The Carnival of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Carnival of Ash is marketed as a fantasy book; a story set within an alternate history in a fictional city where the crafted word rules supreme. Cadenza is a city filled with giant libraries, where hundreds of printing presses work around the clock, churning out work, and where poets and creators control the life of the citizens. However, the book seems to have been woefully miss-sold, leading to a jarring reading experience.

The Carnival of Ash begins following Carlo Mazzoni, a young poet who has travelled to Cadenza in order to show off his epic poem and to find fame. Unfortunately, he came to the city at the worst possible time, as the leader, Artifex Tommaso Cellini, has died suddenly. Now the city is in turmoil, and Carlo discovers secrets about his family history that not only disturb him, but makes it look like he may be involved in Cellini’s death.

From here, the book shifts perspectives across each of the twelve cantos, featuring an ink maid who writes pornographic letters to paying clients so that they can live out their sexual fantasies, and a pair of poets who are fighting over a woman they both desire, to name but a few of the early ones. Unfortunately, as the focus of the book shifts to a new person with each segment, it means that the main plot of the novel, the special political ramification of the appointment of a bureaucrat as the replacement for Cellini, rather than a poet, feel incredibly lost in the background.

As mentioned earlier, the book has been marketed as a fantasy novel, thanks to the descriptions of giant libraries, and a city dedicated to poetry and works of fiction. As such, I came to it expecting a focus on those aspects, to get to explore these huge libraries; and with it being a fantasy book I was hoping for some kind of magic to be involved with them, whether that be stories that can come to life, the power of the written word, or having to bind books with power to keep dark things from escaping the pages. This book has none of that. It seems like it’s been marketed as fantasy because it’s set in a city that doesn’t exist in the real world, but other than that this is a lengthy, ponderous, historical novel.

This isn’t in itself a bad thing: there’s a big market for historical fiction, and alternate history is a popular genre. However, if you come to this book expecting something very different, as I did, this revelation that you’re reading a completely different genre is a huge disappointment. I spent so long reading the book waiting for something to happen, something unusual or out of the ordinary that justified its labelling as fantasy, something that would make me actually enjoy it – but nothing came.

It wasn’t just the surprise change in genre that I found troubling whilst reading the book, however, as there were a number of things with the content that I ended up not enjoying. One of the biggest things that I need to talk about is the fact that this book doesn’t come with any content or trigger warnings, and the content really does need some. There is constant sexual objectification of women throughout the book. Women are treated incredibly poorly, often being reduced to sexual objects, and there are even moments of sexual violence. With this being a fantasy or alternate history, these kinds of things didn’t need to be included for ‘historical accuracy’, and they serve no real purpose towards moving the plot forward. As such, the book felt like it was very much not geared towards female readers, and the lack of warning about some of the graphic content could put a lot of people off. There are also moments of extreme torture, abuse, fatphobia, and ableism scattered throughout, to further dampen any enjoyment of the book.

I came into The Carnival of Ash expecting certain things thanks to how the book was advertised, and when the book turned out to be something completely different I found it hard to find much to grab my attention, thanks to a plodding and almost aimless-seeming narrative, and content that often threw me out thanks to its shocking or disturbing nature. I went into this book hoping to find a lot to enjoy, but spent the majority of my time reading it forcing myself to get through it. If you’re a fan of dour and lengthy historical fiction you might enjoy this, but just be warned before picking it up.

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Gorath – Throwback 60

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The 1960s were a big decade for Japanese film. The big budget disaster movies were doing well, and giant monsters were becoming more and more popular, as the Godzilla franchise began to hit its stride and new creatures emerged onto screens. Toho was at the heart of this boom, producing some of the biggest films of the decade, and as such wanted to continue to ride this wave of success with new, creative endeavours. 1962’s Gorath was an attempt to make a big budget science fiction film that would stun audiences and showcase some of the best special effects work around; and for the most part, it did just that.

Directed by Ishiro Honda, the acclaimed filmmaker behind such hits as Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, the film begins with the crew of the JX-1 Hawk, a new exploratory space vessel, competing its months long mission on the outskirts of the solar system. With the crew preparing to return home, they receive a message from Earth asking them to investigate a strange gravitational anomaly near Saturn. Upon going to investigate, the crew are shocked to discover that a rogue star has entered the solar system, and is making its way towards Earth. The star is putting out immense gravitational forces, and it destroys the JX-1.

Back on Earth, scientists gather to discuss the information the lost crew were able to send back, and work out that in two years time the rogue star, named Gorath, will pass close enough to Earth to tear the planet apart. A plan is devised, and the world’s governments come together in Antarctica to create a giant engine that they will be able to use to push Earth out of Gorath’s path, moving the planet back to its regular orbit once the danger has passed. When Gorath reaches Earth, having already stripped Saturn of its rings and grown in mass, the engines fire and move the planet out of the way; unfortunately, the intense gravity does cause huge damage, creating giant floods and huge earthquakes across the planet, including one that completely destroys Tokyo. Fortunately, the plan succeeds, and the Earth is saved.

Hot off the success of 1960’s big budget disaster movie The Final War, which saw the Earth completely destroyed, Toho wanted to create another big budget disaster movie, though one with a more hopeful ending. Feeling confident that the film would do well following the success of their previous films, Toho gave Gorath a bigger budget, and an almost year long production time to create the movie. And it really does show on screen. The miniature work on Gorath is wonderful, and rivals some of the best stuff seen at the time. The increase in budget and production time meant that Honda was able to take his time, to allow the special effects team to create more intricate, detailed models and sets.

One thing that perhaps harms Gorath, or at least interrupts the flow of the movie, is the inclusion of a giant walrus Kaiju named Maguma. Thanks to the success of Toho’s film Mothra, studio executives wanted to include a giant monster, believing that by marrying together The Final War and Mothra they would be able to capitalise on the success of both films. Whilst this might work on paper, in execution it really fails to be anything other than odd. Maguma appears towards the end of the film, when heat generated by the giant engines melts the surrounding ice in Antarctica and awakens the giant monster that was sleeping beneath the surface. With the creature threatening to destroy the engine, the only thing that can save the Earth, the military are forced to engage the monster and kill it.

These sequences add very little to the film, and were even cut in the American release of the movie with no real damage being done to the story. If anything the cuts actually helped to keep the plot focused on the rogue star, and to keep tensions high. It also doesn’t help that Maguma is possibly the cheapest looking thing in the film. It’s unclear whether the creature was a late stage addition, if Honda had less focus on the monster, or if it’s just down to the design, but the monster looks rubbery and fake in ways that you don’t come to expect from a Toho creation, and looks like a cheap imitation.

The odd inclusion of the giant walrus monster aside, Gorath proves to be a great movie. Its plot is interesting, especially in comparison to Toho’s The Final War, and acts like a good companion to that film, showcasing humanity coming together to create a hopeful future, rather than humanity destroying itself. The special effects look great, with some good wire-work being used to create zero gravity space scenes, and the miniature and model work is top notch. If you’re looking for a big budget Japanese Tokusatsu film that isn’t just big monsters, Gorath is one worth watching.

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An American Werewolf In London (1981) – 4K UHD Limited Edition Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Having recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary, An American Werewolf In London has received a stunning 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video that’s packed with special features and behind the scenes footage, that reminds viewers that this relatively low budget horror film that studios were scared about taking the risk on is one of the most important, and influential films in cinema history.

Chances are most of us will know the story of An American Werewolf In London, it’s been a mainstay on television in Britain for years and sold ridiculously well on home release when it first came out (I distinctly remember stealing my uncle’s VHS copy to watch as a child). But for those unawares, the plot follows two American backpackers as they journey around England.

The film begins with David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), two young men from New York, as they’re journeying across the Yorkshire moors. Standing out against the drab and gloomy countryside around them, in their bright puffer jackets and big backpacks, the two of them wander the desolate landscape, griping about the weather. Eventually they find a small village pub, the Slaughtered Lamb, in which to take shelter; however, the two of them immediately garner unwelcome glances and muttered comments from the locals.

When Jack asks about the strange pentagram painted onto the pub wall, they are told to leave, given two pieces of advice as they do so; ‘keep to the road’ and ‘beware the moon’. Journeying out into the night in the pouring rain, Jack and David soon find themselves accidentally straying from the safety of the road, wandering out into the moors. After hearing a terrifying howling, and realising the full moon is shining down upon them, they are attacked by a vicious beast.

When David awakens following the attack he learns that it’s a few weeks later, and that he’s in hospital in London. Here he learns that whilst he survived the attack from a supposed ‘escaped lunatic’, Jack was killed. Trying to come to terms with his loss David begins to have horrific nightmares about monsters, and soon hallucinates his dead friend, who warns him that the two of them were attacked by a werewolf, and that if David doesn’t kill himself he’ll become one too, and then more killings will begin.

When it was first released in 1981, An American Werewolf In London surprised audiences for two main reasons. The first was that the film managed to walk the incredibly fine line between horror and comedy, due in large part to the wonderful writing and directing of John Landis, who at this point was most well known for comedy films such as Animal House, and The Blues Brothers. The film wasn’t silly or slapstick, and had a very natural form of comedy where characters expressed humour in very real ways, often using it to help deal with the terror of what was happening. The film also didn’t downplay the horror either, being genuinely scary and featuring some jump scares and frights that have become so copied over the decades that they’ve become tropes of the genre. Other horror comedies have tried to blend the two genre’s together since, but none have really managed to do so half as well.

The second way that the film shocked audiences was thanks to the werewolf transformations. Up to this point werewolf films took a rather laid-back approach to these kind of things, either having slow dissolves over actors as they sat in a chair getting hairier, or using clever cuts to switch between stages of make-ups. These older films made the transformations appear quick and easy, and this was something John Landis set out to change.

With the help of makeup artist and special effects wizard Rick Baker, An American Werewolf In London made the transformation into a painful, shocking experience, and audiences watched as David’s body broke and twisted as he became the titular beast. The effects were so revolutionary that hundreds of films since have changed the way they handle transformation scenes to copy this gold standard, and Baker himself won the first ever Best Make-up Academy Award.

This new release not only brings audiences a wonderfully detailed new version of the film, presented in 4K for the first time from the original camera negative, but also packs the disc full of extra features. There are a number of archival behind the scenes looks and interviews with the cast and crew, mostly taken from around the time of the film’s release as part of the original promotion, but there’s also a lot of new stuff on here too.

There’s a full feature length documentary about the history of werewolves in cinema from the early days of the Universal Monsters right up to this film, the feature length exploration of the film, Beware The Moon, and a video essay that looks at how the film explores Jewish identity. There are also new interviews, looks at the special effects, and discussions about how the film inspired other filmmakers. Added to this are two full length commentaries, one with David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, who share their experiences making the film, and the other with filmmaker Paul Davis, who created the Beware The Moon documentary, which goes into a lot of detail around the making of the movie.

Having grown up watching An American Werewolf In London, having seen it dozens of times and counting it amongst my favourite films, this was easily the best experience I’d had with the movie. The new 4K release looks beautiful, everything is crisp and clear, and the extras are amazing. Despite the film only being an hour and a half long I spent about five times that length going through everything this release had to offer, because it was packed with so much content. Whether you’re a long time fan or coming to this new, this might be the best version of this film on the market, and well worth the price.

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The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning - Book Review

 

'Jack Corman is failing at life. Jobless, jaded and facing the threat of eviction, he’s also reeling from the death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, but the film flopped on release and Bob was never the same again.

'In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying childhood home, where he is confronted with the impossible — the puppet heroes from The Shadow Glass are alive, and they need his help. Tipped into a desperate quest to save the world from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with an excitable fanboy and a spiky studio exec to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy and ignite a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do Bob proud.'

I'm going to make the easy comparisons straight away, the thing that I'm sure that every review of this book is going to mention. The Shadow Glass feels like a love letter to the films of Jim Henson, to Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and other 80's dark fantasy stories. As such, if you're a fan of these kinds of stories this is a book that I would absolutely recommend you read as soon as you can.

The book begins by introducing us to Jack Corman, a man in his thirties who's struggling to find work, who's facing not being able to pay his rent, and is having difficulty finding the thing that he wants to do with his life. Jack's father, Bob, has just passed away, and Jack finds himself in possession of Bob's home and everything inside it; things that could help him to find enough money to survive on. You see, back in the 80's Bob made a movie, the puppet fantasy extravaganza The Shadow Glass. Whist the film was never a huge hit it did find a cult following, enough that it kept Bob and Jack comfortable over the years, and enough so that Jack could come to hate the fans.

You see, as the years wore on Bob would keep coming back to the world he'd created, the fictional land of Iri, would obsess over it, would show himself up in interviews and at conventions. As Bob and Jack's relationship became more and more strained over the years Jack would come not only to hate his father, but the film that he'd created to. The Shadow Glass went from something that Jack used to love to embodiment of his ruined relationship with his father. But now Bob is gone, and Jack is able to sell the puppets stored up in the attic to try and get enough money to get by.

However, as Jack is readying to sell the star puppet from the film he learns that his cousin, who followed Bob into films, is preparing to make a Shadow Glass sequel, and wants Jack's help finding the titular prop. But it turns out that it's not just Amelia who wants the prop, as living puppets pour out of the attic room, searching for the fabled artefact. Jack is confronted not only by the villains of the film, the evil Skalion's, but two of the heroic Kettu, fox-like warriors who protect the land of Iri. With the living puppets out in the world, searching for the prop from the movie, Jack must face the shocking revelation that the world of Iri is real, that all of the crazy things Bob used to say were true, and that if he doesn't help the brave Kettu warriors find the Shadow Glass the entire world could suffer.

The Shadow Glass was a strange book to read, not because it was confusing, or odd, but because it felt so weirdly familiar in a lot of ways. I don't think that you'd be able to read this book without thinking of films like Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, The Never Ending Story, or Return to Oz. The book feels like it belongs with these dark, twisted fantasy stories of the 1980's; and because of that it's strange how quickly you get drawn into the world of The Shadow Glass. In essence, this story is a sequel to the film that Bob made in the 1980's, and because we only ever get snippets of information about that story you'd think it'd be hard to get invested in this one. But that's very much not the case.

With very little world-building on Josh Winning's part, with just small snippets of scenes from the fictional film or extracts from interviews, you begin to get invested in the world of Iri. Not long after meeting the living Kettu puppets of Zavanna and Brol, of seeing the villains storm out of the attic room sowing chaos, you begin to get drawn into this quest. It might sound strange, considering that during the course of the book we never learn everything about the fictional Shadow Glass film, and see relatively little of the world of Iri, but by the end of it I'd became as enamoured by it as the films from my childhood that did mean something to me. I felt like I could see parts of Iri in my head, I could picture the puppets and the sets, I wanted plushies of the adorable lubs, and I'd give anything to get to watch the film.

I honestly don't know how Winning does it, but by the end of the book it feels like this is a sequel to a film that actually exists. I came away feeling like I knew the Shadow Glass, like I could close my eyes and picture it all so clearly, that I could hear the music and watch scenes play out in my head. It takes a certain level of skill for a writer to get you invested in the story you're reading, but getting you invested in a story that isn't even a part of the one you're reading, that doesn't exist at all is a level of achievement I'd never thought possible. I hope that Winning has the story of the Shadow Glass film written down, or planned out in his head. I want that to be released, as either another novel, or a comic series, or anything really. I want this world that only exists as a tiny corner of this book to get its chance to exist outside of it, because this world that Winning has created within these pages is honestly wonderful. 

But I can't talk about this fictional film for the entirety of my review, as there's so much more to this book too. The Shadow Glass is a story about learning to overcome trauma, as so many of those 80's films were. Jack grew up thinking that his father hated him, that a fictional world meant more to him than his own son. There are reasons for this, and over the course of the book we learn more and more about their relationship and we see how Jack came to this conclusion; especially after one absolutely heartbreaking scene. Over the course of the novel Jack has to face the past that he's buried away, the feelings that he's ignored his entire life.

Jack doesn't just hate his father, but he hates the film that he created too, something that he once loved as a child. For Jack, Bob and The Shadow Glass have become so linked, so entwined that when people talk about how much they love it it feels like they're condoning Bob's behaviour, that they're belittling the trauma Jack has gone through. We see that across the book, how he instantly hates fans of the film even without knowing anything about them, how he has to leave the room if the film is playing because it makes him feel physically sick. Jack's going through complex PTSD, he's associated this film with his trauma, and over the course of the book he has to confront that. 

As someone who's been through trauma, who's been diagnosed with PTSD, who's had certain things become associated with my trauma and has had anxiety attacks and depression spirals triggered by the most innocuous things I completely understood Jack's reaction. I could see parts of myself reflected in him. It would have been easy to have him stay hating The Shadow Glass for the entire book, or to be completely cured of his hatred for it come the end, but Winning has Jack having to fight through those feelings throughout the book, and there's even a sense that whilst he's dealt with a lot of this come the end he's still not completely done with his healing journey by the time the book's done. I loved this, I loved that trauma was shown to be this hard, complex journey, one that doesn't always make sense, one that requires work to get through. It felt like we were getting an honest portrayal of a complex mental health issue that often gets overlooked; and I really appreciated that.

Jack isn't alone in his journey though, as he soon gets a group of new friends helping him along the way, both puppet and human. The group that forms in the book are a great collection of individuals, who showcase some very different personality types. For the puppets, there's Zavanna, who's a very reserved and almost stoic warrior, one who doesn't care about making friends or being nice, simply getting the mission done; and there's Brol, who's more open and kind, and is filled with a sense of wonder at getting to discover new things. Both of these warriors feel like the typical archetypes you get in these kinds of 80's fantasy stories, the two kinds of leads that you'd see. One is so dedicated to the mission that she can't see how she has time to stop and appreciate the small moments, whilst the other understands that those small wonders are what they're fighting to protect. Both of them are wonderful characters, and I adored getting to know them as the book progressed, seeing how the events changed them and altered their views of the world as they fought to save both Iri and Earth.

There are also some interesting human characters who end up helping Jack, in the form of some Shadow Glass mega-fans. This group of people are folks who love the movie, who watch it regularly, who read the books, who collect the merch, and who make it a large part of their personality. They're the kind of people that Jack instantly hates. However, they're the perfect people to help Jack on his journey, not just because they know the world of Iri and The Shadow Glass so well, but because they're the perfect people for Jack to be around to help him through his issues regarding the movie. There are some wonderful people in this bunch, with a good mix of personalities, but I absolutely adored Toby, who kind of becomes Jack's right-hand man. Toby is the perfect stand-in for many of us readers, the kind of mega-fan who would love to meet our heroes, and to see the worlds and creations we love be real. I also assume he's called Toby as a nod to Labyrinth, which makes me love him all the more.

I absolutely adored reading The Shadow Glass. I loved how quickly I became invested in this fictional world, and this story within a story. The book appealed to me as a fan of this kind of 80's fiction, as someone who's a geek. I hope that we get to see more of this stuff from Winning in the future, whether that's more stories like this, or getting to find out what the Shadow Glass film was like. This has quickly become not just one of my favourite books, but one of my favourite fictional worlds.

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Godzilla vs. Gigan – Throwback 50

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla is one of those film stars who just won’t stay down, whether he’s being a destroyer or a friend to humanity, and there was a time where Godzilla films were coming thick and fast in Japan. With the success of 1971’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah it was decided that another outing from the King of the Monsters was needed, and one that would be a bit less dark and grim. This is where Godzilla vs. Gigan comes in.

Released in 1972, the film began shooting soon after the release of the previous movie – a film that was the second highest grossing film for Toho that year – with the instruction that it was to be less ‘weird’ and more child friendly. Two scripts were produced by Kaoru Mabuchi, and Shinichi Sekizawa. Both of these scripts feature Godzilla and King Ghidorah, along with the new monster Gigan and an assortment of returning monsters. After several revisions and cuts the two scripts were combined into one singular story.

The story of Godzilla vs. Gigan sees a cartoonist called Gengo (Hiroshi Ishikawa), who was recently working on the Children’s Land amusement park, being asked to help a woman track down her missing brother, who she believes was kidnapped by the park’s directors. Upon investigating Children’s Land, Gengo is shocked to learn that the people behind the amusement park are actually giant insect-like aliens from a dying planet.

It appears that the aliens have travelled to Earth with the plan to colonise the planet. However, in order to do so they need to get rid of its current inhabitants. As such, they have plotted to use the space monsters King Ghidorah and Gigan to wipe the planet clear of humanity, using giant radio towers hidden inside Children’s Land to control them. Gengo manages to play one of the control tapes, which summons Godzilla and Anguirus to Tokyo. Now the two Earth monsters are able to combat the space monsters, but who will be strong enough to come out on top?

As stated earlier, the early drafts for Godzilla vs. Gigan were set to feature more monsters, with multiple creatures being lured from Monster Island to combat the new creatures from space. However, these plans had to be changed when several of the monster suits proved to be in too bad a condition to be usable.

One of the drawbacks of this era of Kaiju movies is that the suits were simply put into storage after a movie was made, leading to monster costumes deteriorating and being unusable on a number of occasions. This means that a number of movies had to change to accommodate these issues, and Godzilla vs. Gigan was unfortunately one of them. However, the film actually works better for this, allowing more focus to be given to the four monsters, rather than being spread across the board.

Despite issues with the existing monster suits, including having to repaint King Ghidorah and replace the heads, Godzilla vs. Gigan was able to showcase a brand new creature, Gigan the alien cyborg. Gigan is a pretty odd looking monster. Whilst most of the Kaiju that feature in the Godzilla series are based on prehistoric animals, or large insects, Gigan is truly alien in design. A large, lizard-like creature that stands on two legs, he features large fins on his back, sports a single metal visor eye, metal hooks for hands, and a big circular saw in his stomach. It’s a look that is very, very different from other Kaiju, and makes for a striking figure.

The film also seems to have taken some inspiration from the Gamera films, by having Godzilla take some serious beatings throughout the movie. He’s blasted with laser cannons from the big Godzilla Tower in Children’s Land, is smashed around the head by Gigan’s huge hook blades, and is cut into with the huge circular saw in his foe’s chest. The fights are pretty brutal at times, and it was no surprise that it led to some of the younger audience believing that perhaps this would be the one time that Godzilla wouldn’t save the day.

Upon release Godzilla vs. Gigan was received well by Japanese audiences, and had an increase in ticket sales over the last year’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah. However, thanks to American International Pictures cancelling its plans to release the movie in the US in 1973, it took several years to release internationally, and was even beaten to the cinema by its sequel, 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon, resulting in international audiences seeing Gigan’s debut after his second appearance.

Godzilla vs. Gigan is a brighter, more colourful film than its predecessor, with a more memorable new monster that would go on to feature in several more films, quickly becoming a fan favourite.

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The Ledge – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Mountain climbing movies are a strange niche in cinema. There aren’t that many of them, and when they do come along they can take on any kind of genre or tone, with action adventure movies like Cliffhanger, docudrama’s like Touching The Void, and comedies like The Climb. As such, if you’re into climbing and want to see your hobby portrayed on screen you’re never really sure what kind of thing you’re going to get. The Ledge is the latest release to join this unusual mix, and one that fans of more serious films might want to check out.

The story follows two young women, Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) and Sophie (Anaïs Parello), who are preparing to climb a remote mountain in order to commemorate Kelly’s fiance who passed away. As they’re prepping for their journey, a group of men arrive at the cabin next door. This group of loud and abrasive young men are also looking for fun, but are more interested in partying than climbing. When they invite the women to join them Sophie is up for it, whilst Kelly reluctantly agrees.

After spending some time with the guys, Kelly heads back to the cabin, whilst Sophie continues to party on. It’s during this time that we see the leader of group, Joshua (Ben Lamb), has a serious temper on him. There were already hints at this point that he wasn’t the nicest of guys, but when he tries to rape Sophie after she insults him he ends up throwing her off a ledge. When his friends gather round him and the wounded woman they agree that if they go to the police they’ll certainly face prison time, so come to the decision to kill Sophie and stage it as a murder. Unfortunately for them, Kelly has not only seen everything, but she’s managed to film them in the act too.

When the men realise that Kelly has evidence a chase begins, with Kelly ascending the mountain alone and without her full gear, in order to escape them. Thus begins a desperate fight for survival as Kelly tries to escape her friend’s killers whilst they become willing to do whatever it takes to keep her from reporting them to the authorities.

The first thing that I’ll say about The Ledge to anyone who might be interested in watching the film is don’t watch the trailer. Seriously, it gives the entire movie away. Not only does it give you the basic set-up for the film like I’ve just covered, but it also details everything that happens on the climb, and leaves very little unrevealed. Unfortunately, I did see the trailer before watching the film, and as such there was little here that took me by surprise; but if you go into this film knowing nothing beyond the basic set-up there’s a lot here to enjoy.

To begin with, the film doesn’t feel the need to rush into things, and spends some time before the big event setting up the characters and getting to know them. Sophie and Kelly are women who are quite different from each other, with Sophie being the more outgoing of the two, and the one who seems most up for having fun with the group of guys. Kelly, on the other hand, is more serious, more reserved, and over the course of the film we get flashbacks that explain more about who she is as a person and why she’s so different from Sophie. Both actresses play their parts well, and despite how much they contrast with each other you do genuinely believe that they’re friends.

The group of guys don’t get as much character development, apart from the leader, Joshua. Straight away we see that there’s something not right with Joshua. He has an edge to him, he seems to have his position of leader of the group thanks to the sense of fear the others have about him, as well as him knowing secrets about them that they don’t want to get out. Before he even tries to rape Sophie and ends up killing her he’s bad news, and Ben Lamb seems to be perfect as the entitled douchebag who feels he can do whatever he wants, no matter who he hurts along the way.

Over the course of the film, as the chase begins and the characters end up on the mountain, we begin to see divisions amongst the men, and some of them start to express sorrow over what they’ve done, regret about this and past evil deeds. But despite this, the film never really tries to have us feeling like the men are anything but the villains, and the audience keeps getting reminded that they chose to do these, and other, awful things, and delights in using Kelly as a way of punishing them for their crimes.

The film isn’t perfect by any means, and there are a few times where things seem to slow down quite a bit and it relies on slow burn tension to keep things interesting, rather than having a desperate climb chase to freedom. Some folks might like this choice, and it does allow the characters to have some quieter moments to really delve into who they are, but I was hoping things would be a bit more dramatic and dangerous at times.

The Ledge tells the story of a group of men who think that they can use their power and strength to do whatever they want, to harm others and get away with it because of their position in society; and whilst a young woman has to die at their hands before they finally start to be punished for this it does end up being a story about evil men getting what they deserve. And in a world where far too many men are able to abuse, harm, and kill without consequence, it’s sometimes nice to see some punishment finally getting dished out.

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Midnight – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Disability is often poorly represented in the horror genre, especially in film. Disabled people will either be reduced to helpless victims, such as a wheelchair user being made to run away from a killer wheelchair in his dreams in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, or are made into the villains, with so many horror films having mentally disabled killers as a nice easy hand wave excuse for a killer with no motive. It’s not very often that you get a horror film where not only is a disabled person seen as no different from an able-bodied person, but they also get to survive in large part due to their disability. Midnight is one of these films.

Midnight follows Kyeong-mi (Ki-joo Jin), a deaf-mute woman who spends her days working as a customer service rep in a call centre, and her evenings spending time with her mother, who is also deaf-mute. The two women don’t let their disabilities slow them down, and we spend a good deal of time with the two of them seeing how they live their lives; going to work and spending time with their friends, and showing the audience what kinds of aids they have in their life (things that end up becoming extremely important towards the end of the film).

Their happy life gets turned upside down one awful evening, however, when Kyeong-mi comes across a woman in an alleyway, stabbed in the stomach. This puts her on the radar of serial killer Do Shik (Wi Ha-Jun), who’s watching from his van nearby. Do Shik manages to get the girl back in his van and tied up, but now he has to deal with Kyeong-mi too. Thus begins a deadly game of cat and mouse as the killer stalks Kyeong-m and her mother across the city, trying to get them alone in order to kill them.

From the description of the movie I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from Midnight. With films like Hush and Don’t Breathe having similar set-ups – a killer stalking a victim, and disabilities being a main part of the plot (albeit one with the victim being disabled, and the other the killer) – I was half expecting a similar home-invasion style narrative. Midnight gives us something completely different though. Instead of being stalked through rooms in a remote home, the action takes place in the heart of a busy city, where Kyeong-mi has to navigate dark labyrinth-like alleys, deserted car-parks, and side streets in order to survive.

The film also does things slightly different with its killer, and Wi Ha-Jun is fantastic as Do Shik. Do Shik is a competent, and intelligent man. He doesn’t just rely on chasing after Kyeong-mi, but tries to outsmart her: changing his clothes, tricking her into thinking he’s someone else, and even using his apparent respectability to literally walk free from the police. There are times where it feels like the film is making something of a commentary on the levels of privilege certain people have, where a man in a smart suit gets instantly believed even when a disabled woman is trying to tell police that he’s a killer.

Do Shik feels like he’s drawing upon real-life killers like Ted Bundy: handsome, respectable men who you would never think twice about being a decent person because he seems so ‘normal’. And Wi Ha-Jun feels like the perfect actor to pull this off. He’s good looking, he’s charming, he seems believable when he’s spinning his lies. He even copies the Bundy approach by appearing weak and needing help with his van to lure victims in. It’s only the disabled women, those who are forced to see the world differently thanks to how they get treated, who are able to see Do Shik for what he really is.

That all being said, I do have a criticism about the movie: namely that neither of the two actresses playing deaf characters, Ki-joo Jin and Hae-yeon Kil, are actually deaf. Whilst the two of them do play their roles well, and appear to be pretty respectful towards deaf people, I can’t speak with any authority to if that’s true or not. If deaf viewers were to find issue with their performance, I’d be happy to believe them. It’s a huge shame that this film wasn’t used as a platform to showcase the talents of some deaf actors, and feels like a genuine misstep from director Kwon Oh-seung, who has otherwise done a great job here.

Other than the main feature, the new Blu-ray also comes with a 22-minute essay on Korean horror by Travis Crawford, which plays over the first twenty minutes of the film, occasionally overlaying the movie with posters and stills from other films. It’s a strange approach to a video essay, as it feels more like an odd style of commentary track than a regular essay, but still manages to be informative and interesting.

There’s also a full length audio commentary from film historian Kat Ellinger, who was part of the judging panel at Grimmfest, where Midnight won the Best Feature award in 2021. The commentary is very informative, and entertaining, although Ellinger’s use of person-first language to talk about disabled people rather than identity-first language did feel off at times.

Midnight is an interesting new addition to Korean horror cinema; a film that doesn’t rely on supernatural horror, as was popular over the last two decades, but instead takes a look at the horror people inflict upon each other, as well as showcasing disabled leads.

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Mass Effect 3 – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Mass Effect series is one of the greatest video game series of all time; an achievement in game-play, design, and storytelling. I’m sorry if that sounds biased at all, but those are just facts. And as the culmination of the original trilogy story, Mass Effect 3 is the best of the trio.

Following on from the events of the hugely popular Mass Effect 2, the third game returns players to the role of Commander Shepard (Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer) who have returned to Earth to face the consequences of their actions after going rogue to save the galaxy in the previous game. Having worked to warn the galaxy about the oncoming invasion of ancient machines designed to destroy all life in the galaxy, Shepard’s time is finally up, as within the first minutes of the game the Reapers arrive at Earth, destroying everything in their path.

From here players have to battle their way off the doomed planet, heading out into space to bring their team back together, setting out on a mission to build alliances, complete daring missions, and preparing the galaxy for the biggest war in history with the fate of all sentient life hanging in the balance. Along the way you’ll be able to rekindle old romances, decide whether or not to undo a genocide, and bring centuries long conflicts to an end all in the hope of strengthening your alliance.

Having been building towards this moment for the previous two games, Mass Effect 3 is very much the culmination of the entire series. In the first game players learn the truth about the Reapers; in the second you stop their advance vanguard; and here you face their entire might. The stakes have never been higher, and the game reflects this. With stirring music, huge battle scenes, and moments that are designed to bring you to tears, it feels like playing through an epic blockbuster movie with scores of lore and world building to back it up.

As with previous entries in the series, Mass Effect 3 is built upon player choice. Whilst the overall story will very much stay the same, the details will be different for every player thanks to the things they decided to do across the previous games, and the way they’ve shaped relationships. If a squad-mate didn’t survive the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 they won’t be here now; if you ended up romancing a certain person you get the chance to rekindle that relationship; and if you let the wrong people die or chose the wrong solutions way back in the first game you’ll find fewer allies available to you here.

Story is important in Mass Effect 3, and the player is given multiple opportunities to shape dialogue and make their own choices, but this game also had a bigger emphasis on action over the first two, and several game-play tweaks were made to reflect this. More focus is given to cover and needing to think through the various routes to take in a level, and using squad powers feels a lot more important as certain enemy types are designed to be harder to take down without things like tech or biotic powers. Thanks to the streamlining across several of the combat elements, the game played much more fluidly, and became much more dynamic, especially in comparison to the combat from the first.

Upon its release in 2012, Mass Effect 3 received universal acclaim across many major publications, quickly racking up scores of 9/10 and above. A lot of critics praised the game’s new mechanical updates, but also for providing a definitive conclusion to the story, rather than leaving it open ended for future possible sequels. That being said, some fans complained about the final moments, claiming that it was unsatisfying and ill thought out (a complaint I did not share myself). An update for the ending, expanding upon certain elements and adding new cut-scenes was released for free soon after, along with several pieces of DLC that added new story elements and side quests that further expanded the game.

Almost ten years after its release, Mass Effect 3 was re-released onto the next generation of consoles along with the first two games as part of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, which was given updated and improved graphics.

The Mass Effect series is my favourite video game series of all time, and the third game is my favourite of them. It’s a story that I love, with characters that I genuinely adore and enjoy spending time with whenever I replay the game. The story is incredibly well written, filled with hundreds of hours of details and lore, and moments that bring absolute joy. Even a decade on, having played it multiple times, the game can reduce me to tears multiple times. It fills me with awe, wonder, and joy in ways that a simple video game shouldn’t be able to. It’s a genuine joy to have had this game in my life for the last decade, and if you’ve never played it before you’re doing yourself a huge disservice.

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The Incarnation – DVD Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Sometimes it seems like horror can be one of the easier film genres to create. We’ve all seen horror movies where you have a handful of actors in one location, with the bare minimum of effects needed, where simple tension and the mounting unknown create a story that keeps you hooked. You often hear of films like this being made for a pretty small budget, and in only a few weeks. When it’s done right you get films like Paranormal Activity; horror movies that spawn sequels and intense discussions over how good it was. When it’s done wrong, however, you get films like The Incarnation.

The Incarnation, directed by Isaac Walsh, follows Bard (Taye Diggs) and Jess (Jessica Uberuaga), a young couple who have just moved into a new home in Los Angeles. Not only were they able to get the home fully furnished for a great price, but they got a pretty unique looking home. The house in The Incarnation is possibly the most interesting part of the film. The house is like an odd cross between a regular building and a icosahedron, with strange angles and a roof that looks more akin to some kind of dome-like tent. The interior is pretty unique too, with most of the rooms being open and connected, with only the kitchen and bedrooms upstairs being built away into their own private nooks.

The young couple have rented their new home from Peter (Michael Madsen), an odd but seemingly nice gentleman whose father originally built the home. Things are going well for the couple, but as soon as they have their first night in the building they notice strange sounds, have their bedroom door open on its own, and find that they cannot enter the spare bedroom. When they are eventually able to access the room Jess finds a box filled with strange artefacts, gold coins, and a book filled with bizarre rituals and talk about demons. They at first dismiss this as strange, but when the two of them hit money problems Brad begins to consider using the book to summon the thing in their house, to make a deal with it to help get them out of their debts. Unfortunately, demons rarely play by the rules.

The set-up for The Incarnation sounds interesting enough; a young couple getting tormented in their own home is a staple of the horror genre, and one that can work to great effect. Unfortunately, it seems like every choice made for The Incarnation leads the film down a road of banality.

One of the first things that really stands out about this film is that other than a few minutes of flashbacks that are scattered throughout the movie there are only three characters in it. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, there are plenty of great movies with tiny casts, but the issue here is that the cast for The Incarnation just doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if it’s lack of chemistry between the two leads, the notes from the director, or if the actors were just not on top of their game, but the movie constantly feels flat and boring. In most scenes the actors feel like they’re just saying their lines without much conviction behind them, simply trying to get through the script; as such, when there are moments that require them to put more emotion into it they feel over-the-top and hammy in comparison.

The film also never seems to want to stay still. One of the things that horror needs is tension. You sometimes need long, lingering shots so that the audience ends up waiting for something to happen, checking the dark corners of rooms for the creature. The Incarnation doesn’t let you do this. Every scene is filled with cuts, the camera is shaking and zooming in and out, or we’re getting angles where we’re watching from another room through a doorway with things in the foreground vying for focus. I was never able to feel like I was anticipating something happening, because the film never let me sit still for a second. The directing feels like it’s either trying to do something that doesn’t quite work for the film, or that Walsh perhaps doesn’t trust in the film enough to not have to keep cutting away and changing angles so as to not let the audience linger too long.

Horror films can be made for next to nothing and look pretty good, but there are times where The Incarnation feels kind of cheap. The box of occult items that Brad and Jess find feels really new, and the stuff in them looks like you’d be able to pick them up off Amazon or in a costume shop. The props don’t feel old or weathered at all, and it ruins the immersion. And the less said about the CGI used on the ‘scary’ shadow creature the better.

People hoping for any kind of extras or additional features on the DVD to help justify the purchase are going to be left disappointed. There are no commentaries, making ofs, or even a lone trailer on offer here; you simply have two options when you insert the disc, whether you want to watch the movie, or watch the movie with subtitles.

The Incarnation feels like it was made on a shoestring budget, with a script that needed more polish and attention given to it. The movie might have some well known names in it, but that’s about all it has going for it. If you’re a huge horror fan with literally nothing else to watch you might want to give this a look just to say you’ve seen it, but I can’t imagine it being hugely beneficial to do so.

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Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror - Book Review

 

'Dark Stars, edited by John F.D. Taff, is a tribute to horror’s longstanding short fiction legacy, featuring 12 terrifying original stories from today's most noteworthy authors, with an introduction by bestselling author Josh Malerman and an afterword by Ramsey Campbell.

'Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent. Dark Stars features all-new stories from award-winning authors and up-and-coming voices like Stephen Graham Jones, Priya Sharma, Usman T. Malik, Caroline Kepnes, and Alma Katsu, with seasoned author John F.D. Taff at the helm. An afterword from original Dark Forces contributor Ramsey Campbell is a poignant finale to this bone-chilling collection.

'Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harboring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters—both human and supernatural—and be forever changed. The stories in Dark Stars run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown—possibly unknowable—threats.'

Anthology books can sometimes be a bit of a mixed bag, especially if they're bringing together different authors with various styles. They can present you with stories and writing that's different to what you'd normally pick up, giving you the chance to try new things. Dark Stars was one of these types of books for me, with only a few of the twelve authors being ones whose work I'd read before.

The first story in the collection is 'The Attentionist' by Caroline Kepes, which tells the story of a young teenage girl and her sister. The story begins by introducing us to these two young teens, their relationship with each other, and their growing focus on boys. The two girls are in the throws of puberty, and have become seemingly obsessed with guys; or at least the narrators sister Reg, who is definitely hyper fixated. One day Maeve gets a phone call from someone claiming to be a boy she met at work, but it soon turns out to be something much more sinister. This story is horror in the most real sense, in that it doesn't deal with ghosts or monsters or dark forces, but the horror of other people. Kepes crafts a tense story that manages to draw you in and keep you feeling on edge because it's something real, something that could happen to you; which makes it genuinely scary.

'A Life in Nightmares' by Ramsey Campbell is almost an exact opposite to the first. If the first story is something that could easily happen this is one that you never want to happen to you. Its disjointed narrative unfolds across a series of scenes that take place across the life of Maurice, who we watch from childhood, through to adolescence, and into adulthood. The scenes skip to key moments in his life, from his first day at school to his wedding day, and with each of these something bizarre and nightmarish seems to be following him through his life like a nightmare. The end revelation for this story is a pretty interesting one, and one that I'd love to see more of as it's super interesting. Campbell manages to craft a narrative that feels like a fever dream, with reality and the nightmarish flowing together and mixing, with events shifting and jumping across the years. It's a unique feeling story, and one that might not be for everyone; but if you like things a bit more cosmic horror you'll enjoy this one.

Priya Sharma's 'Papa Eye' felt like one of the least horror of these stories. The story didn't frighten or scare me, and its connections to the past and history made it feel more like a folk story; which I suppose does often make it feel more akin to horror than most other genres. The story takes place on a remote island, where a new doctor begins to make strange discoveries about the inhabitants, and starts to discover that there are strange and supernatural things taking place, and that people aren't quite what they appear to be. Whilst not a story that scared me, it's an interesting one for sure, and I'd happily read more about this strange community and the lives they lead.

I have to admit, I did have some difficulty with 'Volcano' by Livia Llewellyn. The story centres on Calliope, a student at a small college campus who's struggling to find work over the summer period. When she manages to find a job replacing fabric on chairs in the college, as well as creating new curtains for the various function rooms, she seems to have the perfect job. However, the basement room she has to work in has a strange, open door leading into a series of dark underground tunnels, and it has an odd effect upon her. I have to admit, I struggled to really understand everything that was happening in this story, and perhaps that's part of the horror of it, not knowing why the strange things are happening. Unfortunately, this became one of my least favourite stories in the collection as I was left scratching my head by the end.

'All The Things He Called Memories' by Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favourites of the collection. Set during the Covid lock-down, the story follows couple as they're forced to live and work together around the clock in their home. Bo is a simple kind of guy, an upholsterer who likes a quiet life, whilst his wife Marcy is a research scientist. When the two of the share their deepest, irrational fears as part of Marcy's latest research project Bo begins to experience odd things throughout the house. As the strange events begin to build Bo is let questioning if things are even happening or if perhaps being trapped at home has gotten to him. I've seen some authors online saying that setting any work during the Covid pandemic is a bad idea, that it will date your story, that it will put people off because it will remind them of an awful time; but this story works perfectly because of it. It feels a lot more relatable as we've all had bad times during Covid, all felt isolated and alone, and it just makes the horror here hit home all the more.

Chesya Burke's 'Trinity River Blues' feels like it could be part of an urban fantasy series, and whilst it does have horror elements to it the more urban fantasy parts of the story definitely help it to stand out in this collection. In this story we meet Trini, a young woman who can see ghosts and interact with the spirit world. Raised by her grandmother after her mother died giving birth to her, Trini funds joy in her powers, even having a best friend who's a ghost. However, when a dark spirit comes calling one day it puts Trini's life in danger. This story was a lot of fun, had a flavour to it that was different from other stories on offer in the book, and ended up being another character that I could see myself reading more about.

'The Familiar's Assistant' by Alma Katsu is, surprisingly, the only vampire story in this collection. Vampire stories are incredibly popular, and there's normally one or two popping up in horror anthologies; and this time it's the turn of Alma Katsu to give us her twist on the genre. This story doesn't follow a vampire, however, but a young man who has spent weeks seeking one out. After working up the courage to finally approach the home the vampire is living in he's allowed in, and eventually is allowed to stay and help the vampire's familiar. This story feels less a tale about vampires, and more about obsession, about this one person's desires and the lengths that they're willing to go to to achieve them. It's an interesting and dark story for sure.

'Swim in the Blood of a Curious Dream' by John F.D. Taff (the book's editor) is a pretty chilling and unique kind of ghost story, one that feels like the perfect definition of a scary short story. The story centres on a recently widowed father and his son, Gus, as they travel across the country to their new home; trying to make a fresh start of things after their tragic events. When the two of them stop at a small rest stop along their route things begin to spin out of control when a bizarre blizzard sweeps in out of nowhere, trapping them inside. Not only that, but a ghostly presence with a focus on Gus begins to make its presence known. In a lot of ways this story made me think of episodes of shows like The Twilight Zone, where you'd get a creepy, unexplained story with a clear arc and a satisfying resolution by the time the credits roll. The story doesn't rely on leaving half revealed truths or vague hints in order to disturb the reader, and it doesn't really leave you questioning what would happen next. Instead, it give you this wonderful, self contained tale that just feels incredibly satisfying to read.

'The Sanguintalist' by Gemma Files is another that falls quite neatly into the urban fantasy genre, following Lala Mirwani, a forensic necromancer for hire. Lala uses her abilities to experience memories through blood to help the police with murder investigations, and is called in to help when the brutalised remains of a trans woman is found. Lala's magic reveals a series of events that sends Lala into a world of dangerous magicians and spell-casters, where she gets tested to her limits. I really enjoyed this story, and not just because it gave an Indian trans woman a starring role, but because this felt like a perfect pitch for a urban fantasy series filled with great characters, and an interesting world. I really hope that this is a character and setting that Files comes back to in the future, as we need more heroes like Lala.

Josh Malerman's 'Mrs Addison's Nest' is a story that I think is definitely worth more than one read. Telling the story of a group of four friends who've come together to track down and fight a woman from their past, a woman they're convinced is a powerful, evil witch, the story messes with the mind and chronology as the titular monster tries to mess with the characters. The story was honestly a challenge to begin with, thanks to the shifting, almost dreamlike narrative, but Malerman manages to really make it work, and once you know a bit more about what's going on you can re-read the story with more information and get a lot out of it. In some ways it reminds me of IT with the group of adults coming together to fight a childhood monster; yet it doesn't copy the King story in any real way, and feels completely its own.

'Challawa' by Usman T. Malik was a story that I really enjoyed. Set in Ganeshpur in India, this felt like a wonderful folk horror that drew on the history of the region to deliver a chilling story. It follows Karima, a woman who's travelled home to India with her husband Ed after spending a number of years in the US. Whilst Ed doesn't really want to be there, Karima finds herself getting lost in the local history and culture, as she learns about the Challawa, a type of spirit said to haunt the area. This story is packed full of history and culture, and we get to find out a lot about both Karmina and Ganeshpur over the course of the story. You spend so long getting to know the characters and exploring their lives that I almost forgot it was supposed to be a horror story, until the sudden dark turn the ending takes in the most chillingly delightful way.

The final story for the book is 'Enough for Hunger and Enough for Hate' by John Langan, and it takes readers to a remote iced over lake where a woman has travelled to confront a man who she believes to be responsible for the death of her brother. The woman, Michelle, has travelled into the remote wilderness to talk with Walter, a man that she not only believes killed her brother and his girlfriend, but to also be a monster. Over the course of the conversation that begins between the two of them we learn  lot about Walter's life, his failed marriage, and the reason why he committed his crimes. Unfortunately, there's something dark and unnatural inside of Walter, and the story of his transformation into a creature of myth is one that will terrify. I really enjoyed this story, and loved how much time was given over getting to know the characters, their lives, and how then ended up at this point. The horror of the story didn't really come into play until the end of things, but by the time it did I was totally invested in the tale, and loved the way it ended. 

Dark Stars  has a big mixture of different types of horror, from a range of authors from different backgrounds and experiences, and this really shows in their work. no two stories feel the same, and even if they're tackling similar themes and ideas they're all so different. The ghost stories have little in common, the urban fantasy stories are both unique, and the folk horror tales feel like complete opposites. Dark Stars seems to showcase how varied and how different horror can be, and what different people bring to the genre. Whether you've come to this collection to check out an author you already like, or to try something new, the sheer variety on offer here means that you're guaranteed to find something to like.

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Recruited: A Tom Clancy's The Division Novel by Thomas Parrott - Book Review

 

'Maira Kanhai has had enough: since the Green Poison epidemic hit DC, her Cybersecurity degree is worthless, she can’t rejoin the US Navy, and her early efforts to secure Maryland led to a costly mistake: the death of her brother. Every day new factions emerge, trying to burn her city to the ground – until the Division emerges, inspiring hope. When a grenade kills one of their agents, Maira suddenly has a chance to make a real difference as a raw new Division recruit … if she can pass the tests, and overcome the enemies plotting to permanently eliminate the Division once and for all.'

I have no experience with Tom Clancy's The Division, I have the first game loaded on my Xbox thanks to GamePass, but have yet to actually find any time to play it. I know the basic premise of the game, that a virus has caused untold chaos in the US, killing many and bringing the rest of society to its knees, resulting in those left behind having to rebuild their lives as best they can. But outside of that, I was unaware of any particular characters, groups, or important events that take place within this universe. As such, Recruited became my introduction to this franchise; and thanks to the quality of the book it's a game series I definitely want to play now.

The story of Recruited takes place after the initial events of the plague, when the Dollar Flu has done the most damage and the people left behind are trying their best to recover. It's in the remains of Washington DC that we meet Maira Kanhai, a former Navy computer specialist who's living in an apartment block with a group of around fifty other survivors. The group has come together in order to survive, trying to make life comfortable and manageable with things like solar panels to generate power, and scavenger missions to gather supplies and important equipment from the surrounding area. The only person there with military training, Maira has become the head of security for the community, arranging the defences of the building and being in charge of those that have been trained up to defend the place.

Despite seeming to have things running well Maira isn't viewed as well by everyone, and there are some in the community who dislike her, and blame her for a supply run that went wrong that cost the lives of several members of the group, including Maira's own brother. However, when the community comes under attack from a roving band of infected anarchist it's Maira's defences that hold them back long enough for help to arrive. That help comes in the form of three Division agents, who end up driving the attackers back, and wiping them out.

When the agents inform the survivors that they've been passing through as part of an important mission that could help save millions of people Maira volunteers to join them. They lost one of their number stopping the attack, and Maira feels even more unwelcome in the community now. The Division leader agrees to take her on in a trial capacity, giving her the chance to prove that she has what it takes to be a member of the Division as they head out into what's left of the world, hoping to do some good.

The world that Thomas Parrott crafts for Recruited is an interesting one. Thanks to the popularity of post-apocalypse stories we've all seen a fair amount of stories that follow survivors as they attempt to rebuild the world, struggling to get by whilst those left fight over resources. This book does have some of that, especially to begin with, and whilst Parrott does hit on some similar notes to other stories, with worries about supplies and so forth, it never feels boring, or like it's repeating what's come before. There's enough different here in the early parts of the book that you don't end up feeling jaded by it; and by the time the Division agents head out into the world we get to see this post apocalypse in a completely different way too.

What I really enjoyed about it was that we get to see a lot of different types of survivors and communities over the course of the novel. There's the regular people having to come together to survive, there's the loners out in the woods going self sufficient, there are folks who just want to see the world burn and will sow chaos wherever they go, there are groups of soldiers who've tried to maintain order, and there's even a fleet of truckers who have formed their own society. There's a big mix of different types of folks in this book, showing different viewpoints to this new world, different methods of survival and adaptation; yet it never feels bloated or that Parrott is giving the reader too much. He's able to integrate so many elements in a way that it feels natural as we learn more about it. It's impressive.

One of the biggest factors to the success of the book has to be the characters though, particularly Maira. Maira is our point of view character, we experience everything that happens through her eyes. We learn about the Division and the other groups of survivors as she does, and her relatively sheltered experience of staying with one group of survivors makes her a great gateway into this world. She has enough experience and ability to be able to keep up with the other agents, yet still feels like she's learning and growing as a character.

Speaking of the other Division agents, I really enjoyed these two too. The leader of this little trio is a woman named Brenda, who from the very first time we meet her gives the sense that she's an open, caring person. She's a professional soldier, but she takes the time to talk to people around her, to reassure them, and probably gives out a little bit more information that you'd expect, but does so because she knows its the decent thing to do. She seems to understand that she's there to help others, that her job is to ultimately benefit the people, and as such makes sure to do good and be kind wherever she goes. I also liked the relationship that formed between her and Maira, where she seemed to fall into some kind of big sister type role, helping the other woman out and encouraging her whenever it was needed. 

The other Division agent is Leo, a big, silent type of guy who I actually took a while to figure out if I liked or not. To begin with he seemed a bit of a dick, refusing to really open up, not wanting Maira to join them, and being cold towards her. But over time he began to open up, to show more of his personality, and by the end of the book I'd come to like his gruffness and his stoic nature. He felt like the kind of guy that once you got through his tough outer shell would be the kind of person who'd always be there for you, and would be great fun to be around.

Recruited: A Tom Clancy's The Division Novel is a book where I wasn't sure what to expect from it. I didn't know if this was going to be a survival story, a post apocalypse story, or an action story. And in the end it was all of them, but it was also a story about people. It was a story about the people who stand up and help others, who put their lives on the line to do the right thing even when it puts you in danger and others are refusing to act in a good way. And that's not just the Division agents either. The book shows normal people doing the right thing even when it's the hard thing to do. Despite being about the what's left of the world after awful events it's a book that shows the good in humanity, and has a surprising amount of hope in its message. 

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