Review: Infinity 8
The Infinity is a huge intergalactic city ship en route from the Milky Way to the Andromeda galaxy, a trip of two million light years. It is home to 880,000 inhabitants from a range of starfaring species, only a small fraction of them human. One day the ship's journey comes to an abrupt halt. Its path is blocked by a huge debris field composed of... death.
Chunks of planets containing graves and mausoleums. Coffins. Tombstones. The remains of large organic spacecraft. Countless alien corpses. The ship cannot safely navigate through such obstacles without gaining more information. Exploring the field will take time, however, and the ship is on a tight schedule.
Luckily, a solution is at hand. The captain of the Infinity is a Ton Sharr: a large aquatic being who lives in a vast liquid-filled space within the ship and communicates with the crew telepathically. His species has the unique ability of being able to explore different parallel realities. He can create an eight-hour window during which he - and everyone else on board - can play out the consequences of a particular course of action. Once the eight hours are up, he can allow events to continue along that path, or reset the process and begin again, up to a total of eight times. He retains the memory of each separate reality and downloads this to a team of crew members whose brains are linked to his via neural tentacles. This allows the crew to investigate several possible alternative solutions within the course of one day.
The first person to venture out into the field of death is security agent Yoko Keren. She's young and very capable but also entertaining thoughts of having a baby. She has a little bit of hand-held tech that quickly scans any passing male - human or otherwise - and reads their genetic profile to tell her if the specimen is a good match. So far they have all had one defect or another relating to predispositions to physical or psychological maladies, but with such a large and diverse gene pool to choose from, she is bound to find someone suitable.
Not long after she leaves the ship to begin her mission, a mutinous incident takes place on the ship. A large group of alien engineers take control of all the airlocks and launch themselves out into the debris field. These individuals are sticken with a rare compulsive addiction: the taste of dead flesh. To be carnivorous appears to be regarded with disdain by the other species, including humans. At first they begin to feast upon the plethora of corpses between them and Andromeda, until one of their number comes up with the bright idea of attacking the engine of their own ship so that they can kill all of the rest of the crew, who will then become available as an even greater source of tasty treats. Agent Keren's new prioity is to somehow prevent this catastrophe...
Infinity 8 by writer Lewis Trondheim in collaboration with a team of writers and artists is a unique, highly imaginative and quirky series that combines excitement and humour in eight explosively entertaining stories: Love and Mummies, Back To The Führer, The Gospel According to Emma, Symbolic Guerilla, Apocalypse Day, Ultimate Knowledge, All For Nothing and Until The End. The series began in 2018 and is now avaialble in eight volumes.
The city ship Infinity has a sleek, dynamic design and its interior is stunningly laid out with large open public spaces containing parks with bridges and walkways spanning the diverse, fantastical architecture. Exotic lifeforms float and fly through the air and the multispecies denizens go about their business, creating a rich, colourful mix. The field of death is also a macrabre delight, just as much an abundance of wonders. The various artists keep to a consistent design, each with their own distinct individual style.
The overall tone is fun and indulgent, never taking itself too seriously (as in the discovery of Hitler's cryo-preserved head in a V2 rocket which, upon defrosting, soon begins to exercise its megalomaniac impulses anew thanks to a handy robot body). This is a joyful space romp with some great ideas and truly dazzling artwork.
Will our heroes solve the mystery of the field of death? Will eight realities be enough for them to decode the enigma... and will learning the truth clear their path to their destination, or only present an even greater danger?
Infinity 8 from Magnetic Press
Zak Webber
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