Welcome to Camp Killer by Cynthia Murphy - Book Review

 

'When an American-style residential camp is set up in the grounds of an English stately home, the teenage camp counsellors are looking forward to a fun summer of activities. But right from the outset, things don’t feel quite right at Camp Miller. Rumours circulate of a tragedy that took place in the grounds and there are unexplained sightings of a ghostly presence. Then the incidents begin – a near-drowning out on the lake, a fatal fall from a cliff-face … Are these tragic accidents or is there something more sinister going on at Camp Killer?'

Welcome to Camp Killer is one of Barrington Stokes older age books, a short novel for teens that follows the events at an American-style summer in the UK that becomes the site of a series of brutal murders.

Our story begins the day before the children are due to arrive at Camp Miller, a summer camp built in the grounds of an old stately home with a tragic past and stories of ghostly sightings. Several teens have been employed to be camp counsellors for the summer, taking care of the younger kids and helping them on a series of activities including rock climbing, and canoeing. Gathered together for one last quiet night before the children arrive, they tell a story around the camp fire, a story about the old home they're stating at, and the tragic story of what happened to the family in the 1800's. 

The counsellors learn about Dorothea, the wife to Lord Miller, who unable to have children, was horrified when her husband returned home from sea with a son, the woman who birthed him having come back too. Lord Miller intended for he and Dorothea to raise the child as their own, with the birth mother acting as a nanny. In the story, Dorothea went mad with the grief of the situation, and murdered her husband, his son, and the boys mother, before throwing herself off the roof. Her body was found the next day, laying dead in her beloved rose garden. Legend goes that the spirit of Dorothea now haunts the grounds.

The group are sufficiently creeped out and entertained, but head to bed for the evening. However, when one of the counsellors finds their bed filled with snakes and rose petals, they assume one of the group is trying to play a prank after the spooky story. The next day, once the children have arrived, things continue to happen, as one of the counsellors is almost drowned after being knocked out and tied in a canoe that was then rolled over into the water. Thanks to a daring rescue he survived, but an old dress is founding floating in the lake, covered in rose petals. The counsellors begin to think that perhaps the spirit of Dorothea is real, and out to get them. But when one of the group is killed in what looks like a tragic accident, it becomes clear that ghost or not, all of their lives are in danger.

I was very pleasantly surprised with Welcome to Camp Killer, as I was not expecting it to be the kind of book that it ended up being. For the first part of the book we're given every reason to think that the narrative will be a series of spooky events and close calls where the counsellors (the apparent targets) come close to getting hurt. There's the incident with snakes in a bed, the near drowning, and a flag pole that comes crashing down and just misses people. It all feels kind of safe and sanitary. Yes, there's danger, but at most it feels like the group of teens are going to get a broken bone or two before things come to a close.

However, there came a point in the narrative when it takes a sudden shift, and one of the group is killed. And I honestly found that my jaw dropped open because this was the twist in the tale that I didn't see coming. I honestly thought that the book wouldn't actually go that far, and as soon as it did I found myself unable to predict what was going to come next. Essentially, Welcome to Camp Killer is a slightly sanitised slasher horror book. And I say slightly sanitised, because there are some bloody and shocking deaths that happen in the book that wouldn't be too out of place in something like Friday the 13th.

Whilst the book is short, it manages to pack a decent amount into its pages, and the story moves at a decently brisk pace too. There's a chance to get to know several of the main characters, and readers will have fun trying to work out which, if any, might be behind the killings. There are a couple of people who seem like prime suspects, who are doing things that in the wrong light could be looked at as very suspicious; but like with all good slasher stories with a twist, I think a lot of people will struggle to see the end coming.

The book is aimed for teens, and features a decent cross section of different teen characters for the reader to follow. We get a good variety in personalities and backgrounds to the teen counsellors, and it feels like its set up so that readers will be able to identify with at least one of the characters. Hopefully they end up being one of the ones who get to survive. There's also a non-binary teen who uses they/them pronouns, and it's never once made a thing of, with their inclusion in the story being treated no differently to any other character; which I absolutely adored.

Welcome to Camp Killer is a super fun horror book that I think a lot of younger readers are going to like. If you've got a teen reader who loves horror and wants to move on from children's horror to something more mature, but might not be ready for adult horror yet, this is a perfect read for them. That being said, I also think that it's the kind of book that adult fans of the genre will get a decent kick out of too.

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All Hallows by Christopher Golden - Book Review

 

'It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unravelling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighbourhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighbourhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?'

Everyone loves the 1980's right now, with more and more stories cashing in on nostalgia for the decade. For those who love the 80's and get a kick out of Halloween All Hallows might be the book for you, as it combines the horrors of living in 80's suburbia with the fun of Halloween in a book that's more neighbourhood soap opera than actual horror.

All Hallows follows a number of residents of Parmenter Road, a quiet street in the town of Coventry, Massachusetts. There's Tony Barbosa, who puts on a special haunted woods attraction behind his house each and every year, complete with special effects and actors to jump out and scare people; though this year is his final year as he's having to sell his house and move away following a layoff from work. There's the Sweeney family, overworked and put-upon wife Barb, her heavy drinking womanising husband Donnie, and their three kids caught in the middle of their marriage difficulties; whose relationship comes to a crashing and violent end on Halloween night. And there's Vanessa Montez, the punky daughter of two immigrants trying to fit into a neighbourhood of mostly white people all whilst trying to hide the fact that she's a lesbian; who will lose her best friend and be publicly humiliated before the night is over.

These are just a few of the characters that we follow over the course of the book, though they're not the only ones by a long shot. Each member of their families feature in the narratives that intertwine with each other and cross over as we see the events of this one small neighbourhood over a single night. The reason I opened with describing this as being akin to a soap opera is that that's how a lot of this plays out. There's infidelity, domestic abuse, crying children, betrayals of trust, young love, coming of age stories, marriage breakdowns, drunken parties, public fist fights, and even a pair of neighbourhood paedophiles to deal with too. With all of that going on how does the horror even find time to fit in?

Over the course of the evening, as people air their dirty laundry left right and centre and put entire seasons worth or TV story arcs on display for all, several creepy children begin to appear on Parmenter Road. These children, dressed in odd costumes, talk about The Cunning Man, some form of evil entity that's coming for them. They beg the people that they find to let them hide just until midnight, telling them that if they can just avoid The Cunning Man until midnight they'll be safe. Sadly, these moments are far too few and far between to end up being anything but a small side-story in what's supposed to be a horror book.

Most of these children barely make an appearance until more than half way into the book, and those that do have fleeting moments on the page. The Crooked Man too makes an occasional appearance early on, but when he gets four or five pages sandwiched between fifty about the various trials and tribulations of the people on the street you almost forget that he's even a thing. By the time the book turns into a more overt horror story you've got perhaps twenty percent of the book left to go, and stopped caring at around the halfway point.

All Hallows made one of the greatest sins of a horror story, it left be absolutely bored. If this was marketed as a neighbourhood drama, which is what most of the book felt like, I'd have perhaps been open to watching several marriages fall to pieces; but I'd come for a spooky Halloween tale. I like getting to know characters in horror stories, but this was that dialled up to the extreme, where it was all character focus and very little actual horror. The fact that most of the characters were thoroughly unlikable also didn't help matters. If the horror of the book was in capturing how awful the 80's were to live in, and in how disgusting people can be then the book succeeded, but if it was the ghosts and monsters that make a cameo appearance then it certainly fell too far off the mark for me.

Christopher Golden has made some great horror stories, and I grew up reading his Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, so I know that he can scare me, but this book just didn't. It was hard to get to the end of All Hallows, I got very little from it, and I'm sad to say that this time it wasn't a book for which I was the audience. 

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Batman #138 - Comic Review

 

The Gotham War event has had some mixed reactions so far, with a lot of people kind of dropping off the Zdarsky Batman run thanks to it. Whilst I've not reached the point yet where I feel like I want to stop reading what began as a fun run, this latest arc is a definite dip in quality, and this issue might be the worst one to date.

In the last part of the series we saw Batman get into a fight with Red Hood, and he kidnapped him off the streets after knocking him out. Here we find out what happens next, as it's revealed that Bruce has used the tech that help him to create the Zur-En-Arrh personality to reprogram Jason's brain, making it so that if he's ever in a situation where he experiences intense adrenaline his fear response kicks in; basically making it impossible for him to be a vigilante crime fighter. Or even ride a roller coaster.

Whist I've agreed to a certain degree that the Bruce we've had in previous issues has been acting out of character, this is the first time I feel that he's acted so out of character that it almost feels like a deliberate character assassination. If we didn't know that Zur was lurking in the back of his mind trying to break him I'd be super angry about it, and would absolutely quit reading the title. As it is, I'm kind of just disappointed that this is being done.

Other titles recently have made a point of showing that Batman loves his family, that he cares for the people around him. And this book is throwing that all away. It's making him hurt his kids, and it's making them hate him. He's becoming an abuser. I hate it, and I also can't help but feel that this is another argument for why Alfred needs to be brought back because shit like this happens when he's not there to stop Bruce going full psychopath.

This issue sees Bruce going up against Nightwing and Tim's Robin, with him feeling no qualms about beating them around the place. He even uses his snazzy new robot hand to break their weapons apart, and even smashes Dick's face with a car door in a move that absolutely would hospitalise him, or even kill him, if this was remotely realistic. Bruce looks like he's trying to kill his kids. And he leave Damian, runs away leaving him tied up. The one member of the family who stood by him thrown aside like he's nothing; and it breaks Damian. So how does this play into the Batman and Robin series where they're living together and getting on wonderfully? I don't think Zarsky actually cares about that book and it's like this title is actively trying to do the opposite of it.

Elsewhere in the book we learn more about what Vandal Savage is doing. It seems that the power of immortality he gained from the meteorite is waning, and that he needs to gather all of the pieces of it in order to regain hi full strength. Unfortunately, these pieces are scattered throughout the world, have been turned into trinkets and jewellery, and need getting back. And this is why he's gotten Scandal to take Selina's gang of thieves away from her, so that they can go and steal all the shit he needs. How did he know that Selina was going to create a league of thieves, and was therefore able to put Scandal undercover long before it happened? Why does he need these people to get the stones for him when he could just do it himself? Don't ask too many questions. 

The villain needing to gather together pieces of a magic gem that has been broken down into smaller pieces and scattered across the world also feels a bit too similar to Eclipso: The Darkness Within to feel wholly original too.

The only real saving grace for the issue is the art, which is as good as one would come to expect from Jorge Jimmenez, and Tomeu Morey. The book looks fantastic, and the fight scenes are full of movement and energy, and you can feel the violence that's happening in these moments in a really visceral way. Sadly, great art doesn't make up for a lackluster story.

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Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede - Book Review

 

'By day, Maeve Fly works at the happiest place in the world as every child’s favorite ice princess. By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes. But when Gideon Green - her best friend’s brother - moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet. Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the pages of American Psycho. Step aside Patrick Bateman, it’s Maeve’s turn with the knife.'

Maeve Fly is a story about a young woman with dark impulses who's kept her murderous and sadistic instincts in check finally letting go, resulting in a bloody rampage that will leave a bloody mark on LA's history.

Maeve is a deeply disturbed and twisted young woman who lives with her ageing Hollywood starlet grandmother, Tallulah, in her home in Los Angeles. By day Maeve works at 'the happiest place on earth' as an actress playing the hugely popular 'ice princess' for children to get to meet (we all know who this is, but the book never says it outright). By night, however, she prowls the bars and hidden strip clubs of the city, drinking alone in a dark corner whilst reading. She also has a dark side, one she embraces by reading books about the darker parts of human nature, and watching nature documentaries filled with killing whilst cat-fishing racists and masturbating. She ties murder and the destruction of people's lives to her own pleasure in a dark cycle.

Things are going well for Maeve, she's recently ruined the life of a woman online, her best friend (who plays the Ice Princess' sister) continues on her journey to becoming a movie star but hanging with Maeve whenever she can, and she's managing to keep the job that she loves. However, her carefully constructed life begins to unravel. Her best friends brother comes to town, and shows an interest in Maeve. Her grandmothers nurse tells her that her sick, comatose grandmother's time has come to an end. And her job is under threat. All of this sends Maeve over the edge, and she begins a bloody campaign to kill anyone who might threaten her life, in the most brutal and sadistic way possible. 

Maeve Fly is a slow narrative that focuses on its lead character, with the first third of the book simply spending time getting to know her. We follow her daily life, learn about her past, and go through the odd routine that she's built for herself. A lover of the dark and spooky, as well as all things old Hollywood, Maeve wanders through LA as a quiet observer, basking in the glory of the city. The second third of the book sees this life slowly change, as she begins to entertain the idea of allowing someone else into her life, and we watch as she and her new lover slowly try to find a balance.

The final third of the book, however, is where the interesting stuff happens, and Maeve lets her inner killer out onto the world. By this point in the story it's clear that Maeve is not a normal person. She's been harbouring something truly dark and twisted inside of her, and C.J. Leede takes great pleasure in showing us what that is as Maeve commits brutal and disturbing crimes.

The book is incredibly graphic when it comes to these moments. Maeve tortures people, performing gross and disturbing acts, such as peeling someone's face off in small strips whilst they're still alive, or cutting a man's penis off piece by piece. There's also a lot of sexual violence too, with one of her victims suffering an awful fate involving acid, a pipe, and a bunch of mice. If you're not into torture and disgusting horror then these moments might prove to be a bit too much for you, as the book doesn't shy away from revelling in these moments as they bring Maeve great pleasure.

The narrative, at times, can also have a similar effect on the reader, as we're very much led through things by Maeve, who's somewhat loose grip on reality makes for a story that sometimes bounces around wildly. She's not a reliable narrator, and is the only one that we have for this story, leading to a narrative that feels as unstable as she is, taking us on a dark journey where half of what we're reading may not even be real.

Maeve Fly is an unusual book, a deep character study of a woman who's more monster than human being. Thanks to the slow pace, some may check out before the real meat of the story actually happens, but for those who do stick through it you'll find something incredibly dark and disturbing waiting for you.

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Trapped by Sophie McKenzi - Book Review

 

'A singing-club trip ends in disaster when the coach carrying the members spins out of control and ends up perilously balanced on the edge of a cliff. Hailey is trapped at the back of the coach with her nemesis Bex, who's taken the lead role in their latest performance, and hadsome Kit, on whom Hailey has a massive crush. The three of them must work together in order to escape the coach before it falls. Will they be able to set aside their differences and find a way to survive?'

Trapped tells the story of a group of teens who find their lives quite literally hanging in the balance when an accident leave their coach over the edge off a cliff. However, despite the peril and drama that comes from this, the book failed to connect with me.

The story begins by introducing us to our three main characters, Hailey, Bex, and Kit, as they're leaving a retirement home after putting on a singing performance for the residents. Hailey is our lead, and we get the story from her point of view, and she spends the first several pages filling the reader in on how much she dislikes Bex, the popular new singer who recently joined the Hightop Youth Singers group. Not only has Bex been given the lead parts, not only does she have praise and love heaped on her, but she's also grabbed the attention of Kit, who just a few weeks before was giving all of his attention to Hailey.

As the group leaves their preformance, climbing into an old coach in the middle of a storm, the three of them find themselves sitting at the back of the bus. However, when a tree comes down in the storm, landing on the roof of the coach just in front of the three of them, it traps them at the back. Worse still, the impact sends the coach sliding over the edge of the cliff they're driving along, leaving the three teens hanging over a deadly drop. Now the three of them will have to figure out a way to get out of the coach before it goes over the edge, taking them with it.

Trapped isn't a bad story by any means, and I don't want to come across as too harsh towards it, but the main reason that I didn't really enjoy this book is that it felt like only half a story. At the begining of the book we're told how Bex joined the club a few weeks ago and how Hailey sees her as trying to ruin things for her. There's a lot of drama here, stuff that informs a lot of the book and the way that the two characters interact; but I can't help but feel like perhaps the book would have worked better if we'd have gotten to see this. The entire events of the book feels like the final act of a longer story, one where we get to see the backstory, where we're allowed to see Hailey's animosity building. As it is, she just feels petty and weird as we don't understand where she's coming from.

It also means that the emotional resolution doesn't really hit as hard. The girls manage to get to freedom and save themselves, and some truths come out that seem to be laying the seeds for a friendship between the two of them; but because we'd had no real time to experience the way things were before this this resolution fell flat for me. The fact that the book is almost all focused on the events of the crash and the fight to survive, and that we didn't really spend a huge amount of time with the characters before it happened doesn't help you get sucked into the narrative.

The book includes illustrations by Melania Badosa, who also provided the cover art for the book. The illustrations are pretty simple and easy to understand, and Badosa does a great job at putting a lot of expression and emotions into the characters, and you can easily see what people are thinking just by looking at their faces. Hailey makes it clear how she feels just by the way she looks at Bex, and you can really feel the anger and resentment pouring off her face. The artwork also feels a lot more mature than some of the other books that Barrington Stoke have on offer, and suits the age of the reader for this story well. The book is clearly designed for teens, and the art style really seems to reflect that.

Overall, this wasn't really a bad read, and I'm sure that there will be young readers who will enjoy it; but it did feel very rushed, with characters and a story that failed to draw me in. I'm sure that there is an audience for this book out there who will love it though.

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Savage Squad 6 #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Savage Squad 6 has felt like something of a cheesy action romp that would be made in the 1980s for a while now, but with the third issue the book seems to have left any effort of realism and sensibility behind to embrace wild and violent action scenes that make little sense when you take a moment to stop and think about such things.

The Savages, a group of six young female soldiers, have been sent deep into the irradiated remains of Pripyat in order to steal nuclear material from the ruins of the Chernobyl reactor. They’re part of the a resistance group fighting back against an evil regime that has slaughtered its way across the globe in a bid for planetary conquest, and the nuclear material is needed for one last desperate bid for victory. As such, when the team comes under attack from giant mutant wolves (and I do mean kaiju size giant!) they will do everything it takes to complete the mission. Everything except use tactics or work smart.

The series has been pretty fun so far, with the book giving you a chance to get to know the members of the team before they start getting picked off one by one. They group of heroes is very much the kind of varied and over-the-top bunch of personalities that you’d find in a shooter game or a corny action flick. They’re all bad-asses, and they’re all out to fuck some shit up. Unfortunately, it looks like none of them are particularly smart, as the third issue makes some pretty big errors that makes the Savages kind of unforgivable.

With the monster wolves attacking the team at the end of the last issue, this one is focused solely on survival. It’s a run and gun issue where we’re barely given a chance to slow down, and it’s all action all the time. Whilst that in itself isn’t a bad thing, there are things that happen here that either don’t really make much sense, or are downright awful decisions on the character’s parts. Spoilers ahead for the stuff that absolutely dropped this issue an entire star.

One of the team gets injured pretty early on in the issue, a severe wound in their shoulder that’s causing them to bleed out, and makes them unable to use that arm. The team medic wants to patch them up, and even has all of the equipment to do so, but the team leader literally slaps the medical supplies out of her hand and tells her no. As a result, that injured team member bleeds out to the point of being unable to move, and has to be left to die. Great leadership skills and decision making from the leader there letting someone die for no reason. Another thing that feels like a ‘that happened for no reason’ decision is another of the team, someone uninjured and able to fight on, throws herself at the wolves and detonates a pile of grenades, blowing herself up. It’s a suicide play that comes out of nowhere and makes little sense.

The third member of the team to go down this issue is grabbed by one of the giant wolves. They’re grabbed when their back is turned, but the way in which the art depicts this moment has their body hanging in the wolf’s jaws, with their arms behind them clamped in the creatures fangs. The physics of how this worked don’t quite seem to line up, and the character would have had to have had her arms sticking out backwards for the wolf to grab her like it does here, which again, makes very little sense.

In this one issue the team is wiped off the board, leaving our lone protagonist to face the horrors of this situation on their own. This was kind of expected from the beginning, as these kinds of stories tend to come down to the lone survivor trope. But this issue seemed so desperate to get to that point that it killed off everyone else so quickly and indiscriminately that a lot of it feels rushed and ridiculous, and that it’s only being done so that the final issue can be a solo one. It’s a shame, as I was enjoying this series up to this point, but this issue just doesn’t do much for me, and kind of takes away a lot of the goodwill that the previous instalments had built up.

Despite my gripes with the story direction, the art on the issue is decent, with Dalts Dalton, and Geraldo Filho, creating some impressive visuals. The book’s cover depicts a number of the giant mutant wolves scaling a building to get at the Savages, and that’s the kind of stuff you get inside the book too. There’s action all over the place here, so expect lots of monster wolves, explosions, blood, and gunfire across the pages. It looks great, even if it’s very much flash over substance at this point.

Savage Squad 6 has felt like its been focusing on a very small part of a much more interesting world since the very first issue. The fight against a fascist, murderous regime by a desperate female led revolution sounds like a great story, and one I’d love to see. Instead, we’ve been given a story that focuses on the wrong part of that world, on a story that doesn’t feel half as interesting, and has gotten to the point where it almost feels like it could be a parody. With one issue left, I’m almost nervous to see how it all ends.

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A Sudden Storm by Bali Rai - Book Review

 

'It's Arjan's sixteenth birthday and he's celebrating with his mates - going to see a film and then get a Nando's. He's looking forward to some good banter and wondering what might happen with Jem, who's been looking at him differently these days. But the night comes to a dramatic and violent end when Arjan is targeted by a group of racist thugs, who single him out due to the colour of his skin and the turban that he wears as a symbol of his commitment to his faith and culture. Is the life of a good friend and a beloved son really worth so little?'

Barrington Stoke quite often produce books that touch upon real world subjects, and will deal with important issues or subjects that young readers should be aware of. Most of the time this is done through stories that have happy endings, that feel like adventure stories, and the notes at the end of the book go over the real world influence and let younger readers know that there's some truth in what they've just read. On occasion, however, a book will come along that doesn't have a happy ending, that ends up hitting hard and makes the lesson it's trying to impart impossible to ignore. A Sudden Storm is one of these stories.

The story centres on Arjan, a young boy who's celebrating turning sixteen. Despite offering to stay home with his parents to help his dad do a few jobs around the house, Arjan has a fun night ahead of him and his friends. He's planning to meet up with them, watch a cheesy action movie, and then head out for a meal after; and hopefully see what happens with Jem, the girl that he likes. On his way home that day Arjan is almost hit by a van when he goes to cross the street. If that wasn't bad enough, the men in the van racially abuse him for wearing a turban, yelling at him that he's an immigrant even though he was born in England, and calling him a terrorist.

Despite this, Arjan tries to not let it ruin his day, and continues with his plans to see his friends. He puts on some nice clothes, a snazzy red turban that his family and friends say makes him look great. He's full of energy and happiness at getting to be with his friends, and things are going great until they head for a meal after their movie. At the restaurant one of the men from the van is there, and continues to abuse him in the bathroom, calling him a terrorist, telling him that it's wrong for him to be friends with a white girl, and throwing racial slurs at him. Arjan once again tries to ignore this, doesn't respond in anger, and continues to enjoy his evening. 

Unfortunately, Arjan and his friends decide to walk back rather than get the bus, and it leads to tragic circumstances. The man from the van is back, and he's got a group of friends with him. He chases after Arjan and his friends, and Arjan is beaten to death by them. The book ends in violence, with the last thing Arjan sees is the man insulting him before kicking him to death. The final chapter of the book is a last message from Arjan, his spirit lamenting the events of that night, wondering why people would become so hateful to him, why his life had to end just because they didn't like who he was.

The authors note at the end of the book tells readers about Ricky Reel, a young British Sikh man who went missing after a racially motivated attack in London in 1997. After being missing for a week Ricky's body was found in the Thames. The police initially ruled his death an accident, claiming the racist attack on him played no part in it, and it wasn't until his family campaigned further that the police would even consider that he'd been murdered.

A Sudden Storm follows a very similar path to Ricky's story, and the end chapter very much implies that Arjan, like Ricky, is dumped in the river following his murder. It's a harsh and brutal end to the story, one that you're half expecting to end in a happy way, with a lesson about never responding to racist bullying with violence, and how Arjan is the better man because of his actions. But sadly there are times in life when you just don't get a happy ending. And children need to hear that too.

I'm sure that there will be some parents learning about what this book is and thinking that they'll not be letting their kids read it because its sad, because it has racism and violence in it. But whilst there are children growing up who have to live with racism and violence thrown their way, whilst there are people who worry about their safety when they leave their home because they could become a target just for who they are everyone should hear stories like this; even children. If we refuse to show kids this kind of reality, if they don't learn how cruel and awful racism is, if they don't grow up learning that even if someone looks different to you they're still people with lives then people will turn a blind eye to things. They'll look the other way when someone is abused and degraded. They may even grow up to be the ones doing it.

A Sudden Storm is a book that will leave young readers feeling bad I'm sure, but it might also be one of the more important books that Barrington Stoke has produced. Yes, the books that teach about environmentalism and protecting the planet are important, but I can't help but feel that, sadly, this is the one that will be the most relatable and relevant to most of their lives. Racism and bigotry are very much real and alive in the world today, and young readers need to be aware of that.

As with other Barrington Stoke books A Sudden Storm comes with illustrations, provided by David Shephard. The illustrations are in black and white, and accompany key points in the narrative. Most of them show the happy parts of the story, Arjan and his father laughing and joking, his mother helping him get ready for his birthday night out, his friends hanging out with him, Jem and him flirting with each other. They show the joy and the good times that he gets to have. But they also show the bad. We see him being screamed at by racists, we see the man who kills him chasing after him. We see the terror on Arjan's face moments before he dies. The illustrations help to tell the tragedy of his story, and will help younger readers connect with him and events more.

A Sudden Storm is a hard book to read, but one that's well worth the time to do so. It teaches important lessons to younger readers, even if there's a very good chance that it will leave a harsh impression upon them. Stories like this need to be told.

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Green Arrow #4 - Comic Review

 

Oliver Queen has been lost out of time for a while now, with some outside force preventing him from reuniting with this family. This force has even displaced Connor and Lian in time too, sending them into the far future with the Legion of Super Heroes. What has the power to do this, and why would they be doing this to the Green Arrow family? All of that is now revealed with the fourth issue, as we learn that Parallax is behind things. 

This might seem a bit complicated at first (and it's definitely not simple) but this is something we've seen Parallax do before. Before the Geoff Johns retcon of Parallax being an entity possessing Hal Jordan the evil version of the GL brought Oliver Queen back to life before sacrificing himself to reignite the sun, proving that there was some good in him still. The Parallax we have here is very much this version, a Hal Jordan possessed by the fear entity; but it's not our Hal. This is the displaced Parallax that came to exist in the events of Convergence way back during the New 52.

And it actually works really well for this story, as we kind of get to have an evil Hal Jordan who's not quite all evil, whilst our Hal is still bumbing around Earth sexually harassing Carol Farris. And this version of the character is still very much like he was presented in the 90's, as a darker Hal. This gets explained away as Hal fighting against the alien parasite, and it's a decent enough explanation for me to go along with it.

It turns out that this Parallax made a deal with an older version of Ollie, that in order to prevent another disaster like Coast City, he'd use his power to keep Ollie and his family apart from each other. This leads to a wonderful issue where the two characters get to really hash it out, dealing with their past, the issues that they've had with each other, and it brings a lovely new dimension to their friendship; because this is still Hal. The moment where Ollie takes off his gear and challenges Hal to a fistfight is the highlight of the series so far, and is one of my favourite Hal Jordan moments in years.

After decades of seeing Parallax be one thing, a big scary space bug, getting to go back to a version of him that wasn't like that, that was Hal Jordan first and foremost, is really cool. And Joshua Williamson absolutely nails the character. He feels like that version of Hal dropped into a modern comic, and the way Ollie interacts with him feels like something that only Ollie could do thanks to their history.

The art on the issue, by Sean Izaakse, and Romulo Fajardo Jr., is absolutely fantastic, and there are so many moments that are absolutely stand out. The already mentioned fight between the two characters is incredibly well done, and because it's just two guys knocking each other around it feels different to what we've had so far. The designs for the Legion all look really cool and I like how they're presented here, and the return of Cheshire was really well done, and it's great to see Jade again. And that final page reveal was absolutely superb.

Despite the first issue of Birds of Prey kind of revealing how this series is going to end (somewhat at least) it's still a great journey were going on with Ollie, and it feels like a great time to be a fan of the character. With DC already having doubled the length of the series from six issues to twelve, let's hope they see how well its doing and make it an ongoing.

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Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

2002 saw the release of Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, the third game in the Jedi Knight series, and the return of popular EU character Kyle Katarn (Jeff Bennett). With the success and popularity of the game it was only a matter of time before another game in the series was released, but most people were surprised when a sequel came out the following year. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy would be the final entry in the series, but one that gave players more freedom than ever before.

After the release of the previous game in the series, developer Raven Software were approached by LucasArts and were given just a year to create a follow-up; as such, many of the assets developed for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast would make a return, with the game looking and playing very similarly. As such, the developers would have to find other ways to add new elements to the game in order for it to stand apart.

One of the biggest ways that it did this was by making this the first game in the series where players would not take control of series’ lead Kyle Katarn. With the ending of the previous game not seeing Katarn leaving the Jedi Order or denouncing the Force as in previous games, the developers were unsure if allowing players to start the game as an already powerful and capable Force user would make for an enjoyable experience. Whilst this option would allow for players to be able to jump straight into things, it would also mean that there would be little opportunity to develop or improve your character along that way. As such, players would take control of a completely new character to the series.

As the game begins, players are put in control of Jaden Kor (Philip Tanzini/Jennifer Hale), a new student at Luke Skywalker’s (Bob Bergen) Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 (the same temple the Rebels used as their base in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). Players are able to select Jaden’s race, gender, and appearance, and are able to customise their costume, their saber hilts, and saber colour. Whilst no longer being the main playable character, Katarn would be included in the game, acting as Jaden’s Master, teaching them the ways of the Force and training them to become a Jedi, alongside fellow student Rosh Penin (Jason Marsden).

As the game unfolds, Jaden and Rosh are sent on missions by Katarn, missions that the player can tackle in any order they wish. Each block of the story is divided out so that at least four of the five missions on offer must be completed before the story progresses. Each mission allows the player to travel to a new location to complete a specific task, such as rescue missions, and completing the missions allows the player to upgrade their abilities and Force powers as they see fit, further allowing character customisation.

Over the course of the story a mysterious Dark Side cult, known as the Disciples of Ragnos, begins to make its presence known, and after they attack the Jedi Temple, Jaden is put in direct pursuit of them. As the game progresses the player will come into more contact with the cult, allowing you to engage in lightsaber combat with them. The story will see Jaden have to battle with their own darker impulses, and the player will reach a point where they can choose which path they want their character to take: remain a Jedi, or fall to the Dark Side.

Despite the fast production time, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was well received by fans, and it was praised for allowing the player to use a lightsaber from the beginning of the game, rather than having to earn it, as well as the customisation options, which were not present in previous entries. The newly added multi-player segments of the game were also praised. Some elements of the game did receive some criticism, however, and the heavy reliance on assets from the previous game, and the re-use of levels made certain missions less enjoyable than others. Despite this, the game did well with critics and fans.

Despite the success of the game, and the fact that it ends without a full resolution if you take the Dark Side path, this would become the final entry in the Star Wars Jedi Knight series, and one of the final appearances of Kyle Katarn in video games before his eventual removal from canon.

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Blade #3 - Comic Review

 

The new Blade series has been packing things into its issues to the point where it feels hard to believe that this is only the third issue, with the new story having already given us a ton of stuff up to this point. It's unusual then that this issue doesn't do a whole lot, split over just three scenes, yet manages to move the plot forward in significant ways, furthers the threat of the villain, gives us some fun development and interactions for the heroes, and tosses in some action too.

The issue begins with our big bad, the Adana travelling to Romania, where she is attacked by a group of magic users who are trying to stop her evil plans. Despite being attacked from all sides, the demonic entity is able to kill all of them with a single snap of her fingers in a scene that's gruesome and horrific, but kind of cool at the same time. In one scene she's gone from a threat to a serious threat, as she's just shown the reader that magic isn't much good against her, and she can kill foes without breaking a sweat. Even the mention of the Sorcerer Supreme does little to make you think that there could be an easy solution to this problem.

Speaking of easy solutions, however, Blade finds himself at the mercy of Lord Daido, a crime boss who's more than human. With the criminals tentacle-like tongue wrapped around his throat, trying to take control of him, it looks like there's little hope of Blade escaping. But not only does the part-vampire hero escape, he blows he monster to pieces without much effort. It's great that the two opening scenes of the book are building both the antagonist and protagonist this way, showing them to be ruthless killers, able to dispatch their foes without much effort. It's building to what's sure to be an intense final conflict between the two of them, though one that Blade doesn't feel equipped for yet.

And this is the main focus of the final segment of the book, Blade looking for a weapon that will actually allow him to kill Adana. He, Rotha, and Tulip head to a restaurant to grab some food and trade information. After finally convincing Tulip to help them out, she gives them information on the one weapon that should be able to kill the apocalypse bringing evil; the sword used by the angel Lucifer. However, the sword is in the possession of a reclusive arms dealer that no one has seen in five years, who lives on a high speed train that's constantly travelling the world. Looks like the team are having to do a train heist.

However, before they're even able to plan their next move their meal is interrupted by Rotha's old friends, who are here to kill them all. Whilst Blade jumps into battle, ready to take them all down, the fight is stopped when Doctor Strange arrives on the scene, ready to deal with the coming apocalypse. 

This issue of Blade is a ton of fun to read, and it's one of those books that ends way too soon. The character interactions and the relationships that are forming are really good, and the way that Rotha and Blade seem to be building a working relationship is really nice to see. The two of them have a fun back and forth, and there are some good moments that display that here. With it looking like the team are going to have to do a big high-speed train heist, there's promise of more action to come, but there's also the promise of some more fun moments like this issue too as Blade and his new sidekick settle into a nice rhythm.

The book also looks fantastic thanks to great art by Elena Casagrande, Valentina Pinti, and KJ Diaz, who do a wonderful job at bringing things to life. The art is full of energy, and the action moments are really well done, but the art also sells the horror well too. The opening scene with Adana taking out the magic users is staged brilliantly, and is suitably horrific in its execution. And the moment when Blade's weapon blows Lord Daido into a cloud of gore is so wonderfully shocking and disgustingly created that it's jawdroppingly good.

This series is proving to be a great one, with a story that's interesting and is offering more than the expected Blade vs vampires story. It's given us some great moments so far, and looks set to keep delivering the unexpected and unusual.

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