With Hollywood screenwriter Damien Ober’s title displayed on its engaging onyx-shaded jacket, readers are in for a wierd and compelling story along with his first foray into area fantasy titled “Voidverse” (Saga Press). I imply, what else might you count on from one of many writers of Netflix’s cult supernatural thriller collection, “The OA”?
“Voidverse’s” sci-fi western narrative is instructed throughout a number of protagonists amid an uncanny universe the place individuals reside on falling rock worlds, stacked vertically in an infinite vacancy. Inside this huge, mysterious void, denizens of the realm could discover these locales by both Rising or Sinking. Inside the void, a woman named Sinker groups up with a mom in search of a remedy for her sick son, and collectively they study of an evil entity systematically destroying the stone lands.
“‘Voidverse’ first got here to me in a dream, manner again in 2004,” Ober tells House. “Quickly after, I wrote what would develop into the primary chapter of the novel and began to flesh out the remaining in notebooks and different little aspect writing initiatives. By the point I used to be engaged on ‘The OA,’ what would develop into ‘Voidverse’ was fairly far alongside, although nonetheless distant too. I needed to transfer to LA for the job and introduced my typewriter. I’d rise up early and bang on ‘Voidverse’ earlier than work and keep up late too. I’m positive my neighbors liked me.
“‘The OA’ was the right surroundings for me and for the novel proper then. It was undoubtedly a present that not solely inspired out-of-the-box pondering — on construction, character, tone, every thing — however required it. What at all times impressed me most concerning the present was the superb range of its fanbase. Folks of all types liked that present, from soccer jocks to kitty nanas.”
Ober is a formidable talent who’s been prolific over the last decade with scripts developed for Paramount+, AMC, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Described as “Dune” meets “Wool,” “Voidverse” is a high-energy quest where eternal forces are about to clash in a monumental showdown.
His research for the project included reading up on the effects of long-term weightlessness and sensory deprivation, as well as dipping into old Japanese legends and international fairytales.
“For the atmosphere and world of ‘Voidverse’ to work, I needed the characters and the prose to meld with the setting. Holding my hand out the window of the car on the freeway, sinking to the bottom of a pool, staring into darkness. How does it feel? What words can I use to describe it? How do I pull the reader into that in a primal way? How can the novel build a language of its own? Books like ‘Flatland‘ and ‘V.A.L.I.S.‘ had an enormous impact on me. Every forces a brand new sort of bodily understanding in your mind to ship one thing so distinctive and viewpoint-shifting.”
The worldbuilding of “Voidverse” invariably displays emotions and impressions of most of the films and video games Ober has absorbed and liked through the years, all filtered down and distilled via some mysterious mind course of. “There is a huge journey on the coronary heart, one thing akin to ‘Beastmaster’ or ‘Krull,'” he explains.
“There is a cool world and character thriller vibe that might remind you of ‘The Legend of Zelda.’ The western/samurai themes and the best way the characters are constructed via motion, the restricted POV, and sparse language… Kurosawa and Leone, the outdated ‘Unbelievable Hulk’ TV present, but additionally existential highway journey films like ‘Two Lane Blacktop’ and the soul-crushing ‘Come and See.’
“After all, scary area thrillers like ‘Saturn 3’ and ‘Occasion Horizon.’ ‘Metroid.’ ‘Lone Wolf and Cub.’ ‘Stalker.’ Although I did not actually consider this when writing, a reviewer described ‘Voidverse’ as ”The Little Prince’ on steroids with an grownup score.’ I like that description quite a bit.”
Additionally — and that is one hell of an apart — however “Voidverse” must be one of many best-smelling novels I’ve ever encountered. I am severe. Perhaps it is the black-edged pages, nevertheless it exudes an intoxicating aroma of outdated leather-based with a touch of candy seasoned charcoal.
Now take pleasure in an unique excerpt from Damien Ober’s “Voidverse” beneath:
As with all Decidings, a lot of the rock had gathered to observe. There have been 5 new boys of age, lined up on the sting platform. At all times the boys regarded on show, issues individuals had tidied and arrange. The rise teacher beamed, his pocked, beefy face and beard all gone grey. He nodded encouragingly to the boys, and the friction rippled them as they stepped to the sting.
Their faces regarded like apples, shined up with worry. I might see every boy’s breath, the heaving of their lungs, ribs increasing extensive and contracting in. A cry burst from the platform. One of many boys had turned again to the group, face pores and skin twisted round wild eyes, pink cheeks about to tear aside from the rictus. He broke and bumped into his mom’s arms, they usually grew to become a tangle of gripping the opposite tighter. They sobbed and scuttled away, and the one sound once more was the roaring friction previous the sting.
The opposite boys had been flattening their pack straps, clipping them tight. They moved quick, their fingers trembling. None needed to be the following to lose his nerve. With no additional hesitation, they started leaping out into the void, one after the opposite, all 4 spreading their legs and arms in Kolatchi place as they’d been taught. They hovered a breath in stasis—as if the sink itself was now deciding—after which the friction took them they usually started to rise, slowly, then selecting up pace. Their faces misplaced distinction, their our bodies smaller and smaller after which solely specks within the overvoid.
It was onerous to see at first, however a fifth speck had appeared, this one getting bigger. “A sinker!” somebody shouted.
The gang mumbled and shifted because the sinker got here slicing downward at unattainable pace, legs and arms pinned tight, chin tucked beneath a matte black helmet. A transparent circle unfold within the crowd, and the sinker swooped and landed easily. His helmet was not matte black, in any case, however scratched up and dulled by dings and scuffings. Solely the snapped-down visor was polished, reflecting us again as he scanned the group. He was skinny, lean and glossy, in a go well with of tight-fit leather-based with a number of straps and buttoned-up pockets. The hilt of a sword protruded from his again, comfortable beside a pack as tight as an indignant fist. Then the visor flipped up, and I might see this sinker was a girl, had been since she first appeared manner above.
Everybody was silent and nonetheless as she moved via the group, learning faces. Lastly, she settled and glued on me, and within the extensive black facilities of her eyes was the empty darkness of the void. From the tight overlappings of her go well with, she took a folded sheet of paper and held it up for all to see. “I name upon the code of this rock,” the Sinker stated. “I’ve a letter.”
Copyright © 2026. Reprinted by permission of Saga Press at Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
