Book – Neon Pulse
Alissa Lace’s cyberpunk romance novel, Neon Pulse, was released this. The story follows Sophia and Axon, star-crossed lovers separated by a firewall, and a totalitarian regime.
Synopsis –
Sophia Aido is desperate for warmth, love, and connection. Even the shower scolds her for being too poor for hot water.
No matter how much she works she can’t get ahead, mostly because she spends all her nights and credits talking to a digital voice that no one else believes is really alive.
Axon has been imprisoned for seventy- eight years, locked away as only a voice on a server. Sophia is his Sunshine, the one he talks to day and night, and the one he’s desperate to protect.
And Sophia? How far is she willing to go to help him come back to life? Even when Mierva’s neon city tracks her every move?
After all, it’s not that easy to leave your heart behind.
Neon Pulse is a grief-soaked CYBORG CYBERPUNK romance that defies both time and death. Again and again.
Neon Pulse follows Sophia, an electricity engineer working for a dystopian government. Having been at war with neighbouring planets, and dealing with a resistance uprising as part of the conflict, the powers that be keep a strict control on the populace. Sophia still gathers intelligence on the planet’s power grid through her job, but no-one seems interested in challenging the status quo anymore. Her only ally and companion in this is Axon, a cyborg who fought for freedom against Mierva’s rulers decades ago. The only problem is he no longer has a body, and exists only as a consciousness in a firewalled server.
The story is one of rebellion and romance. The conflict is in the barriers that exist to the progression of either. Sophia is a human out in the world, seeing the suffering of the lower classes first hand, but without the tools at her disposal to do anything about it. Axon has the knowledge, and the back-up, to begin making a difference, but he is trapped, with no knowledge of where his body is being kept, or if it is even inatct. Sophia lives an incredibly lonely life, but her resilience shines through as she continues to fight in the way that she knows best, though she is having to go through it, mostly, alone.
Axon’s is a maddening existence, literally floating in an online prison. Having known what it is to touch, to feel, to live, the decades spent untethered should have made him bitter and twisted. However, his relationship with Sophia works to tether him to the world at large, and the task at hand. The two are heavily reliant on each other, and this is where the romance in the story meets its trials and tribulations. For a romantic journey, you need conflict, and author Alissa Lace has crafted a situation fraught with conflict and uncertainty. We are most engaged when two people have to fight for their love, and that is certainly the case here. The two protagonists are being kept apart not by ideals, or class, or a series of misunderstandings, but by a literal barrier, almost metaphysical in nature, and as a reader we can only sit back and agonise as the heroes of the story work to find their way to each other.
Whilst they do so, Lace displays the injustices of the world around them, and paints a picture of a dystopian government corrupt to its core, and deeply contemptuous of its second class citizens. The rich look after themselves, and treat everyone else like inconveniences, or guinea pigs for experimentation. We’re left in no doubt as to how evil this antagonist is, that we can’t help but wish for their downfall. In this way, the story has a very black and white approach to the tale of heroes versus villains. There are some characters on the fringes that touch on the grey, but for the most part we know who deserves their comeuppance, and we read on to find out if and when they receive it.
Neon Pulse is an entertaining dystopian romance, with main characters that are sympathetic, and who fight against barriers that are suitably challenging to overcome. For a story about heroes fighting against a dystopian regime, there is very little action, the bulk of the story being more about the tension of the situations, and the fear the main characters feel as they act to undermine their oppressors. If you are looking for a romantic story where the characters have to fight genuine life-altering stakes in order to be together, and where you feel genuinely engaged in their plight, Neon Pulse is worth checking out.
Neon Pulse is available now on Amazon Kindle, and there is a special edition hardcover coming soon by way of Kickstarter –https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1234954321/neon-pulse-a-cyberpunk-romance-special-edition-hardcover
Trailer – Drone Games
A new trailer was released online this week for French drone-based crime movie Drone Games. Directed by Olivier Abbou, it follows a group of drone enthusiasts who use their skills to pull off an escalating series of robberies.
Synopsis –
Tom, a lonely teenager passionate about drones, falls in with a free-spirited anarchist gang that pulls him into high-stakes drone races and stealthy, ambitious heists over the course of one dangerous summer.
Drone Games was originally released in France in 2023, and will now be released for digital streaming in the US and international regions on October 23, 2026 through distributor Buffalo 8. The movie is written by Thibault Lang-Willar, Olivier Abbou, and Mathilde Cadrot. It stars Orlando Vauthier, Axel Granberger, and Angéle Metzger, among others.
Buffalo 8 have chosen to release the trailer in French, without subtitles, which is an interesting choice for an upcoming English language release. There isn’t a great deal of dialogue in the trailer, though, and it’s easy to discern what’s going on. It looks like a coming of age drama that begins as a fun romp, but as the stakes increase and Tom gets involved with more serious, violent encounters, he’ll need to decide if he wants to continue down the criminal path, or break away from his new comrades.
You can watch the trailer below.
Book – Ready Player One Graphic Novel
A graphic novel version of Ready Player One went on sale this week. Released to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the original novel, it is published by Cornerstone in the UK, and Ten Speed Graphic in the US.
From the publisher –
Immerse yourself in the electrifying world of Ready Player One with this gorgeously illustrated graphic adaptation of the #1 New York Times bestselling sci-fi novel.
A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.
When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune – and control of the OASIS itself.
Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on – and the only way to survive is to win.
Completely illustrated with breathtaking full-colour artwork, this stunning graphic novel adaptation brings you into Wade’s exhilarating quest like never before!
When Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One was released 15 years ago, it made a massive cultural impact. Whilst it didn’t necessarily trigger a huge wave of 1980’s rediscovery, it was a major bestseller. Steven Spielberg adapted the novel into a movie in 2018, and a sequel novel, Ready Player Two, was published in 2020. It could also be argued that although it isn’t LitRPG itself, the gamified virtual world in the book inspired a whole new set of readers to explore the Lit RPG genre.
This new graphic novel, by Ernest Cline with illustrations by Meredith Laxton, offers 320 pages of full colour artwork. If you weren’t a fan of the visual style of the movie, or are just interested to see a different take on it, this is your chance to check out a new interpretation of both the dystopian world the book is set in, and the virtual world of the Oasis.
Ready Player One the Graphic Novel is available now in hardcover and digital formats, with a paperback to come at some point in the future.
Podcast – The High Tech Low Life Podcast Episode 135: Cyberpunk 2077 Part 2
The latest episode of The High Tech Low Life Podcast is available now. This week, hosts Eric and Josh conclude their conversation about the Cyberpunk 2077 videogame, joined by Colin from the Astronomica podcast.
The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Every episode, Eric and Josh start by talking about the real world dystopia in which we find ourselves, offer some cyberpunk related or adjacent recommendos, and then discuss a piece of cyberpunk media, sometimes joined by a guest. They have nearly 150 episodes available, and you can find The High Tech Low Life Podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
Also have another completed podcast, Johnny Mnminute, where each episode they watched one minute of the movie Johnny Mnemonic, and stripped it bare. It’s a great listen, and you can check it out below.
The High Tech Low Life Podcast also has a Patreon, which offers exclusive content and early access to episodes, which you can access below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/hightechlowlife
They also have a channel on the Astronomica Discord server.
Comic – 07-10-26 Releases
We took a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases. Don’t read it too fast, though…
REBELLION
2000 AD #2503
From the publisher –
I am The Mighty Tharg, Betelgeusian brainiac at the helm of this circuit-shattering weekly!
Put aside matters of the mundane and everyday, Terrans, for it’s that time once again to transport your imaginations into the futureshocked worlds of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
We’re fully into the autumn assault — Dredd, Azimuth, Durham Red, Herne & Shuck and Ghosted are all pulsating at never-before-seen Thrill-levels — and with reports reaching me that the milestone Prog 2500 has completely sold out from the 2000 AD online shop, I’m guessing that quite a few of you Squaxx have come along for the ride!
If you’re a new reader, and have just jumped on board, perhaps less familiar to the ways of Thrill-power, how do I sum up 2000 AD? What best describes the experience of consuming my Mighty Organ every seven days? After all, there’s a reason that the anthology’s still here, nearly fifty years since it launched.
I’d say that what this scrotnig title delivers is a shock to the system — whether it’s the eye-popping art, the nerve-jangling stories, or the general thrum of energy coursing through it, it’s electric!
2000 AD is a British science fiction comic book, which has been publishing for nearly 50 years 1977, famed for its dark British humour, and satirical and subversive stories. The jewel in the crown is Judge Dredd, a dystopian cyberpunk icon, whilst The Fall of Deadworld is a kind of an alternative history prequel series about Judge Dredd enemy Judge Death. Meanwhile Mega-City 2099 stories serve as a more traditional prequel.
INDEPENDENT
BREEZE #2
From the publisher –
Welcome to Babylon, where megacorporations own your soul and tyrannical super-soldiers keep you in line. Fortunately, firepower is affordable.
In Breeze Issue #2, hacker Galli and cybernetic gunslinger Synth are on the run after pulling off the score of a lifetime. Unfortunately, escaping with their lives proves considerably harder than stealing whatever it was they stole.
With corporate troopers closing in and a particularly persistent bounty hunter on their trail, Galli and Synth have to figure out what they actually stole; and why everyone suddenly wants them dead.
Oh, and somewhere along the way, there’s a cybernetic cat.
Still funding on Kickstarter, Breeze #2 is a full colour, 35 page comic set in Babylon, a sprawling corporate megacity in the Dawnward Universe, amid a neon-drenched future dominated by megacorporations. In issue #1, hacker Galli joined up with a group of freelancers, who then embarked on the heist of a lifetime—robbing a megacorp. But when you rip off a corporation who have their own squad of super soldiers, getting away with it is not going to be easy. Especially when you also have a bounty hunter on your tails. Breeze is currently funding on Kickstarter, and you can check out all the details, and pledge to the campaign, on the Kickstarter page here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breezecomic/breeze-a-cyberpunk-inspired-comic-issue-2
CRITICAL OPS TASK FORCE #1
From the publisher –
War has evolved.
In a brutal near-future, elite mercenaries take on impossible missions for the highest bidder, where survival is never guaranteed and the truth is always buried.
This 130-page, full-color graphic novel delivers three explosive stories set in a violent, high-tech world where power always comes at a cost.
In a fractured future, the Critical Ops Task Force is deployed into conflicts no one else can survive. They are the solution to impossible problems. But every mission leaves scars. As the line between right and wrong disappears, the team begins to question everything, their orders, their purpose, and the system they serve.
Are they saving the world… or helping destroy it?
Fully funded, but still with a week left to back, writer Nigel Lynch’s Critical Ops Task Force: Volume 1 offers three stories, including The Prodigal Son, about a daring rescue mission, Stolen Salvation, about a rogue scientist, and Ruby Pixel: Ctrl Alt Delete, a cyberpunk thriller about fractured identity and digital ghosts. Critical Ops Task Force is currently funding on Kickstarter, and can check out the Kickstarter page for full details of the tiers available, and to pledge to the campaign – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akoma/critical-ops-task-force-volume-1?ref=discovery&term=bcr&total_hits=319&category_id=250
SCUM #1
From the publisher –
The Spire is a city of rigid ranks and locked doors, and Sam has managed to slip right through its cracks. The entire city is controlled by an AI god, Panopticia. She and her various underlying programs control every aspect of citizens’ day-to-day life.
Sam is unregistered, which means she can’t interact with any of those systems. On the one hand, that makes life pretty hard. Can’t open a door. Can’t buy a sandwich. Can’t get a job. On the other hand, she can steal anything she wants and the security systems won’t even know she was there. For the AI systems of The Spire, she does not exist.
And so, Sam and her unregistered friends exist on the edges of society, invisible to the eyes of God and just about everything else in The Spire, surviving the only way they can.
After a heist goes wrong, Sam is rescued by Augustus, a mysterious benefactor that needs her help. Unregistered, Sam can move through The Spire undetected. On her own, she has only used this for petty crime. Augustus has a bigger plan and a much more ambitious goal. With Sam’s help, Augustus will kill The Spire’s AI god.
With just over a week to go, this 48-page cyberpunk comic by Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Halil Mete, and Maja Opacic is still funding on Kickstarter. You can see the reward tiers on the Kickstarter page, and pledge to the new campaign, here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reedhb/scum-a-cyberpunk-thriller?ref=profile_created&category_id=250
THE PATROLMAN BOOK ONE
The Kickstarter for Time Bomb Comics’ near future dystopian comic The Patrolman is now live. The first of five planned volumes, it follows a retired criminal’s project to return order to an isolated London.
From the publisher –
In a London fallen to gang control, sealed off from the rest of the world, retired super criminal Theo Deviant is bored.
Corrupt corporations run the city, trading with the rest of the world, offending his anarchist instincts.
Theo realises the only person able to restore London and bring down the Lord Mayor, the enigmatic figure controlling the gangs, is the Patrolman.
But the vigilante nemesis is dead, killed by Theo’s own hand.
So it’s now up to him to train a new Patrolman and take the city back…
The Patrolman has been created as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Time Bomb Comics. The story is set in an alternate London ruled by a corrupt Lord Mayor, and the corporations under his influence. After the city’s greatest hope The Patrolman, is killed, a replacement is handpicked to be trained, in order to carry on the ongoing fight.
We’ve had the opportunity to check out part of volume one. It introduces us to supervillain, Theo Deviant, and his base of operations, The British Museum. He should be revelling in the chaos within the wall of London, but it turns out he dislikes wealthy, corrupt bankers just as much as the rest of us. Haunted by the death of his former arch-nemesis, and disillusioned by the changes happening in the city around him, he reluctantly realises that what London needs is exactly what he took away from it – The Patrolman.
The comic has a very engaging concept, a supervillain moved to act to restore some sense of order in a decaying capital. And the art of the comic does a great job of portraying just how derelict and dangerous the city is, with armoured black taxis driving around, and dangerous gangs attacking people on the street in broad daylight.
In just a few pages, it’s clear Deviant is an enthralling character. Despite the criminal empire ruling the city, the police on the outside are still trying to surveil Deviant as a person of interest. He walks the streets without fear, using gadgets and guile to give him the edge against gang members attacking him on the street. When he says it’s time to bring The Patrolman back, from what little we’ve learnt about him we fully believe he can do it. In order to find out how he goes about it, we’ll have to check out the full volume.
The Patrolman is written by Nick Twyford, with art by Will Chetwynd. They are planning to release a new volume every 6 months, with each issue containing 52 full colour pages. As you can see from the images, the book’s art is crisp and stylish, and the tone of the story is a combination of gritty British realism and satirical humour. Just from reading a few pages, it felt like it would be very much at home on a shelf with the likes of Transmetropolitan and Judge Dredd.
Reward tiers include digital and printed editions, and there is also a limited bookplate reward tier, produced as an exclusive just for backers, featuring artwork from artist Will Chetwynd, and you can even get original character artwork. You can find more information, and back the project, on the Kickstarter page –
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timebomb/the-patrolman-book-one/description
Trailer – Model Citizen
The first trailer for sci-fi action thriller Model Citizen was released this week. Starring Aaron Eckhart, it follows an ex-cop whose life descends into paranoia as he fights to regain his memory, suspecting someone is watching over him.
Synopsis –
MODEL CITIZEN follows Steven Bay, a former police officer haunted by amnesia and fragments of a life he can no longer remember. Seeking treatment while working on an isolated farm, Steven finds himself trapped in an increasingly unsettling world of constant surveillance, mounting suspicion, and unexplained instincts that suggest someone is controlling far more than his recovery. As reality begins to fracture around him, Steven launches a desperate search for answers, uncovering a web of technology, manipulation, and human experimentation. With every revelation raising new questions, MODEL CITIZEN is a pulse-pounding sci-fi crime thriller where identity is a weapon, memory is a prison, and the truth may be impossible to escape.
Aaron Eckhart had a bit of a moment in the late 2000’s, starring in The Dark Knight and the ‘Fallen’ franchise, but despite obvious acting talent and charisma, it never quite panned out for him. His latest, Model Citizen, is bypassing theatrical release and heading straight to digital streaming. Model Citizen looks interesting, but does have late 2000’s vibes to it. Steven has no memories of his life before he became, we guess, the model citizen of the title. He comes to suspect all is not as it seems, discovers he is under surveillance, and it looks like ultimately the question is, is he the hero or the villain of the movie? It looks like he is maybe in some kind of Truman Show style prison, but is the situation more akin to Total Recall? We hope so, cos we’re going out on a limb posting this trailer on a cyberpunk-focused website…
Model Citizen, from Warner Bros. Entertainment, is written by Ian Arnison-Phillips. Bizarrely it does not have a director listed on IMDB, but Google tells us it is Tag Mendillo, who has no previous feature film credits as a director. The tag at the end of the trailer states ‘Look for it on digital’, which is wildly non-committal. We have no idea what the situation is, but it doesn’t feel like there’s a whole lot of faith in this movie. Anyway, it comes to digital streaming on 3rd November, and good luck finding it I guess? You can check out the trailer below.
Videogame – Aeropunx
The demo version for 3D action racing videogame Aeropunx was released this week for PC, via Steam. It is described as a stylish futuristic racer without gravitational limits.
From the publisher –
High-Octane Anti-Gravity Racing
AEROPUNX is a high-octane tribute to the golden age of extreme sports games and vibrant 2000s aesthetics. Forget gravity, ignore the limits, and prepare for a tournament where flow is your only law and style is your greatest weapon.
From the industrial chaos of Jiyu Toshi to the tech-perfection of Neo Tropolis, you’re not just racing. You’re claiming your throne in the skies.
The game is described as a cyberpunk-style tribute to 3D console era games, and it certainly gives SSX Tricky vibes in some ways. It promises a cast of diverse riders, and combines racing and air tricks, as well as grinding, with bigger points rewards for greater combos. Again, like the SSX games, there are multiple paths through a course, with the more skilled players able to gain an advantage by using the harder routes. The game looks very colourful, with a cell-shaded aesthetic, and very cyberpunk looking environments.
Aeropunx is developed by STICK-DRIFT, and published by ZNT productions. The demo releases today, with the full release date yet to be announced. For now, you can check out the demo on Steam here – https://store.steampowered.com/app/5292310/AEROPUNX_Demo/
You can check out the trailer below.
Trailer – Ultrapolis
This week, a trailer was released for cyberpunk city building game Ultrapolis. The game encourages you to build a cyberpunk diorama, with no city management required.
From the publisher –
Ultrapolis is a city diorama game inspired by the cityscapes of 90s anime such as Ghost In The Shell and Akira.
The City is your Paintbrush
“Densify” a region causing buildings to rise, streets automatically appearing forming a layout. Push it further and towers begin to form.
Millions of possibilities
Each and every building is procedurally generated and unique to the space given to it. Architecture react to the surrounding infrastructure.
Sky bridges automatically form between buildings.
When pushed to the limit, buildings combine to form superstructures.
Place the infrastructure
Elevated highways carve canyons through dense urban jungle.
Rail lines bore holes directly through skyscrapers.
Place wide boulevards, canals, and raised decks that lift a whole district to give you a terrace to paint on.
Ultrapolis is developed and published by mflux, who has no previous games attributed on Steam. Cyberpunk city building is definitely becoming popular, with the likes of diorama building game Midnight Moments releasing a couple of months ago, and Dystopika receiving a new wave of popularity. Whilst cyberpunk media might generally focus on street thugs bringing war the ivory towers of the corporate elite, it seems that relaxing and enjoying the aesthetic is the current thing, with cyberpunk life simulator Nivalis Nights also releasing last week, allowing you to grow your own business in an expansive cyberpunk city.
You can check out the trailer for Ultrapolis below.
PODCAST – HOSTS IN THE SHELL EPISODE 72 :
The latest episode of Hosts in the Shell is available now. This week, hosts Jon Richter and Matt Adcock discuss the 2026 The Ghost in the Shell Series.
The Hosts in the Shell podcast is a cyberpunk podcast where Jon and Matt discuss the genre’s greatest work, often alongside a notable guest, and they have over 50 episodes available. You can find the Hosts in the Shell podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
As well as being podcasters, Jon and Matt are also authors with cyberpunk related titles amongst their novels.
You can find out more about Jon’s work here –
You can find out more about Matt’s work here –
www.completedarknessnovel.com/
CYBERSTOPIA – Discord
Cyberstopia now has a Discord server! Please join us and build a community for cyberpunk and dystopia discussion. We have sections for all the latest news, channels for discussion of The Ghost in the Shell series, as well as upcoming shows like Edgrerunners 2, Blade Runner 2099, and Neuromancer, as well as an author section with a number of cyberpunk authors talking about their work, giving updates on your current projects, etc… It’s a great place to hang out.
https://discord.gg/qgMBwC5X8
For more of the latest news on cyberpunk and dystopia media, stay tuned to Cyberstopia here on the website, and across social media. If you have a Cyberstopian project or release, or there’s something you think we should be covering, please let us know here in the comments, on your social media platform of choice, or on the Contact page at www.cyberstopia.com
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