Well this is all round brilliant. Two volumes of classic sci-fi told in graphic novel format with first class artwork.

In Return to Belzagor, former soldier Eddie Gundersen returns to Belzagor, the planet where he left behind a shameful past that he hasnt yet come to terms with. As he acts as a guide for a science research project he is forced to confront his history and the past.

The second volume, The Children of Belzagor, finds Eddie settled on Belzagor with a family but a visitor from the past threatens all that he now holds dear and he is forced to accept a dangerous task and journey to the Ice Country. There in the wasteland he is forced to engage with the ancient nature of the planet and its secrets.

It is a brilliant sci-fi graphic novel which is both gripping and engaging. (less) [edi

Robert Silverberg's Belzagor is a graphic novel adaptation and reformatting of Silverberg's original Down to the Earth (from 1970) reinterpreted by Philippe Thirault. Released 7th May 2024, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is an adaptation (with a previously unpublished sequel) of a 54 year old Heart of Darkness pastiche. It's about 30% colonist diatribe, 40% unironic misogyny, and 30% sexscapade/soap opera. The original source material is quite dated and modern readers should probably be prepared to read it as a product of the time period. (Just the sexism alone wouldn't fly in a modern tale). The ending of the first part also differs from the original in some ways.

The art, by Laura Zuccheri, is finely detailed and full of movement. Despite the artist's expertise, the adaptation to graphic format isn't entirely successful and there are some gaps with long passages of character dialogue which doesn't suit the medium.

Three stars. Worth a look (especially for the previously unpublished sequel). Potentially a good choice for public library acquisition (but be aware, there is *adult* content), or for gifting to a particularly keen Silverberg fan.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Well then. I haven't read Robert Silverberg's Downward to the Earth, so I can't say how good the adaption of the story is or isn't, but I was able to follow what was going on with relative ease, and I will probably try reading the source material one of these days. I just hope the human characters will be at least *somewhat* likeable in the original story, because the humans in this adaption are kinda awful. Not a likeable one in the bunch. To be fair, humans deserve that here, as future us has gone into space and started doing one of our favorite things - colonialism. Future us colonizes the planet of Belzagor, changing the name of the planet, enslaving the indigenous population, exploiting their natural resources, and crashing the natives most sacred ceremony. The timeline jumps around between past and present, and wow! There is so much soap opera going on with the humans! Not gonna lie, that part is a big factor in making me want to read Silverberg's book, to see if he really wrote these people so two dimensionally, and see how misogynistic he actual gets with the female characters lol! Before I continue to babble, I'll wrap up on Part 1 is an interesting and strange story with unlikable humans (Gunderson in particular annoyed me), and I enjoyed the world-building.
Part 2 is an original story by the creators of Part 1, published here in English for the first time, and is approved by Silverberg. It takes place ten years after Part 1, and all I'll say is things are changing on Belzagor in many ways. Gunderson is much more tolerable in this, and to me, the story felt right, authentic to the world Silverberg created. The art throughout was lush and beautiful, particularly the flora and fauna of Belzagor, and yeah... Imma have to hunt up a copy of Downward to the Earth now...

#RobertSilverbergsBelzagor #NetGalley

What fun to dip into a graphic novel between other reads, bringing back a youth of comic books that got me into science fiction originally. Colonies, Return to Belzagor by Robert Silverberg is two parts, firstly an arrival on a new planet and then a return to the planet years later. I enjoyed the illustrations for both, with imaginative drawings of aliens and 1960-1970’s style drawings of humans. The first story of the arrival is an adventure with a definite villain and sets up an even better exploration of the planet with the second installment. If the first part was on its own, I would not have been excited about it at all. It seemed to be giving a lot of information that really went nowhere. However I pushed forward and really enjoyed the big ending. Although the stories skipped a lot between panes and the reader has to assume or imagine what happened in some time jumps, the ending was exciting and fulfilling. I appreciate Netgalley giving me the chance to delve into the cover that I found so intriguing! Note: this is definitely an ADULT graphic novel, in language and depiction.

Oh my giddy aunt. One third "ooh, wasn't colonialism bad?!" nonsense, one third "you shagged who?!" soap opera (which, with the amount of uninteresting alien species here, probably leads to a "you shagged what?!" moment, but I didn't care to stick around) and one third a "Mistah Kurtz – he on drugs!" riff on the old astronaut-on-another-planet-goes-tits-up trope. I mean, isn't this 2024 already? Oh, and US$40 for the privilege...

"Robert Silverberg's Belzagor " is a competent adaptation of the Sci-Fi classic book that also includes a sequel to the original book. Like the original, this volume closely mirrors the plot of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", and focuses on the exiles of imperialism and colonialism.
The first part of this book is a fairly accurate retelling of the original story but it does add characters and has an ending that is similar to the original but differs on some key points. Sadly, the closest point of convergence is that this newer version mirrors the original books's misogynistic and demeaning portrayal of the lead female protagonist.

The second part of this book consists of a completely new story that was created for Humanoids. The story it tells is set a few years after the original one and significantly develops the key characters from the first part. The book also adds lot of material about the world of Belzagor and its inhabitants.

All in all the two stories in this book are interesting and sometimes thought provoking while examining the legacy of European colonialism through a strong Sci- Fi lens. Furthermore, the book strengthens its impact through strong Humanoids style artwork that brings the world of Belzagor alive.

3.5 stars rounded to 3.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Humanoids Inc., for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

On the plus side, the storytelling is original and the artwork is great. But I felt horrified at some of the assumptions, with the way humans treated others, and the women were pretty awful. The sex was odd and it felt like I was watching a 70s sci-fi B movie. The planet is interesting and it does bring up a lot of interesting questions.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the story, pacing, and characters. And the artwork definitely added to the story. Robert Silverberg's Downward to the Earth has definitely also move to my "to read" shelf, as I want to know more about this story. #RobertSilverbergsBelzagor #NetGalley

A reasonably well-made tie-in (?) comic book. It feels slightly dated, particularly in regards to female cast representation and dynamics. The art is solid, though, and the writing passable.

This was actually the ARC, it had two Graphic novel adaptations from Robert Silverberg's novels, actually rating is 3.5/5 rounded up to 4, because this book shouldn't even have that much of a low rating on goodreads, so i am willing to make the sacrifice, and balance the scales a little.
The review of the first Graphic novel is spoiler free, but the second one i couldn't help it but spoil, this will come out 7th of May, So tune in, and sorry for the second Graphic novel review not being helpful since it spoils something that hadn't even come out yet.

<blockquote>I know humans they are foolish and greedy.
You are not a friend of the Nildoror.</blockquote>
First of all thanks so much for Philippe, Laura, Robert Silverberg, Humanoids! for this amazing Graphic novel ARC!
This will come out 7th of May an amazing Sci-Fi journey, This is an adaptation of the novel downward to the Earth by Silverberg, so many classical fans will probably be familiar with it, and it's all brought to life with amazing art in this graphic novel.

<blockquote>We're Lucky to see them mate like this.</blockquote>
Fucking hell, i know this was sudden after the opening, but come on each 10 pages someone was fucking someone, or someone was getting naked, even the alien elephants were fucking in really interesting positions, no wonder George R R Martin loves Silverberg so much, they make full use of dramatizing sex scenes in their novels lol

I actually spent only 3 or 4 days reading this, the rest of the time i was sick, my family is convinced we all had the new Corona morphing into a new cold virus, so don't think this is boring or anything!

And this is the tough part, this was awesome, and i can't say why it was awesome, but the story was actually super deep, and it was super interesting, with many mysteries and many twists, and so much drama, and eye opening science fiction on the possibilities humans might come face to face with one day in the vast universe, Just don't be fucking racist and colonize other alien nations you assholes!

Review of Children of Belzagor.
<blockquote>It's true there's nothing more important in the entire cosmos than my children.</blockquote>
Before sleeping and after getting woken up for work just three hours later thinking what the hell is wrong with the world and what's it all for?!
i was close to finishing this, then after getting some stuff done i finally finish it, three short days, but i really do feel i could read these faster, since i used to read one graphic novel per day last year.

We are in front of The Children of Belzagor, the ratings for these Graphic novels are abysmal that i am really trying to find something so bad to deserve such rating but i can't.
Perfect name, while the first novel had a name of intrigue and literary value, this one is just brain dead Children of Belzagor, and it's about Gundy's twin daughters, and the nildoror's own belzadoror spawn, and how all that really matter in life after you become a parent is seeing your children thrive.

<blockquote>You're still a kid at heart, so you're unable to be a father to your children, you're too busy being their friend and you let me be the cop.</blockquote>
I always thought that was a tactic of upbringing not being child at heart Seena!
I honestly think it's better to be close to your children, their friend, than being an authoritative asshole, nobody likes authority because it really makes little to no sense once we are all at the same level of thinking.

<blockquote>Can you believe it? what a discovery! and to think this will be my tomb.</blockquote>
Children of Belzagor AKA the redemption of Sam
Sam really fucking shined this Graphic novel, i mean, it put his entire story more into perspective and maybe convinced me that he is the most decent person among these assholes.
So Sam is a scientist, he is in love with science, that seems to be all what he is thinking about, the drama last story all came from him neglecting his wife and her cheating on him, and even after catching her, he forgave her truly and they got together again, so he really did love her.
Then it turns out his wife has been replaced with Jeff Kurtz who took over her body.
And Again Sam is still living is still trying to give more to science, still has a nose for the entire thing, he knows what needs studying and where, and he tries, and his journey kills him, while saving the life of another man which he succeeds in doing, and while dying he is still fascinated by the discovery, and ecstatic that his tomb, is in fact somewhere that was worth studying and discovering and showing to the world.
The Dude was the most decent of the bunch, he is the only one who didn't cheat on someone, or hurt someone intentionally, his only vice was neglect during a scientific journey that should have all along been about science not getting your brains fucked.

Here is what i disliked though, soooo much, i fucking hated it, and it's the reason for me this is not a three stars.
Gundy shouldn't have saved Kurtz, not only that he shouldn't have been even able to save Kurtz, you are stuck at the fucking pole of that planet, the cold is awful, and the journey was super dangerous, and you are lacking supplies, and you are injured, and you are alone so you don't even have the benefit of numbers anymore against the predators of that place, and you choose to carry a full grown human being all the way back to civilization? like seriously? it shouldn't even be possible to pull that off, and to top it all off, the man is literally your mortal enemy, who has come to this planet to steal away a valuable creature back to earth.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

As a disclaimer, this has some of the pitfalls of older scifi, like the lack of female characters, and the ones that are there lack complexity. The guys are jerks, but the women want to have sex with them anyway. And as a bonus, one of the women is barely wearing anything in the first story, even when she's working on her farm.

But, the first story in particular, I thought was interesting. I haven't read the book on which this was based, but when there are different alien species involved, I prefer to get to see them. The artwork was good. As for the second story, I don't think it was as strong as the first. A couple of the names I thought could have been better. And the ending, just seemed like it was thrown in, maybe if they want to lead into the next story. I'd probably give the first story 4 stars and the second one 3 stars.

Sadly this didn’t work as well as I wanted it to. It is definitely old feeling and has many problem’s involving colonialism and the objectification of women. None of the characters are likeable or interesting enough to really stand out. I did still find the first part a bit interesting, but the second story never held any interest at all. The art and coloring did give a 70s feel.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

I have read some of Silverberg's books before and loved them, so I went into this pretty excited.
I love SF, especially if it's psychological and even more if it looks into Alien cultures, so I was all abroad.
But I was sorely disappointed. This definitely felt very 70s-ish, with all the worst tropes of SF... a scientific expedition to film without permission, a private cultural ceremony is horrific. Talk about resurrecting the worst of the colonial mindset.
The women were all reduced to sexual objects, all absolutely unnecessary, and all the drama unfolding was as bad as the worst over-dramatised-TV-series. The slices of jealous outbursts between world exposition scenes was just painful.
I absolutely hated everyone in this comic and wished them the worst. It was a big disappointment.
The only people who might enjoy this are nostalgic boomer grandads.

It took me a little while before realizing that this was an adaptation of the poorly named Downward to Earth by Robert Silverberg. I have never read that novel, though. This graphic adaptation did pique my interest in it.

But, these two books, collected here into one graphic novel in two parts, have some issues. The adaptation does what many poor adaptations of novels do, which is bury the exposition in awkward dialogue panels. Sure, some of this may be unavoidable, but who says there couldn’t be a narrator making up some of that difference? The art is nice and the world building is good. Though, it has all been done before and better in Dune, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings—three blatant inspirations for this book which were so obvious that it became difficult to get through at times.

Despite the shortcomings I still enjoyed reading this, finishing in just two sittings. But, the writing is simultaneously too much and too little, too obvious and under-explored. Not a bad publication by Humanoids, everything looked great and it was all good fun if you approached it brainlessly. But it reflected too much of what has come before without any innovation to justify its existence. I may still check out the novel though, apparently it’s like only 170 pages—perfect for a 70s sci-fi ripoff to read and promptly forget about while on the train or waiting for a doctors appointment.

Description

“This re-release of fan-favorite adaptation of Robert Silverberg’s Downward to the Earth is accompanied by the highly-anticipated Children of Belzagor, the original and never before released sequel. From the mind of legendary American science-fiction writer Robert Silverberg. What began in his acclaimed Downward to the Earth continues in this collection! irst, Return to Belzagor, the fan-favorite adaptation of Downward to the Earth as adapted by writer Philippe Thirault and Eisner-nominated artist Laura Zuccheri. Then, the story continues in the all-new Children of Belzagor, a Silverberg-approved tale of legacy and the lasting effects of colonialism, never before released in English. Part One: Return to Belzagor – Ex-lieutenant Eddie Gundersen returns to Belzagor, where he left behind his youthful illusions, the love of his life, and a shameful history as a brutal colonialist. Today, the planet has been returned to its two native, intelligent species: the Nildoror and the Sulidoror. Acting as a guide for a scientific expedition deep within native territory, Gundersen confronts his inner demons and settles old scores with a planet that hasn’t yet revealed all its secrets to him. Part Two: The Children of Belzagor – Belzagor is as beautiful and mysterious as ever, and the remnants of the former Earth colony are virtually restored to the planet’s native inhabitants. Gundersen, now initiated into some of the planet’s secrets, thinks he can live a quiet life there. But threatened with expulsion due to his colonizing past, he is forced to accept a dangerous quest that will lead him to the Ice Country, to the farthest reaches of Belzagor’s unexplored territories… This journey confronts him not only with the secrets that the planet still holds, but also with old enmities.” (The MIT Press, 2024)

Downward to Earth – SIlverberg

IIf you have read our previous reviews, you know that we are fans of Science Fiction. We have actually reviewed an anthology of Silverberg’s before, Robots Through the Ages. It was a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it(Check out the review, to see if its for you). But, although we are very big fans of Silverberg, we have not read all of his stories. Silverberg is a powerhouse of Science Fiction, and here we have an adaptation of his work in the form of a graphic novel.

Here at R&R we jumped at the chance to read it, but we do feel guilty we have not read Silverberg’s novel. However, keep your eyes peeled, we’ll soon rectify that in another coming review, to see if the graphic novel encapsulates Silverberg’s original universe.

Illustrations

To begin, I would just like to say – I hate science fiction movie adaptations. I cringe every time these brilliant pieces of work are slaughtered at the hands of movie makers in Hollywood who have no concept of Science Fiction. Science Fiction is something born in the imagination, and pinning it to the television never works in my eyes. I rarely watch Science Fiction films because of this. Normally, people agree the book is always better than the film. Here at R&R we review films and books, and have talked about how the two mediums can be used to tell different stories. But usually in Science Fiction, we have the same tropes used, the same retro-futuristic nonsense thrown at the viewer. I discuss this here and now, because illustrations are not limited by the same confines as the screen. I first saw the front cover of this book and it bled creativity. I saw Silverberg’s name and I jumped at the chance to review it. Then I saw other names and realised this is an adaptation of SIlverberg’s book, Downward to Earth. This comic divided into two parts is based on the Universe created by SIlverberg. I was intrigued. I like Silverberg and I like comics, so I knew I had to give it a go.
Return to Belzagor

The first part of the graphic novel is written and illustrated by Thirault and Zuccheri. It was first published in 2019 and how did I miss it? Here is the description below:

“Ex-lieutenant Eddie Gundersen returns to Belzagor on a scientific expedition to the borders of the indigenous lands, where he must face his nemesis, Kurtz, and his own inner demons on a planet which still has hidden secrets. “COLONIES: Return to Belzagor” is a new edition of the previously released “Downward to the Earth” (2017). It has been edited for content.” (Waterstones, 2019)

Writing and art combine in graphic novels, both prop up the other and here Zuccheri and her imagination shine. I have read in Zuccheri’s blog that she is a landscape painter and here she excels with beautiful drawn out illustrations of an alien world. She uses the page and frames to emphasise the grandeur of various events, like at the very beginning, with the descent into Holman’s World. Every panel showed off the creativity of the Silverberg’s world. I was particularly impressed with what each panel did for the story. When the married pair of scientists were both partially naked and chatting in their bedroom, the long wide panels emphasised the void between them. The darkened room, the hunched backs, the positioning of their bodies told a story. I was recently researching animated movies and something the normal viewers discounts is the sheer amount of effort and money it takes to make an animated film, compared to a normal Hollywood live action film. Scene by scene, second by second there is more money spent in an animation than a real film. And as the reader of a graphic novel, we gobble down the images and words given to us, but in each scene, if you take the time, there is a story told in the art. Zuccheri painstaking instilled detailed into every panel and it really brings the world to life. Below is an excerpt taken from The Swords of Glass volume 1, where you can see how the use of large and small panels captures the beauty of another world.

Amazon, (2015)

But what about the other 50%, the writing? The characters are believable, you fall into knowing each of them immediately and that comes from Thirault’s use of building from the art. The emotions are drawn both from the expressions of the characters, their actions and the things they say. At the beginning of the story we are presented with Lieutenant Gunderson, someone still wet behind the ears who you immediately know plays by the rules, is young but then after being given a taste of the mysterious world we are catapulted into the future eighteen years later, where we see a more experience lieutenant and introduced to two other characters who are as wet behind the ears as he was eighteen years prior. The mystery hangs in the air. The colonisation of Holman’s world is no more. We see a universe where we are not in “colonial times” where the world has changed and is no longer “Holman’s world” but “Belzagor.” Gunderson is both going back to the old and the new and Thirault captures what it’s like to grow old.. Things change around you and even though you can revisit places you once knew so well, time has changed them into different things. Thirault drip feeds us mysteries and creates a compelling story which has you wanting to go deeper into the heart of darkness.

Children of Belzagor

This is Part Two, and a sequel to Return to Belzagor. Sequels are always hard. You want to experience the characters and world that drew you into the first book. This applies to any series. But, it can never be the same. Here Lecigne and Villesange present another mystery which interests your imagination. Without spoiling anything, I was not disappointed in the sequel. That same sense of intrigue kept me turning the pages and it was interesting to see the writer and illustrator take the characters I had got to know in the first part and change them with time. It was strange seeing the age of the characters I had just seen a moment before, but it embedded the fact that time had moved on. This time instead of coming down into Belzagor, we are already there, witnessing an intimate moment between mother, father and clan. We’re taken to new parts of Belzagor, where the authors and writers can flex their muscles. And I cannot help thinking that they have left it open for maybe another sequel.
Conclusion

At the end there is an afterword by Robert Silverberg. In it is humbling for any reader or writer. He states that writers are often the harshest judges of their own work, and that he did not expect so much attention and praise for Downward to Earth. I for one am glad he did receive so much attention and praise for his novel, as I have got to read Belzagor, and see his world come to life in the form of a graphic novel. I will be going on to read the original, Downward to Earth, but I enjoyed seeing the changes to “Holman’s World” and the changes with the characters. If you’re a fan of graphic novels, science fiction, or just a good story, read Belzagor.
References

The MIT Press, 2024. Accessed via: https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9781643376929 Accessed on: 04/02/2024

WaterStones, 2019. Accesed via: https://www.waterstones.com/book/robert-silverbergs-colonies/laura-zuccheri/robert-silverberg/9781643377582. Accessed on: 04/02/2024

Amazon, 2015. Accessed via :https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swords-Glass-Sylviane-Corgiat/dp/1594651094 Accessed on: 04/02/2024

Very good, great story, awesome artwork, unique creativity and originality it was a brilliant graphic novel! I love it!