e-ARC kindly provided by the publishers through netgalley.

What a fun read! I enjoyed this book so much. I have always loved reading about mind-bending time travel and this one fit the bill! The art is amazing and so atmospheric and the story, however compact, is well done.
Recommended for all science fiction fiends!

Trust No One

This is a suitably twisty time travel tale. As is always the case, the story begins with a distress call. Our astronaut heroine just wants to get home, but things are never that easy. Is the smooth talking scientist in the abandoned station a good guy or a bad guy? Is the highly sophisticated android assistant cooking up her own plan? I'm not telling. But it's a fun ride as you find out.

This was fast paced and crisply written, with a bit of sci-fi-garble but a generally clear plot. The art complemented the tale. A fine entertainment.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

It's not often that I come across time travel stories that are based more on math equations than it is from other works of fiction. In this case, it's based on the concept of imaginary time. I'm not a math whiz though so I can't focus on that. The concept permeates everywhere though. The title alone indicates the setting while seeming to mean just the planet also means Eon a long period of time that is indefinite.

It also applies to the motivations of the characters. The captain of the ship feels like she's caught in an endless loop including the choices she makes to provide her daughter. Of course, she's aware that means she never gets a chance to reconcile with her. The Captain is a firm believer of free will which even determines a certain course of action. At the same time though, it's like she is still in a loop.

The androids seen in the series also bring up how free will works while implementing Asimov's laws of robotics. Because of a paradox in their laws, it shows another imaginary axis; all while having the data to make their own decisions.

But whether any of this is good or bad depends entirely on the person. It's a shame that I never really see concepts like these every so often. Full marks from me.

In short, Ludovi Rio’s Aion is for sci-fiction lovers. Showing an influence from everything from Alien to Prometheus, this graphic novel focuses on one Captain Lexi Neel, a woman who we later understand to be a woman nearly lost to time. Lexi left her home on earth, her daughter and all she’s know for a trip to space that will be at least two decades long. We learn that she jolted out of hyper sleep years ahead of schedule because of a distress signal. This leads her to a mysterious moon named Aion home to much: exotic wildlife, some great views and only one other human, a scientist on a research station. Spending time with the scientist there and his android lead to several discoveries—some are more hopeful and yet terrifying.

The art for this graphic novel is handled by Rio as well and while an argument that much of the book is dark, I think it is fitting—the space stations and Lexi’s space spice aren’t vibrant in color. The outdoors of Aion looks unique with foliage and creatures that are fascinating to look. Colorist Christian Lerolle works with the often lifeless interiors of the space station and makes certain scenes stand out. Back to the art: there wasn’t an big emphasis on the facial expressions but the body language was key to figuring out what was happening on certain pages. I did love how certain sequences were paneled and silhouettes were certainly masterfully done throughout the book. I especially loved the opening pages of the book where Lexi emerging from hypersleep on her ship. There’s also some really neat visuals to see in her final confrontation with the man who becomes her nemesis on Aion.


The narrative is a bit hard to follow later in the book but it is clear that Lexi has been fooled and she starts working in crisis mode. There’s a plot thread involving androids, A.I. regarding the duty to protect human life and free will that doesn’t completely get fleshed out. I didn’t feel that I truly got a chance to get to know Lexi which was a shame as I love to see female protagonists, especially in science fiction settings and yet she didn’t feel completely fleshed out to me as a reader. The ending did not satisfy me and there was entirely too many loose ends, it had me wondering if there was a loss in translation moment as I reread it. Overall, not a terrible read. A narrative that could have used more meat on the bones and more emotional weight to immerse me as a reader. Recommended 12 and up for this one, folks.

3.5 Really fast and fun read, I would have loved this to be longer and explored further as I was left a little deflated.

I'm not sure if it's because I read a lot of sc-ifi already, but this felt overwhelmingly predictable, which took most of the enjoyment out of it for me. I like the general sc-ifi premise, but didn't get anything new out of this. I liked the art and the general atmospheric feeling but I found it mostly underwhelming.

4.5 stars.
IT'S GREAT. Thanks Netgalley!!
Such a quick, compact read and I wish there was more!

Lexi Neel is captain of a spacecraft transporting merchandise from Earth to planets of deep space. The ship is halfway to her destination when she is taken out of hypersleep because of a distress signal from a forest moon called Aion. In the deep wilderness of Aion she meets an android at a mysterious research facility and gets caught up in something quite unexpected.

A great sci-fi graphic novel! I feel like it's easy to digest and very exciting, fast-paced because something unexpected and frankly, kind of brutal happens and you just want to uncover what's going on! It also poses an ethical question: How far are you willing to go in the name of science?
Sitting here, writing this review I'm wondering: What about Lexi's little daughter??

Aion is this wild, untamed forest moon and we get to see some of it's alien wildlife, which I enjoyed a lot!
The colors are fantastic and the art style really resonated with me.

Like any great sci-fi story, this one left me with a chill, some questions and wanting more.

I really enjoyed this story! It was a unique plot and I felt it had little nuances that you had to pay attention to, which is something I enjoy especially in a graphic novel. The art fit the story and I appreciated the layout of the pannels. I would have liked to know more about the a.i. and the company characters were working for.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting look into time travel. I honestly can’t say much more as anything would be a spoiler. I loved the art style, and this is what drew me to give this a try. This was visually pleasing and had a solid story although this was quite short. I’m not sure if this is going to be a standalone or a series but I would be interested to see how they would continue.

Good artwork and an engaging sci-fi story about a young woman who is caught up in a science experiment. The story pulls the reader in and the pace is good. The story is told through the artwork and the text doesn't overwhelm the art. A good one for sci-fi fans.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley.

This was quite good. Nice art that helped tell the story in an interesting way,. Mostly interesting plot that had good energy.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

Aion is a beautiful example of a graphic novel, and of science fiction adventure. It’s a book brimming with ideas and I greatly appreciated the interstellar artwork contained in these panels.

Interesting take on space/time travel. I hope there will be a follow up in the future. The illustrations matched the sci-fi style perfectly.