Black Star
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Stranded on an alien planet, two astronauts must battle deadly elements and each other to recover a reserve shuttle built for one
Black Star is a debut graphic novel by Eric Anthony Glover, based on his original unproduced screenplay, and illustrated by Arielle Jovellanos. In the future, interstellar travel is past its prime and sending shuttles beyond our solar system—even for vital scientific research—is a life-threatening gamble. However, in order to retrieve samples of an alien flower that may hold the key to saving countless lives, Harper North and her crew of scientists must journey to Eleos, a dangerous planet in deep space.
But as they approach Eleos, their ship is caught in an asteroid storm and as it hurtles towards the surface, its reserve shuttle detaches, landing over 100 kilometers away. When the rest of the crew perishes in the burning wreckage of the ship, North races towards the rescue shuttle built for one, hoping to fulfill their mission and survive.
But North isn’t alone: The team’s wilderness expert is still alive and hell-bent on hunting North down and claiming the shuttle for herself.
Now, North has no choice but to reach the shuttle first—and fast. The fuel is leaking. Her GPS battery is dying. And the planet’s deadly seasonal change is coming. As she battles the flora and fauna and tries to elude her ruthless former crew mate, North will find the cost of survival is dear . . . Will she be willing to pay that price?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This extraterrestrial survival thriller from Glover, making his debut with Jovellanos (the Jem and the Holograms series), beats with emotional tension and suspenseful action, despite some muddy exposition and character development. Harper North is a research scientist on an interstellar mission to a distant planet to harvest a flower species that may heal cancer. All of her crewmates are women, and among them are her rival, wilderness expert Parrish, and lighthearted medic Fletcher, who is Parrish's lover. An asteroid shower damages their craft and ignites a fire onboard while the crew is in stasis. North breaks free from her chamber but chooses not to risk her life to save Fletcher and Parrish, making the latter a bitter antagonist in the cat and mouse game that ensues after a crash landing on the planet. North treks through brutal storms and grueling terrain with the help of an AI-powered visor that serves as her guide and offers flashback holograms, which are well rendered but interrupt the momentum. Jovellanos injects energy with fluid action, expressive character design, and a radiant color palette with blazing red wildfires and icy blue shuttle scenes. Despite its narrative flow flaws, this offers a nifty take on interpersonal conflicts in interspace, bolstered by snazzy art. Agents: Joe Riley, Zero Gravity Management, and Karen Kaller, Illustration X.
