A Surge in Power

Big Cranky #2

by James Pyne

A friendly wager escalates into chaos. A godlike concoction that could turn the tide. Will the clash for control bring Hell on Earth?

Powerful angel Zeus will stop at nothing to save his Order. So when his Olympians best Odin’s Titans through trickery, he thinks he’s cleared the path to omnipotence. But with one hand on the prize, a new challenger enters with an immortal army of horror raised from his own blood.

As far as angelic champion Quetzalcoatl is concerned, Zeus is unworthy of leading Heaven’s elite. So he’ll stop at nothing to free his friends and allies trapped in the Abyss, even if he must grind the mortal denizens to dust. And as he struts onto the celestial stage, he brings with him a monstrous legion cultivated from the almighty elixir flowing through his veins.

Now Zeus’s only hope is to field his own nightmare horde by stealing his adversary’s formidable ichor. But Quetzalcoatl’s quest to acquire forbidden warriors has already triggered an otherworldly arms race which could consume all existence.

Will the two juggernauts self-destruct on the battlefield, or will their inexorable rage blast humanity to oblivion?

Genres: Mythical Fantasy. Epic Fantasy. Portal Fantasy. Sword and Planet. Shades of dark and grimdark fantasy.

433 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 25, 2021

Reviews

[Sarah Elyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second book in James Pyne’s “Big Cranky” series completely lived up to the first! In “A Surge in Power,” we meet new characters from more mythologies that weren’t featured in book one. We have Zeus, of course, who’s still causing trouble. We have his daughter, Athena, who’s rising against him. For the first time, we meet Loki, who’s using his usual tricks to mess with the minds of the other angels, particularly his father, Odin. We have Quetzalcoatl, who is also rebelling against Almighty El, yet is not on the side of Zeus. There’s also Coyote, an angel who mostly stays out of people’s way unless the people he loves are involved. Finally, we have Ra, who’s struggling to maintain a good relationship with his daughter Bastet. Ra also shields Athena and her allies from Zeus’ wrath. While there are more characters from other mythologies in the story, the ones I’ve mentioned are my personal favorites.

I really enjoyed this novel for many reasons. One: Pyne is excellent at writing dark fantasy, and his visual imagery was on point. His descriptions of the events happening were incredibly well written. For example, I really enjoyed his twist on Cupid and Psyche. Pyne is a master storyteller, and while his writing style is insanely dark, could it really be classified as “dark fantasy” if it wasn’t? Go get your copies of this series right now!!!

[Megan]

Okay I tried my darndest to read through A Surge in Power... I really loved the first installment of the Big Cranky series, but this second book is just way too complex to follow. Too many characters, too many storylines, and not enough reminders of who does what and who's allied with whom. That said, the writing is still very contemporary as with the first one, and James Pyne does a great job worldbuilding.

I was excited to read this novel because the first book was so captivating I couldn't put it down. Maybe my problem here is that I didn't read it consistently every day so by the time I picked it back up 48-72 hours later, I had forgotten some of the characters? Either way, I just couldn't keep this straight.

Therefore: No rating. My fault? Probably. The writing style? Maybe some of that too. Either way I cannot give a fair rating so I will simply not rate at all.

I'll try picking this back up from Page 1 in another few months to give it another fair shot.