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Strange Bedfellows
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Expected 4 Mar 25Win a free print copy of this book!
8 days and 01:17:20
5 copies available
U.S. only
In this stunning graphic novel by two-time Ignatz award–winning graphic novelist Ariel Slamet Ries, Oberon must choose between fantasy and reality when he develops the ability to conjure his dreams in real life—including the facsimile of the boy who got away.
In the not-too-distant future, most of humanity resides on its last-ditch effort at Meridian, a remote alien planet where you’re more likely to be born superhuman than left-handed.
None of that is important to Oberon Afolayan. Since his mildly public breakdown, his whole life seems to be spiraling out of control—from dropping out of university to breaking up with his boyfriend, it seems like only a karmic inevitability when he wakes up one day with the ability to conjure his dreams in the real world.
Oberon’s newfound powers come with a facsimile of his high school crush, Kon, who mysteriously dropped off the face of the planet almost three years ago and who is a little more infuriating (if not also infuriatingly hot) than Oberon remembers.
Kon makes it his mission to turn Oberon’s life around, and while they struggle to get a handle on his powers and his disastrous personal life (not to mention the appearance of strange nightmare creatures), it turns out this dream version of Kon has secrets of his own—dangerous ones.
Oberon might have more on his plate than he originally thought, but is giving up his dreams—even the one he might have accidentally fallen in love with—the only way to find happiness in reality?
In the not-too-distant future, most of humanity resides on its last-ditch effort at Meridian, a remote alien planet where you’re more likely to be born superhuman than left-handed.
None of that is important to Oberon Afolayan. Since his mildly public breakdown, his whole life seems to be spiraling out of control—from dropping out of university to breaking up with his boyfriend, it seems like only a karmic inevitability when he wakes up one day with the ability to conjure his dreams in the real world.
Oberon’s newfound powers come with a facsimile of his high school crush, Kon, who mysteriously dropped off the face of the planet almost three years ago and who is a little more infuriating (if not also infuriatingly hot) than Oberon remembers.
Kon makes it his mission to turn Oberon’s life around, and while they struggle to get a handle on his powers and his disastrous personal life (not to mention the appearance of strange nightmare creatures), it turns out this dream version of Kon has secrets of his own—dangerous ones.
Oberon might have more on his plate than he originally thought, but is giving up his dreams—even the one he might have accidentally fallen in love with—the only way to find happiness in reality?
288 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 4, 2025
About the author
Ariel Slamet Ries
10 books207 followersAriel Slamet Ries is a Naarm/Melbourne-born, Denmark-trained comic artist and illustrator. They studied animation for 4 years before throwing away the prestige and money to pursue comics. They’re passionate about telling stories with marginalised folks at the centre, often with a fantasy or sci-fi twist. Their first two major comic releases, Witchy Vol. 1 (Lion Forge/Oni Press) and Cry Wolf Girl (ShortBox), were released last year.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Want to read
November 10, 2024"In this stunning graphic novel, Oberon must choose between fantasy and reality when he develops the ability to conjure his dreams in real life—including the facsimile of the boy who got away."
wooooo! new ries!
wooooo! new ries!
January 26, 2025
Énorme coup de cœur
J'ai hâte que la BD sorte (en VO et en VF) et que vous puissiez la lire.
🖤
J'ai hâte que la BD sorte (en VO et en VF) et que vous puissiez la lire.
🖤
Shelved as 'to-read-so-bad-it-hurts'
September 24, 2023'Oberon is finding his way back after a very public “breakdown,” but when he develops the ability to conjure his dreams in real life—including a facsimile of his high school crush, Kon—he might have more on his plate than he originally thought.'
This sounds so good, ahhh
Source
This sounds so good, ahhh
Source
January 26, 2025
Trigger warnings for suicide attempt
I loved this graphic novel. While the art is nice, well drawn and with a very well-chosen color palette, it’s the story that stands out to me. Oberon, as the only one of his siblings (two older, two younger) without powers feels hopeless, and helpless. His friends are in college, which he has sort of/sort of not dropped out of — taking a deferment — after being dumped (among other stressors) led to him having a panic attack. He’s shut down around his family, doing his best to get by without having to do much of anything until his dreams of Kon. Kon, the crush who vanished. Kon, who seems so real …
This Kon is cheerful, friendly, bossy, obnoxious and Oberon both hates him and relies on him, because Kon is, after all, just part of Oberon’s own magic, which makes his dreams a reality. And the more he summons Kon — or channels Kon, or dreams Kon into being — the stronger Kon becomes as a separate personality. And, because he always had a crush on Kon, this leads to some … er, feelings. Is kissing Kon, wanting to be held by Kon (to do more with Kon) masturbatory, is it just loneliness?
Oberon’s struggles to not take responsibility, to go back to a passive, placid life are at odds with Kon’s desires for him to practice his magic and get out and be with his family and friends. Is Kon his superego? Or his Id? Oberon wants Kon to go away, but Kon makes him happy, helps him feel comfortable with his powers, makes him feel wanted and loved.
There’s a lot of emotional tension, a lot of lovely, rich character work both for Oberon and Kon, and it was beautifully paced, each moment given time to breathe without it feeling too long. The action scenes are well drawn, vivid and colorful, and the world building about the arc, the magic powers, the realities of living in a colony world were present enough to add to the world without taking over.
Please read this story! It’s just so good! Thank you so very much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
I loved this graphic novel. While the art is nice, well drawn and with a very well-chosen color palette, it’s the story that stands out to me. Oberon, as the only one of his siblings (two older, two younger) without powers feels hopeless, and helpless. His friends are in college, which he has sort of/sort of not dropped out of — taking a deferment — after being dumped (among other stressors) led to him having a panic attack. He’s shut down around his family, doing his best to get by without having to do much of anything until his dreams of Kon. Kon, the crush who vanished. Kon, who seems so real …
This Kon is cheerful, friendly, bossy, obnoxious and Oberon both hates him and relies on him, because Kon is, after all, just part of Oberon’s own magic, which makes his dreams a reality. And the more he summons Kon — or channels Kon, or dreams Kon into being — the stronger Kon becomes as a separate personality. And, because he always had a crush on Kon, this leads to some … er, feelings. Is kissing Kon, wanting to be held by Kon (to do more with Kon) masturbatory, is it just loneliness?
Oberon’s struggles to not take responsibility, to go back to a passive, placid life are at odds with Kon’s desires for him to practice his magic and get out and be with his family and friends. Is Kon his superego? Or his Id? Oberon wants Kon to go away, but Kon makes him happy, helps him feel comfortable with his powers, makes him feel wanted and loved.
There’s a lot of emotional tension, a lot of lovely, rich character work both for Oberon and Kon, and it was beautifully paced, each moment given time to breathe without it feeling too long. The action scenes are well drawn, vivid and colorful, and the world building about the arc, the magic powers, the realities of living in a colony world were present enough to add to the world without taking over.
Please read this story! It’s just so good! Thank you so very much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
January 27, 2025
This story was so goddamn good. After Oberon has a mental breakdown in the middle of a lecture at college, his life seems to be spiraling out of his control. He distances himself from his friends, drops out of college, and spends a lot of time dreaming. In his dreams, he starts dreaming of his high school crush, Kon, who went missing shortly after high school ended. Until Kon appears outside of those dreams as an apparition! Together, they slowly try to turn Oberon's life back around. This story was so interesting, and I adored both Oberon and Kon. They felt like real people and their struggles, though futuristic, were very relatable. Also, I really like how slang was written in this story. It feels like something kids of the future would use, but they also included "outdated" slang that older people use! It was a little detail that really helped add some reality to the story. The art was GORGOUES. I loved the art style so much, and the dream scenes were so pretty. I don't want to say too much about the story because it was so good. It's also a solar punk utopia style of a story that acknowledges the dystopia that it rose from. Please just go read it for yourself, it's worth it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
January 24, 2025
eARC received through Netgalley.
As somebody who had read Ariel Slamet Ries before picking this up, I found this to be an upgrade from her previous work. One, the artwork was even more beautiful than Witchy, and the colors were stunningly done. Two, the story was more captivating, and the mini-twist near the end was really well written. I might be buying myself a copy of this when it releases!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
As somebody who had read Ariel Slamet Ries before picking this up, I found this to be an upgrade from her previous work. One, the artwork was even more beautiful than Witchy, and the colors were stunningly done. Two, the story was more captivating, and the mini-twist near the end was really well written. I might be buying myself a copy of this when it releases!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
January 26, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review!
This is a beautiful graphic novel! The art is amazing. There was a lot of words on a page sometimes and it was hard to follow the plot in a few parts, but I really liked the overall story. There is a lot of good themes here and I think it might be easier to read in person. This was super sweet and fun!
This is a beautiful graphic novel! The art is amazing. There was a lot of words on a page sometimes and it was hard to follow the plot in a few parts, but I really liked the overall story. There is a lot of good themes here and I think it might be easier to read in person. This was super sweet and fun!
Want to read
April 7, 2024do yourself a favor and google this book. the art from the samples looks like it's going to be AMAZING <333333
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews