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We finally finish up our cycle of the series I covered in Ripoff Month 2, with the series the month started on. Galaxy of Fear's The Brain Spiders proved to be one a very well constructed narrative, that balanced things mostly well. Since this series has an arc and all that, I figured I'd start from the first one for my next one.

I'd say I liked it about as much as the one I reviewed. It's solid for similar reasons, even if it highlights the formula of the series that Brain Spiders leaned into a fair bit. So we get our proper introducti0n to siblings Tash and Zack Arranda, whose happened to live on Alderran before that got blown up. Infact, they were on vacation when that went down, so they came back to see that whoops their parents and everyone else they knew are dead.

Their only family left is Uncle Hoole, who here is introduced as a shady type, and they aren't sure how fully trustworthy he is. Along with them is the drove Deevee, who here is amazingly snarky. I love him. One day they get sucked by the gravity force of a strange planet. They end up having to stay there and find out it just appeared a while ago, but seems to be nice and is even attracting tourists.

However, people start vanishing, while no one besides Tasha seems to think anything odd is going on at first, and the local most vocal about this is written off as a coot. Naturally, things indeed as wrong. As for what is going on...the planet is called D'vouran.

Gee, I wonder what its deal is.

Yeah, that name makes it too obvious. That aside, it is a solid story. For one, it sets up things well. Trash and Zak are good leads, and we get some emotional maturity. We see how they are affected by the death of their parents in their own ways. It's interesting to see, and they even get along well here. It's an interesting contrast to Brain Spiders, since that leans into their differences more.

And by that point Hoole is much calmer, while here he is shrouded in mystery. There's basically a whole subplot regarding his past, as it turns Jabba isn't the only hut he met, and there is a gang lead by one who wants his head. Heck, they basically try to kill the kids more than once.

That part was mixed for me. It made the story more involved, but did fizzle out a tad later on, felt like it was there just to add more pages, even if it did serve a solid purpose in a way. While we are on flaws, I will character wise there isn't too much here once the threat becomes clear. It simply introduces us to the cast pretty well, and leaves it open for others like Brain Spiders to explore that further.

It just makes it so the final chapter doesn't leave you with some character stuff like in that one. Also, there's this device that is basically just a cheap way for them to stay safe in certain parts, even if it is at least explained. And as I said, the formula this establishes is clear. Especially in the end with Hoole coming to save them, and a bit where it's a happy ending but then a final creepy paragraph happens elsewhere. That causes a flaw, kinda in others more than this one, but it is worth noting.

Back to positives, things flow well with minimal padding. The mystery is obvious but still builds well. There's more horror given what the planet does and there's decent creepy stuff here and there. Plus, good setup and payoff with Zak being good at skimboarding. Again, so far as there are better constructed narratives than you may typically see in these.

It builds to a pretty good climax, that gets wild at a certain point. Oh and Luke, Han, Leia and Cheewie makes an appearance. That was cool.

Overall, it's a good start for the series. It sets up the characters well, and tells a solid story that builds well. There's a few weak points but nothing too bad in the end. I think I found Brain Spiders more interesting due to the character stuff despite how similar it can be this one.

I think I have a slight preference to other series due to being more creative/fun, but this is proving to be well thought out and solid to me. Oh and again we get some dark moments that I appreciated. Not much more to say.

That finishes that cycle. No idea what is next, or if I'll have a whole cycle of this completed soon, I'm gonna pick more at random instead caring about finishing cycles of these. Wanna get back to the other series next really, but before that I have housekeeping when it comes to modern GB throwbacks to get done before I think about other things.

See ya for that I guess.