50 Ways to Die in Space

50 Ways to Die in Space by Eileen O-Hely and Nico O’Sullivan (Hawkeye Publishing) PB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781923105416

Reviewed by Kellie Nissen

There are a lot of books out there about space – but none quite like this one. If you’ve ever thought you might like a holiday on Venus or a trip to explore Mars, you may think again after reading 50 Ways to Die in Space.

Not quite as tongue-in-cheek as the title and illustrated characters might suggest, Eileen O’Hely’s graphic novel is full of facts about all aspects of space – intermittently peppered with the warning, “You will die!”

Venus alone has multiple ways to enter nirvana – choose from being fried to a crisp, asphyxiation or sulphuric acid inhalation.

Or you might like Uranus where the smell of methane – yes, this book does contain a little toilet humour – would literally kill you.

Radiation from Sagittarius A (a black hole) is another option.

Or, if you survive your journey, you might be interested to know that the landing back on Earth is also fraught with danger and potential death.

With this degree of dark and ominous thought, some lightness is required, and Nico O’Sullivan’s simple and clever illustrations provide just that – particularly in the moustached antagonist who, as the innocent protagonist points out, is ‘a bit negative’, not to mention cranky and disturbingly preoccupied with all the ways a human can die in space.

Then again, without this character’s depth of knowledge, we wouldn’t have this enlightening, fact-filled and funny book, would we?

Written for an upper primary and middle school audience (readers aged from 10 to 14), 50 Ways to Die in Space is an engaging graphic novel, providing a great read in digestible chunks for space buffs and those of us with a bit of a darker side.