A Star Called the Sun

by Simon Roy

A curious and peculiar collection of interconnected, character-driven sci-fi stories all set in the far future. Robotic clergy, post-human hive-men, immortal cyborgs and ancient alien races all play a part in this anthology of sci-fi adventure tales set in the universe of HABITAT and GRIZ GROBUS

Genres: Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Short Stories, Comix

200 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 10, 2026

Reviews

[Calvin M · Rating 5 out of 5]

great little collection! I super appreciated the attention to detail for the creatures, machines, and architecture alike -- made even cooler by the included concept art and liner notes!

keeping an eye on more stories from Simon Roy for sure, this was my first introduction

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly fantastic collection of short stories.

The stories themselves are wonderful and the art, man, just wow. The character, environment, and technology designs are spectacular, beautiful, and often very alluring in their strangeness. The creativity on display here is honestly inspiring; the book makes me want to go and create my own strange little worlds to explore.

Each story is followed by a set of pages that give you a deeper peek into the relevant lore, which was fun to read. The book itself is ended with a showcase of some of the original concept art and ideas that eventually evolved into the stories within the collection and gives a great view into the author's mind and inspirations. There's also a pin-up gallery showcasing pieces from various artists that was nice to flip through.

"The Oxpecker and the Elephant", "The Anchoress", and "Vanguard" were my favorite stories in here, but the rest were really enjoyable as well.

Highly Recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the review copy!

[Neha]

A fun graphic novel of different short stories from the same sci-fi universe. The art was a treat, I enjoyed the bold colours and creative designs of the sci-fi elements, which felt so original. The Oxpecker and the Elephant and The Anchoress were my favourite stories.

[Adam Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Roy's A Star Called the Sun is a fantastic collection of science fiction short stories, presented through Roy's brilliant illustration and colouring work from Sergei Nazarov, Drew Shields, and a host of other awesome guest artists. The book is presented as an anthology of tales from the world of Roy's previous works HABITAT and Griz GROBUS. Don't let that scare you off though, because I read this as a total newcomer to the world and found myself completely amazed.

Each story presents a completely new and absorbing look at this fictionalised world from ancient aliens, long-retired warriors, xeno-researchers and post-human cyborgs. As I turned each page I found myself increasingly drawn into this world and its history. At times it feels like reading a piece of anthropological non-fiction where you're given a true slice of life for this world's inhabitants. It feels both huge in scope and down-to-earth because the characters are so fleshed out in short spans of time. There's an earnest joy to its presentation that I found completing captivating.

In addition to the stories the collection also includes other comics from Roy that, in the author's words "didn't quite fit", as well as concept art and posters. These extras give the collection a beautiful scrapbook feeling where you can feel the author speaking right to you from his own imagination. With these additional goodies, it feels like you're getting a first-hand look at Roy's own creative world-building process. I had a huge smile on my face pouring through every page.

A Star Called the Sun is a damn terrific piece of science fiction imagination, with some of the most inspired artwork in a graphic novel I've read this year. If you're a fan of science fiction world-building, you owe it to yourself to check this out. I *really* want a physical copy of this for my library.

Super grateful to Simon Roy and the folks at Image Comics and Netgalley for the digital review copy of this one! The collection officially drops February 2026, check it out!!

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of sci-fi short stories that seem to concentrate on the parasite – the first tale has a space colony get unwanted visitors, and the second (and arguably the third) shows humans as the parasite, that bring and spread their combat ideas across the void. Two humans each independently try it on with the Martians and neural transmissions. We do break away from this to see someone reviving a kind of galactic comms network, that can lead to the 3D printing of enemies – but that someone was a professor, so that would never happen… Elsewhere, a lad makes a similar discovery, in a nunnery of all places. The last story that the "contents page" mentions is again about parasites, when an almost-immortal human-as-was, on an alien planet, sees the nastiness of humans when they deign to turn up again – they look quite the US military, somehow…

This is clearly all set in a singular universe, which might be fine but as I'd never had a successful encounter with this creative it meant little. The stories are self-contained, but clearly echo off each other, and have a kind of mankind=bad sentiment that some may enjoy, with others seeing it as of little help to anyone. What is nicer to report is the man's art seems better on this occasion – sometimes I've felt like throwing his stuff in the bin, so unreadable were his visuals (nb I never did that, as I review digitally…). I still didn't enjoy his hand-lettering much at all, mind – the human touch isn't a nice one, as these stories keep telling us.

Probably, on the whole, this is just for fans only – the in-world directories don't entertain anyone else, and the rounding-up of small collectible pieces doesn't make this any more suited to the casual reader. But on the whole this seems a step up, hence my ridiculously high rating, hem hem.

[Alex Sarll]

A collection of odds and sods set mostly in the same world as Roy's Habitat and Griz Grobus, but it's not necessary to have read those to appreciate this; it was always a setting seen in fragments and glimpses, and the pieces here aren't appreciably more incomplete taken for themselves. Vast alien ecologies unfold in a fashion that doesn't even pretend to be a story so much as an invented nature documentary on an epic scale; at the more human level, a quest for records of lost technology can bounce through the farcical tropes that have attended male visitors to nunneries for as long as there have been nunneries to joke about. One story is essentially Avatar if Avatar were exponentially quicker and remotely interesting. And more often than not, we follow little lives in the shadow of relics from a more advanced past which, along with the pantheistic attention to nature, gives a strong Miyazaki flavour to proceedings.

(Netgalley ARC)

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly wonderful. Fully imagined semi-hard science fiction short stories from humanities far-far flung future. I’ve got so much to say about how cool the stories and art and world building in this book (and the previous three: Giz Grobus, Miramar and Refugium) are! I need more time to put together a review worthy of this beautiful little hardcover but, if you like believable science fiction, wonderfully strange aliens, robot clergy, nosey archivists, detailed exobiology, post human space exploration or studio Ghibli you’ll find something to delight you here. The book is a collection of short stories spanning thousands of years and is a great place to start reading the immense and interesting world Simon Roy has begun building. Jump in, you won’t regret the time you spend on, and off, Altamira.

I received this book in December 2025 from its successful Kickstarter campaign.

[Jenna]

This book was an absolute delight to read. I have recently gotten obsessed with Jean Giraud's art, and this is such a pleasant omage to his style and storytelling while keeping the author's own voice. The world is colorful, detailed, and well thought out with wordlbuilding that prompts questions and an eagerness to learn more about the setting. All supported with some genuinely alien character design that he draws with an amazing consistency.

A great recommendation to any scifi fan and/or comic fan.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A Star Called Sun” is a collection of stories by Simon Roy. They range from funny, to quirky, to absurd, to “WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST SEE/READ?”

The lettering can be a little troubling to read in some cases, but overall, it is easy to follow the stories. The artwork is good. There are a few scenes involving nudity of aliens that are just…odd.

A fun read. Not earth-shattering. Thank God.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strongly recalling Brandon Graham's work on Prophet, Roy provides a series of richly fleshed vignettes.

[Ty Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kickstarter purchase. Simon Roy and crew do a wonderful job of world building.

[Bibliophileverse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Star Called the Sun by Simon Roy is a short graphic novel comprising a collection of speculative stories. While the concepts behind the tales are intriguing and occasionally thought-provoking, a few of the narratives feel confusing and underdeveloped, making it difficult to fully grasp their intent. The artwork, though serviceable, does not always complement the ambition of the ideas and could have been more refined. Overall, it is an interesting but uneven reading experience.