The beauty of science fiction is that you can shoehorn a lot of other genres into it—adventure, mystery, history, romance, noir, horror—while flooring readers with cinematic worldbuilding, like the sandscapes of Arrakis or the ice world of Hoth or a far-future, hardly recognizable Earth. But the physical transmogrifications that may happen along the way are just as much fun as the parti-colored planets. Whether it’s a piece of body-improving gadgetry or alien eggs that hatch in a human crew, planned and unplanned corporal developments are an entertaining if sometimes underappreciated part of SF storytelling. Here are some Indieland faves that tackle twists on the out-of-body experience.
Steve R. Fleming’s Adventures and Missions During Astral Projection is an exquisitely illustrated tale of possibilities. While sleeping, the hero, Steve, accrues powers that enable him to leave his comfy bed and astrally project, time-travel, inhabit other beings, and embark on an entire catalog of adventures big and small. Steve sometimes merges with fantastical creatures, like a murderous entity he calls “Rage,” and sometimes he simply ends up giving someone a lift in an SUV. “Charmingly, many of these highly charged fantasy encounters end with Steve snapping out of his experience and simply stating, ‘I was back in bed,’” observes our reviewer. It’s a “fascinating and visually striking series of extradimensional adventures” with 100-plus full-color illustrations.
Flight of the Chicxulub, an exercise in originality and high-octane exploits, borrows from Star Wars, Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and The Last of Us. Christopher Flakus’ “latinopunk” novella stars a cybernetically enhanced maverick careening through a dangerous, distant galaxy. Ryu Ruiz, a Han Solo–esque transporter, deals Starflesh, a hallucinogenic fungus that alters users both psychologically and physically, sometimes leaving them hairless and golden-colored. Ruiz, with no other job prospects, traverses a grimy cityscape to ply the fungus and be close to Starflesh kingpin Miriam, his one true love. “As the story bounces deftly from SF to action-oriented thrills and eventually to a kind of transcendent mysticism,” our reviewer says, “Flakus maintains a strong narrative voice and a clear vision, and shows deep care for these characters and their relationships along the way.” Our overall take: “Readers who enjoy exciting actioners set in unique but still recognizable futuristic settings will find a lot to like here. A thrilling SF tale driven by likable outlaw heroes.”
Iskar Awakening, the first installment of the Under the Alien Veil series, has a doozy of an out-of-body morph scene. Good-guy Joel Tremblay, newly out of prison after getting framed by a human trafficking ring he was about to take down, doesn’t wait long to find fresh trouble: “He discovers a gravely injured huge being in the middle of a road, cloaked in golden mist; next to him is a glass tube with what looks like a blue-skinned female being trapped inside,” explains our review. “After losing consciousness, Tremblay awakes and discovers that he’s somehow become a hybrid—half human and half alien, with untapped abilities.” In depicting Tremblay’s dramatic enhancement, author A.K. Algabi sets the scene for a debut that’s a “unique fusion of science fiction, dark fantasy, and detective fiction.”
Chaya Schechner is the president of Kirkus Indie.
