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Tuesday, 16 July 2019

The Edge by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Edge, the third and final part of the Relics trilogy, returns readers to the world of the Kin in a much smaller, creepier tale where the stakes have never been higher.

The thing that took me most by surprise with The Edge, is just how different it feels from the other books. Relics was very much an urban fantasy story, set in the twisting streets and tunnels of London; The Folded Land was a sweeping chase story set across the countryside of the United States; and The Edge is a very small, focused story in comparison to these. There isn’t much more learnt about the world of the Kin, no big reveals or revelations, no shock changes to the status quo. Instead it centres on the characters and tells the most personal story yet.

Set two years after the events of The Folded Land, we find that Angela and her niece Sammy are still hiding from law enforcement, living in a cabin in the middle of the woods. Trying to come to terms with not only how their lives have both changed so dramatically, and the losses they’ve both suffered, the two of them are drawn back into the world of the Kin when the town of Longford reappears from beneath the surface of a reservoir.

Longford is one of the best locations yet in the Relics series, a town infected with a deadly contagion, where the residents were all killed, and sunk beneath a lake for decades; it is a haunting place that makes for the perfect location of this final confrontation. The deserted town, falling to ruin and rotting away but surrounded by lush forests makes for a truly striking visual, one that feels very appropriate for this final fight to save the world.

As with the rest of the series the character moments make for some of the best parts of this book, and the reunion of Angela and Vince, who was trapped inside the folded land for two years, makes for one of the best moments. It’s such a huge moment for both characters, and has such an impact, but manages to not become too big a thing as they are forced straight back into the fight rather than focusing on each other. It’s these important characterisations and personal moments, spread out through a story where the fate of the world hangs in the balance that makes the book work so well. You want to spend time with the two of them, seeing them reconnect, but you also want the main plot to move forward, and Lebbon gives the reader both of these in spades.

Despite The Edge being the final part of the series, and bringing back many of the older characters, it also introduces several new people, two of whom quickly became some of my favourites of the series. Dastion the dwarf needs a book of his own. Coming in towards the end of the story, he’s brilliant back-up for Angela and Vince, fighting by their side with his big metal pike, taking on Kin in hand to hand combat; he’s completely bad-arse yet gruffly lovable at the same time. I need more time with this character!

Bone is another new character who proves to be very interesting, and I wish more of the book was given over to him and his story. I would have gladly read another 100 pages if he was given more of a focus. Someone with a strong connection to the town of Longford, he weaves in and out of the narrative at times, with his own mission that intersects with that of our heroes. He proved to be fascinating throughout, yet I never quite connected with him as much as I wanted to, and can’t help but feel this would have happened if he had more of a presence. However, his final moments in the story were very good, and gave me strong Game of Thrones vibes (though I won’t allude to how as it may spoil a big moment from both stories).

The Edge is a brilliant conclusion to Lebbon’s trilogy. It takes the grand world established in the first two books and brings a satisfying conclusion to this world-threatening plot, yet manages to do so in a very small and personal way, where the characters are the bigger focus. A brilliant melding of character driven storytelling and epic fantasy.

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Wednesday, 10 July 2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters by Greg Keyes – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla: King of the Monsters, or as a friend of mine recently referred to it, Godzilla: This Time We’re Not Fucking Around, gets its official novel treatment by Greg Keyes and Titan books, charting the destructive events of the film as titans battle for supremacy across the globe.

One of the criticisms I saw of the film was that there was too much focus on monster battles and not enough time with the human cast. A complaint that I think is absolutely ridiculous, especially as people said the opposite thing about the first film. Luckily, for those that enjoyed the story of the film but want more focus on the human characters – the book has you covered.

Whilst the novel follows the plot of the film, the narrative always follows one of the human characters, meaning that the Kaiju battles are always observed from a distance by someone such as Mark Russell or one of the G Squad soldiers. The larger than life fights and the city wide destruction is secondary to how the people experience this. The reader doesn’t bask in the spectacle of Ghidorah and Godzilla battling in Boston, but stays with Madison Russell as she flees through the streets towards her childhood home, getting to experience the fear that she’s feeling.

These character insights extend beyond the action sequences, however, and actually gave me a better understanding as to character motivations from the film. A lot of the backstory to the Russell family was only given in brief pieces of dialogue, and left to the viewers to draw their own conclusions. The book actually goes a lot more into this, not just explaining more of how the family fell apart following the events of the first film, but showing how Mark’s feelings towards the creature he deemed responsible for his son’s death changes over time.

The book also adds some additional scenes to the narrative that were not included in the film. Some of these are scenes that provide more information on the titans that come out of hibernation thanks to Ghidorah, giving not only more information on the creatures, such as their names, places in mythology, and their abilities, but also throws some human characters into their emergence scenes too. It’s no longer just the spider-like Scylla breaking free of an oil field, but a scene where we get to know about Rick, the geologist that works there, and how his final thoughts before dying are of his family. We get something similar in Munich when Methusaleh breaks free of its mountain, observing the action from the point of view of a young couple on a romantic picnic.

For myself, though, the best new scenes in the book are the small conversations that take place where the events of the comics are acknowledged. There’s the mention of Godzilla fighting Shinomura in the the 1940s, events that were observed by Dr. Serizawa’s father in Godzilla: Awakening. The book also makes a point of including Emma Russell’s previous work on the ORCA device to help Godzilla combat another MUTO creature following the events of the first film in Godzilla: Aftershock.

Whether it’s the inclusion of the larger Monsterverse outside of the films that casual fans would be familiar with, or the focus on the human characters, Godzilla: King of the Monsters proves to be a competent companion piece to the movie. It adds depth and characterisation without having to stray from the narrative, and creates a version of the film’s events that feel even more connected to the wider universe. Not only is it a great read, but it’s the perfect place to direct those who wanted more of a human connection from the film. as this provides a decent alternative.

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Tuesday, 9 July 2019

The Folded Land by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Tim Lebbon continues to impress with the second instalment in the Relics trilogy. Once again returning to the lives of Angela and Vince, now on the run from the authorities following the dramatic conclusion to the previous book, The Folded Land shifts the focus away from the familiar, cramped streets of London to the expansive countryside of the United States.

Trying to keep away from the notice of police and law enforcement, Angela Gough, the former criminology student, is once again drawn into the mystical and frightening world of the Kin when her niece Sammi goes missing.

After being struck by lightning twice, Sammi is whisked away by a mysterious wraith-like figure and guided across north America towards what she is told is her deceased mother, but is actually a creature of ancient and unimaginable power. Trying to find her niece before something worse happens to her, Angela and her fiance Vince are once again joined by the alluring Lilou and gangster Frederick Meloy, who are on the trail of a vicious Kin killer, who may also have Sammi in his sights.

The Folded Land is a sequel in the truest of terms. It takes the world created in the first book, Relics, and keeps on building, showing readers new and wondrous parts of the universe that weren’t even hinted at before. We learn of the various factions of Kin, and that they are not all working together. We discover that America has its own Kin that are unique to that continent and part of their mythology, such as the Mothman and a Kooshdakhaa. And we learn the shocking news that some Kin have become human over the centuries, and even bred with regular people.

The world of the Kin in the first book was like the setting. It was old and full of history, but it was also small. One tiny location, with dark alleys and hidden tunnels. But The Folded Land expands its horizons significantly, and has grander goals in its storytelling. The change of setting and the bigger threat to our heroes reflects this well. The story moves with a much faster pace than the first book, and conveys the sense of urgency that the characters are feeling, and the race that they are in.

That’s not to say that the story doesn’t have the same attention to characters that Relics had. Instead of focusing the majority of the narrative on Angel with a few jumps over to other characters The Folded Land feels much more like an ensemble piece, where many more characters are given moments of focus and time in the spotlight.

Several new characters join returning favourites this time around, both human and Kin. The Kin killer Gregor is particularly fascinating, and is given plenty of time in the limelight. He’s remorseless and evil, willing to kill anyone or anything that gets between him and his goals. Whilst there are many creatures in the book that would be considered monsters, Gregor is probably the closest to being one, despite being human. This is a trait that Lebbon has visited before in the series, where the criminal Mary Rock proved to be the worst character in the book – no small feat considering she was competing with a psychotic Nephilim and a Satyr that tortures people with the bones of its victims.

The Folded Land is a great follow on to Relics. It takes the characters on a bigger, more dangerous quest. It expands the world and presents the readers with wonders. The characters evolve in new and interesting ways, and the new additions to the cast are a joy, even those with relatively small page time. The perfect sequel to the first book that is sure to keep fans delighted.

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Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Relics by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Tim Lebbon is always great at creating new and interesting worlds, and that’s something that always draws the reader into his work, whether it’s a novel or just a short story. One of the main things that is so compelling is the way that he creates his worlds around his characters.

Relics is no exception to this, as we slowly discover a hidden, magical world beneath our own by following Angela, a young woman who has moved to London to get her doctorate in criminology. On the surface Angela and her fiance, Vince, are perfectly average people. She studies most of the day, working on her dissertation, whilst he goes to work travelling around London evaluating houses. However, when Vince fails to respond to any calls or messages and doesn’t come home from work, Angela goes looking for him, and discovers a whole world that she didn’t know existed.

Using some detective skills that she has picked up from studying criminology, Angela finds out that Vince has been living a lie, that he has a whole other life that he hadn’t told her about. Worse than having a second secret family, a thought that briefly crosses her mind, she enters a world of criminals and London gangsters as she learns of the Kin. Creatures long thought to be myth and legend, the Kin walked the earth thousands of years ago but are now all but extinct. Fairies, Nymphs, Satyrs, and Angels, things that are so alien and mysterious they shatter Angela’s view of the world. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Whilst there are a lot of Urban Fantasy novels on the market, stories that merge the magical and the mundane, Relics stands out from a lot of these for just how well it slowly introduces these elements, and for how grounded it feels. There’s no ‘magic’ in the traditional sense, there’s no flying around, or ancient forces, the Kin are simply people. Yes, they might have wings, or blue skin, or be twice the size of a human, but their mystical nature isn’t what’s important in this book. It’s their personalities, their drives. Each one, even those who have a relatively short appearance, feel like well thought out individuals, with their own quirks and flaws, their own goals and desires.

Angela and Vince don’t feel out of place interacting with these creatures, because Lebbon has gone out of his way to make them understandable. Even one of the villains of the book isn’t really a ‘monster’. They’re clearly mad, and they’re not human, but you can see their warped logic, you can understand their desires. If anything, it’s some of the human characters in the book that prove to be the most monstrous.

Despite all of this wonder and spectacle the book is kept grounded by the central story of Angela’s love of Vince, and her willingness to confront wonders and horrors both in order to find him and save his life. Their love isn’t cheesy or over the top, and it’s not played out like a stereotype. It’s believable, largely thanks to the time that is given over to setting up this relationship in the early parts of the book, rather than jumping straight into telling a story of monsters and mad men.

Relics proves to be a delight to read: a book that manages to tease out its world and story at a steady and entertaining pace; a book that isn’t afraid to hold back on the fantastical until it has already drawn you in. The characters are real and believable, and you find your opinions on who is and isn’t a good person shift over the course of the narrative, and even come to care about some people that take you by surprise.

With a whole new world cleverly set up, characters that are worth learning more about, and the promise of bigger things to come, Relics is a near perfect start to Angela and Vince’s story, and it is pleasing to know that there’s more to come.

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Wednesday, 26 June 2019

Marvel Action: Spider-Man #5 – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Kraven The Hunter comes to New York seeking to hunt Spider-Man in the latest issue of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, bringing one of Spider-Man‘s greatest foes face to face with two members of the spider team.

Having been brought to New York by J Jonah Jameson, Kraven and his kids have been tracking Spider-Man, figuring out his routines and mapping sightings in order to figure out where they are most likely to come across him. It’s nice that Erik Burnham has taken the time to show that Kraven is doing his research like this, that he’s utilising both his talents as a tracker and technology, rather than just suddenly turning up to challenge the hero like so many comic villains do.

One of the biggest surprises in this issue, however, is the inclusion of LMDs – Life Model Decoys. This not only adds more to the world building of the Marvel Action universe, but gives our spider-themed heroes an opportunity to fight three members of the Avengers. Not only is it great to see our heroes get to test out their new webshooter tech, courtesy of Peter, but it makes for some fun action as the three of them begin to form a more cohesive team. They may not be perfectly trained, and they still have a long way to go, but they’ve clearly progressed over the few issues that they’ve been together.

When Kraven finally feels like he’s gathered enough intel he decides to take on both Miles and Gwen individually first, removing them from action before he challenges Peter in single combat. It’s a smart move from his point of view, as it means he only has to have three one on one fights rather than taking on a whole team, but it helps to establish how much of a threat he is. Kraven gets to fight the two heroes and dispatches them both fairly easily, thanks to both his physical prowess and some smart technology. By the end of the issue Kraven has managed to beat two of the three heroes and captured them with little effort, leaving just Peter to stand alone against the new villain.

Marvel Action: Spider-Man issue five is a brilliant middle issue, one that showcases the threat that the villain poses, his strength and intelligence. It ups the stakes by placing two of the heroes in captivity, whilst separating the other, forcing them to face this new threat alone.

Erik Burnham and Christopher Jones continue to produce brilliant work on what is to date my favourite of the Marvel Action line. The writing is spot on, the characters are interesting and fresh, even if they are ones that we’re familiar with, and the art is beautiful. I can’t wait until issue six.

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Tuesday, 25 June 2019

The Record Keeper – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Set within a distant future where the world has been devastated by the effects of a third world war, The Record Keeper crafts a world that is far removed from our own, yet bears shocking similarity to our own past. Following the horrors of World War Three the remains of America have become home to three distinct classes of people, split by ethnicity. The English who hold the majority of power and have access to the best medicine and technology, the Clayskin who are treated like secondary citizens, and the Kongo, who are little more than slaves.

In this new world we follow the life of Arika Cobane, a Kongo woman who has been classed as a First Brother by the English. The English help to maintain their rule of their slaves by separating them into two categories, First Brothers and Second Brothers, who are divided by their physical appearance such as more Caucasian characteristics.

This separation of the Kongo people is used to find Record Keepers: those who get to inhabit the upper echelons, who are taken as children and taught by the English. Well educated and intelligent, the Record Keepers are used to keep a false history of their people; a system that is designed to keep the workers in check. This goes hand in hand with Rebirth, a medication administered to workers that erases pieces of their memory, keeping them docile and subservient.

Over the course of her training as a Record Keeper, Arika begins to learn of a secret plot that could threaten the future of the Kongo people. As she tries to maintain her standing as the best student in her class, and fights to become a senator, she becomes drawn into a plot to spy upon one of her fellow students who may have a connection with a group of dangerous rebels.

What surprised me most about The Record Keeper was how much I actually disliked Arika for the majority of the story. She only cares about herself, her future, her aims, her advancement. Over the course of the book Arika begins to learn more about the plight of her fellow Kongo people and realises that she must care about other people, and that she will need to put her future at risk to do the right thing.

Unfortunately, Arika seems to make a number of mistakes and keeps falling back into her old pattern of putting herself first, betraying those that have shown her trust, or running away from people that need her help. Despite these failings there’s something about her that draws you in, her desire to do better, to be a better person keeps you hooked, and it isn’t until close to the end that you realise why she keeps failing: because she’s a victim.

Despite her position of privilege, despite her education, Arika is little more than a slave herself, trained to be a certain way, beaten and abused to crush her spirit. This is what the book is about, how people are broken down and made into slaves to the white English, whether it’s through abuse, manipulation, or medical experimentation. All things that have been true in our own history.

I found The Record Keeper to be not just a story that reflects upon the racism that people have endured, historically and today, but a tale of rising up and overcoming the abuse that becomes ingrained within a person.

Sadly, it wasn’t until the very end of the book that Arika is able to overcome her own demons, to rise up herself, and this left me feeling somewhat deflated. I wanted more. I wanted to see her fight for herself and her people, to smash the system that had kept them down. Whilst Arika’s small moment of triumph of coming to find her own strength would have been a perfectly fine place to end this story, my desire to want more led me to ask Agnes Gomillion if this was indeed the end. Thankfully, the answer is that it is not, and that a second book, The Seed of Cain, will be coming in 2020.

As a standalone book, I would have rated The Record Keeper well, but as the first part in a story that has not yet been finished it becomes even better; a foundation for a story that is sure to grow in amazing ways; a story of survival, strength, and human spirit in the face of hatred and oppression.

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Monday, 24 June 2019

Goosebumps: Horrors of the Witch House #2 – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The mystery of Witch House and the frightening things that lie within continue in the second issue of Goosebumps: Horrors of Witch House.

Following the events of the first issue our three young heroes, Rosie, Becca, and Carlos, struggle to make sense of what they saw inside the old Whaley House. However, it’s easier said than done when Carlos is reluctant to even believe that they saw anything unnatural, but also Becca and Carlos don’t want to be seen with a ‘geek’ like Rosie. Thankfully, the villain has ways of drawing the three of them back together. Revealing to Rosie that she knows the kids were spying on her, Veruca uses her magical abilities to bring their personal possessions to life to attack them.

Carlos is attacked by a toy monkey, Sock Monkey, that was made for him by his grandmother. It’s surprisingly scary when the cute little monkey toy suddenly starts hissing at him and trying to bite him with fangs, yet also adds a new layer to Carlos’ character to see the macho jock type character fussing over the plush toy made for him by his gran.

Becca, ever the sporty girl, finds that her sports trophies come to life, their tiny plastic forms charging her in her home, throwing tiny discuses and basketballs. This has to be my favourite scene in the issue, as it’s just slightly ridiculous and hits the right level of silly. Rosie also falls foul of the evil spell, with her favourite anime character coming out of her laptop to attack her with a huge sword. Whilst each of the kids are able to defeat their individual threats, thanks to some creative thinking on Rosie and Carlos’ part, and some extreme destruction from Becca, they come across a much more frightening enemy, a giant gargoyle.

The second issue of Goosebumps: The Horrors of Witch House really ups the ante as far as the threat of Veruca Curry goes, and puts the three heroes in some very real danger. It’s also nice to see some more personality added to each of the teens, especially Carlos.

The story only has one issue left, and it’ll be interesting to see how the three of them find a way to defeat such a powerful enemy, as it seems that they are quite out of their depth. However it plays out, Denton J. Tipton and Matthew Dow Smith have managed to craft an interesting and engaging story, one that is able to balance the horror, humour, and characterisation that make Goosebumps an all time classic childrens’ series.

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Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Animorphs: The Message - Book Review

'It started with the dreams. Dreams that Cassie and Tobias are both having. Dreams about someone calling for help - from beneath the ocean. Cassie, Tobias and their friends must use their morphing powers to travel deep beneath the seas and answer the desperate calls. But they have to be more careful than ever. Because they can't be sure if the drea,s are really a message from a friend - or a deadly trap...'

The Message is easily the most enjoyable of the Animorphs series that I have read so far, introducing some exciting new elements to the franchise.

Shifting the focus of the narration to Cassie, the Animorph most in tough with animals, the book introduces a mystery in the form of a strange dream that keeps plaguing her and Tobias. For the longest time the book presents this as something that Cassie is unsure of, teasing the possibility that it may just be a simple dream.

Over the course of the book the Animorphs try to find the source of this message, using dolphin morphs to travel out into the ocean, trying to discover if it's real or not. These scenes are some of best that the series has given so far, as it's such a different environment for the heroes to find themselves in. It's a place that they have no familiarity with, with no support from Tobias in the sky, and danger lurking in every direction. The scene where they find sharks attacking a whale is a particular stand out.

Despite some initial difficulty in tracking down the origin of the message the team eventually come across a crashed Andalite ship deep beneath the ocean. Inside the ship the five of them come across a new friend and ally, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, an Andalite prince, and younger brother of Elfangor, the Andalite that gave the Animorphs their powers.

We don't get much of Ax in this particular book, but the small time that we do get with him is very good, and it proves to be a good introduction for the character. Initially distrustful of the
animorphs, the discovery of their connection to his brother brings him around to seeing them as potential allies in the fight against the Yeerks. Ax is a small part of the book, but a brilliant addition to the series as a whole. He's a character that will be able to bring some answers to the team, able to fill them in on the war against the Yeerks, to explain their technology, and their tactics.

Ax does this to a small extent in this book, when he informs the team that the Yeerks aren't just going to take control of the human race, but will use up all of the Earth's resources and kill all life on the planet before moving on to another world. Not only does this news help to fill in some of the information gaps we have on the Yeerks, but also galvanises the team in their mission, knowing that it's imperative that they stop the alien threat.

Animorphs: The Message is a big leap forward in the Animorphs story, one that provides up with a lot of new information, a new character, and some excellent action sequences. The start of a new era for the series, it sets up exciting things to come.

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Tuesday, 18 June 2019

Green Valley by Louis Greenberg – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Green Valley is a book that will appeal to fans of detective stories, and to those who enjoy the chilling tales of Black Mirror, as it takes readers into a dark and depressing near-future in the hunt for a child murderer.

Set in a world where technology has moved backwards thanks to public outcry, with police surveillance and computer espionage a thing of the past, special police investigator Lucie Sterling is assigned to a series of cases where children are being discovered dead; children whose bodies are filled with advanced virtual reality enhancements. This leads Lucie to the one place that they could be coming from, Green Valley.

A private town hidden inside a corporate bunker, Green Valley is a place where a few thousand people closed themselves off after the push back against technology, where they can live in their own virtual world away from everyone else. But with the dead children only possibly coming from there, and Lucie’s niece Kira being a resident, Green Valley becomes the focus of her investigation.

The world of Green Valley is one of the more interesting aspects of the book, and is unfortunately not explored quite enough. Over the course of the novel we discover a little about the technology ban, how society changed because of it, and how new methods of communication had to be introduced. We also hear some of the stories about how Green Valley split itself off from the rest of the world, and how this divided both public opinion and families. But through all of this it only feels like we’ve been given surface level details, the pieces that we need to know for the story to work.

We discover a little about the people who fought against the progress of technology because Lucie is married to one of them. We learn that there are still some secret surveillance systems in place because it’s used in the investigation. And we learn about the Green Valley separation because it comes up in Lucie’s quest for answers. All of this is useful information, and interesting, but it would be great to see more of the world, to see how people lived their lives, how technology and society had altered, and if these changes were a good thing.

This information seems to be a secondary concern for Louis Greenberg, who instead wants to tell a much more personal story, as Lucie must walk a fine line between the law and saving her last living relative. Thankfully, this personal story is very engaging, and keeps you hooked throughout.

Lucie’s journey through Green Valley isn’t just a story about a police officer trying to solve a crime, or a woman trying to save her family: it pushes her to her psychological limits. There are times where you question what Lucie is experiencing, left wondering what her reality really is. Is something really happening to her, or is she being manipulated thanks to some incredibly frightening technology?

Green Valley is a journey through the horror of technology; one that takes both Lucie and the reader to some incredibly dark places, and will produce images that will chill you and stay with after the book is done. An interesting mystery that might not completely satisfy techy people who want to know more about the world, but will draw you in for the deep, personal journey.

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