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Earthdivers #1
Earthdivers, Vol. 1: Kill Columbus
The New York Times–bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart Is a Chainsaw makes his comics debut with this time-hopping horror thriller about far-future Indigenous outcasts on a mission to kill Christopher Columbus.
The year is 2112, and it’s the apocalypse exactly as rivers receding, oceans rising, civilization crumbling. Humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the America.
Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own—a reluctant linguist named Tad—on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn’t an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him. As the horror of the task ahead unfolds and Tad’s commitment is tested, his actions could trigger a devastating new fate for his friends and the future.
Join Stephen Graham Jones and artist Davide Gianfelice for Earthdivers, Vol. 1, the beginning of an unforgettable ongoing sci-fi slasher spanning centuries of America’s Colonial past to explore the staggering forces of history and the individual choices we make to survive it.
The year is 2112, and it’s the apocalypse exactly as rivers receding, oceans rising, civilization crumbling. Humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the America.
Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own—a reluctant linguist named Tad—on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn’t an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him. As the horror of the task ahead unfolds and Tad’s commitment is tested, his actions could trigger a devastating new fate for his friends and the future.
Join Stephen Graham Jones and artist Davide Gianfelice for Earthdivers, Vol. 1, the beginning of an unforgettable ongoing sci-fi slasher spanning centuries of America’s Colonial past to explore the staggering forces of history and the individual choices we make to survive it.
176 pages, Paperback
Published September 19, 2023
90 people are currently reading
1277 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Graham Jones
236 books15.1k followersStephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It's a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.
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September 27, 2023
I got so excited when I saw that Stephen Graham Jones was doing a comic series and Earthdivers does not disappoint! Set in a not-so-distant future, Earth has become mostly inhospitable and those who can afford it have fled to the stars, leaving those left behind to roam the wasteland. A small group of indigenous people have a plan though—go back in time to kill Christopher Columbus in order to stop the United States from ever forming in hopes that will erase the past of indigenous oppression and avert the climate disaster that occurred later on. It is a violent good time, and David Gianfelice’s artwork is eye catching and delightful.
If this plan sounds I’ll-fated, you aren’t wrong and when things start to go awry the characters begin to realize history is made up of much more than one person’s bad behavior. That said, Columbus had numberous horrific actions, so seeing indigenous time-travelers come to wreck his day is pretty damn entertaining and cathartic. SGJ has promised an action packed series that will cover many eras of human history and I cannot wait. And, as one would expect with him, we get treated to some spooky stuff along with the sci fi and historical settings…like this rad talking goat straight out of puritan nightmares:
This is a strong start and I will be eagerly awaiting more.
If this plan sounds I’ll-fated, you aren’t wrong and when things start to go awry the characters begin to realize history is made up of much more than one person’s bad behavior. That said, Columbus had numberous horrific actions, so seeing indigenous time-travelers come to wreck his day is pretty damn entertaining and cathartic. SGJ has promised an action packed series that will cover many eras of human history and I cannot wait. And, as one would expect with him, we get treated to some spooky stuff along with the sci fi and historical settings…like this rad talking goat straight out of puritan nightmares:
This is a strong start and I will be eagerly awaiting more.
December 31, 2025
"You're killing her."
You're killin' me, Jones! This was 174 pages of punishment. About halfway through, I wasn't sure if I should DNF it, gouge my eyes out, or power through. Thankfully, I made it through, kicking and screaming. The only good thing about this graphic novel is the cover art. I dunno Jones, you and I are off to a bad start. Okay, okay... it's partly my fault, I'll admit it. You are known for your horror novels, so it was probably silly of me to pick a short story (The Indigo Room) as my first Stephen Graham Jones read and then a graphic novel as my second. FINE! I guess my next read will have to be one of your novels.
Seriously though, my eyes are burning. This was awful.
You're killin' me, Jones! This was 174 pages of punishment. About halfway through, I wasn't sure if I should DNF it, gouge my eyes out, or power through. Thankfully, I made it through, kicking and screaming. The only good thing about this graphic novel is the cover art. I dunno Jones, you and I are off to a bad start. Okay, okay... it's partly my fault, I'll admit it. You are known for your horror novels, so it was probably silly of me to pick a short story (The Indigo Room) as my first Stephen Graham Jones read and then a graphic novel as my second. FINE! I guess my next read will have to be one of your novels.
Seriously though, my eyes are burning. This was awful.
November 29, 2023
Killer cover made reading this inevitable.
Complex and convoluted time travel plot lines made it a little difficult to follow, but the supernatural horror elements just sort of grab you by the throat.
I feel this is going to reward re-reading once the story is complete, and I'm definitely going to be coming back until it is.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Earthdivers: Origins - An Introduction / Stephen Graham Jones, writer
• Chapter One. Here There Be Monsters
• Chapter Two. The Storm
• Chapter Three. Yellow Woman
• Chapter Four. Indies Man
• Chapter Five. Can You See the Indian?
• Chapter Six. Where the Future Comes to Die
• [About the Creators]
• Early Character Designs and Concept Art / Davide Gianfelice, illustrator
• Script to Art Process
• Earthdivers Variant Cover Program / Aaron Campbell, illustrator
• Earthdivers Variant Cover Gallery / Maria Wolf, Angel Hernandez, Jim Terry, Christian Ward, Werther Dell'Edera, Ramon Villalobos, Maria Llovet, Heather Vaughan, J.J. Lendl, Caitlin Tarsky, Tiffany Turrill, and Daniel Irizarri, illustrators
Complex and convoluted time travel plot lines made it a little difficult to follow, but the supernatural horror elements just sort of grab you by the throat.
I feel this is going to reward re-reading once the story is complete, and I'm definitely going to be coming back until it is.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Earthdivers: Origins - An Introduction / Stephen Graham Jones, writer
• Chapter One. Here There Be Monsters
• Chapter Two. The Storm
• Chapter Three. Yellow Woman
• Chapter Four. Indies Man
• Chapter Five. Can You See the Indian?
• Chapter Six. Where the Future Comes to Die
• [About the Creators]
• Early Character Designs and Concept Art / Davide Gianfelice, illustrator
• Script to Art Process
• Earthdivers Variant Cover Program / Aaron Campbell, illustrator
• Earthdivers Variant Cover Gallery / Maria Wolf, Angel Hernandez, Jim Terry, Christian Ward, Werther Dell'Edera, Ramon Villalobos, Maria Llovet, Heather Vaughan, J.J. Lendl, Caitlin Tarsky, Tiffany Turrill, and Daniel Irizarri, illustrators
October 7, 2023
How would the world be different if Columbus had never discovered America? Would the world be a better place? Tad travels from a post-apocalyptic 2112 to 1492 to attempt to set the world on that course.
This is told in two timelines, 2112 and 1492. It jumps back and forth with no warning, and it took me out of the story a few times. I also found the 2112 plot hard to follow as well. Hopefully, these confusions will be cleared up in the next volume. The artwork is absolutely amazing! The colors, angles, and detail really pop off the page. Would recommend for fans of Stephen Graham Jones, slashers, and sci-fi/horror.
This is told in two timelines, 2112 and 1492. It jumps back and forth with no warning, and it took me out of the story a few times. I also found the 2112 plot hard to follow as well. Hopefully, these confusions will be cleared up in the next volume. The artwork is absolutely amazing! The colors, angles, and detail really pop off the page. Would recommend for fans of Stephen Graham Jones, slashers, and sci-fi/horror.
November 20, 2023
2112, global ecological collapse. Four American Indians discover a time travel cave and try to save the world by assassinating a pre-voyage Christopher Columbus.
I enjoy the concept of preventing the functional end of the world by derailing European colonization of the Americas; it's audacious and a bit transgressive.
But--
1) Killing Columbus doesn't seem like it would accomplish that. It was an age of exploration and rampant expansionism; wouldn't it have just been someone else in 1498?
2) Even if the Americas were to go unmolested, Europe and Asia were still competing and expanding. Would there not have been an unchecked industrial revolution anyway? And assuming eventual contact between the hemispheres, would not the Americas have been pulled into that metastatic overdevelopment?
Still, a neat concept to explore.
Unfortunately, Earthdivers is poorly written, albeit in an unusual way. While the 1492 half of the book is graspable, the 2112 half is completely baffling. Conversations are filled with non-sequiturs that clearly aren't intended to be non-sequiturs. It reads like every other panel is missing; mystery pronouns, unexplained actions, nonsensical replies.
Two star writing that I'm inflating to three because it's such a bangup idea and the illustration is solid.
--------------------------------
Title note: Apparently "earthdivers" is a reference to a Lakota creation myth in which all that exists is ocean, then three animals--duck, otter, muskrat--dive for mud from which land is created.
I enjoy the concept of preventing the functional end of the world by derailing European colonization of the Americas; it's audacious and a bit transgressive.
But--
1) Killing Columbus doesn't seem like it would accomplish that. It was an age of exploration and rampant expansionism; wouldn't it have just been someone else in 1498?
2) Even if the Americas were to go unmolested, Europe and Asia were still competing and expanding. Would there not have been an unchecked industrial revolution anyway? And assuming eventual contact between the hemispheres, would not the Americas have been pulled into that metastatic overdevelopment?
Still, a neat concept to explore.
Unfortunately, Earthdivers is poorly written, albeit in an unusual way. While the 1492 half of the book is graspable, the 2112 half is completely baffling. Conversations are filled with non-sequiturs that clearly aren't intended to be non-sequiturs. It reads like every other panel is missing; mystery pronouns, unexplained actions, nonsensical replies.
Two star writing that I'm inflating to three because it's such a bangup idea and the illustration is solid.
--------------------------------
Title note: Apparently "earthdivers" is a reference to a Lakota creation myth in which all that exists is ocean, then three animals--duck, otter, muskrat--dive for mud from which land is created.
June 7, 2023
Earthdivers is a sci-fi/horror blend with a great premise. Set in a dystopian future, a group of indigenous people find a way to travel through time and decide to go back to try to kill Christopher Columbus to stop everything from happening and change the future. But of course things go very wrong. It's quite a violent and sometimes disturbing story, but it's well executed and explores interesting ideas about regret and how a system of oppression is really about more than a single person. Worth a read! I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.
January 5, 2026
Interesting concept, with lackluster execution. A big fan of Jones, but this had terrible pacing and was just way too confusing at times. Going to pass on the other volumes.
July 4, 2025
Stephen Graham Jones seems to be having a moment on Goodreads: probably overdue, considering his nearly three dozen published novels. In an attempt to find the best entry point in such wealth, I opted for this recent comic book series published by IDW — otherwise famous for Locke & Key and reprints of Sam Kieth's work, beside an endless stream of licensed franchises. Curiously, their catalogue also includes Archangel by William Gibson, another example of a genre fiction novelist turning to graphic novels via time-travel — as a narrative trope.
As a norm, your average time-traveller has a good reason for disruptiing the timestream: usually saving the world. Graham Jones wastes exactly one page introducing a future post-apocalyptic scenario in which escape from Earth through spaceships is available along economic lines that are also ethnic, as is and has so often been the case. The last panel of the page then introduces a ragtag group of indigenous outcasts, stranded on the surface and bent on avoiding the inevitable catastrophe by changing the course of history: "The only way for the world to live is if America [...] never even happens". Hence the title of the volume.
Graham Jones is the first to recognise that the concept isn't original: "Every native kid who's ever sat in the back of their elementary school classroom and been forced to listen to what a hero and legend this dude [...] still apparently is supposed to be, they probably considered this", he writes in the introduction, with slightly precarious syntax. Can't blame them kids, really. And in a climate of cancel culture, I appreciate, if nothing else, the braggadocio of a Native writer who reaches for the most unsubtle of messages. Especially since Columbus is still considered a national hero in some quarters; nevermind that he might well not have been Italian, readily hustled for foreign royals, and committed atrocities that damn his memory.
The idea, then, is interesting. The result probably suffers from the author's lack of familiarity with the medium. He (rightly) praises artist Davide Gianfelice's eloquent panels for allowing him to use fewer words than expected; but the use of those words to tell a nonlinear plot in a clear fashion could be smoother.
Predictably, the story is told across two timelines, 2112 and 1492. There is, however, more than just one time travel (which I should have seen coming, because if you're writing a story with a time travel device, people are gonna use it), and it took me a re-read just to get them straight; a quick scan of the other reviews suggests I'm not alone, either. The occasional supernatural detail, which I gather is standard fare with this writer but comes up here unannounced, can throw the casual reader further off balance.
The story isn't without charms. The characters, especially in the 2112 timeline, throw around a lot of tribal references that give depth to the Native perspective. The most important of these is the Earth Divers myth that lends the name to the series; it becomes especially resonant for the protagonist, a Native who goes by the rather unheroic name of Thad. He's been chosen as the time traveller because of his background in languages, although it becomes immediately clear that he hasn't trained in nautical matters; even his linguistic specialisation comes unhinged on board, and he keeps saying things in the most inappropriate language. Needless to say, he's unmasked before he can say hidalgo, and what follows is rather gruesome. It is in such moments that he identifies the most with the Earth Diver and its ability to swim deeper and deeper in order to succeed.
Of Davide Gianfelice's art has already ben said; his panels are effective even when the lines are fast and loose. And it is poignant to see an Italian artist working alongside a Native writer on this story. Special mention for colorist Joana LaFuente, who steals the show. My favourite, however, remains Christian Ward's alternate cover.
The series includes two more volumes, Ice Age and 1776, for a total of 16 issues. Again, the titles leave little doubt about what scenario to expect. I will complete the series out of a moral obligation more than anything else. Let's see what awaits...
As a norm, your average time-traveller has a good reason for disruptiing the timestream: usually saving the world. Graham Jones wastes exactly one page introducing a future post-apocalyptic scenario in which escape from Earth through spaceships is available along economic lines that are also ethnic, as is and has so often been the case. The last panel of the page then introduces a ragtag group of indigenous outcasts, stranded on the surface and bent on avoiding the inevitable catastrophe by changing the course of history: "The only way for the world to live is if America [...] never even happens". Hence the title of the volume.
Graham Jones is the first to recognise that the concept isn't original: "Every native kid who's ever sat in the back of their elementary school classroom and been forced to listen to what a hero and legend this dude [...] still apparently is supposed to be, they probably considered this", he writes in the introduction, with slightly precarious syntax. Can't blame them kids, really. And in a climate of cancel culture, I appreciate, if nothing else, the braggadocio of a Native writer who reaches for the most unsubtle of messages. Especially since Columbus is still considered a national hero in some quarters; nevermind that he might well not have been Italian, readily hustled for foreign royals, and committed atrocities that damn his memory.
The idea, then, is interesting. The result probably suffers from the author's lack of familiarity with the medium. He (rightly) praises artist Davide Gianfelice's eloquent panels for allowing him to use fewer words than expected; but the use of those words to tell a nonlinear plot in a clear fashion could be smoother.
Predictably, the story is told across two timelines, 2112 and 1492. There is, however, more than just one time travel (which I should have seen coming, because if you're writing a story with a time travel device, people are gonna use it), and it took me a re-read just to get them straight; a quick scan of the other reviews suggests I'm not alone, either. The occasional supernatural detail, which I gather is standard fare with this writer but comes up here unannounced, can throw the casual reader further off balance.
The story isn't without charms. The characters, especially in the 2112 timeline, throw around a lot of tribal references that give depth to the Native perspective. The most important of these is the Earth Divers myth that lends the name to the series; it becomes especially resonant for the protagonist, a Native who goes by the rather unheroic name of Thad. He's been chosen as the time traveller because of his background in languages, although it becomes immediately clear that he hasn't trained in nautical matters; even his linguistic specialisation comes unhinged on board, and he keeps saying things in the most inappropriate language. Needless to say, he's unmasked before he can say hidalgo, and what follows is rather gruesome. It is in such moments that he identifies the most with the Earth Diver and its ability to swim deeper and deeper in order to succeed.
Of Davide Gianfelice's art has already ben said; his panels are effective even when the lines are fast and loose. And it is poignant to see an Italian artist working alongside a Native writer on this story. Special mention for colorist Joana LaFuente, who steals the show. My favourite, however, remains Christian Ward's alternate cover.
The series includes two more volumes, Ice Age and 1776, for a total of 16 issues. Again, the titles leave little doubt about what scenario to expect. I will complete the series out of a moral obligation more than anything else. Let's see what awaits...
March 26, 2024
3.5
Travel back in time.
Kill Columbus.
Save the World from America.
Sounds like an Indigenous Survivors wet dream or a Summer Hollywood Blockbuster that Tom Cruise would have no part off.
It's neither...kind of a more thoughtful time travel story and a little more personalised than I expected.
Intriguing concept and good read.
Travel back in time.
Kill Columbus.
Save the World from America.
Sounds like an Indigenous Survivors wet dream or a Summer Hollywood Blockbuster that Tom Cruise would have no part off.
It's neither...kind of a more thoughtful time travel story and a little more personalised than I expected.
Intriguing concept and good read.
December 21, 2025
Such an intriguing take on time travel as a means of steering history, in order to prevent future disaster. It's been done, yes, but not like this. This story incorporates both conscience and consciousness, in ways I had not seen before. The author plays with the premise that only small changes can be made to the past, that when you mess with time, it tends to fight back.
SGJ does not explicitly state this, but I'm sure he is aware of the physics view that time is a construct. But, to have the potential opportunity to go back and stop Columbus? Can't pass that up, yeah?
SGJ does not explicitly state this, but I'm sure he is aware of the physics view that time is a construct. But, to have the potential opportunity to go back and stop Columbus? Can't pass that up, yeah?
November 29, 2023
The striking cover of Earthdivers captured my attention especially when paired with the story premise of four Indigenous survivors of an apocalypse, who attempt to change history by going back in time to kill Christopher Columbus.
The group consists of multilingual Tad of the Lakota nation, his Iñupiat wife Sosh, transgender Seminole Emily and the suspicious Blackfoot Yellow Kidney who is the one who discovered the time-traveling cave. Tad is sent back to the Spanish docks to board the Niña as his language skills give him the best chance of blending in and getting close enough to Columbus to kill him. He has to make some hard choices to blend in, with two people dying early on (heartbreakingly one was an innocent ship’s boy) and he tries to excuse his actions as he believes he needs to make sacrifices for the greater good.
The two timelines of 2112 and 1492 trade back and forth, and unfortunately, I found the action occurring in the future very convoluted. Sosh and Emily discover a secret about Yellow Kidney, and I found the man with two wives and the missing twins confusing. However, the explanation that a stable system will flatten any fluctuations despite changes made in the past was plausible enough, which is the opposite of the butterfly effect. Tad is thwarted several times in his attempts to kill Columbus (why didn’t he do it in the captain’s quarters?) and a late attempt doesn’t work out the way he had hoped, as history wishes to right itself. So how does the person that Emily sees after her time travel affect the group and society in the next volume?
As a fan of Davide Gianfelice’s work on Northlanders, he brings history to life once again in the speculative story. In fact, his art has improved, as I did have a few complaints about his depictions of the Viking era, but here the illustrations are spot on. He captures the apocalyptic feel of the future, as well as the journey of the three ships in the past. The speech bubble lettering was solid, but there were some occasional descriptive words that were hard to read in the panels. The coloring is subdued throughout the entire story with a few pops of color for Yellow Kidney’s umbrella and jacket, and red for the violence that occurs often.
This story proved to be an intriguing but frustrating read. I have listened to two short stories by author Stephen Graham Jones on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast that I enjoyed, but was not a fan of his horror novel My Heart is a Chainsaw, so I’m on the fence with him. But the recognizable historical figure on the last page has piqued my interest, so I plan to tune in for the next volume in this new series and see how that story holds up. (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2023/11/2...
The group consists of multilingual Tad of the Lakota nation, his Iñupiat wife Sosh, transgender Seminole Emily and the suspicious Blackfoot Yellow Kidney who is the one who discovered the time-traveling cave. Tad is sent back to the Spanish docks to board the Niña as his language skills give him the best chance of blending in and getting close enough to Columbus to kill him. He has to make some hard choices to blend in, with two people dying early on (heartbreakingly one was an innocent ship’s boy) and he tries to excuse his actions as he believes he needs to make sacrifices for the greater good.
The two timelines of 2112 and 1492 trade back and forth, and unfortunately, I found the action occurring in the future very convoluted. Sosh and Emily discover a secret about Yellow Kidney, and I found the man with two wives and the missing twins confusing. However, the explanation that a stable system will flatten any fluctuations despite changes made in the past was plausible enough, which is the opposite of the butterfly effect. Tad is thwarted several times in his attempts to kill Columbus (why didn’t he do it in the captain’s quarters?) and a late attempt doesn’t work out the way he had hoped, as history wishes to right itself. So how does the person that Emily sees after her time travel affect the group and society in the next volume?
As a fan of Davide Gianfelice’s work on Northlanders, he brings history to life once again in the speculative story. In fact, his art has improved, as I did have a few complaints about his depictions of the Viking era, but here the illustrations are spot on. He captures the apocalyptic feel of the future, as well as the journey of the three ships in the past. The speech bubble lettering was solid, but there were some occasional descriptive words that were hard to read in the panels. The coloring is subdued throughout the entire story with a few pops of color for Yellow Kidney’s umbrella and jacket, and red for the violence that occurs often.
This story proved to be an intriguing but frustrating read. I have listened to two short stories by author Stephen Graham Jones on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast that I enjoyed, but was not a fan of his horror novel My Heart is a Chainsaw, so I’m on the fence with him. But the recognizable historical figure on the last page has piqued my interest, so I plan to tune in for the next volume in this new series and see how that story holds up. (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2023/11/2...
April 13, 2024
Ambitious, but heavy-handed and confusing. In a distant, bleak future, a handful of indigenous Americans find a time portal in the desert. Naturally, their best plan is "send one of us back to kill Columbus so America never happens." It's never exactly explained how "America" leads to the grim future they're in, it's just assumed that the reader gets it. Yeah, man, capitalism is real bad and stuff.
Kill Columbus would probably be fine if it leaned into the absurdist plot. Instead, it's deadly serious about time travel shenanigans, to the point that it's difficult to tell who is who because there are several of the same person running around after numerous run-ins with the time portal. Not the easiest concept to follow, particularly when we keep jumping back to the 1400s. The historical stuff is easily the best part of the book because there's an actual coherent narrative - it's in the title.
Could get more interesting/understandable in future volumes, but it could also get way more weird. I'm not super inclined to find out.
Kill Columbus would probably be fine if it leaned into the absurdist plot. Instead, it's deadly serious about time travel shenanigans, to the point that it's difficult to tell who is who because there are several of the same person running around after numerous run-ins with the time portal. Not the easiest concept to follow, particularly when we keep jumping back to the 1400s. The historical stuff is easily the best part of the book because there's an actual coherent narrative - it's in the title.
Could get more interesting/understandable in future volumes, but it could also get way more weird. I'm not super inclined to find out.
September 11, 2023
I received an ARC copy via NetGallery in exchange for an honest review.
In this sci-fi adventure, a group of Native Americans, from a dystopian future, find a system that allows time travel. However, the cost required for this mission is expensive.
The group organizes a journey through time for one of them with the mission of killing Christopher Columbus before he discovers the Americas so as to guarantee their people independent development and, perhaps, thus save the human race from the cataclysms that have decimated it.
The story is very fascinating, full of metaphors and innuendos, fascinating.
What I didn't like is the link between the motive and the mission: I don't understand why stopping Columbus would have prevented the end of the world. However, the dynamics of time travel have been respected and in an original and imaginative form.
Too bad about the ending, I would have expected much more.
In this sci-fi adventure, a group of Native Americans, from a dystopian future, find a system that allows time travel. However, the cost required for this mission is expensive.
The group organizes a journey through time for one of them with the mission of killing Christopher Columbus before he discovers the Americas so as to guarantee their people independent development and, perhaps, thus save the human race from the cataclysms that have decimated it.
The story is very fascinating, full of metaphors and innuendos, fascinating.
What I didn't like is the link between the motive and the mission: I don't understand why stopping Columbus would have prevented the end of the world. However, the dynamics of time travel have been respected and in an original and imaginative form.
Too bad about the ending, I would have expected much more.
January 4, 2024
Stephen Graham Jones' Earthdivers peels back the skin of societal oppression, exposing a grim truth—that horror lies not just in one solitary figure, but in the very marrow of systemic malevolence.
Set in a not-so-far-away dystopian future, Earthdivers follows four Indigenous timehoppers as they enact a plan to kill Christopher Columbus and save the world from America. But the journey is anything but easy, moral philosophy and human regret asking the question: what do our actions cost and to whom do we pay the price?
Set in a not-so-far-away dystopian future, Earthdivers follows four Indigenous timehoppers as they enact a plan to kill Christopher Columbus and save the world from America. But the journey is anything but easy, moral philosophy and human regret asking the question: what do our actions cost and to whom do we pay the price?
December 12, 2023
3.5 stars--This sci fi/horror graphic novel boasts striking artwork and an incredible premise. When I could grasp the storyline, which whips around in wild directions like dueling winds, I enjoyed it. However, there were also times I felt I nearly lost the thread completely and I once again found myself wondering "is it the book or is it me?"
I am looking forward to future editions, in which I hope that some of these loose threads will be tied up and things will make more sense to me.
I am looking forward to future editions, in which I hope that some of these loose threads will be tied up and things will make more sense to me.
September 17, 2023
I don’t usually *do* sci-fi, but I enjoyed the horror elements of this. I need them to keep the momentum, but that ending was kind of lackluster. I’ll give the next one a go.
March 21, 2024
Lame.
Other than colononist killing catharsis, it's pointless. Very confusing for no reason.
Lots of interludes of time traveling randos who have their own purpose.
Two lost kids? One of the main characters killed them for some reason and other side characters just pop up looking for them and its fucking confusing.
The kid from the boat shows up as a zombie time ghost? Idk. What was the point?
They didn't even explore a world without Columbus. It was all pointless
Other than colononist killing catharsis, it's pointless. Very confusing for no reason.
Lots of interludes of time traveling randos who have their own purpose.
Two lost kids? One of the main characters killed them for some reason and other side characters just pop up looking for them and its fucking confusing.
The kid from the boat shows up as a zombie time ghost? Idk. What was the point?
They didn't even explore a world without Columbus. It was all pointless
November 10, 2024
3.5 stars, I thought the concept of this story was really intriguing but found the 2112 plot line hard to follow
October 9, 2023
I received an E-ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion, all thoughts are my own
4.25
I am so glad I picked this up. The story is so fascinating with a time travel element the art was very nice and really appealed to me. I highly recommend.
it starts in the near future and civilization is coming to an end. a group of Indigenous friends trying to survive discover a time travel portal in a cave. they decided that in order to fix the world they should go back and kill Columbus before he "finds" America, though it is not as easy as they thought.
you will be hooked after the first issue, this volume was not enough and I cant wait to read the rest of the volumes as they come out.
feel free to search out some reviews from Indigenous reviewers as I'm not qualified to speak on these topics but Stephen Graham Jones has not disappointed with this.
4.25
I am so glad I picked this up. The story is so fascinating with a time travel element the art was very nice and really appealed to me. I highly recommend.
it starts in the near future and civilization is coming to an end. a group of Indigenous friends trying to survive discover a time travel portal in a cave. they decided that in order to fix the world they should go back and kill Columbus before he "finds" America, though it is not as easy as they thought.
you will be hooked after the first issue, this volume was not enough and I cant wait to read the rest of the volumes as they come out.
feel free to search out some reviews from Indigenous reviewers as I'm not qualified to speak on these topics but Stephen Graham Jones has not disappointed with this.
September 30, 2023
Bleak stuff, but the story was great, and I loved the artwork. The story pulled me in from the first page. I didn't understand everything that happened in the 2112 timeline, but I got enough to be shocked and on the edge of my seat to see what happens next with Emily.
As always, I enjoyed the author's supplementary comments, which always add to the reading experience for me. Don't skip the intro, friends. It's sweet.
As always, I enjoyed the author's supplementary comments, which always add to the reading experience for me. Don't skip the intro, friends. It's sweet.
October 28, 2023
I love the premise of the graphic novel, the art is eye catching, but the backstory was muddled and confusing to me. I love time travel tales. What could/would one change? How would it affect everything that comes after? A fun and thought provoking read. I'll keep an eye out for the next installment which will hopefully clear up the current timeline plot lines.
October 12, 2023
I love the concept but am not a huge fan of the execution.
January 18, 2024
Great concept, great art, sometimes confusing storyline in the present day.
December 2, 2025
This was my Thanksgiving Day read and I think that was a pretty fabulous choice. I didn't even know that Stephen Graham Jones had a graphic novel until I was checking the library catalog to see whether his newest release had gotten in yet and that's how I found this beauty. Striking cover, isn't it? The inside has a more traditional style but throws such a great use of color in that I can easily say one of the reasons to pick this up for is the art.
But the story is cool, too! In the future, a future where climate and everything else is completely wrecked, 4 descendants of different Native tribes decided to change the course of history. For the world to be better, the USA should never have happened, for that to be the case, someone has to travel back through time and kill Columbus. Easier said than done. And Jones truly thought this concept through, all the pitfalls, outfalls and questions coming with this plan, and then there's all the commentary. All nicely woven into an exciting plot. I liked how this unapologetically takes a Native perspective but still goes into moral dilemmas and the price that will have to be paid. Time travel stories can be tricky to pull off well but I think this does a lot with it and it does it as realistically as probably possible. Listen, there's always a contradiction or a flaw in the time travel, something never adds up. But this seemed rather solid to me in how it was executed, but even if I could detect the flaw the strength of the story makes up for it. It does take a little bit to get going though, the first half had its confusing moments but with time most of that cleared up for me. It's trademark Jones to make it not too easy for his audience and this was no exception in that regard. But pay attention and stick with it. I read this on and off over the course of one day and it really helped to fully immerse me in a story that maybe otherwise could have been too overwhelming with all its plot details.
At the end of the world, "Here there be monsters."
But the story is cool, too! In the future, a future where climate and everything else is completely wrecked, 4 descendants of different Native tribes decided to change the course of history. For the world to be better, the USA should never have happened, for that to be the case, someone has to travel back through time and kill Columbus. Easier said than done. And Jones truly thought this concept through, all the pitfalls, outfalls and questions coming with this plan, and then there's all the commentary. All nicely woven into an exciting plot. I liked how this unapologetically takes a Native perspective but still goes into moral dilemmas and the price that will have to be paid. Time travel stories can be tricky to pull off well but I think this does a lot with it and it does it as realistically as probably possible. Listen, there's always a contradiction or a flaw in the time travel, something never adds up. But this seemed rather solid to me in how it was executed, but even if I could detect the flaw the strength of the story makes up for it. It does take a little bit to get going though, the first half had its confusing moments but with time most of that cleared up for me. It's trademark Jones to make it not too easy for his audience and this was no exception in that regard. But pay attention and stick with it. I read this on and off over the course of one day and it really helped to fully immerse me in a story that maybe otherwise could have been too overwhelming with all its plot details.
At the end of the world, "Here there be monsters."
May 21, 2024
Okay first off, I’m a huge fan of SGJ’s horror works and have a keen interest in Lakota, Crow, and Navajo myths. So this series is pretty much tailored for me.
Earthdivers is a sci-fi/horror set in a dystopian future, where the earth is dying and the white folks have scurried off to space, leaving the indigenous people behind to deal with a dying planet. A small group of Lakotas and Blackfeet soon pinpoint the beginning of all this horror - Columbus discovering America. So, logically, taking out Columbus off the annuls of history would never give rise to Corporate America, and the earth would still be a verdant paradise. Luckily, they have a time traveling cave handy, and off goes one of them for mission: Kill Columbus.
But this is a SGJ book. Of course things go very wrong. Violently wrong. As history tries hard to restore to its original version, one man (and a talking goat) rages a war for all his ancestors as he travels back in time and tries to kill Columbus in his historical journey. There’s some supernatural and violent gore along the way and the Davide Gianfelice’s artwork elevates every single panel. The ideas of how a system of oppression is about more than a single person is executed brilliantly.
This was a great read. But a rather difficult one. Not only are there multiple timelines, the bleeding of timelines and even panels into each other (I appreciate the both visual and metaphorical necessity of it) makes the story hard to follow at times. But the complexity only serves to elevate the experience. Absolutely hooked to this series and off to the next volume.
Earthdivers is a sci-fi/horror set in a dystopian future, where the earth is dying and the white folks have scurried off to space, leaving the indigenous people behind to deal with a dying planet. A small group of Lakotas and Blackfeet soon pinpoint the beginning of all this horror - Columbus discovering America. So, logically, taking out Columbus off the annuls of history would never give rise to Corporate America, and the earth would still be a verdant paradise. Luckily, they have a time traveling cave handy, and off goes one of them for mission: Kill Columbus.
But this is a SGJ book. Of course things go very wrong. Violently wrong. As history tries hard to restore to its original version, one man (and a talking goat) rages a war for all his ancestors as he travels back in time and tries to kill Columbus in his historical journey. There’s some supernatural and violent gore along the way and the Davide Gianfelice’s artwork elevates every single panel. The ideas of how a system of oppression is about more than a single person is executed brilliantly.
This was a great read. But a rather difficult one. Not only are there multiple timelines, the bleeding of timelines and even panels into each other (I appreciate the both visual and metaphorical necessity of it) makes the story hard to follow at times. But the complexity only serves to elevate the experience. Absolutely hooked to this series and off to the next volume.
May 26, 2024
3 1/2 stars, pretty good actually. I’d rate it higher if the time travel aspect was explained better. It wasn’t entirely clear what the various characters’s goals were, and their inside conversations didn’t help that much. Some of the characters intentions and appearances just confused me…Jones kind of just dumps you in the middle of everything….still want to continue though. Some pretty fun stuff.
October 26, 2025
3.5 stars
Not as great as I hoped/expected. Things weren’t really explained at all, just started right in the action. Normally not a problem because the story loops back around and provides context intermittently. That did not happen here.
Still, though, it hooked my interest enough to look into the other 2 volumes.
Not as great as I hoped/expected. Things weren’t really explained at all, just started right in the action. Normally not a problem because the story loops back around and provides context intermittently. That did not happen here.
Still, though, it hooked my interest enough to look into the other 2 volumes.
October 1, 2024
The plot of this was sometimes a little all over the place but the messaging, concept and art were all so strong that ultimately I didn’t care! Keen to pursue the other works in this series!!
February 19, 2024
In 2112, America is in ruins. A couple Lakota Indians discover a one-way portal to the past in an old cave. They hatch a plan to go back and kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the new world to try to avoid his pillaging of the native tribes and maybe take back the country that was stolen from them.
As always, things go sideways. It’s intense with a bit of horror at the end. Really enjoyed it.
As always, things go sideways. It’s intense with a bit of horror at the end. Really enjoyed it.
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