Quincredible Volume One: Quest To Be The Best by Rodney Barnes - Book Review

 

'Invulnerability is a pretty useless superpower if you’ve only got a one-hundred pound frame to back it up. That’s what Quinton West’s life became when he went from small guy who got beat up to small guy who can’t get hurt after the meteor shower dubbed “The Event” gifted him the power of invulnerability but no other powers to compliment it.

'But there’s more to Quin than meets the eye, and after some encouragement from his new mentor—a local New Orleans–based superhero named Glow—Quin realises that he can use his quirky hobby of creating Rube Goldberg devices to outsmart the opposition. But being a hero paints a target on your back, and Quin’s got to risk it all to join the ranks of the superheroes he looks up to. It’s a good thing he can take a punch.'

Quincredible is the first book that I've read in the Catalyst Prime comics universe, and was actually unaware that this was part of a larger world when I read the book, as such, I spent some parts of the book wondering who certain super heroes were, but it was still able to entertain me as a piece of fiction all on its own.

The book follows Quin, a young man living in New Orleans who received incredible powers when a meteor shower hit the already devastated city, granting some people superhuman abilities. Quin is struggling with his life, not sure what to do with the gifts he's been given to not be hurt by anything, not knowing if this means he's meant for bigger things or not, whilst also struggling as a member of the Black community in a city where the government left many of the most needy to survive on their own following a natural disaster.

This is one of the things that immediately jumped out at me about this book that sets it apart from a lot of other super hero books, especially books set in the Marvel or DC universes. This is a world where Hurricane Katrina still hit the city, where communities were devastated and left with little help from the government. It mirrors our world. There were no heroes swooping in to save the day, and minorities were left to pick up the pieces. It felt like it had more of an impact in ways regular super hero comics often fail to.

The book was also notable because of how diverse the cast was. I'm actually struggling to remember any main or important character that wasn't a person of colour; and all of the heroes were from minorities that are often overlooked in comics over white heroes. I'm sure that there will be some who will immediately accuse it of being 'woke' or 'too PC', but fuck that kind of view; in a world full of white heroes it's about time that more Black heroes are given the chance to take the lead and shine.

A lot of the book seems to centre on the struggle of the Black community in the US, and Quin and his family and friends have to worry more about the racism from police, social inequality, and a system designed to keep them down as they do powered villains suddenly turning up and destroying the city.

Whilst I did enjoy the book I feel like I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I'd read more from this universe and knew some of the already established heroes that appeared her, but that's not a criticism that I can really lay at the feet of the book. Instead, I'll say that this was an issue with how I read it, and I'm sure that if I went away and read the books that came before this I'd have enjoyed it more, and that's something that I'm actually going to try to do. I think once I read the books in order I'll get more from this. That being said, it was still an entertaining read, and acted as a good introduction to this new shared universe. It got me up to speed pretty quickly on how these heroes got their powers, and the general state of the universe and the way people feel about this new change in the world.

Quincredible might not be the best place to start reading the Catalyst Prime universe, but it still acts as a good jumping on point, one that introduces the world, the characters, and will leave you wanting to read more of both Quin himself, and the other books available.

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Future State: Catwoman #2 - Comic Review

 

Future State: Catwoman continues to be one of the best Gotham based books in the Future State event, and writer Ram V manages to forge a really engaging and compelling story in just two issues.

The final part of this story carries on where the first left off, with Selina and her resistance group attempting to save a group of children taken prisoner by he Magistrate, currently being transported via train. This meant that Selina had to spend the first issue getting on board the high speed train, and now has to find a way off with the kids she's there to help. However, things have been complicated by the level of resistance being put up by the Magistrate, and another prisoner on the train, Bruce Wayne.

The reveal at the end of the last issue, that Bruce was a prisoner on the train, was an exciting moment to end on, getting readers excited to find out what happened next. Would Selina get to see Bruce, would they get a moment together? Ram V teases this moment out for a while by putting some more obstacles in the way, such as having Selina and her ally, Onomatopeia, stuck inside one of the carriages after a long and pretty brutal fight.

Sadly, this reveals one of the downsides of the story only being two issues long, that we don't get enough of Selina doing cool things that tie into her skills as a thief. Yes, getting onto the train felt a lot like a heist, but once on board she mostly relies on brute strength to fight her way through those in her way. I'd have loved to have seen her having to get past things like laser trip wires, picking locks, or hacking her way through security systems. We do get a little of this when she uses the electronics in her suit to fry the electronic locks is pretty cool, and really shows her heroic side, I wanted more of this than the book was able to give. Thankfully, Ram V is going to be writing the Catwoman series after Future State, so hopefully we will get to see this stuff in the future.

Whilst there weren't many moments of Selina using her thief skills we get plenty of opportunities to see her in an action role, with some great action sequences thanks to the artwork of Otto Schmidt, who manages to make the fairly bare environment of the train interior look dynamic and engaging, filling the spaces with bold action that fills the frame.

The moment where Selina and Bruce get to see each other is definitely one of the best moments of the book, and lets readers see how their relationship has evolved in this new setting, and is probably one of the best Future State moments that involves Batman. It's a tender scene, and the parting lines that Bruce delivers sums up how well the characters work together, and why their relationship is a good thing.

Future State: Catwoman was a lot of fun, a book that managed to show the darker side of this future scenario, whilst also having a lot of fun and hope to it. Hopefully we will get more quality stories like this in the future when Ram V gets to spend longer with the character.

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Witherward by Hannah Mathewson - Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Welcome to the Witherward, and to a London that is not quite like our own. Here, it’s summertime in February, the Underground is a cavern of wonders and magic fills the streets. But this London is a city divided, split between six rival magical factions, each with their own extraordinary talents – and the alpha of the Changelings, Gedeon Ravenswood, has gone rogue, threatening the fragile accords that have held London together for decades.

'Ilsa is a shapeshifting Changeling who has spent the first 17 years of her life marooned in the wrong London, where real magic is reviled as the devil’s work. Abandoned at birth, she has scratched out a living first as a pickpocket and then as a stage magician’s assistant, dazzling audiences by secretly using her Changeling talents to perform impossible illusions. When she’s dragged through a portal into the Witherward, Ilsa finally feels like she belongs.

'But her new home is on the brink of civil war, and Ilsa is pulled into the fray. The only way to save London is to track down Gedeon, and he just so happens to be Ilsa’s long-lost brother, one of the last surviving members of the family who stranded her in the wrong world. Beset by enemies on all sides, surrounded by supposed Changeling allies wearing faces that may not be their own, Ilsa must use all the tricks up her sleeve simply to stay alive.'

Witherward follows Ilsa, a young woman with a tragic past who is working as a magician’s assistant in London. Her big secret? Ilsa can actually do real magic.

After growing up in an orphanage where she was treated as a monster, where her abilities to change her appearance and turn into animals had her labelled as a demon child, Ilsa escaped, growing up on the streets and picking pockets until she attracted the attention of a magician who recognised that she had real magical abilities. Now a young woman, she’s settled into a life working on the stage, hiding her true abilities, all whilst searching for others who are like her. However, when strange figures start stalking her she begins to suspect that there may be something else going on. 

When she and her friend are attacked, and her friend is killed, Ilsa is rescued by a mysterious man with powers of his own, who whisks her away to the Witherward, another version of London similar to her own, but where the city has been divided up by different magical factions, all of whom exist in tenuous peace. Here Ilsa learns that not only is she a Changeling, a person with shape-shifting abilities, but that she’s part of the most powerful Changeling family, one who is on the brink of war with the other factions. Thrown into a world she barely understands, Ilsa is forced to use every trick she’s learnt on the streets and on the stage just to stay alive

Whilst it follows some very familar paces from the Urban Fantasy genre – a young woman learning about a secret world of magic, finding out that she’s special in some way, and falling for a dark and brooding guy – Witherward does things very differently, and quickly stands out as special because of this. The first major departure is that instead of being a modern story it’s set during the Victorian era (though I’m not sure that’s the right word for the Witherward itself as there’s no indication they have a Queen Victoria). I’m a sucker for this time period, and any story that uses Victorian London as a big part of its setting is always going to win me over quickly, but Witherward did it so well, starting readers in a version of London that’s familiar, before moving in to somewhere new and fantastical.

Another great thing the book does is instead of revealing a secret world hidden away from regular people it just takes Ilsa and plants her in another version of London, a connected parallel world where there are some surface similarities, but so many things are altered. The first thing that we notice is that when it’s day in London it’s night in the Witherward, and that the seasons are flipped, with the cold London winter being left behind for the war summer of this other world. This immediately sets the two locations apart before we even learn any details, and puts Ilsa on the back-foot straight away, forcing a confident character into realising she’s not in a situation she ever faced before. It also makes it easier for things to be really, really different, and not having to juggle issues like staying hidden from ‘regular’ human beings. Instead the Witherward can be bold and in-your-face with the things that make it magical and wonderful.

Whilst the world of Witherward is an exciting new place, the characters that fill it make for an interesting bunch. The changeling faction are the people we spend the most time with, and the inner circle are a varied group to be sure. There’s Hester, Ilsa’s cousin who’s been running the faction but has since been seriously injured; Fyfe, the young inventor; Cassia, the young sorcerer; and Aelius, the crafty spymaster, to name just a few. Suddenly Ilsa finds herself in the middle of what could be considered a crime family, surrounded by these characters where she doesn’t know who to trust. You really feel for her as this fish-out-of-water character who’s been dropped into the middle of an impossible situation.

Despite this Ilsa proves to be an incredibly strong lead character, and is one of the more believable and likeable young women protagonists I’ve read. So often there are leads who have no experience but suddenly find they’re amazing fighters, or they’re shrinking violets who’re always needing others to save them. Ilsa is a young woman who’s always had to fight for herself, whose wits and skills have kept her alive, and who you truly believe is a strong and capable person, able to do what she does in this book. It’s a genuine joy to read a lead character who feels so real, so strong, and so well earned.

This marks the first book in a series, and sets up for an incredibly interesting and detailed world, one that readers have barely begun to discover even after spending 400 pages in it. Whatever happens next in this universe, whatever Hannah Mathewson chooses to do with these characters, it’s sure to be as imaginative and original as this book.

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Sator – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

You can often tell when a film is more than just a job for someone. There can be a big difference between the output of creators who have just turned up to do a job and get paid, and those that are truly passionate about the project that they’re working on. Sator is very much one of those projects where it  feels as though it wasn’t just about making a movie, but where it meant something to the person behind it.

It’s not a hard stretch to say that Jordan Graham is the driving force behind Sator. He wrote the script based upon his family and their experiences, he shot it, directed it, produced it, composed the music, did the cinematography, and edited it. This is a film that not only wouldn’t exist without him, but wouldn’t be half as good if it wasn’t for the level of passion that kept him going through the seven years of post-production that went into its creation. Despite being an almost one-man production, bar the cast of course, it never feels this way, and is an incredibly beautiful and atmospheric work of art.   

The film follows Adam (Gabriel Nicholson), a man living alone in the forest with his dog as his only companion. We’re introduced to him as he goes about his day walking the woods, catching animals, and returning to his old cabin. If it weren’t for the few modern amenities he had it would be easy to see him as someone living as a trapper centuries in the past, and the film feels like a modern take on Robert Eggers’ The Witch thanks to its lingering shots, beautiful scenery, and slow build of tension and horror.

After a while we learn that Adam isn’t completely alone, and he has family living pretty close by. There’s his brother Pete (Michael Daniel), sister Evie (Rachel Johnson), and grandmother Noni (June Peterson). It soon becomes clear that Adam isn’t quite living alone in the woods out of choice, but has been sent away by family for their own safety. It seems like the family has been plagued by tragedy, and that this may be linked to the voices being heard by their ailing grandmother, voices that she says belong to a real entity called Sator who wants to help and guide her; voices that were heard by Adam’s mother before her death, and now by him.

It becomes clear that the cameras set up around Adam’s cabin aren’t for tracking game, and that he seems to be keeping a watch for something he believes is out in the woods. Something that seems to keep him in a state of fear. Over the course of the film we begin to see more of what Adam thinks is out there, and learn why he’s so terrified.

It’s been revealed in the Director’s Statement given out by Graham that the idea of Sator came from his own family’s experience, that members of his family experienced auditory hallucinations over the course of their lives, and that this inspired him to write this film. Not only that, but the role of Noni is actually played by Graham’s grandmother, June Peterson. The grainier, black and white parts of the film that look like home movie segments are actually that, and Graham filmed his grandmother talking about Sator and her experiences with this entity. Learning that this film stemmed from his own family experiences explains why this film seemed to matter so much to Graham, and why he spent years of his life making it.

Sator is a film that doesn’t have any jump scares, that doesn’t rely on gore or visual horror to frighten its audience. It’s a film that instead relies on the quiet moments to build tension. The cold loneliness of the location, and the encroaching darkness of the forest play as big a part in the scares of this film as any of the things that seem to be stalking Adam.

If you like a film that doesn’t feel the need to try to justify everything, that uses the unknown and the bizarre to frighten you, then Sator is a film that you definitely want to see. Even if you’re not quite sure that this is the kind of film you could enjoy I’d still encourage you to watch it, even if just to marvel at how amazing it looks and sounds, and see what one person can do with a project that means something to them.

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

For those not in the know The High Republic is a brand new chapter of the Star Wars franchise that began last month with the release of the novel Star Wars: Light of Jedi, and the Marvel comic Star Wars: The High Republic.

Set some two hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace, this new series of novels, comics, and children’s books will be showing the Jedi when they were truly at the height of their power, long before the shadow of the Sith began to emerge and led to their downfall. It also shows the Republic in a new age of expansion, moving into remote and dangerous parts of the galaxy and coming into conflict with the vicious Nihil.

This is where we find ourselves with the first issue of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures, written by Daniel Jose Older, with art from Harvey Tolibao, and Rebecca Nalty; thrust into this bold new era as a group of young Padawans have to respond to an emergency distress call from the planet Trymant.

Luckily, there are a couple of Jedi Masters there to help them out, including a face fans will be familiar with, Yoda. Having Yoda included in this story is a great move by the writing team, as it not only means that we get to experience a much younger version of the character than we’ve ever seen before, but there’s something that long time fans of the franchise will recognise there to help anchor them in this new setting.

Though Yoda is around he’s not the main focus of the book. Instead this is split between the Jedi Padawan Lula Talisola, who’s trying to become ‘the best Jedi ever’, and Zeen Mrala, an inhabitant of Trymant who’s strong with The Force, but has to hide her abilities due to the way her society views such a connection. These two leads prove to be a great contrast to each other, and the way the narrative shifts between the two of them really highlights this. Where Lula is striving to be the best Jedi she can she struggles with her confidence, whilst Zeen wants to keep her Force powers hidden, but when it comes time to use them does so with a strength of self you wouldn’t expect. This difference in the leads is even more apparent when they both come together, and seems to be setting up some potentially interesting dynamics if they will remain together as the series goes on.

This is the first comic book outing for writer Daniel Jose Older, who has previously written for the franchise with Star Wars: The Last Shot, a tie-in book to Solo: A Star Wars Story, but you’d not know that, as he seems to settle into this new setting and new format well, delivering an intriguing comic. One of the best parts about the way that Older has written it is that it’s very easy to understand and get into, no matter how much (if any) of The High Republic you’ve read before.

The art team also do a superb job, Tolibao’s art style uses a lot of line-work that adds a lot of texture and motion to the panes, which brings a lot of the action to life in ways that aren’t immediately apparent, but definitely adds to the fast pace of the story. It’s not just the line-work that excels, but the colours too thanks to Natly, who brings brings it all to life. Whether it’s the cold dark blues used in deep space, the vibrant greens on the planet, every environment feels different and unique, and I love the way that the pinks of Zeen’s face turn into beautiful purples along her head tentacles.

The High Republic has proven to be an excellent and exciting new time for Star Wars fans in its other forms, and Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures continues that trend, delivering an exciting and action packed first issue.

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Goosebumps: Secrets of the Swamp #5 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Goosebumps: Secrets of the Swamp has been playing with expectations and horror tropes since the story began, having the hero be a disabled woman of colour, having the monster hunters be the bad guys, and having the werewolves be innocent victims in all of this. It’s taken everything you’ve expected this kind of horror story to do and has done the opposite. And the conclusion is no exception.

This issue picks up where the last one left off, with Blake coming face to face with Lilly in the forest once again, after Lilly appeared to leave Blake alone in the woods a few issues before. It’s nice that in the middle of everything that’s been going on, with all of the panic and running around with the werewolves trying to get away from Lilly’s family, we get this quiet moment for Blake to be able to confront her. It allows the writer to manage some last moments of character development in what would otherwise be a pretty fast paced issue, and allows Lilly to present her side of the argument to both Blake and the readers, allowing us to make our own decision as to whether the young woman has been doing the right thing or not.      

Outside of this confrontation we get some action that’s pretty similar to the previous issues, with Blake working with the ‘monsters’ to get away from the humans that are hunting them. As in previous issues this allows Blake to show off her skills and bravery, having completely transformed from the young woman who was running around the swamp scared just a few issues ago.

I’m honestly kind of sad to see the story end with this issue, especially given what happens in the final pages of the book. I know that the Goosebumps stories tend to be short, and that this particular comic has gone on for longer than some of the other entries in the franchise, but I still found myself wanting to spend more time with these characters by the time it had wrapped up. It’s very rare that Goosebumps get sequels, and I can only think of one or two off the top of my head, but if they ever want to return to this setting and these characters I’m going to be grabbing those issues straight away, as this has been one of the most fun experiences with the Goosebumps comics I’ve had.

Writer Marieke Nijkamp has managed to do a really good job of balancing action and character development over the course of this series, and does the good trick of setting things up to appear one way before pulling the rug out from beneath the reader and giving you something else. These subversions make the story feel fresh and new, and prevent it from just treading the same old ground.

The art team of Yasmin Florez Montanez and Rebecca Nalty also work really well together, and the book is one of the better looking entries in the Goosebumps series. Montanez manages to make all the characters look different and distinct, and the werewolves stand out as particularly good, especially mid transformation; and Nalty uses an excellent colour pallet to make the whole thing jump off the page, with the parts that take place inside the swamp having their own distinct look from every other part of the book. It’s a shame that the story has come to an end, but this is still one of the best that Goosebumps and IDW have done together.

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Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The prequel era got a lot of hate when the films first came out. Fans unfairly judged them, calling them too political or too boring, saying they were full of clunky dialogue and bad acting. Whilst they’re not perfect films by any stretch I think it would be very unfair to call them bad, and the setting is one of the more interesting parts of the franchise. Thankfully, over time, and thanks to the addition of things like The Clone Wars this part of the Star Wars Saga has become looked upon more fondly; and with both of the stories in this issue of Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy being set around that time, fans of the prequels are going to really enjoy this.

The first story, ‘Life Day’, written by Michael Moreci with art by Megan Levens and Charlie Kirchoff, is set before the events of The Phantom Menace, and we join a young Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn as they visit the Wookiee home-world of Kashyyyk. Qui-Gon has brought Obi-Wan there to teach him about Life Day, a celebration that fans first encountered in the Star Wars Holiday Special and has become something of a joke over the years. Here we get to see that Life Day is a festival that’s very special to the Wookiees, and that it mirrors the Jedi views on the connection to The Force, and balance within it.

It’s really nice to see more of Qui-Gon, and the way he’s exploring the different aspects of The Force, particularly The Living Force, certainly seems to fit with things that we’ve learnt about this individualistic Jedi Master. We get to see how important peace was to Qui-Gon, how it shaped his view of the universe, and we also get to see more of him and Obi-Wan together; something we definitely didn’t get enough of in the films.

Obviously, this wouldn’t be a story about villainy if it were just the two Jedi chilling with the Wookiees and celebrating life, though that would be a nice story to read. Instead, things go wrong, things that nicely mirror some of the episodes of The Clone Wars, and further build upon some of the lore established in that series, even down to some designs being reused here. Without giving away too much, it’s a nice surprise when the story takes its dramatic turn, and leaves the story on a cliffhanger that will leave the reader eager for the next issue.

The second story, ‘The Hostage’ is written by Shane McCarthy and has art from the same team as the first half of the issue. This is a standalone story that fits into the events of the fifth season of The Clone Wars, when Maul and his brother Savage were going around the galaxy forming a criminal empire over which to rule.

The Maul story-line was one of the highlights of The Clone Wars, and led to some exciting things for the character in both that show and Star Wars Rebels, and I’m always happy to see more of this former Sith. Here the story shows how Maul plots to take over a rival criminal family, and the lengths that he’s willing to go to to succeed. It’s not some of the most exciting Maul content, there are no major shocks or lightsaber duels to wow you, but it is a good showcase for how devious a character he is.

The Phantom Menace had Maul as a savage dog, an attacker who was let off his leash by his master to go fight the Jedi. The expanded universe added a lot more layers to the character, showed that he was also a clever tactician, and someone who had learnt to plan ahead. This story takes those aspects of the character and demonstrates how he can be formidable in less obvious ways.

The third issue of Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy is easily the best of the series so far, with a solid creative team and stories that actually seem to add thing to the universe, and flesh out the main characters in ways the other issues just fell short of. More of this please IDW.

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Ghost Species by James Bradley - Book Review

 

'When scientist Kate Larkin joins a secretive project to re-engineer the climate by resurrecting extinct species, she becomes enmeshed in another, even more clandestine program to recreate our long-lost relatives, the Neanderthals. But when the first of the children, a girl called Eve, is born, Kate finds herself torn between her duties as a scientist and her urge to protect their time-lost creation.

'Set against the backdrop of hastening climate catastrophe, Ghost Species is an exquisitely beautiful and deeply affecting exploration of connection and loss in an age of planetary trauma. For as Eve grows to adulthood she and Kate must face the question of who and what she is. Is she natural or artificial? Human or non-human? And perhaps most importantly, as civilisation unravels around them, is Eve the ghost species, or are we?'

Climate change is something that is becoming harder and harder to ignore, something that isn't just a vague threat that exists in some undefined future, but something that we're seeing the effects of on an almost every day basis. As such, more and more books are turning to this topic, exploring the effects that a changing world is having on society, of asking what could come next for humanity if we don't try to do something to stop our destruction of the planet.

This is the world in which James Bradley has set his new novel, Ghost Species, a world where we know that climate change is a very real thing, something that is going to have a huge impact on our lives, and the lives of our children. Whilst the governments struggle to figure out what to do private corporations have started to step in to try and make a difference, one of these, The Foundation, has decided that whilst they're going to try and do what they can to slow down global changes they can't pretend that it's the same world anymore, and have to look for more extreme solutions. In this case, those solutions are reintroducing extinct species.

Okay, at this point you're probably thinking this sounds a bit like Jurassic Park, and whilst that's a very obvious comparison the story is very, very different. The Foundation isn't interested in creating creatures for entertainment or profit, instead setting their sights on making a real difference. They're trying to bring back animals that existed in more extreme versions of the world and putting them in the wild to try and slow down some of the changes that are going on. Mammoths, Tasmanian Tigers, Aurochs, giant Elk, there's no shortage to the types of creatures they want to bring back.

However, there's one species they want to recreate most, one that could make one of the biggest changes to the world, and one that is the most controversial; Neanderthals. It's thing project that scientists Kate and Jay find themselves brought in to work on. Recreating an extinct animal is one thing, but another branch of humanity presents a whole new challenge, and the two of them are instantly drawn to the project. 

I thought this was going to be the focus of the book, the team working on creating this new (old) version of humanity, but it actually went through this pretty quickly, cover the course of a few years withing a chapter or two, until we got to the birth of the first Neanderthal, Eve. This is when the book revealed it's real focus. It wasn't the story of a world on the brink, or a tale about scientists working to save the world, it's the story about the love a parent can have for their child, and about what it means to be human.

Realising that Eve would only ever be seen as an experiment, that she would never be shown the love and affection that she needed, Kate makes the decision to take Eve, running away from the facility with nothing but what she can carry with her. From this point on the book focuses on Kate and her 'daughter', and the struggles she faces raising her whilst hiding away from the Foundation.

The book makes several time jumps throughout the narrative, moving forward a few years every tie, showing Eve getting older. To begin with we follow Kate, watching this story unfold through her eyes as she tries her best to raise her child and give her a good life, all whilst worrying about her, about if she's going to be okay, if she's going to be the same as sapient people, and how the world will react to someone who looks and acts so differently. It's through Kate's perspective that the audience, and several characters, come to see Eve as human. Others refer to her like she's different, not quite human, and it's through Kate's insistence, her love for her, that people come to ignore their initial misgivings and see that this is a child, as human as you or I.

The last third of the book changes things up when Eve hits her teens and the perspective shifts over to her, and we see that whilst Kate sees Eve as a normal human girl, she herself struggles with how she fits into the world after she learns the truth of who she is and how she came to be. This is the part of the book that was easily the best, not only because we got into Eve's head and really learned how she felt, but because this was the point where the climate change had really ramped up, and the effects were impossible to ignore.

Now Even didn't just have to figure out what she thought of herself, or how she fit into a Homo Sapien world as a Neanderthal, but in a world that was falling apart. A world where drugs and medical supplies were becoming scarce, food was low, and people were having to flee across country to find safe places to live.

In some ways it seems like The Foundation was right, as it was in these latter stages of the book that Eve seemed to begin to find some kind of happiness, where she began to feel confident in who she was, whereas the rest of humanity was failing. It seemed like she was better prepared to survive in this changing world that we were. But despite this, she never seems truly content, her past experiences, her losses and the truth of who she was weighing heavily upon her.

I was a little angry at James Bradley for ending the book the way he does, for getting me so invested in Eve and then just ending the story. I wanted to spend more time with her. I wanted to see what happened next. I wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. I connected with her in a way that I didn't think I would. I'd seen her go from an idea, to a miracle baby, to an amazingly layered young woman. I laughed with her, and cried at her tragedies. She was an amazing person to get to read about, and I didn't want that to end.

James Bradley took a concept that I thought would be about spectacle, much like other stories where extinct species are brought back to life I thought that Ghost Species was going to be about spectacle, that perhaps this was going to be a story to explore the dangers of this science and the hubris of man. Instead, it became a story where the people mattered most, where the focus wasn't science out of control or the desolation of the planet, but about the love people have for each other, and how even at the end of the world that's still one of the most important things.

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Darth Vader #10 - Comic Review

 

The current story in Darth Vader continues to tease more insight into the planet of Exogol as the Sith Lord makes his way to Palpatine's hidden world looking for answers.

There isn't a huge amount of story that happens in this issue, instead Greg Pak is using his time to spread out the story and show just how brutal and skilled Vader is, throwing huge obstacles in his way. Upon arriving at the nebula that surrounds Exogol Vader and his prisoner, the Sith assassin Ochi, come face to face with a summa-verminoth, a giant space monster that fans will be familiar with from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Not only is this huge, Cthulhu-like monster blocking their path to the planet, but three Star Destroyers are blocking their rear, ships that aren't there to help Vader. Under the command of Sly Moore, Palpatine's Umbaran aid. Rather than assisting Vader with the monstrosity, she sends dozens of TIE Fighters against him, determined to kill him. Luckily for him, Vader is an amazing pilot, and used to flying in a Jedi Starfighter, and is able to survive the assault and escapes into the nebula.

During the flight through the nebula Vader is subjected to a series of visions in which he sees his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan, as well as imagining Luke killing him and joining with the Emperor. Once landing on the planet Vader discovers that the summa-verminoth has followed him, and uses The Force to bring it down, bending it to his will. The final page of the comic sees Vader riding atop this giant monster as he approaches Palpatine's Sith temple.

So yeah, no a hug amount happened in regards to moving the story forward, but that was still a hell of an impressive issue. Whether it was Vader proving to be a match for entire squadrons of TIE Fighters even though he was in a decades old ship with and escape pod strapped to it, or him riding a gigantic space monster like an absolute boss, you can't deny that this issue didn't sell Vader as a truly terrifying individual.

With a book that's centred on a character like Vader, one that we know isn't going to die here, who's going to be alive for the events of Return of the Jedi, and will be by the Emperor's side there's not a huge amount you can do in regards to peril. We're not going to think that anything seriously bad is going to happen to the man, because they can't kill him; but this story has done a lot to push him in less obvious ways, testing him to his limits in other regards. Here it's the mental strain he's made to go through when travelling through the nebula, forced to face visions that are designed to disturb him. Considering that Vader is quite a different person in Return of the Jedi than he was in Empire Strikes Back, with the goodness within him closer to the surface and easier for Luke to reach, perhaps his journey here, and what he could come to discover inside the Sith temple will help the old Anakin start to break through.

With this issue out of the way the stage is set for some interesting stuff in the next one. We could be getting more insight into the plans Palpatine had in place. We could get hints at Snoke and his creation. We might learn very little that ties into The Rise of Skywalker, but whatever Vader finds inside that temple it's sure to be exciting, especially with the cover for the next issue teases him going up against dozens of light sabre wielding Sith acolytes.

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The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Archive of the Forgotten returns readers to ‘Hell’s Library’, a series that began with last year’s release of Library of the Unwritten. Following the events of the last book, Claire, the former librarian of the Unwritten Wing of the Library, a place where all the unwritten, unfinished books that never were sit on shelves for all eternity, has now been placed in charge of the Arcane Wing, a place filled with dangerous magical artefacts.

Luckily for Claire, she’s not alone, as Ramiel, the angel who was something of a thorn in her side in the first book, has moved into the wing with her, acting as her assistant, whilst her former assistant, the muse Brevity, has taken over for Claire in the Unwritten Wing. Hero, the escaped literary character, has also stuck around, and is working as Brevity’s assistant. Whilst this should mean that the group of unlikely friends and allies who came together to save Hell in the last book are still together there’s been some division amongst them since the events of the first book, with the new dynamic between Claire and Brevity leading to a crack in their relationship.

Unfortunately, these relationships get put under further strain when Probity, another muse and old friend of Brevity’s, turns up on the scene. Not only does she seem to want to drive a wedge between Claire and Brevity, but she has her eyes set on getting hold of the pool of mysterious ink that has appeared in the Arcane Wing, ink from destroyed unwritten books that not only puts everyone’s lives at risk, but hints at ancient secrets that could change Hell’s Library forever.

One of the things that I loved about the first book in this series was that it felt grand. It reminded me of stories like Good Omens, where a small band of heroes are forced into an adventure that they don’t really want as they try to prevent apocalyptic forces falling into the wrong hands. We got to see the machinations of Heaven and Hell, saw Angels and Demons pulling strings to try and gain power, and there were high stakes throughout. This book, however, takes on a much smaller scale story, and puts our four leads into the limelight.

Where the first book was about the fate of the universe and trying to contain a powerful artefact this story is more about the people who populate Hell’s Library, and their relationships with each other. Yes, there is the mystery of this strange pool of ink that has appeared, seemingly as a result of the events of the first book, but that’s just something that drives the action forward, a mystery that needs to be solved. The heart of the book is the people involved. Over the course of the book we see how the previous events have changed the dynamic within the group, how the decades long friendship between Claire and Brevity has been pushed to a breaking point. Not only that, but now that Ramiel is joined them proper, and is working alongside them in the library that raises questions about how the dynamic between the four leads has changed.

There is so much that happens during the book where you just think if they’d have talked to each other better things wouldn’t have been so bad, that the events that spiral out of control are because of the mistrust and misunderstandings that form in this group. Whilst I just wanted to bang the characters’ heads together and get them to just talk to each other their stubbornness meant that more often than not things only got worse, and it isn’t until people’s lives are at risk that they’re able to get past their petty squabbles and realise that their love for each other is what matters the most to them.

I loved the journey that I went on with these characters in the first book, but this story just felt so much more satisfying because it put the focus on them. It made their struggles the central part of the book, and it meant that I came to understand all of them so much better by the time it was done. The characters no longer felt like simple characters, but deeply flawed people, even those of them who are ancient beings from religious myth. It made them feel all the more human, and all the more relatable because of it, and because of that, I can’t help but love this book more than the first.

I don’t know if there’s more to come with these characters, if this is the last book in this series or not. If not, this is the perfect place for things to carry on from, as these characters have finally had to address their issues and formed a closer, and stronger, unit because of that. If this is the last time we get to see them, it at least means that we know they’re going to be okay, that they all have each other and that their love will get them through whatever else they have to face.

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