Because I’d heard such good things about the Prophet revitalization, I decided to check it out.  I rarely read reviews before buying a book, mostly due to fear of spoilers, but because I wanted to be sure I spent my money well, I did just that this time around.  The reviews were, like the word of mouth I’d experienced, favorable.

I pulled the trigger and bought a copy.

Let me be frank … the reviews did not do it justice.

At the age of thirty-six, I basically just want one thing from my books and movies—originality.  Please give me something new, something I haven’t seen before.  Now, I realize this is an ironic statement considering that Prophet is a reboot of sorts, but trust me, this book is blazing new trails.

In fact, Prophet: Remission is one of the most original and refreshingly weird books I’ve read in quite a long time.

It begins with John Prophet awakening in the far, far future.  Humanity is seemingly lost, and the world is a devastated heap inhabited by creatures that you’ll have to see to believe.  He has one mission, to try to “awaken the Earth empire.”

But, as you’ll soon realize with this book, what you presume to come next does not.  In fact, Prophet delighted in its unpredictability.  I love that the writers are building their own worlds by their own rules.  All of the medium’s conventions for which you expect are gone—this is a book unlike any other.

The prose is sparse and direct, and the artwork is … well, it’s excellent, but it’s not pretty.  It looks like the world is falling apart.  The creatures are gross.  The tone is unpleasant.  In other words, the art fits the story perfectly and is absolutely part of the reason Prophet won me over.

This isn’t a super hero book, and that’s a good thing.  John Prophet is almost out of a Cormac McCarthy novel—he’s tough, resolute, and absolutely self-reliant.  This is not a science fiction story, though it does wade heavily into those waters.  It’s not a fantasy space epic, but it carries that vibe, too.  There is plenty of adventure, to be sure, but there seems to be an underlying philosophical message just beneath the surface.  Is it a post-apocalyptic dystopian tale?  In all honestly, I don’t know how to label this book, and that’s fantastic.

I want to keep reading Prophet for one simple reason: I have no idea where this story is going.