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Legacy Protocol — Short Story Short Story — Neon Noir Legacy Protocol // FILE_ID: LP-2087  |  CLEARANCE: NONE  |  STATUS: LEAKED Mara Voss hadn't slept in forty-one hours. The rain outside her apartment in the Shenzhen-7 corridor had turned the streets into black mirrors, reflecting neon advertisements she could no longer read without her filters on. She kept them off. Filters were how they got you. The tip had come through a dead channel — a mesh-relay so old it predated the Consolidation Act. Three words, sender unknown: LOOK AT VERITAS . Veritas was the national syndication network. Forty-two thousand journalists, seven hundred editorial desks, one unified content stream piped directly into every citizen's neural feed. The government called it the Free Press Collective. Mara called it wallpaper. ...

 When people think of science fiction and fantasy, the spotlight usually lands on Western names, sprawling medieval worlds, or space operas written far from the African continent. But African speculative fiction is doing something different, blending myth, futurism, technology, colonial history, spirituality, and sharp social commentary in ways that feel fresh, strange, and deeply human. If your reading list needs something bold (or you’re just tired of the same recycled tropes), here are some powerful, and still criminally underrated, African sci-fi and fantasy books to dive into next. 🌍 1. Binti – Nnedi Okorafor (Nigeria/USA) Genre: Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Afrofuturism This novella proves you don’t need 800 pages to build a universe. Binti is a Himba girl who leaves Earth to attend the most prestigious university in the galaxy. On the way, her ship is attacked by an alien species known as the Meduse, and survival depends not on weapons, but on culture, math, and identity. W...

🌙 Welcome to the Nightmare You Can’t Wake Up From:  The Sleepless by Jen Williams "Sleep is a luxury… and someone’s killing those who’ve lost it." Francouis Pretorius   Okay besties, stop what you’re doing. Put your phone down. This isn’t just a book rec; this is a warning . Once you crack open The Sleepless by Jen Williams , you're not walking away unchanged. Think psychological thriller meets near-future dystopia with a pinch of paranoia and a whole lot of "What would you do?" moments. This one’s for the insomniacs , the doomscrollers , the overachievers, and the ones who’ve ever whispered, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Well, guess what? In this world… that might be sooner than you think. ☕ What’s It All About? (No Spoilers, Promise) Picture this: A global phenomenon has taken over, people who can no longer sleep, and yet, they’re perfectly functional. No dreams, no REM, no rest, just… endless wakefulness. They're called The Sleepless . Ente...

    🎬 Gachiakuta : The Gritty, Graffiti-Laced Shōnen Taking Summer 2025 by Storm -Francouis Pretorius- Release Date & Studio Mark your calendars: Gachiakuta premiered on July  6, 2025 , on CBC/TBS in Japan and streams worldwide on Crunchyroll ( en.wikipedia.org ). Produced by Studio Bones , known for Vigilante , Mob Psycho 100 , and My Hero Academia , this series brings high expectations. Key Creative Team Director : Fumihiko Suganuma Series Composition : Hiroshi Seko ( Chainsaw Man ) Character Design & Chief Animation Director : Satoshi Ishino Music : Taku Iwasaki ( Bungo Stray Dogs , Soul Eater ) ( otakuusamagazine.com ) 🖤 Story & Setting Set in a stark dystopian world, Gachiakuta spotlights a floating city named Sphere , where the wealthy discard both trash, and people, into a monstrous abyss called The Pit . Here roams Rudo , a 15-year-old survivor from the slums, branded a tribesfolk and wrongfully accused of murder  Af...

   Why Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the Fantasy Phenomenon We Didn’t Know We Needed By Francouis Pretorius “You do not enter the world of dragons lightly. You either come back a rider… or you don’t come back at all.” When I picked up Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, I thought I knew what I was getting: a spicy, dragon-riding fantasy romance with tropes I’ve seen before, deadly academies, fierce competitions, enemies-to-lovers tension. But what I actually found was a book that has earned every bit of its viral buzz, gripping readers far beyond the usual fantasy crowd. This novel isn’t just a bestseller. It’s a cultural moment. The Plot That Grabs You by the Throat At Basgiath War College, cadets train to become dragon riders, scribes, or healers. The stakes? Life or death, literally. Violet Sorrengail, our physically fragile but mentally sharp heroine, is forced by her ruthless mother (the commanding general) to enter the deadly Riders Quadrant. From the moment Violet steps o...

 One of the biggest and most underrated manga has recently gotten an anime adaptation. Yes, I am talking about DanDaDan, a supernatural romance comedy from Yukinobu Tatsu, it follows  Momo Ayase, a high school girl who believes in ghosts and spirits, and Ken  Takakura, whom Momo nicknames "Okarun", who believes in aliens but not ghosts. In a bet to determine who is correct, the two decide to separately visit locations associated with both the occult and the supernatural—Momo visiting the former, and Okarun visiting the latter. Momo is abducted by a group of aliens who accidentally unblock her chakras, enabling latent psychic abilities. Meanwhile, Okarun is possessed by a spirit who takes over his body. The story follows the evolving relationship between the two as they team up with each other and various school mates and family members to fight against the spirits and aliens. And for those of you who've watched and wonder, 'why does the opening sound familiar?' th...

 Hi, I realize I only did a book rec/rev once, yea sorry I've been lazy with my projects but om trying. As you probably guessed this is about a zombie book series, a well written book or book series can transcend the chains pf genres and draw in readers from all over. Let me know what you this of this series. --------------------------------- Black Tide Rising - by - John Ringo John Ringo is an American author known for his science fiction and military fiction, Black Tide Rising is a 9 book, zombie apocalypse, series with the first book being released in 2013 and kept going until 2021. The story follows a family of survivalists who are able to receive an early warning about the impending disaster. After some issues and mishaps, they take to the open sea in order to avoid the outbreak only to realize they're the best hope for others stranded at sea. -------------------------- Amazing humor, Badass military fights and emotional character growth make up the content of this book se...

 Rather than the usual recommendation of shows that I've already seen, this time I'm talking about an up-and-coming manga adaptation. The manga is known as Sakamoto Days, and as you can guess based on the title, it's about a hitman. Written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki, the story follows Taro Sakamoto, a retired hitman that left a life of killing to become a domestic family man. However, as shown in numerous previous media form, it's not that simple. When the organization he used to work for starts sending other hitmen after him and his family, Sakamoto has to step up to protect them, and protect them he does. Showing that his years as a father and husband haven't weakened him in the slightest, he defeats everyone who is sent after him, often using superhuman feats to do so, ending in hilarious results. Sakamoto Days have a near perfect blend of gut busting comedy and blood pumping action. I am absolutely hyped to see the anime adaptation, that's being done by...