K.W. Jeter picks up the tale of Rick Deckard, the `blade runner' created by Phillip K. Dick and popularized by Ridley Scott's cult classic film. Consistent with the sordid vision of 21st century Los Angeles crafted by Dick and Scott, Jeter creates a stylish piece of thrilling, futuristic suspense that finds Deckard not only in the role of hunter, but also hunted. Again, Deckard is on the trail of an replicant, not knowing that it may be the most elusive and dangerous android of all.
Early in the 21st century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor. Those who escaped to Earth were hunted by Blade Runner units, ordered to kill any trespassing Replicant on detection. In 2022, a Replicant attack on the Tyrell Corporation destroyed all records of existing Replicants and forced the company into bankruptcy. The surviving Nexus 8 models disappeared with the help of the Replicant underground. Many Replicants remained in servitude. In 2027, Aahna “Ash” Ashina, a former Blade Runner, rejoins the LAPD to once again hunt down fugitive Replicants. Her superiors are unaware that her loyalties are divided. Her lover, Freysa, is a leader in the Replicant underground. Ash’s activities have brought her to the attention of Yotun, a rogue Nexus 6 that she failed to capture 12 years ago. Somehow this dangerous radical Replicant has lived far past his inception date. Los Angeles, 2029
Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution to the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-World as slave labor, in the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets. Replicants who escaped and returned to Earth were hunted by special police squads – Blade Runner Units – with orders to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. In 2022, radical elements with the Replicant Underground detonate an EMP device over Los Angeles, destroying Tyrell Corporation’s Nexus databases, and making it easier for escaped Replicants to resettle on Earth. Soon, all Replicants are banned and the Tyrell Corporation declares bankruptcy. In 2027, Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina, a former Blade Runner rejoined the department to hunt down fugitive Replicants. Her superiors are unaware that her loyalties are divided.
Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor. Those who escaped to Earth were hunted by Blade Runner units ordered to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. In 2022, a Replicant attack on the Tyrell Corporation forced the company into bankruptcy and erased all records of existing Replicants. The surviving Nexus 8 models disappeared with the help of the Replicant underground. Many Replicants remained in servitude. In 2027, Aahna “Ash” Ahsina, a former Blade Runner, rejoined the department to hunt down fugitive Replicants. Her superiors are unaware that her loyalties are divided. Her lover, Freysa, is a leader in the Replicant Underground. While investigating a report of a rogue Replicant, Ash discovered that a Nexus 6 Replicant, Yotun, whom she had failed to retire 12 years previously, had somehow outlived his expiration date and had become the leader of a Replicant guerrilla army. After capturing Ash, Yotun ordered his army to launch an all-out terrorist attack upon Los Angeles, destroying the newly constructed seawall, killing the city’s political and corporate elite, and ordering all Replicants in the city to revolt against their masters, before taking over the LAPD Tower and setting it ablaze. Freysa seemingly joined Yotun’s crusade in an effort to stop him, however, he blinded her in one eye and left her to die when he discovered her subterfuge. Escaping from Yotun’s clutches, Ash raced to rescue her lover from the burning building. Now reunited, Ash and Freysa have set off to find Yotun and bring him down. Meanwhile, Yotun, having incredibly outlived his initial inception date, has started to succumb to the ravages of time and is using the blood of his loyal supporters to stave off his impending demise…
Los Angeles, 2029. The city is under siege from Yotun’s enhanced Replicant army. Its seawall defences lie shattered, the LAPD Tower stands ablaze, and the streets run wild with Replicants rebelling against their human masters. Meanwhile, Blade Runner Ash, now reunited with her Replicant lover Freysa, has become a target of suspicion for the Blade Runner Division. As time begins to run out for Ash, she finds herself in a desperate battle to stop Yotun once and for all before she herself is brought to justice… The concluding chapter to the Blade Runner 2029 saga. Collects Blade Runner 2029 #9-12. "We're authentically back in the dystopian world of Blade Runner, and I couldn't be happier. 9 out of 10." - Sci-Fi Bulletin "One of the best uses of a licensed franchise in comic book form." - Multiversity Comics
Blade Runner Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina of the Los Angeles Police Department has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of Isobel and Cleo Selwyn, the wife and daughter of business tycoon, Alexandra Selwyn. Using data retrieved from Isobel’s abandoned Spinner, Ash followed Isobel’s trail and found herself confronting a replicant who had genetically ‘aged himself up’ as an old man to avoid detection. Ash shot and wounded him after he attacked her, but he was still able to escape, telling Ash, as he fled, to: “Ask Alexander Selwyn why he wants his daughter dead.” Meanwhile, Isobel and Cleo have made contact with an underworld community that lives beneath the streets of Los Angeles and its leader, Malik, who also runs an underground railway that helps Replicants to escape. After Ash reported back to Selwyn on the progress of her investigation, her own Spinner was attacked in mid-air by another craft, which sent her crashing and burning towards the streets of the city below…
Fully authorised by the estate of Philip K. Dick and written by the author they felt best equipped to take forward the vision of one of the great names in SF, BLADE RUNNER 4: BEYOND ORION combines the dark imagery, paranoia, tension and pace of Dick's original novel and the cinematic genius of Ridley Scott in a novel that takes the Blade Runner series into a new millennium.Blade Runner has become one of the most recognisable and well loved brands in SF and K.W. Jeter has only added to its reputation and impact.
Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor. Those who escaped to Earth were hunted by Blade Runner Units, ordered to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. In 2022, a Replicant attack on the Tyrell Corporation forced the company into bankruptcy and erased all records of existing Replicants. The surviving Nexus 8 models disappeared with the help of the Replicant Underground. Many Replicants remained in servitude, In 2027, Aahna “Ash” Ashina, rejoined the Blade Runner department, although her superiors are unaware that her lover, Freysa, is a leader in the Replicant Underground. The Replicant rebellion instigated by Yotun, a Nexus 6 Replicant who somehow lived beyond his four-year lifespan, has failed. The rejuvenating elixir that Yotun used to enhance his followers has failed too, resulting in their mass deaths. Now Yotun himself has started to succumb to the ravages of time, and even the regular blood transfusions from his loyal supporters no longer work. Convinced that an old diary of Eldon Tyrell holds the key to his survival, Yotun has set off to Eldon’s birthplace in search of a mysterious box that he believes holds the secret to extending his life. Meanwhile, Ash has been outed as a double-agent working for the Replicant Underground by Blade Runner Marlowe and arrested by the LAPD.
After escaping from Niander Wallace Jr. in Los Angeles, Elle, aka Black Lotus, has headed back to the desert, determined to leave her violent past behind her in search of redemption and a new life, free of bloodshed and death. But when Elle is bushwhacked by a gang of desert bandits, she finds herself stranded in the backwater settlement of Fracktown, a town of two warring factions, one a community of environmental warriors, the other workers from a failing fracking mining site. Offered a safe-haven with the environmental community, Elle experiences peace for the first time in her short life. However, when Barnes, the leader of the fracking plant, has his Replicant workers withdrawn by Wallace Corp, he orders his men to attack the commune and kidnap as many of its inhabitants as possible to work as slaves at his site. Injured in the raid, the commune’s leader Miguel reveals to Elle that he is an ex-Blade Runner and knows she is a Replicant. Arming her with a katana sword, he asks her to help him free the captives, his wife and child among them.
A consultant on a movie version of his hunt for the original replicants, android hunter Rick Deckard finds the film fantasy becoming reality as the murders of a living replicant and his former partner send him once again on a search for replicants who are unaware that they are not human. 60,000 first printing.
