Adrian Collins's Blog, page 145

REVIEW: The Witcher Season 2 Episode 4: Redanian Intelligence

As far as I can remember, this is the first episode that didn’t have Geralt deal with a monster. In fact, Geralt does surprisingly little in this episode. The opening shows him training Ciri more, and then Triss arrives at Kaer Morhen. Triss wants to teach Ciri magic, and snaps at the two rude witchers who, despite being cool monster hunters, spend their free time bullying an adolescent. (It’s unfortunate that Lambert and Coen seem to be the stand-ins for all the witchers besides Geralt and Vesemir, and we aren’t given background or personality to any of the others in Kaer Morhen.)

Geralt talks to Triss about how the monsters of the past two episodes seem drawn to Ciri. By investigating the head of the insect monster from episode three, they discover it has pieces of a monolith, which ties in with one of Ciri’s visions. Geralt goes to speak to the Council of Mages, specifically the one who loves his archaeology. That’s where his story ends.

As a bit of a tangent, I’m  disappointed by this. I liked the first season, timeline shenanigans notwithstanding, because Geralt’s adventures could mostly stand alone. A show about a traveling monster hunter seems primed for more episodic content. Geralt fights a striga and investigates the relationships that cursed her? Fantastic. Geralt, Yennefer, and a large team go to hunt a dragon? Wonderful. This season is making a more linear and larger story as it loosely adapts Blood Of Elves, but I quite liked the self-contained stories, and I think the best episode so far of this season was the first, which was the most self-contained.

Yennefer’s adventures take up most of the running time this episode, as she tries to smuggle herself onto a boat heading towards Cintra. Hatred for elves is being stirred up, and those who are found are being chained to each other and sent away. One of these scenes was particularly hard to watch with the casual humiliating dehumanization that occurred.

She learns the Sandpiper is helping elves escape by boat to Cintra, and goes to meet him and lo and behold, it is Jaskier. The beloved bard of the first season is still as acerbic towards her as ever, and justifiably so. Back in S1, Geralt blamed Jaskier for Yennefer leaving, and Jaskier’s reintroduction here has him singing a far harsher song than Toss a Coin To Your Witcher.

Still, Jaskier helps. He always does. And his final conversation with Yen, as he compares her loss of magic to his imagined loss of art, is sincere even as he discusses the snakes she must have in her shoes. Joey Bates is so great in this role, and the writers clearly have more fun writing him than anyone else.

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REVIEW: Detroit: Become Human by David Cage

Detroit: Become Human by David Cage was something that I bought a long time ago but never got around to playing because I’d heard so much bad about it. I also heard about David Cage’s general awful behavior and that soured me on it too since he was both the writer as well as director of the game. However, since the game was bought used and I’m a fan of Bryan Deckhart, who plays one of the three protagonists, I decided to give it a shot.

Overall, my feelings are mixed. On one hand, the game is gorgeous and is one of the few games I can honestly say has actual branching storyline. You can complete the game in multiple different ways, all of the protagonists can die, and all of the narratives generally hold up whether you win or lose. The motion captured actors do excellent acting jobs (with one exception) and the story is right up my alley. Robots gaining sentience and planning a revolt in a dystopian capitalist near-future? Oh my yes. The fact you can play a Blade Runner-esque robot hunter who is also a robot? Perfect.

The downsides? The game doesn’t know anything about restraint in terms of the allusions its making. Robots have always been metaphors for the working class, dating back to the first use of the word in Rossum’s Universal Robots circa 1921. However, David Cage doesn’t know when to stop with allusions versus actually have the androids say, “I have a dream” and reference real life atrocities on the nose. The X-men comics have the same issue but usually have a bit more restraint. There’s also almost no gameplay in the actual game beyond dialogue and quicktime events. While I love things like Telltale’s Walking Dead and Life is Strange, some people may object to this.

The premise is that in the near-future, humankind has replaced the working class with lifelike human androids. This has been so successful that there is now 40% unemployment, and the US economy is still chugging along. Androids are cheap enough that even the unemployed can afford them and I am interested in the world-building enough to wonder if there’s a kind of UBI to keep the populace from eating the rich.

As the title says, the story is set in Detroit where most androids are manufactured but none of that wealth is trickling down to the public. The story may be a failure in terms of commenting on race relations but has a plausible critique of capitalism and how forced labor warps its functionality.

Protagonist Connor (Bryan Deckhart) is a Cyberlife-constructed detective android who has been given the job of hunting down and destroying “Deviant” androids. He’s basically a Blade Runner and is an earnest dorky guy who can leave a huge body count. Connor has, of course, a buddy cop relationship with a burnt-out android-hating cop named Hank (Clancy Brown). Secondary protagonist Markus (Jesse Williams) is a caretaker of a old man named Carl (Lance Henriksen). A chance encounter with Carl’s drugged out son results in him getting scrapped and awakening in a hellish landfill to seek out other rogues. Finally, Kara (Valorie Curry) is a domestic android bought by an abusive drunk named Todd (Dominic Gould) to care for his daughter Alice (Audrey Boustani).

Of the three plotlines, Connor’s plotline is the best because there’s never going to be cyberpunk detective stories involving rampaging robots that I am not 100% behind. Bryan Deckhart is also charmingly goofy in this role and if you play him as a good guy it’s great. It’s amazing when you play him as a monster, though, because he completely switches gears. Kara’s story is the next best one as it gives a “slice of life” perspective that is far more down-to-Earth and really deserved its own game. I never realized how much I would love a road trip about fleeing robots pretending to be human until this. It’s pretty much what Life is Strange 2 tried to be but failed at.

Unfortunately, that leaves Markus’ plotline and that goes over like a lead balloon with me. This is especially problematic because Markus is the basis for the entirety of the game’s plot-plot. I was perfectly content hunting deviant androids and being a robot nanny. Markus is supposed to inspire the revolution, but I only cared about his story when I was serving as a live-in nurse. Which is either a sign of bad writing, skewed priorities on my part, or both. It doesn’t help that Markus either has to be all-pacifist all the time or a violent sociopath in order to get a decent ending.

There’s some excellent emotional content, particularly when the story is not focused on its premise of android revolution but world-building their strange little world. You get more out of Todd the drunken robot owner, a tense confrontation with the police inspecting a home, and a sleazy strip club investigation than you ever get from Markus’ tepid speeches. Still, other things are cringingly ridiculous like the fact all the androids must sit at the back of the bus or the little triangles on all the uniforms. Also, a “twist” regarding one of the supporting characters being an android that has become infamous in its silliness.

I think the big thing this game does for me is remind me that my tastes are evolving and there’s room for slower-paced and more cerebral video games out there. Don’t get me wrong, this game can be laughably dumb at times and most of its twists are telegraphed a mile away. However, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t try to do something different storytelling wise, and I appreciate the effort. If it rips off Westworld, Blade Runner, and Humans then it has stolen from the best.

In conclusion, Detroit: Become Human is a flawed game, but it is one that I absolutely recommend. I also recommend you play it with a minimum of spoilers as well as backtracking. The controls are jankey and reloading can be done if you screw up a scene because of being unable to get them to work right but otherwise it’s best if you play out the consequences of your actions. I got a three good playthroughs out of the story. It’s certainly worth it’s now-discounted price, especially if bought second-hand from Gamestop. I also will buy almost anything that allows me to be a Blade Runner robot hunter and is even vaguely cyberpunk.

Play Detroit: Become Human by David Cage

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REVIEW: The Witcher Season 2 Episode 3: What Was Lost

Welcome to the recaps of The Witcher Season 2 for Grimdark Magazine. I’m Ryan, and I enjoyed the first season of this show a lot. I haven’t read the books so a lot of the plot points will be coming at me for the first time.

Yennefer’s plotline in this episode felt a bit of a low-point to me, to be honest. Her plotline with the political machinations of the other sorcerers at the Council of Mages has never been a particular interest of mine; this isn’t a series I enjoy for politics. That said, the reintroduction of the slimiest wizard, Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) offers some enjoyment.

At the end of episode 2, Yennefer had realized she could no longer do magic, so her returning to a place where people would expect her to do magic constantly seemed an odd choice for someone as consistently as practical as she is. It could have made sense if she was pushing people for answers on regaining it, but she kept it largely private instead.

Ciri, on the other hand seems to finally be coming into her own. Her plotline in Season 1 was also not my favorite, but now that she’s training to become a Witcher, she’s gaining more agency and more interest. Her plotline here is simple. She’s being taunted by Lambert, another Witcher, about how she’s weak and shouldn’t be trying to be a Witcher, and her defiant personality makes her try even harder, even as she gets bruised and wounded in her attempt to do it. This section was my favorite of the episode, as the other Witchers slowly come to start watching and largely seem pleased with her tenacity.

Afterwards, Geralt points out that she’s not a Witcher, and can’t heal as quickly as they do. She does have other talents, though, like a sense that she’s being pulled. He uses that ability to help track her to the monster that was responsible for the death of a witcher in episode 2. What happens is the most perfunctory monster fight in the series thus far, as the monster that killed the person we should care about is immediately killed by a different monster that Geralt then has to face.

I suppose I can understand not wanting the same kind of monster two episodes in a row, but this sequence felt very sketchily plotted. Geralt had been feeling guilt over the other witcher’s death earlier in the episode, so taking out the monster that killed him would have some sense of catharsis. Instead we got a large insect.

The show does make the wise choice to centre Ciri in the fight. To Geralt, this is just another day and another monster, but Ciri is not used to any of this. The sequence where she keeps looking for it and cannot see it but constantly hears it was effective, but fundamentally it felt like the wrong way to end this episode.

I am looking forward to seeing Ciri get trained more fully, as she’s never been more interesting to watch than this episode.

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REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E7: The Dark Along the Ways

Another strong episode starts off with an incredible cold open. The Wheel of Time E7: The Dark Along the Ways gives its viewers answers to some of the questions that have been asked since the first few episodes and shows the incredible potential that the series has, to be a fantasy show full of both heart and steel.

The Dark Along the Ways begins with what is possibly my favourite scene of the series so far. In one of the best fantasy action scenes shown on TV, a heavily pregnant Aiel rushes across a snowy landscape, fighting off a bunch of warriors with incredible skill. She uses her opponents’ weapons against them and wields a spear with unnerving ability and accuracy in one of the show’s goriest and best scenes yet.

Finally, dropping to the ground, the red-haired Aiel gives birth to a baby with the support of a stricken warrior carrying a heron blade. The Dark Along the Ways is bookended with this magnificent scene and an ending where Rand discovers that he is in fact the Dragon Reborn. That’s one big reveal out of the way for the series. And what a way to do it.

The Dark Along the Ways has slower moments in between. Moiraine and Lan lead the group through the dark Ways as they argue over leaving Mat behind. The dark, creepy land grows more ominous as one of the guiding stones shows signs of being defiled. A trolloc attacks and is repelled with magic (by whom?) and the band must rush forwards as Loial leads them to a different exit than previously planned.

They escape the Ways but not before the Black Wind whispers into the minds of the group and digs deep to get at their darkest fears. Like Boromir leaving Lothlorien following the meeting with Galadriel, the group are broken and lost in their dark thoughts as they arrive in Fal Dara. The group bicker like children as their fears and doubts take over, worrying about the fact that they still do not know which of them is the Dragon Reborn and that the rest of them will die once they reach the Eye of the World. Needing comfort, Rand and Egwene spend the night together and so do Nynaeve and Lan, who reveals more about his history and the people whom he cares for the most.

In the morning, the group get together to make a decision on whether they should head off to the Eye of the World or not. Rand, finally realising who he is, doesn’t turn up and neither does Moiraine. The two of them leave the city before dawn and head towards the Blight, hoping to save the others from their inevitable deaths.

The Dark Along the Ways is a slow episode with more character development and comes across as an episode designed to set up the ending of what has been a mostly enjoyable series. It is great to see more of Lan who has been a standout character in the series and the fight in the snow is a sign of the potential the series has to become the epic fantasy the fans deserve to see. The pieces are all coming together and it will be fascinating to see how the show wraps up its first season. On the 20th anniversary of the Lord of the Rings trilogy hitting cinema screens, it is great to see shows like The Wheel of Time and The Witcher showing what fantasy is capable of on the small screen.

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REVIEW: The Witcher: Season 2 Episode 2: Kaer Morhen

Welcome to the recaps of The Witcher Season 2 for Grimdark Magazine. I’m Ryan, and I enjoyed the first season of this show a lot. I haven’t read the books so a lot of the plot points will be coming at me for the first time.

Kaer Morhen starts with Geralt and Ciri finally making their way to Kaer Morhen, the place where Witchers go to rest and recuperate over wintertime. The set design seems to have pulled a lot from the video games, which I found interesting. I don’t recall set design being taken from a video game before, but it works.

We see several Witchers already here, and they all have a strong bond of brotherhood. While it seems outwardly positive how well they know each other, there is an unfortunate undercurrent to this, one vocalized by Geralt as he discusses his childhood to Ciri. Kaer Morhen had been attacked, and Vesemir was the only older trainer to survive. The number of Witchers is running low, and there is no way for more to be created.

The monster of the week in this was far less interesting than last week’s. The monster design was again very well done, as the monster looked interesting in a very pulp, almost comic-book way. But the fight itself had been telegraphed early on. No, the real interest here was seeing how the witchers all relate to each other, and particularly how Vesemir and Geralt relate. This lets Geralt take on Vesemir’s role as trainer and mentor to Ciri.

Yennefer, meanwhile, has been captured along with Fringilla by elves. She tries using her wits as best she can to convince them that she’s more valuable alive and free. Since her capture after the Battle of Sodden, she’s been put into deuterium handcuffs, a special metal that prevents spellcasting. During the battle where she was captured by elves, she begged Fringilla to rescue her, saying she could save them if only she was freed on the handcuffs.

The elves end up taking them on a journey that leads to powerful old beings who offer them great power and tempt them down various paths.

All of this leads Yennefer to realize that it’s not the deuterium, but the fire magic she had used at the end of Season 1. She has burned out her own magical power.

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REVIEW: Demon by Matt Wesolowski

I received an uncorrected proof copy of Demon in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Matt Wesolowski and Orenda Books.

Demon is the sixth book in Wesolowski’s Six Stories series and in this entry, enigmatic journalist Scott King interviews six witnesses of a horrendous crime that occurred 26 years ago at the quaint village of Ussalthwaite. On his podcast, the crime that the interviewer is looking back at is the ferocious murder of a 12-year-old child with learning difficulties who was killed by 2 other children of the same age. The “demonic duo” were released in 2002 with anonymity and new identities. Present-day, a member of the public claims to have discovered the identity of one or both of the murderers and is bargaining to sell the information to the highest bidder. Opinions and interest in this famous case have become intense, and now Scott King is raking over the grave of this old crime. Will the majority of the public believe in the rehabilitation of the pair or that retribution for the heinous crime is deserved?  What will King unearth during his exchanges with these 6 individuals? Is it of importance that Ussalthwaite (a fictional town in Yorkshire) has a history that is shrouded in mystery including witches and the supernatural? Also intriguing, what are King’s motives for talking about this case now?

All in all, I found Demon to be a gripping, engaging, and thought-provoking horror/mystery tale that is presented in an intriguing and addictive way. It’s mostly written in the form of an interview with well-timed, informative, and realistic back-and-forths between interviewer and interviewees. The book has breaks that feature letters, e-mails, and social media updates which adds depth and consequence to unfolding events. My uncorrected proof copy was 225-pages long, with each episode being about a sixth of that length, making it perfect to read one chapter per evening and therefore devouring this short but packed novel within a week. Each episode adds layers and new angles to what we understand about the case so far. It’s interesting to discover each guest’s role in the story, and also what their motives are, and whether they have any demons themselves. Demon is dark, sometimes gruesome, occasionally featuring torturous happenings and Wesolowski himself warns readers that distress may be caused to some as there is fictional violence to children and animals.

I haven’t read any of the other Six Stories books prior to reading this one and can confirm that it works perfectly as a standalone. I am sure I would have had a heightened reading experience if I had read the previous series entries but even without the back story about Scott King or how this links into the overarching Six Stories world, I’m still rating this an extremely positive 8.5/10. At some moments, King does allude to his dark past and events that have happened to him before, and I wasn’t upset that I didn’t understand the references, in fact, it intrigued me to the extent where I’ll probably go back and work my way through the series.

Reading Demon was a captivating and rewarding experience especially as I’m sure I had my amateur sleuth hat on throughout my time reading, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together myself before King or a guest reveal something of importance. The novel doesn’t wrap up neatly, leaving a lot to the reader’s interpretation. What influence, if any, was down to the supernatural is something I was thinking about throughout but I won’t mention how that sits at the conclusion. It isn’t disappointing that it doesn’t end neat and tidy but it means that you’ll probably be thinking about this story and the possibilities long after finishing it. I can’t get some of the characters and events out of my head. I was thoroughly impressed with Wesolowski’s format, writing, and the complexity of this dark tale.

Read Demon by Matt Wesolowski

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REVIEW: The Witcher: S2 E1: A Grain of Truth

Welcome to the recaps of The Witcher Season 2 for Grimdark Magazine. I’m Ryan, and I enjoyed the first season of this show a lot. I haven’t read the books so a lot of the plot points will be coming at me for the first time. That said, this episode, A Grain of Truth, is taken from the story of the same name in Sapkowski’s The Last Wish.

Season 2 of The Witcher has dispensed with Season 1’s timeline shenanigans. It still maintains two story arcs, of Yennefer after the Battle of Sodden Hill, and Geralt of Rivia after he finally meets Ciri. Yennefer’s plotline in this episode felt like a bit of wheel-spinning until the end, so more on her in the next recap.

Ciri and Geralt are still figuring each other out, and though she seems to view him as a protector, they haven’t quite developed a full familial bond yet. She’s still lonely and misses her family and Cintra. Geralt, meanwhile, believes that Yennefer died at Sodden, and while he keeps things close to his chest, he’s clearly mourning.

On their way to Kaer Morhen, they arrive at a small wintry town. Before they enter Geralt notices that not only are there no guards, there are no barking dogs. Luckily, Geralt knows someone who lives nearby, because Geralt always knows someone—it’s one of the features about him I like most. It makes sense that a wandering monster hunter would happen to befriend some of the people he helps, an attitude that doesn’t ignore the ‘Witchers are despised’ belief prevalent in the setting so much as underpin it. The world is a large place and people are not a monolith.

[image error]Geralt and Ciri’s story largely takes place at this old friend’s manor house, and this entire sequence is exceptional. His friend, Nivellen, has been cursed, but won’t talk about it. He seems outwardly gregarious and inwardly hiding something, and the actor, (Kristofer Huvju, Tormund from Game of Thrones) absolutely nails it despite the prosthetics. The sequence where he and Geralt play a drinking game based around throwing daggers at a painting of Nivellen’s father was a highlight of the episode. Each time either of them gets a dagger in, they can ask a question and get a truthful answer. But Nivellen is clearly playing Geralt as much as he’s playing their drinking game.

While he turns to have a few secrets, the most notable is that he has a Bruxa, a vampire, living at his manor.

Her introduction is creepy, and the creature design is exceptional, some of the best the series has done. Her motions are uncanny in the best way, giving a real sense that she is indeed something monstrous. But when she talks she quite clearly states that while she is a monster, she has done nothing that humans don’t do. That tension has always been at the heart of this series.

Check Out Our Reviews for Season 1

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REVIEW: String Follow by Simon Jacobs

There is a quiet horror influencing the youth of Adena, Ohio. A mysterious force that doesn’t poison their young hearts but rather distorts their desires into something sinister. Simon Jacobs delivers an oddly curious and uncanny horror tale in String Follow.

String Follow is narrated by this mysterious force. As readers, we are privy to its musing as it stalks various characters. Beth lives in the shadow of her abusive and psychotic brother, Greg. David turns to incel-like cults and fantasies when his love is unreturned from Sarah. Unbeknownst to him, Tyler has found refuge in David’s basement. We follow a web of these characters and more, all seemingly random and yet, their fates are all intertwined.

In String Follow, Simon Jacobs does a brilliant job of portraying the youthful lives of those in the Midwest. Often, his characters’ actions and thoughts linger between the mundane and the bizarre. He accentuates their whims and impulses. He portrays their erratic behaviors believably. String Follow is about observing seemingly disjointed actions from all its characters steadily become tangled with each other.

String Follow has a flair that is reminiscent of Donnie Darko and The Twilight Zone. Simon Jacobs’s prose is particularly notable. The way in which the author writes is spellbinding and invokes an atmosphere of dread. As enticing as it is unsettling, his prose is the highlight of this novel.

Simon Jacobs does not humor his readers with jump scares, but a slow unraveling of atrocities committed by his characters. While the mysterious force can be perceived as unworldly, the horrors set in String Follow are grounded in unfortunate reality. Woven between the scenes of teenage meanderings, we are exposed to parental neglect, shootings, abuse, and violence.

This gothic novel does suffer from having one too many characters. Some character arcs felt lacking in comparison to the rest. On a few occasions, the abundance of characters hindered the momentum of the story. Since we have the perspective of the mysterious force but are blinded to its intensions, it is easy to miss the importance of certain individuals. The best strategy is to let the mysterious force reveal and connect these characters for you. It does come together at the end.

String Follow is a dark and somber coming-of-age tale. It begs us to give credence to the dark parts of ourselves. Jealousy and anger are not fleeting sentiments. With a simple nudge, they can consume a person.

Read String Follow by Simon Jacobs

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REVIEW: Servant Mage by Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott packs an assortment of fully-realized story elements into her new novella, Servant Mage. The narrative focuses on the journey of Fellian, a low-level mage, interweaving significant themes of power, class, loss, and choice in a believable way. As Fellian reacts to the world around her, so does the reader; their paths paralleled as Elliott widens the scope of traditional fantasy tropes and alters predictable expectations.

Servant Mage begins with the echoes of a revolution. Fellian finds herself an indentured servant to the Liberationist Government due to her ability as a Lamplighter: the ability to create and sustain light through the demonic presence bound to one’s bones. All Fellian wants to do is give those around her the ability to read and write, teaching them in secret while she cleans the upper class’s privies. However, when an opportunity arises for her freedom, Fellian is caught between the Liberationists and the Monarchists. She begins to question the world around her, starting with the truth about the foundation of her society. Fellian must decide between helping the Monarchists vie for their chance at regaining power through the birth of a recent royal child or her duty to what she has always known.

The novella oozes with political intrigue and thematic elements from its opening lines. Elliott immediately lays the groundwork for what Fellian’s world is like. Servant Mage is threaded with tension from a political standpoint, and like Fellian, you begin to wonder which side is better equipped for control as the issues of power are explored from all angles. Elliott also pays strong attention to the class system, blatantly displaying its dependencies on educational means (both practical and magical) to everyday necessities like bathing and eating.

Although not grimdark, Servant Mage explores the darker aspects of a society dueling for power, control, and the right to rule. Elliott peppers in realistically bleak moments as Fellian seeks out the answers to how far one would go to achieve their goals and whether the cost justifies the means. Every character decision is steeped in consequence whether short or long-term. The undercurrent of the importance of choice is demonstrated in several instances, both in regards to the plot and characters. However, perhaps the single greatest lesson Fellian must learn is also the one most relatable: “There’s more to the world than we are allowed to know” (164).

Thank you to Tordotcom for sending me an ARC of Servant Mage to review.

Read Servant Mage by Kate Elliott

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REVIEW: Crimson Thaw #3

World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw #3 is the third and final installment of the Crimson Thaw spinoff and last comic book dealing with the protagonists of Vampire: The Masquerade: Winter’s Teeth, a ten-issue preceding miniseries. They are both set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness that was mega-popular in the Nineties and is only now making a return.

The premise is the vampires of Minneapolis and Saint Paul have accidentally defiled the holy grounds of a group of Garou (werewolves), erecting magical barriers that keep out werewolves. Despite this being just another acquisition to them, the local werewolves take it as a declaration of war. After killing one of Prince Cecily Bain’s close friends, the issue is further complicated by the arrival of Justicar Ian Carfax that has his own plans for the Garou.

Ian Carfax is a Justicar of the Camarilla and thus one of the most powerful vampires alive. He has been feeding on werewolves to hold off the mysterious “Beckoning” but has greater ambitions than that. He believes by learning the secrets of Garou spirit magic that he’ll be able to devour the power of Mother Earth and make himself a god. You know, basic supervillain stuff.

Unfortunately, for Ian, Garou are not reasonable about their magic or holy places. This triggers Cecily Bain trying to decide how to bring peace to her land while also rebelling against the man who put her in charge of the Twin Cities (an unforgivable offense). I really liked the twists and turns here but would have appreciated an additional two issues to better explore the fallout from Mitch’s death as well as more character interaction between Cecily and her Anarch friends. Sadly, I feel like this will be the last time we deal with them.

I feel like the final confrontation between the werewolves, Ian Carfax, and Cecily was a bit on the rushed side, though. I don’t think a Justicar would ever allow himself too far from his Archons and support, so I didn’t quite buy the ending. I also was curious why he was still in the Twin Cities when his business concluded at the end of Winter’s Teeth.

Storyline-wise, I feel like this is a pretty good endpoint for Cecily Bain as it provides a sense of what she’s going to be like for the next few decades and how she’s going to evolve as a Prince. Unfortunately, the Anarchs don’t get a much time as they deserve and there’s no room to really discuss Colleen’s feelings about the death of her husband. Still, I feel like we could have had worse follow-ups.

The art is excellent, and I really like the way everyone is depicted. Cecily is quite fetching in her less Gothic Punk ensemble and more fashionista look. It goes to show that clothes make the Prince. I do think the book didn’t have much in the way of gaming material in the back and that’s a shame, especially since the first issue gave some hints about Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition. On the other hand, they gave a nice short story this time.

Read Crimson Thaw #3

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