Review: Prism Stalker
"Is this planet as strange as it seems?"
"Stranger."
Vep has been traded from Sveramad (an alienhive on an asteroid) to the Chorus on Eriatarka, a very unusual planet. The Chorus believes that she has qualities that will make her a valuable asset.
Originally she and her people, the Sele tribe, are from the planet Inama. When terrorists contaminated the ecosystem the Sele became refugees. For most of her life Vep has lived and worked in the hive, an environment constructed from biological technology.
Finding herself on a planet once more is a shock to the system.. and there are more shocks to come...
The Chorus rules vast regions of space and is composed of many races, most of them not remotely humanoid. Their rule is not uncontested, however. They have enemies and they need warriors to maintain their territory.
In the case of planet Eriatarka, the enemy is none other than the planet itself...
Confused? Yes, it's a lot to take in. Prism Stalker by writer/artist Sloane Leong is a dazzling, dizzying kaleidoscope of an experience. We follow Vep as she travels from one bizarre landscape to another with barely a microsecond to adjust. The reader has to concentrate to keep up, just like our plucky heroine.
The planet emits a type of energy, which the Chorus calls 'pneuma', which the native life forms use to communicate with each other and for defence. One entity can project illusions into the mind of another ('metapathy') and even alter another's physical form ('telemorphosis').
All sentient beings can tap into this energy field and use it against the native life forms... and against each other. The Chorus trains fighters to harness this ability, but training is hard and some students - Vep included - are slow on the uptake, with painful consequences.
She is determined to succeed, however. The planet could serve as a new home for her tribe, a better future than picking eggs inside an asteroid. Through many arduous trials she eventually begins to make a breakthrough, tapping into the pneuma... and hearing the voice of the planet in her mind.
Visually this is a series of one stunning image after another, each a unique leap of imagination. The settings, landscapes and characters are creatively conceived and vividly rendered. The design of the aliens - and there are many different kinds - is inspired, as are the bizarre environments within which they interact: Chorus technology is entirely biological; there is not a button or switch in sight. The feeling of being inside a living city - at odds with the living planet on which it is located - is delightfully disorienting.
Vep finds her feet and learns to use her mind and body as a weapon, hoping that this will somehow help her to create a future for her displaced people. But does the planet have a different destiny in mind for her?
When you enter a world in which reality is as fluid and mercurial as light itself, it seems that anything is possible.
Zak Webber
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