up in a starless, seemingly endless void, brims with potential. The exploratory mission by the ship's second-in-command, Eric Rives, and his partner Jia Tang, propels us into a gripping mystery.

Yet, the comic book adaptation suffers from a lack of depth in character development. Romances occur without groundwork, relationships don't gel, and characters are not fleshed out enough to be compelling. Joanna, a key character, becomes hard to tolerate, and Eric's decision to cheat on her right after she gets pregnant lacks believability and emotional nuance. Joanna's sudden transformation into a villain in the second half feels forced and, quite frankly, unearned.

The pacing, too, is problematic. Events rush by in a disorienting manner, which disrupts narrative flow and makes it hard to form an emotional connection with any of the characters.

The visual art of Project ARKA fluctuates wildly. Some scenes are mesmerizing, echoing the aesthetic beauty of classic French sci-fi comics. However, the depictions of characters are less successful. Faces often appear awkward with overdrawn expressions, which distracts from the storytelling. On a positive note, the use of a limited color palette was lovely, lending a unique, atmospheric quality to the overall aesthetic.

Considering the high praise surrounding the original book, Pyramides, it's disappointing that this adaptation falls short of expectations. One gets a sense that much of the original's appeal might have been lost in translation to the comic book format.

In conclusion, while Project ARKA offers an exciting story premise, the execution is a mixed bag. Fans of the original novel or those looking for a satisfying space opera might want to stick with the book series instead of this comic adaptation. I probably will be picking up the original book and continuing there.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I can't say much about Project ARKA because it felt pretty generic. Space mission lost in an impossible tunnel inhabited by some big space monsters, some kind of time relativity thing that makes one portion of them age x years while the others felt they were only gone a week - we've all seen it a hundred times over and Romain Benassaya doesn't innovate on these concepts at all. That being said, the story itself is absolutely fine and entertaining. There were cool ideas that ultimately didn't get explored enough for my liking (e.g., Johanna's politics, her rise to power, or the role of the gardeners in all of that), but the narrative was definitely all right and had some good moments. The characters felt very one-dimensional to the point where I had a hard time distinguishing side characters; stronger characterizations would have definitely helped the whole comic book imo.
Apparently, there are gonna be more volumes, but I didn't see any hook to carry us over to the next portion of the story, so I can't even guess how the narrative is gonna develop. Since the novel it's based on sits at over 600 pages, I'm sure there's more than enough material to keep it going though.

The art is done skillfully, but since it's been done in watercolor (I assume), the colors and the line art feel washed out most of the time. It's a shame cause Joan Urgell definitely knows what he's doing, but the whole comic book has a weird, blurry look to it, almost as if the pages were subpar scans of the original.

Ultimately, Projekt ARKA's story is all right, albeit nothing new, with some nice moments. If you're looking for something to entertain you for an hour or so, you can safely pick it up. If you're looking for something more, you'll probably be disappointed. In the end, not every single piece of fiction needs to be the next timeless classic and I can appreciate the effort that was put into Project ARKA.

- ARC provided by NetGalley -

[Jack Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids for sending me a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
~

So: Interesting art, bland story.

Ugh. I wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t get into it. The premise could be exciting—a massive colony ship trapped in some sort of unfathomably large labyrinth, with no discernible exit—but that’s pretty much where any excitement ends. There just isn’t enough depth to the characters to give the story the weight it desperately needs, and combining that with tired sci-fi tropes and uneven pacing makes this far more of a chore than I would’ve liked. The one saving grace is the art, which is, for the most part, has a pretty unique style and makes great use of watercolor with a lot of fine details. It’s also fairly short, so at least it doesn’t drag you out forever with a bloated plot.

The art is definitely worth taking a look at if you’re into these sorts of stories and want to see a different take on the spaceship aesthetic, but I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone looking to get into graphic novels. It’s just not, unfortunately, that good.

2.5/5, rounded down to 2.

[mire]

Thank you NetGalley and Humanoids, Inc**.** for an ARC of this book.

‘Project ARKA: Into the Dark Unknown’ piqued my attention as it’s premise was similar to that of Wall·E with a darker undertone to it. This first volumen presents a dying Earth, whose inhabitants are looking to move to another planet a few hundred light-years away: Leonis; by means of the ARK III space-craft. However, upon awaking from the slumber that would allow the crew to have stable vital signs during the voyage, the captan of the craft discovers that something has gone wrong while they were in deep slumber. Hare is where the story begins.

With a dark, moody art-style Benassaya and Urgell are able to convey the very mysterious ambiance that permeates the story. Additionally, the use of unsaturated colours is reminiscent of a more classic comic illustrated by hand instead of by means of digital resources.

This very intriguing first volume sure made my wondering mind spiral over what will happen once the Earth truly becomes uninhabitable for us humans. What is it that truly awaits us out there?

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Currently available on Kindle Unlimited, this is a graphic novel adaptation of a French sci-fi novel, written by the novelist. The story is very intriguing albeit following a classic premise of explorers finding themselves trapped in a truly alien and incomprehensible environment, then falling into infighting between those who seek to make the most of their plight and those who wish to escape. It’s a thrilling interpretation of that theme. However, the interpersonal relationships in this crisis environment feel implausible with emotional / sexual relationships breaking up and forming in convenient and cliché ways. The art is beautiful and atmospheric with fabulous imagination for ships, aliens, backgrounds, but strangely the characters are all lacking plausibility as well. All characters seem stiff and unexpressive, difficult to tell apart. This is the first episode of a series, as the story gets nowhere, but I’ll definitely want to read on, as well as find the original novel. I’ll probably reread this and will add a star when I do.

[Tracy]

Rama meets colony ships. I haven't read the original but suspect this adaptation tried to stay too true to it because there was so much plot there wasn't room to develop any characters or explain things. I thought the sentient insects were the most unique aspect, but the plot instead focused on the explorers, which is much more trodden territory, so less interesting.

I didn't understand Johanna's motivations and suspected there must be some nefarious reason, but I think it was all her. Eric is a tool -- it would have been more interesting for Jia to serve as the other main character to Johanna instead.

The art was pretty but the people were leaden -- either neutral expressions, closed mouths when they're speaking, or dramatically over the top. The insects were almost more expressive by virtue of body language -- though I had a hard time telling them apart, which made their story difficult to follow.

[Meredith Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3/5 stars) This graphic novel is an adaption of the French novel Pyramides by the same author. I'm intrigued by the story -- passengers on a spaceship wake up from suspended animation only to find that their intended destination is nowhere in sight and they instead are trapped in a labyrinth of tunnels with no end in sight -- but the execution fell a bit flat for me. I understand with graphic novels there's not as much time or space to establish character motivations, so that could be part of it. The art was good - similar to other graphic novels in the same vein. I'll be interested to see where the next installment takes the cast of characters.

[Stanisław Janowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wszystko co w Science Fiction być powinno jest, a jednak coś nie gra.
Umierająca Ziemia, z której ludzkość ucieka wielkimi statkami-arkami, które mają przetransportować nas do Ziemi 2.0? Jest.
Przedwczesne/lub zbyt późne wybudzenie z kriogenicznego snu i wielkie robaki zagrażające kosmicznym podróżnikom? Jest i są.
Tajemnicze artefakty stworzone przez pradawnych kosmitów? No oczywiście, że tak.

Żeby zachować resztki sprawiedliwości, Benassay nie odtwarza jedynie najbardziej wyświechtanych klisz gatunku, dodaje od siebie kilka ciekawych smaczków, które sprawiają, że całość nie jest aż tak bardzo przewidywalna. To jednak za mało, aby w pełni polecić Arkę komukolwiek.

Format komiksu również pozostawia wiele do życzenia. Przy tak dużych rozmiarach (25x33cm) i imponujących grafikach szerokiego planu, postaci i tła wypadają dosyć blado i pusto.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

.......what.

Project ARKA: Into the Dark Unknown is a science fiction graphic novel that orbits the idea that earth has been destroyed, and the only solution to humanity is to take to the stars, with the destination of planet Leonis. Yet as the passengers awaken from their hyper sleep, they soon realize that they're short journey cost them over 200 years, and they are nowhere near Leonis.

I really wanted to love this graphic novel, as the art style was absolutely gorgeous. But I found that the characters weren't quite believable, as they were quite lacking in development in general. While the plot needed a little detangling to be understood. It was still a solid read though.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, this is that blend of Silent Running, Passengers, and, er, Tremors, you didn't know you needed. And still don't, having read it. An unusual awakening for some of the leaders on board an ark sent out of Earth proves to be a very unusual situation for all involved, leading to a split in the society between those who want to explore the way out, and those who just take any home they can get. It's about family, and the exploratory drive, but despite a couple of early spooky frissons and some decent 'aliens' to interact with, there's not a lot that's anywhere near wonderful here. Certainly the artwork needed improving, and the plot needed to settle on being derivative or fresh and not the fence-sitting position it ended up being in. Slightly better than three stars, but only just.

[Arkasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel adaptation of a SciFi novel about a human colony spaceship which inhabitants suddenly got awoken in a mysterious place in space where the stars can’t be seen.

I am impressed with the premise and the artwork. However the comic’s plot seems to be going in a 3x speed of how one expect a story’s pace would normally go, I felt like I was missing a certain depth, tension, and context. I have not read the original book but I can imagine the eerieness and creepiness of the story, which unfortunately are not present in the graphic novel. Many things seem rushed and simplified.

eARC provided by NetGalley & Humanoids Inc.

[Gabriel Noel · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review

Project ARKA was a bit of a let down. The story is adapted from the original French novel "Pyramides" which boasts a overdone plotline of a lost spaceship fleeing a dying earth. The story is...fine, but it's not really anything groundbreaking or exciting in the world of science fiction.

The character art throughout is dull and lacks emotion. Barely any characters have dynamic movement, facial expressions, or defining features. The background art is gorgeous but gets hidden behind poor panel design and framing. The book ends on a cliffhanger but with the lack of character development and plot I'm not likely to read the next installment.

[Irene ➰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

- Huge thanks to the author and publisher for approving me a copy of this book through NetGalley -

Meh I honestly wasn't a fan of this one.
Maybe I'm trying too hard to like sci-fi graphic novels but it seems very hard to find one I actually end up liking.
I have to say tho, the art was pretty and especially loved the coloring, but once again I just can't get into the plot. I start with my best intentions but end up every time super bored half way through it.

I honestly lost almost all memory of it already even if I read it just a couple of days ago.
Maybe it wasn't the best time, being super duper tired after the hard shopfit days.
But the art was pretty.

[Tomczi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Good and sometimes great art (except facial expression) and detailed designs of machinery and nature are the major good side of this comic. Plot and world building start out interesting and with a lot of potential, but end up rushed and a bit too shallow, so in the end they are just ok. Characters are the major flaw of this comic, dialogues feel often unnatural, we don't get too much insight into characters and the most important problem, they are all, except one of two main heroes, completely one dimensional. This comic ends with open ending, so there is continuation probably coming up, but I don't know if I will want to read it.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was some cool sci-fi. It was originally a French novel that the author turned into a comic that has now been translated into English. It's about some colonists from a failing Earth. They are headed to a new world full of plenty of resources when they wake up from hibernation with no stars to locate their position and things in their greenhouse have mutated. They discover they are in some kind of gigantic labyrinth. It incorporates single elements I've seen in various media together very well. I thought this was really well done. There is the promise of more as this ends open ended. I myself am very much looking forward to a sequel.

[Siu Lum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this unique sci-fi graphic novel. The art style was lovely and the story was compelling. The characters are compelling. I am rating this 3.5 stars and rounding up to a 4.

Earth was dying so people took to the stars to find a new home. People wake up on a ship, only to discover that they are not where they expect to be. The plot touches on human's need to be safe and their need to explore. This is the first book in a series and it leaves you with so many questions.

I can't wait to read the second volume.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

[Filip Matyaszewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this graphic novel..
ART: wonderful when it comes to the concept art, environment and creatures. However, the FACES are ugly, as if drawn by some different artist (or the artist is simply not good at drawing faces).
STORY: Overall theme seems to be very interesting. However, there are many stupid and illogical decisions made on the way. I don't know, maybe it's a result of trying to compact a book into a short comic book, without much insight into the characters' motivations.

[Juliettaslibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I'm being generous, it was like 3.25.

This was inspired from the novel Pyramids by Romain Benassaya, however, I haven't read it therefore I can't really speak on it -- just something to think about.

In general my reaction was: good not great.

I really enjoyed the artwork and overall idea behind this graphic novel the horror-esque aspect enticing and really well done. It felt mature but in a well-done way that wasn't super in your face. I also liked the dialogue, it felt realistic.

The thing I struggled with was the pacing. Things felt too quick, events coming and going without the complexity I felt was warranted for what was happening. It took me out of the story on multiple occasions because I kept feeling like I missed something, going back to reread things to make sure I hadn't.

Overall, I did enjoy this story but I'm not sure I'll be seeking out the next one.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great for readers who like sci fi graphic novels with lost worlds, time lapses, weird creatures, monsters, tunnels and a complex and mysterious story. This is it right here! It is gripping with complex characters and a great story line. The artwork is excellent and it has a way of drawing you into the story. My only complaint is that this book ended on a cliff hanger.


Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un bon début d'histoire de SF classique de belle planches aux couleurs neutres, parfois la BD va un peu vite et il manque quelques développements, gros point faible la fin n'est pas dans cette bd qui se termine abruptement et le tout manque de conclusion lire que ce tome ne sert à rien sinon à débuter un monde sans le finir, dommage cela aurait été bien avec la fin incluse.

[Sarah Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed Project ARKA. With the way the world is set up and the overall dilemma the characters face within the story is truly captivating. It kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat the entire time while trying to figure out what the characters will face next. Really enjoyed this graphic novel and can’t wait to see what happens next