Adrian Collins's Blog, page 142

REVIEW: A Night of Flames by Matthew Harffy

A Night of Flames continues cleric turned warrior Hunlaf’s journey as he heads to the wild lands of Norway in Matthew Harffy’s (The Bernicia Chronicles) latest historical adventure. Throwing himself into the life of the warrior following the events of the amazing A Time for Swords, young Hunlaf and his Viking ally Runolf head to the Viking warrior’s homeland in the hope of finding answers to the questions left at the end of the previous novel.

Told once again from the perspective of Hunlaf in AD 794, A Night of Flames picks up where things were left off in A Time for Swords. One battle may be over, but Hunlaf is a warrior now and his sword will be needed many more times before his God calls for him to rest. Hunlaf is an interesting protagonist to follow in the series for many reasons. Caught between his life of a warrior and his love of his God, the decisions he makes are always dissected with the impact it has on his soul as a God-fearing man and someone who wants to do what is right. Hunlaf has a diverse group of friends as the novel opens with his bond with the violent but caring Norseman Runolf growing whilst he is still looking for the approval of Brother Leofstan, his mentor. Every action that Hunlaf makes in A Night of Flames is given extra weight due to the fact he is torn between the two sides fighting for dominance inside him. He questions every action whilst searching for the reactions and approval of those he cares about. Hunlaf’s struggle guides the story as he grows into the person he wants or needs to be.

Wanting to find missing kin across the water, Hunlaf uses his wit and powers of persuasion to convince the king of Rogaland to fund a search party. Runolf displays his legendary ship-building skill and a band of warriors make their way to Norway in the hope of making an allegiance to prevent any more bloodshed. Hunlaf makes some mistakes on the way, adding to the burdens already on his soul. His actions are of a brash, young man acting with more freedom than he is used to. The journey to Norway is a tough one but once there, the magnitude of their job grows as a slave has broken free and is leading fanatical followers on a path of fire and destruction across the lands.

Harffy is a master of the historical thriller and A Night of Flames is continued proof of that. Historical aspects are well-researched (love the mention of Bayt al-Hikmah thrown in – a side series in this area of the world would be insanely cool) and he clearly understands the world he is writing in. Characters behave with emotion and logic and the twists bring a sense of shock without confusion. Like Harffy’s The Bernicia Chronicles, this series is crying out for a TV adaptation in the style of Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom (Netflix).

A Night of Flames is a thrilling, wild ride of a novel full of violence and Vikings. Harffy has created a wild group of characters who are just as capable of having deep conversations about the meaning of their existence as they are at slicing the throats of their enemies. A Night of Flames is proof that this series is heating up and I can’t wait to read more!

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REVIEW: The Free Bastards by Jonathan French

The Free Bastards from author Jonathan French concludes the Lot Lands trilogy started in The Grey Bastards and The True Bastards. The pig-riding half-orcs attempt to finally attain true liberation as they wage war on the humans standing in the way of freedom. The Free Bastards, like the novels before it, is a gritty fantasy masterpiece that proves orcs are not just for the world of Middle-earth.

The Free Bastards switches the story to the perspective of fearsome but loveable half-orc Oats. The big difference with the change of perspective is how Oats is much humbler than his best friends, Jackal and Fetch. In The Grey Bastards, a cocky Jackal introduced readers to the Lot Lands and the brutal life of the half-orcs who lived there. His path led to him becoming a legendary god-touched warrior able to inspire those around him. In Free Bastards, it was Fetch’s turn to become something more as she learned about her heritage and struggled on the path to being a great chief. Oats, a thrice-blood (son of an orc and a half-orc) is one of the largest characters in his group but he is also one of the most caring. Though there is as much action in the conclusion to the trilogy as the other books, Oats’ perspective allows the reader to see more of the effect that the brutal way of life has on the vulnerable people just trying to survive. Not everyone is strong, blessed with magical powers, or even remotely healthy. Oats is a character who is always looking out for the people who aren’t able to look out for themselves (like the beaten and abused boy Muro) and that instantly makes him an interesting character to follow. This is Oats’ story now and following the emotional, caring thriceblood is the perfect way to end this incredibly dark but touching trilogy.

The world in The Free Bastards opens up and allows French to showcase his brilliant worldbuilding skills. Divine warriors, magical beasts, wizards, and the ever-faithful barbarians fill up the interesting and diverse world that French has created. The focus in The Free Bastards is wider than the previous novels but the writing is just as tight and the action bloody and visceral. The language is as hilariously crude as it always has been and any excuse for a half-orc to whip his ‘cod’ out is jumped at. The camaraderie between the rebels and the strong bonds between the main cast of characters is written with such care that it is impossible to not cheer with every victorious battle and wince with every strike that lands on our heroes. The Free Bastard takes you on a ride worthy of Ugfuck and by the end of it all, you’ll be exhausted but glad for the experience.

The Free Bastards is a fitting conclusion to a brilliant trilogy that breathes fresh life into the world of orcs. French’s novel is proof that writers have come a long way since orcs and goblins were always the mean, snarling bad guys and humans the bright heroes we had to root for. The Free Bastards is a gritty but touching novel that closes out this magnificent trilogy in bloody, curse-filled style.

Read The Free Bastards by Jonathan French

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REVIEW: Malice by John Gwynne

Malice is the debut novel from epic fantasy writer John Gwynne. It is the first of the four novels that make up The Faithful and the Fallen series, and when it was published in 2012 it won the David Gemmell ‘Morningstar’ Award for Best Debut. The next three books in the series, Valour, Ruin, and Wrath, were also all nominated for the David Gemmell ‘Legend’ Award novel in the years that they were published. As a reader it can sometimes take me years to get to read the books that have been waiting on my periphery and to this day I use the nominations list for the now closed David Gemmell Awards as a barometer for good fantasy writing. I had very high hopes for Malice and I was not disappointed. If as a reader you like your grimdark complex, well built, and utterly engrossing, then Malice is a perfect choice for you.

Like a lot of other authors of epic fantasy novels, Gwynne has used a third person multiple point of view style for Malice. However, there are no less than seven different perspectives being used here, and the points of view span the whole continent of the Banished Lands. As well as a vast range of characters, Gwynne includes their religions, different races, family structures, and two thousand years of prophecy and traditions. In the hands of a less skilled writer, this would easily have become very dry and boring but Gwynne’s words are magical. I will admit that it took me longer than normal to be able place all the characters and how their stories related to one other and the wider novel, but I enjoyed the learning curve and accepted it as par for the course in a novel of this magnitude. It is also worth noting that the perspectives are not evenly split. The majority of chapters are from the point of view of Corban, a teenager from Ardan, and there are huge variations in chapter lengths. Sometimes they are a single page, sometimes twenty, sometimes the perspective stays the same for a few chapters, and sometimes you get five different points of view one after the other. Malice is never a boring read, and Gwynne never failed to surprise me. What I also really appreciated about Gwynne’s style is that he is clearly aware of the potential perplexity of this world. I would say that at least the first two thirds of the novel are spent establishing the characters and world building with a slow escalation to the mind blowing finale.

A really reductive summary of Malice could boil it down to two main themes. The first and all-encompassing is the age-old fight of Good vs Evil and the second is as a coming of age narrative. However, readers should not expect such simplicity. With one notable character exception, the lines between Good and Evil are not clear-cut with the remaining characters making very human choices in this ever-darkening world. The intentions of some of the key players in Malice remains a mystery. Most perspectives seem to genuinely believe that they are following the “right” path, so as a reader it is almost impossible to identify on which side of the impending god war a character will be on. It is not until almost the very end of Malice that I had an ‘aha!’ moment, suspecting I had successfully identified the prophesised Black Sun and Bright Star; yet, even now that prediction is not confirmed. It is also unfair to suggest that Malice is merely Corban’s bildungsroman. As the majority focus of the novel, Corban’s arc takes up a significant proportion of the narrative; dealing with growing up, family struggles, navigating friendships, encountering bullies, and his warrior training in the Rowan Field. But other characters also have to deal with family conflicts, making difficult choices, and dealing with their own heart breaking losses or euphoric victories. There are many likeable characters in Malice and not all of them have a happy outcome. I would go so far as to say that most do not, and for the others it is at best an uncertain future. After an unusually happy and hopeful start the story has a bleak and violent ending.

After Gwynne had spent so long building the world of Malice, I did have some doubts that the conclusion would be satisfying. However, I need not have worried. There is a significant pace shift and some of the shortest chapters in the novel make up the final third where an intense and emotional denouement takes place. Malice does not end with any huge cliff hangers, but the key character arcs are setup to continue in the next instalment of the series. There has been a lot of focus on the potential devastation of the imminent god war and I cannot even begin to predict how it will impact the remaining characters.

I found Malice to be a hugely satisfying read and it is well worth the time invested to understand this massive world. Some of my favourite parts of the novel were the detailed duels and battle scenes, especially the focus on technical aspects such as weapon choices or fighting styles which suggests that Gwynne himself is very knowledgeable of such things. I also really liked that Gwynne has included some exceptional fantasy beasts in Malice, with draigs, wolvens and wyrms to name a few. One or two of these animals prove to be quite loveable but most add another layer of violence and fear to the story. I look forward to continuing the wonderful Faithful and Fallen saga with Valour. 4/5.

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REVIEW: Blackcoat by Steve McHugh

Blackcoat is the latest story from Steve McHugh (The Hellequin Chronicles), an action-packed sci-fi novella that follows the exploits of Celine Moro, a disgraced Blackcoat with nothing but vengeance and justice in her sights. The novella manages to pack a lot of action into its relatively short word count and the character driven story is one that is not to be missed.

[image error]Blackcoat is told through the perspective of Celine Moro. Framed for treason against the Union, Moro begins the tale inside a dark cell sustained only by her ever-growing anger at the events that had led her to the grim abode. Trained to be part of the elite justice force named Blackcoats, Moro uses her skills and knowledge of the dark, gritty, corrupt world around her to break out of her cell and carve her way through the people who put her there in the first place. Celine Moro is a determined badass heroine in the mould of Monza Murcatto from Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold. Like Monza, Celine Moro has reached the stage in her existence where she does not give a shit about anything but her desire to get the revenge she feels she deserves. She wants to shine a blinding light on the corruption that has choked her world and is willing to do anything it takes to get what she wants. McHugh writes Moro so well. The other characters interacting with the ex-Blackcoat show small signs of respect or intimidation that give the readers an understanding of how deadly she can be – similar to the hints throughout the first John Wick film before Keanu Reeves unleashes the once retired hitman.

The dystopian setting in Blackcoat reminded me of the darker and bleaker areas seen in Blade Runner 2049 and Cyberpunk 2077. Plasma blades and other familiar tech is used throughout the story but McHugh keeps the focus on Moro and her target. The cyberpunk aesthetic is a world away from McHugh’s fantasy works but each chapter showcases the confidence McHugh has in writing in the world of Xolea. He amps up the danger for Moro with each passing chapter as she works her way through increasingly difficult barriers to her goal like a Streets of Rage game. The novella has elements of old detective novels as Moro is the disrespected and betrayed protagonist attempting to take down a powerful leader who doesn’t give a shit about the common people. McHugh’s love of Judge Dredd and Mega-City One shone through the novella as I pictured Moro stopping at nothing to end the corruption.

Blackcoat is a fast-paced novella that is the perfect gateway story for anyone looking to get into grim cyberpunk or sci-fi. The tight focus on Celine Moro and her bloody quest for justice is one that is easy for readers to get behind and follow. As I finished the Blackcoat, I was left hoping for more stories from this interesting and grim world that Steve McHugh has created.

Read Blackcoat by Steve McHugh

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REVIEW: The Witcher S2 on Netflix

The Witcher S2 is the second installment of Netflix’s adaptation of the first two books of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny. It also sets up a large number of plots for the latter books in the series. The faithfulness of the series to the books is something fans can debate but, as someone who is familiar with them, sort of exist in a halfway mark between “mostly accurate” to “why did they change this”?”

The premise is that Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) is a Witcher, a monster-hunter and hedge mage who has been empowered by chemical mutagens to fight against the horrors of the Continent. The Witchers have been slowly dying out over the past few centuries due to the secrets for their creation being lost. Last season, Geralt rescued Ciri (Freya Allan), Princess of Cintra, from certain death and is now attempting to find shelter for her from the various forces that would use her. Either as a Princess or her mysterious magical bloodline.

Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) is a prisoner of Fringellia (Mimi Ndiweni). Her powers are lost, having sacrificed them to unleash fire magic on the invading army of Nilfgaard. The event leaves her traumatized and broken as without her magic, she doesn’t feel like she has anything. The elves of the North are currently suffering a mass persecution and end up joining with Nilfgaard to fight the North. The primary focus of their alliance being Francesca Findabair who wishes to be the mother of the first pure blooded elf in years.

There’s multiple plots running through the storyline ranging from the political situation in the Continent, Ciri’s training as a witcher, and the incorporation of a demon who is basically Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore. The best episode of Season Two is definitely “A Grain of Truth“, which is an adaptation of one of the short stories that parodied Beauty and the Beast. I liked it much better than the majority of episodes because I enjoyed the hefty amount of book content. It’s not that the show is bad but it misses some of Sapkowski’s special touches.

The best parts of Season Two are definitely Henry Cavill and Freya Allan’s performances. Henry Cavill continues to carry the show and pretty much manages to do a combination of both the book as well as video game Geralts. Freya Allan is allowed to show a little more of her age, being twenty, and acts less like the fourteen-year-old she’s supposed to be. We understand she’s trying to cope with her trauma and there’s several really good scenes about her dealing with the aftermath of Cintra’s acking.

Unfortunately, the Yennefer plots are just outright terrible. Anya Chalotra was the central character in many ways of season one but barely has a presence this time around. She also does some things that her book counterpart would never do and makes her look fairly reprehensible. Even more egregious is the fact that there’s a distinct lack of Jaskier (Joey Batey). One of the single most entertaining characters in the franchise is absent for much of the series and the difference between the episodes where he’s not and is present are tremendous.

I have mixed feelings regarding Nilfgaard’s handling in The Witcher S2 as well. I felt the games whitewashed the group considerably when they were a terrifying force representing slavery, imperialism, colonialism, and the embodiment of all of Poland’s conquerors. The show manages to capture its darkness but weirdly acts like they’re less repulsive than they are and we should sympathize with them.

It doesn’t help the show also royally botches the handling of the elven persecution. If you’re going to use Holocaust and pogrom imagery for the destruction of a minority, maybe you shouldn’t try to make it morally ambiguous. At one point, the elves engage in murder of human babies that play into the worst blood libel. Which is just, man what? I don’t even know how to react to that but Nilfgaard and the elves can both go to hell.

In conclusion, this is still a show with excellent production values and a tremendous basis with the Sapkowski novels. However, the show continues to drift away from the book material that hurts its enjoyment factor. Some of the actors are much better than others but its the tryhard-ness in some of its edginess that hurts the overall story. It’s ironic but for one of the best grimdark series ever, they keep trying to push the envelope and just induce apathy.

You can check out our review of  The Witcher S1 on the blog.

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Speaking with Anna Mocikat about Neo Cyberpunk Volume 2

Hey folks, I’m very pleased to get another interview going with Anna Mocikat, author of Behind Blue Eyes, Shadow City, and Cyber Squad. In addition, these awesome series, she is also the editor of the upcoming Neo Cyberpunk volume 2 anthology. She’s decided to sit down with us and explain what we can expect from that book.

[GdM] Could you describe what Neo Cyberpunk volume 2 is about?

[AM] Neo Cyberpunk II is an anthology book series featuring short stories written by some of the best contemporary cyberpunk authors. It’s the perfect read for cyberpunk fans and readers who experience the genre for the first time alike.

[GdM] Were you involved in the first volume?

[AM] Yes, I created Neo Cyberpunk and functioned as an organizer and editor for both books.

[GdM] What inspired you to create these books?

[AM] I love cyberpunk. For me, it’s the most exciting and innovative sci-fi subgenre. Yet for many people it’s stuck in the 80s and seen as retro-futurism. Some even claim cyberpunk was dead. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Cyberpunk has never been as much alive as it is now, with a new generation of incredible authors exploring this exciting genre in all its diversity. Cyberpunk is so much more than Neuromancer and Snow Crash.

[GdM] How would you describe cyberpunk to readers unfamiliar with the genre?

[AM] Haha, that’s the big question. If you look at social media, you’ll find people arguing endlessly about “What is Cyberpunk?”. One of the reasons I created Neo Cyberpunk is to show how incredibly diverse the genre is. Some works are more action-driven, others are deeply philosophical. Some are funny, others are set in grim, dystopian worlds. Some are set in the near future, in the next 20-40 years, others are set in a future as far away as 300 years or more.

Some are political, others are not. I think what separates cyberpunk from other sci-fi genres is that there are no alien races or intergalactical space travels. Most cyberpunk works is set on earth in relatively realistic, grounded settings. Most are set in urban areas in a world where often mega-corporations have replaced traditional governments. Transhumanism, AI and VR are very important topics in cyberpunk and most works deal at least with one of them, many include all.

[GdM] What appeals to you about cyberpunk?

[AM] Personally, I’m a huge fan of cyborgs. My love for them began many years ago when I saw Ghost in the Shell for the first time. The blend of human and machine and the philosophical and psychological questions coming with that fascinate me. It’s something I explore deeply in my own cyberpunk series Behind Blue Eyes. But as a reader, I enjoy all forms of cyberpunk.

[GdM] Do you think the cyberpunk genre is alive or dead?

[AM] As stated above, I think it’s more alive than ever. And Neo Cyberpunk is a great proof of that.

[GdM] Can you describe what your story is like inside the anthology?

[AM] My story The Heavenly Hunting Grounds is set in the Behind Blue Eyes universe and features one of the most popular characters of the series, Adriel, in a guest appearance. A woman wakes up in a strange place and soon finds out that she and hundred other people have been abducted to be used as game for members of the elite, who pay a lot of money to go on a “hunting party”. It’s all fun and giggles until a real apex predator descends on the wannabe hunters… The story is connected to Behind Blue Eyes: Fallen Angels but can be read as a stand-alone and enjoyed by readers who don’t know my books yet.

[GdM] What are some other stories that you think readers will like?

[AM] I handpicked all stories featured in the book and functioned as a beta reader for all authors, so I’m very proud to say that I think all of them are fantastic. I think there’s something in the book for every taste. Two stories are comedic, some are action-driven, and some are violent and very dark. It’s a unique blend.

[GdM] Do you have a favorite of the stories?

[AM] I do! I think the star among the stories in Neo Cyberpunk Volume 2 is Technoviking by Benjamin Fisher-Merritt. It’s about a man and his axe against a high-tech army, lol. It’s a great story and the character is a bit like a cyberpunk version of the Witcher. I’ve encouraged the author to make a novel out of the story and I think it’s going to be amazing! I mean, who doesn’t love a man and his axe fighting high-tech soldiers?

[GdM] How did you assemble so many authors for your anthology?

[AM] I’m as introverted as any author but I’m also very good at building networks and communities. I have created several groups for cyberpunk authors on Facebook, Twitter, and Discord, where authors can meet, exchange ideas and help each other out. Our genre is a small niche and I firmly believe that teamwork is the key to success for everyone.

That being said, I know a huge amount of very talented authors. The anthology could have featured many more stories by talented authors, but we wanted to cap it 15. I also would like to point out that, that while the whole thing was my idea, it wasn’t me alone who created the anthology. I could never have done it without my co-editor James L. Graetz and the help of Marlin Seigman and A.W. Wang.

[GdM] What can we expect from you in the future?

[AM] A lot! We’re only getting started with Neo Cyberpunk and hope to establish it as a long-running anthology series and a known brand in the cyberpunk literature scene. Other than that, I have my own books, of course. Behind Blue Eyes 3 will launch in March and I’m very excited about that. Besides this, I have two more series running and am about to launch a new one together with my friend and fellow cyberpunk author C.T. Phipps. When do I sleep, you ask? I don’t! I’m a cyborg after all.

Read Neo Cyberpunk Volume 2

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REVIEW: Snowpiercer The Prequel: Extinction by Matz, Jean-Marc Rochette

I very much enjoyed the Snowpiercer movie, and thus when I saw at the library there was a three-part series of graphic novels called Snowpiercer The Prequel: Extinction to go along with the brilliant film, I was stoked. If you aren’t familiar with the film, it is about a future society that travels around on a train. The rest of the world is a snowy wasteland, but the last remnants of the world are divided by class on this gigantic train. We don’t know why the train is the only viable escape route for humanity, but it just is. Snowpiercer is a story that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.

Writing in this story is both its strength and a weakness. The writing is tight and exciting. The dialog is concise and engaging; the problem is that it is so heavy-handed and overwrought. I found myself confused and shaking my head. There is such a thing as subtlety in writing, not every idea needs to be pounded into the reader’s head like a nail into a piece of wood. This story doesn’t quite get that.

Art-wise, it is done beautifully. But you have to like this type of artwork. The shading is quite stark and dramatic, which, on the one hand, adds to the drama of the story. But, on the other hand, it could be distracting and again overwrought to the reader.

If you are a fan of the Snowpiercer series, I say check out this book even if it is for a sense of completion. However, I would not go out of my way to read this.

Read Snowpiercer The Prequel: Extinction by Matz, Jean-Marc Rochette

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REVIEW: The Witcher Season 2 Episode 8: Family

And now we come to the end of season 2 with episode 8, Family. Voleth Meir, the Deathless Mother, has possessed Ciri. Luckily, there’s no retread of the Eskel plotline where the Witchers are unaware of the possession. She kills a few in their sleep, and then they’re onto her.

Ciri is trapped within her own memories, but the memories are pleasant ones, keeping her distracted so she doesn’t try to force her way out. She sees a chance to redo the events of the first episode, where she keeps her grandmother Queen Calanthe waiting, but everything is brighter and more vibrant than it was in that episode, a nice use of colour and lighting.

Geralt tries to bargain with Voleth Meir to take him instead of Ciri. I understand the impulse, but given the ever-growing list of people trying to get or kill Ciri, and the amount of power she wields without understanding, Voleth Meir had no real reason to even consider it.

She shrieks and breaks open the medallion tree, which has a monolith inside it, and from it burst forth several basilisks for the Witchers to fight. The hidden monolith is another one of those things about The Witcher that ignores logic in favour of drama. This is just a risk: everyone’s suspension of disbelief will come at a different time.

I also wondered, during this fight scene, where Yarpin Zigrin and his dwarves vanished to. They were supposed to deliver Ciri to Kaer Morhen, and they did so between the end of episode 7 and the beginning of episode 8. They would have been both useful and interesting as a separate faction in Kaer Morhen. In a season as serialized as this had been, it seems odd to drop such a plot point that was only introduced in episode 7, and wasn’t strictly needed there either.

The battle with the basilisks goes badly for the Witchers, and it draws even more ire out of Vesemir. The show hints at a Vesemir-Geralt battle, as both try to protect their wards. It sidesteps it instead, by forcing Geralt out of the scene via basilisk, and when Vesemir does go to hurt the possessed Ciri, she heals almost instantly. Ergo, there’s no need for that battle—a different tactic is clearly necessary.

[image error]Geralt and the other Witchers realize—with an assist from Jaskier and Yennefer—that they need to remind Ciri of the importance of being a part of their world, rather than the imagined, utopian one Voleth Meir has placed into her mind. This isn’t quite enough, and Yennefer, who knows she feeds on pain, cuts her wrists to draw Voleth Meir out. This is her atonement and sincerely, a fantastic capstone for Yennefer’s arc this season.

The epilogue to this episode is quite long, going between the various factions and showing what their plans are going forward, and each one of them seems to be some variation of ‘capture or kill Cirilla.’

So that’s it for The Witcher Season 2. Some great moments, some head-scratchers, some amazing monster design (The Bruxa! The Leshi!) several solid action sequences and two all-time-great ones. I’m looking forward to season 3, even as I know I won’t be getting the monster of the week I’d like.

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REVIEW: The Harrowing of Doom by David Annandale

Despite being the first entry (of 4, as of this writing) in the prose novel series Marvel Untold, David Annandale’s The Harrowing of Doom is the last entry I’ve read. I discovered the series when I reviewed The Patriot List by David Guymer , which I quite enjoyed. While I couldn’t get into the third book, Witches Unleashed, I read, reviewed and enjoyed the fourth book, Reign of the Devourer. The Patriot List and Witches Unleashed were both stand alone novels. Reign of the Devourer, also by David Annandale, was a direct sequel to The Harrowing of Doom, and having enjoyed Reign I was excited to come full circle. It was the right choice because The Harrowing of Doom is the best book in a good series.

Doctor Victor Von Doom, known in his country Latveria simply as Doom, fights a duel against the forces of Hell every year to try to free the soul of his mother. Every year Doom fails. That is, until he has the idea to join forces with the most powerful witch in his land, Maria Von Helm. Together they will construct a machine built from super science and sorcery: the Harrower.  Meanwhile, Rudolfo Fortunov, former crown prince and now leader of the royalist underground, plots to overthrow Doom and seize control of Latveria. Threads of dark magic, betrayal, rebellion and tragedy come together to tell a truly riveting tale.

The Harrowing of Doom is a quick read and a real page turner. It’s not often a book keeps me up late so I can read just one more chapter, but The Harrowing of Doom got its hooks in me. Annandale’s prose is straight forward and doesn’t get bogged down in unnecessary detail or exposition. While a key element of Doom’s character is his indomitable will, I will say that Annandale harped on the point once too often, but that’s a minor complaint. I also found Zargo’s character a bit one note, his transition from student of mysticism to priesthood a bit of a hole. Otherwise, Annandale does a fine job breathing life into his characters in a short amount of space. My chief complaint about the Marvel Untold novels is that since they’re tie in novels, I don’t worry as much about the main characters. The Harrowing of Doom managed to suspend my disbelief a few times, and I found myself concerned for the safety of certain characters in spite of myself.

The novel is well paced, dialogue is well written, and the action scenes are exciting. But for me, The Harrowing of Doom’s best qualities are its horror elements. There were several passages in particular where his depiction of Hell was terrifying in a very classical way, reminding me of Edgar Allan Poe and early Black Sabbath albums. Not gruesome or gory, but still evoking otherworldliness and dread as our reality faded away and was replaced by a literal Hellscape. These scenes were highlights of the book and are what elevates The Harrowing of Doom above the rest of the Marvel Untold series. The Harrowing of Doom is a good read and highly recommended for fans of the darker side of comics or anyone who’s looking for a sampler of action and super science with delightful splashes of gothic horror.

Read The Harrowing of Doom by David Annandale

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REVIEW: When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger is a classic novel of cyberpunk and one of the foundational texts of the genre. Whenever you think of the word cyberpunk and imagine a gritty neon landscape of crime, sex, drugs, and cyberware then you might be thinking of Neuromancer, but you also might be thinking of the Budayeen. Or, if you’re not, then you might want to check out this book because it’s so fantastically written. Not all of it has aged well in the years since its release in 1986 but some of it was way ahead of its time.

The premise is that the Soviet Union and America have both fallen in the wake of the Cold War, not due to nuclear war but economic collapse. In the aftermath, the Middle East and Europe have risen to fill the cultural gap. In a nameless city in the Levant, probably Damascus, the Red Light district is known as the Budayeen. Every vice imaginable is catered for to customers, including the opportunity to use “Moddies” and “Daddies” to upload to your brain.

Moddies will give you skills like the Matrix be they kung fu, different languages, or an understanding of European history. They will also vanish the moment you pop out the disk. Daddies are more insidious in that they give you an entirely new personality. You can be anyone from James Bond to Jesus. I like this kind of exploration of hypothetical technologies.

Living in the Budayeen is Marid Audran, a small-time grifter who is enjoying life as a man independent of the larger criminal underworld ruled by “Papa” Friedlander Bey. He is presently hooked up with a sex worker named Yasmin (one of the many trans characters in the book) and seems to have a handle on things. Well, except for the fact he’s a drug addict and terrified of being cybernetically upgraded. Either way, he thinks of himself as independent, and this gets him involved in two cases that summarily end with his clients horribly murdered. From there, his life goes on a steady downward slope that gets him involved in international intrigue as well as dealing with a serial killer.

When Gravity Fails is the kind of filthy, gritty, neo-noir cyberpunk that I am fond of. It is steeped in sex, violence, and moral ambiguity with no one remotely clean. Marid Audran is a classical antihero who must be dragged kicking and screaming into the plot because he’d rather not risk his life even to avenge the death of a friend. This is exactly the kind of adult science fiction that fans of this magazine’s genre would find themselves loving. I also really liked the fact George Alec Effinger chose not to make this a world of “Asia takes over the world” like so much cyberpunk but went down the road less travelled.

The Budayeen is an incredibly well-realized location and it’s obvious that the author drew from his own experiences in New Orleans’ French Quarter and many stories from there to help flesh out the fantastic collection of characters therein. They’re the kind of oddball eccentric cast that sticks in your mind yet never seems unbelievable. No one is particularly likable, being a dangerous collection of thugs as well as con men, but no one is boring. This is certainly the kind of place you’d want to visit if not stay, assuming you had enough money to burn.

I also feel like the author’s research into Arabic culture is shown, highlighting both minutia as well as well-life compromises with both religion as well as taboo. Marid is not a devout Muslim but deals with many others who range from fundamentalists to hypocrites to genuinely faithful. Which is a very roundabout way of saying that it doesn’t just feel like the Western world dumped into an exotic location either, 70s New Orleans influences or not. It’s more than just a sleazy R-rated cyberpunk Casablanca but you could do that story here too.

There’s some issues that should be brought up for anyone who wants to dive into the seedy world of the Budayeen. Violence is horrifying, sexual assaults occur [off camera], and the handling of certain identity issues is not entirely accurate. George Alec Effinger was a progressive and included many trans characters in his works but most of them are sex workers as well as not quite having a modern idea of the psychology involved in gender transitioning (it was the 80s). Marid also uses quite a number of self-deprecating racial slurs about himself that may put off other readers.

However, if this is something you’re willing to overlook or consider it part of the world-building then this is a hearty recommendation. It is also followed up by two sequels. It’s a shame George Alec Effinger died before he could finish his fourth book in the series. Few people seem capable of making a world like this leap off the page as he did.

Read When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

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