Even mention the contraction Sci-Fi and most people will roll their eyes — it’s Science Fiction, thank you very much. But although the latest release in this so-called genre takes place in the future and involves atomic bombs and people being “uploaded” into clunky out-of-date robots, Jan’s Atomic Heart is defiantly not as Sci-Fi as anyone would really define it.

This graphic novel, released July 4 at Legend’s Comics downtown, is something else — it has achieved a higher plain.

The story, succinctly told in only 50 pages, centres on Anders and Jan (pronounced with a “y”), two friends in a futuristic Frankfurt which has just come under threat again by factions of the Lunars — separatist terrorists based on the Moon (which Earth has recently won a war with).

The book devises a situation not unlike the current one the world has witnessed in Iraq.

Both Jan and Anders seem to be “regular Joes” in a strange world, though it is likely that Anders is the only one recognizable as such, since Jan has had his consciousness “up loaded” into an old-style robot while his body is out of commission following a car accident with a train.

The problem comes when Jan thinks his memory has been tampered with and has discovered a small but powerful nuclear device, about the size of a pop can, where his heart would have been were he still “flesh and blood.”

The black-and-white art style in this little book has a neat indie feel, similar to that of Jim Munroe’s in Therefore Repent! With cover art reminiscent of Enki Bilal, the story is pure speculative dystopia, worthy of Harlan Ellison or Philip K. Dick with a healthy dose of Kafka-esque paranoia and a surprise ending even fans of Hitchcock likely won’t see coming.

Jan’s Atomic Heart is available through New Reliable Press for just $5.95, and it’s one novel you’ll absorb this summer that’s sure to be worth the price of admission.