Book Review: Writers of the Future, Volume XXVIII

I have always had a cordial relationship with science-fiction anthologies in the past. Whether it's something like Zoo 2000 that included various stories from different authors, or The Complete Robot  which included many short stories from one author I always enjoyed the bite-sized tidbits of science fiction goodness. And there were plenty of hours between exams or on long road trips where a handy anthology saved me from utter boredom. Plus, one of the great benefits of an anthology like the one I'm talking about today is you get to experience the writing styles of many different authors in one book and get introduced to some authors who you might to read more stories from in the future.

Writers of the Future, Volume XXVII, contains thirteen stories from 2011 written by first-time fantasy and science fiction authors and judged by a professional panel. I think it's really great that there's a way for aspiring authors to put their work out there and have the opportunity for it to be read by a wide variety of people and maybe get doors opened for them in the publishing world. I also enjoyed the stories contained within this anthology so I am thankful to the panel of judges for picking excellent stories for publication.

If I were to go into specific detail about all thirteen short stories we'd be here all day, so I'll instead keep this brief. There were definitely a few stories that I didn't really care for, but that was more my personal taste rather than the stories being outright bad or offensive. This book is a great way to kill time if you're waiting for an appointment or have a spare half hour, because you can read just one story and then put the book back down. Plus you might end up really liking what the author wrote and look for more stories and books from those authors in the future.

Overall it's a good anthology and I like its mission. If you're looking for thirteen quick stories to tide you over on the bus then you could definitely do worse than this.

- Kalpar

Sheep Book Review: Don't Be a Hero, by Chris Strange

Some of my readers may remember that earlier this year I read Chris Strange's debut novel, The Man Who Crossed Worlds, and I ended up really enjoying its pulp-noir urban fantasy feel. Well, recently Chris was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of his next novel, Don't Be a Hero. While it has nothing to do with the Miles Franco series, I still found it highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to adult fans of superheroes everywhere. (Trust me, this book is not for kids.)

If I were to summarize Don't Be a Hero, I would be forced to admit it bears more than a passing resemblance to Watchmen by Alan Moore, just set in New Zealand. Basically, in the mid twentieth century an explosion at Los Alamos resulted in Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and seven other people being exposed to radiation. Instead of dying from this exposure, Dr. Oppenheimer and his associates in typical Silver Age fashion developed superpowers and became a hero team known as the Manhattan Eight, and together they helped the allies defeat the Nazis and win World War II. The presence of the Manhattan Eight, however, did not stop the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and there were additional atomic bombings in places like Warsaw, Poland and Auckland, New Zealand. Of the survivors of such bombing, a number of people developed superpowers like the Manhattan Eight and became metahumans. Many went on to form their own crime-fighting teams or use their powers for the benefit of humanity.

As bright as the future seemed for the metahumans, it quickly turned out to be too good to be true. Along with the 100% chance of developing cancer as a result of their exposure to radiation, public opinion turned against the metahumans in the early 1960's and forced heroes everywhere to hang up the cape. Now most metahumans live in segregated ghettos as second class citizens and are mistrusted by the majority of the population. However, when a supervillain called Quanta emerges and starts putting a dangerous plan into action, only retiring superheroes Spook and the Carpenter can hope to stop him in time.

As I mentioned, this book has a lot of similar elements to Watchmen, such as a public mistrust of superheroes and legislation curtailing their activities. Don't Be a Hero is different, however, in two very important respects. The first is the fact that the world has to adapt to the existence of people with honest-to-god superpowers. While I really disagreed with the world's decision to tightly regulate metahumans and equip all of them with kill-switches as a safety feature, I at least understand their rationale for going to such extreme measures. The other big difference between Don't Be a Hero and Watchmen is that Watchmen is really analyzing the type of personality it would take to choose to dress up in a costume and go fight crime. Don't Be a Hero, however, really focuses on what it takes to become a superhero, beyond having some really nifty powers. If you enjoyed Watchmen, then you'll definitely enjoy this similar yet unique approach to superheroes.

I also had a few things in specific that I really liked about Don't Be a Hero, the first being one of our main characters, Niobe (aka Spook). To be perfectly honest, I hate that I'm giving credit for the fact that Chris wrote in a well-developed female character who also happened to be a lesbian. It's the twenty-first century, having characters like that really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. That being said, there is an unfortunate trend in fiction today to depict women certain ways in fiction and lesbians are frequently sources of fanservice rather than developed characters. However, in Don't Be a Hero I never felt like the fact that Niobe was a woman, and a homosexual woman at that, was ever a big deal. Her relationship with her girlfriend, Gabby, came across to me as realistic, adult, romantic relationship and I didn't feel like it existed purely as fanservice to the readers. Was there a little fanservice in there? Yeah, but their relationship had depth beyond that. So I ended up really appreciating Chris's writing in that regard.

The other thing I really liked about this book was Chris's inclusion of his native New Zealand as a setting in the novel. It's more of a personal pleasure, but I always appreciate it when an author sneaks in a little bit about their home area into the novel and leaves a distinct geographic fingerprint. Plus it was a refreshing change of pace to see superheroes running around in Auckland, New Zealand, instead of New York City where they seem to always end up for some reason.  I also liked Chris slipping native Maori culture into the narrative as well, something you just probably wouldn't get in New York City. Again, this is my own personal preference, but a refreshing change of pace from superheroes in the Big Apple.

If you're a fan of superheroes and superhero deconstructions, I definitely would recommend checking out Don't Be a Hero. I also recommend this book because I greatly enjoy Chris Strange's work and it's been an honor to know him since his first novel. (Thanks for the advance copy, Chris! And seriously, watch out for them sheep on your island!)

- Kalpar

Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, by Jim Bernheimer

There are plenty of benefits to being a supervillain, even if superheroes are constantly foiling your plans and wrecking your bases. You get to set your own hours, there are plenty of banks and jewelry stores to knock over if you're short on cash, and if your bases does get blown up there's still a pretty good chance you'll get away. Well, that's if you're a major league villain like the Evil Overlord or General Devious. If you're a minor-leaguer like Calvin Stringel, aka Mechani-CAL, life consists of more scraping to get by and the odd run in the slammer rather than devious plotting and world domination. Cal's had more than his fair share of bad breaks in his life and was trying to get out of the supervillain business for good. Fortunately Cal was in his power armor for a weapons deal when the Evil Overlord's mind-control slugs got released. Now the world's salvation lies in the most unlikely, and certainly not the most ethical, hands.

Overall, I liked this book as well, however I had one or two issues that I want to talk about later in my review. However, first I want to talk about what I think was really strong about Confessions of a D-List Supervillain. The first thing which I really liked was the main character of Calvin, even if I disagreed with some of his opinions on women at the start of the book and his far more...flexible morality. Despite his shortcomings when it came to character, I ended up really relating to Calvin because he's a down on his luck schmuck. Granted Calvin's a down on his luck schmuck with a couple of secret bases and a suit of power armor, but still a very relateable character. And if I'm being completely honest, his utter lack of self-confidence struck a very specific chord with me. Throughout the novel I came to like Calvin more and caring about all the misfortune that keeps following him around. I won't spoil the ending for you, but I was satisfied with how things ended up for Calvin.

The other thing that I really appreciated about this novel is that it became a very realistic deconstruction of the superhero genre. As the story continues and Calvin gets involved in the world of superheroes we find that many of these so-called heroes are no better than the villains they fight, the heroes just have better lawyers. I actually found it very believable that superheroes would be involved in dirty backroom deals and more interested in maintaining the image of their organizations than seeing that justice is actually done. It's very evocative of the internal corruption we frequently experience with our own politicians and I thought it was very well-done by the author.

As for what I disliked about this book, it boils down to two major issues. My first problem was that while Bernheimer has developed a wonderful and complex world of superheroes and supervillains, I still felt it was kind of thin around the edges. I found myself wondering where all of these superpowered people got their powers and some of the finer details about how this superhero economy works. I think Bernheimer could have made Confessions of a D-List Supervillain slightly longer and gone a little further in-depth into his world.

My other major issue was a fairly significant plot-twist towards the end of the novel. Much like the other book by Bernheimer I read, Prime Suspects, I felt like there wasn't a lot of lead-up to the twist and I felt kind of blindsided. The hints are there, but they aren't as well-developed and I think taking more time in the novels would have helped in that aspect.

Overall, despite my issues, Confessions of a D-List Supervillain was a very fun read for me and I'd definitely recommend it to all of my readers. It's definitely a must-read for anyone who liked other deconstruction of the superhero genre like Watchmen or The Incredibles. I definitely will keep Bernheimer on my list of authors to check out in the future.

- Kalpar
 

Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery, by Jim Bernheimer

I normally am not a huge fan of mystery novels, however I do enjoy the genre on occasion. And if there's some pretty cool sci-fi stuff involved then that's just icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery is set in the distant future when interstellar travel and the mass production of clones to do the actual work of settling planets has become commonplace. In his day, David Bagini was the best homicide detective on Darwin which made him an ideal candidate for a clone contract. Now his clones make up the homicide department of an entire planet. However, when the original David Bagini is found dead in his home it's up to the newest member of the department, Bagini Forty-Two, to solve the case. The problem is there's only one set of DNA at the crime scene and all forty-one suspects look pretty damn similar.

Overall I really liked this book and I'd recommend it for any of my sci-fi readers who are looking for a good mystery. I think what I liked the most about this book was seeing how the different Bagini clones developed over their lifetimes, which shows that they're not just mass-produced objects but proper people. There's the Bagini that became a dirty cop, the Bagini that became a hopeless alcoholic, and the Bagini that got religion. All of them started in a similar line of work with the same basic personality, but developed differently based on their own experiences. Of course, since this was a rather short book there wasn't much time to develop the idea to its fullest, but I think it did an excellent job in the time it had.

As for the actual mystery, I've got to admit I'm kind of on the fence. Since all the suspects have the same DNA, CSI-style lab wizardry isn't going to be any help, which I appreciate. However this also means that Bagini Forty-Two has to rely on the old methods of who has the opportunity and motive to commit the murder. And while I understand that it's part of good detective work I feel it leads to the detective making their accusation to the perpetrator and then the criminal mastermind spills the beans immediately on how and why they did it. I know I'm complaining that fiction doesn't follow real life exactly, but it always feels too darn neat and tidy for me. That said, it was still a pretty good detective novel and I enjoyed working on the case with Forty-Two.

My only other big complaint about Prime Suspects was the fairly big plot twist at the end. It makes a lot of sense in hindsight, but I still felt blind-sided and would have appreciated just one or two more hints. I think I enjoy plot twists a lot better when I can kind of predict them coming, or at least look back and see the evidence that they were coming but I didn't notice the first time. Again, that's more a matter of personal preference rather than anything else.

I definitely would recommend Prime Suspects for all my readers and I greatly appreciated the small Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy references as well. Come back next week when I talk about one of Bernheimer's other books, Confessions of a D-List Supervillain.

- Kalpar

Spellwright, by Blake Charlton

So to begin, I'm not really sure what to think about this book. There are a couple of original ideas and some of them are executed well, but some aren't. In addition there are a lot of ideas in this book that stray very little from fantasy tropes and made for somewhat tedious reading. Overall it left for me a very neutral impression about the book. Not something I hate, but not something I particularly liked either. Let me try to explain.

The story follows a series of events centered around Nicodemus Weal, an apprentice wizard at Starhaven, one of the academies of magic in Charlton's world. Magic is divided into a series of languages that only a select number of people see, and even then these spellwrights have to be taught the language's vocabulary and grammar to be able to see the language. Basically a spell consists of paragraphs of text of the magical language it's written in and if, for example, you wanted to make a magical wall you'd craft the wall out of paragraphs of the magical text. However people who didn't know the language you were using would run into the magical wall but wouldn't be able to see the text it's made of. Overall I thought it was an interesting idea and a novel take on magic.

The reason I explained how magic works in Spellwright is because Nicodemus is a cacographer, someone whose touch can gradually corrupt and misspell magical text. Now this may not seem a big deal but when a misspell can potentially explode in your face it can be downright dangerous to be a cacographer. In addition to their more fantastic abilities, cacographers are what we'd call dyslexic and very often don't even realize when they're misspelling words, even mundane ones. The author himself is dyslexic and it offered an interesting view into how hard it can be for someone with dyslexia in our text-driven world. Unfortunately this is where my problems also began with the book. (Sorry, spoilers.)

Basically when Nicodemus was a child his parents "gave" him his cacography through a magical artifact. If Nicodemus is holding the artifact then he can cast spells with absolute precision, but without it he has a very good chance of misspelling by accident or his touch corrupting the spell he's casting. The major problem I have with this is that Nicodemus becomes obsessed with retrieving the artifact and "completing" himself, even though there are plenty of cacographers who were just born that way and have no convenient artifact to "cure" them. Nicodemus himself, among other characters, state that there's nothing wrong with being a cacographer and they should use their disability to become stronger rather than be discouraged. Nicodemus even calls himself a hypocrite for telling other cacographers to accept who they are while searching for his own magic cure and it becomes very hard to sympathize with him. By the end of the book I seriously want to punch him a couple of times.

Another problem I had with the book, and this kind of extends to other fantasy novels as well, is how generic it was in some respects. Yeah, Charlton added his own elements, but the story's still about a chosen one who was in a couple of vague prophecies and will be instrumental in saving the world from a demon apocalypse. It's a fantasy trope that's been used time and time again and is just as worn out as the team of heroes going on a quest related to a magical artifact. In many respects Spellwright does not bring anything new to the table and suffers as a result.

Overall, I'd say it's an okay book, just somewhat poorly executed. Considering that this is Charlton's first book it definitely shows room for improvement and I hope that Charlton's later books get better as he continues to hone his skill. My final big issue, though, is that Spellwright is the first of a series of books that Charlton is planning on writing, although I have no idea where the series will end. And this is where Kalpar gives his unsolicited advice for aspiring authors.

"But Kalpar!" my readers are probably saying, "You yourself couldn't write a book to save your life! What gives you the right to give advice on something you yourself cannot and have not done?" Well, listen, I've read several books that were the first book by the author and were also the first of a series and here's what I noticed. Some of those books were bad, some were okay, but none of them were great. Your first book is going to be rough around the edges because you're still developing as an author and finding your voice. Even with my favorite author ever, Terry Pratchett, his first Discworld book The Colour of Magic is kind of rough in places. If the first book of your epic fantasy series still has that sort of unfinished character, then some readers may not be interested in finding out what happens with the rest of the series. So my advice is this: for your first book, just have some fun. Find an idea you like and run with it, don't worry about making a huge series. Develop your voice as a writer and then write your epic fantasy series. Maybe I'm just full of hot air but I definitely feel that it might help a few authors.

For a first book, Spellwright is fairly good, although I really hope Charlton addresses Nicodemus's hypocrisy in future books. If any of the concepts sounded interesting or you like mysteries then feel free to peruse it but be aware of its heavy use of tropes.

- Kalpar

Raiding the Stacks: Dracula, by Bram Stoker

About a month ago I was at a party and a friend of a friend mentioned Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel, Dracula, and mentioned it was much easier to read than Frankenstein. Having struggled through Frankenstein back when I was in high school, I decided to give Dracula a go and include it in my ongoing "Raiding the Stacks" feature. I will admit that it was overall still fairly difficult for me to read but I do not regret making the effort.

If you don't know the plot of Dracula then you've been missing for the past hundred years and I'd like to welcome you to the internet. Seriously, everyone knows at least the barest outlines of the plot by now: Count Dracula is a vampire, he leaves his home in Transylvania to go to England, sucks the blood of pretty women, and gets hunted down by Professor Van Helsing and his band of compatriots. It's a story that's been told, retold, deconstructed, reconstructed, and parodied countless times since its release in 1897. What Dracula has going for it is that it is the vampire novel and defined many tropes which are still with us today in vampire-related fiction.

The story of Dracula is told in what I have learned is the epistolary format, where the story is told as a collection of letters, diaries, and telegrams generated by the characters within the story as they record the events of the plot. For roughly the first half of the book we get to watch the characters trying to make sense of a series of very strange events, and it's sort of like a mystery watching various pieces of information come together. However, considering how well-known the basic plot is it's not much of a mystery, but I at least was still guessing at some parts because I didn't know everything. The book's a little slow to pick up because the different characters are piecing together their information and figuring out what exactly they're fighting, but once you get into the second half it's pretty non-stop and the action doesn't end until the very last page. I felt like the book could have used a little more closure at the end but at least it didn't suffer ending fatigue.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind about this story is that Dracula's powers and weaknesses don't seem to be very well-defined, or in some cases include facts that haven't been included in later vampire stories. For example, if a vampire's in his casket apparently a branch of wild rose across it will prevent him from leaving. Also, the heart of a vampire does not have to be destroyed by a wooden stake (although Van Helsing seems to prefer them) and in a pinch a good bowie knife will do. In addition Dracula walks around in the sunlight a couple of times during the story, but at other times is confined to his coffin during the day and there's no real explanation as to why this is the case. But the most well-defined powers and weaknesses remain with us: a vampire's ability to turn into a bat or dust as well as their ability to command wolves and other creatures; their weakness to garlic, a crucifix, and other holy items; and the need for vampires to regularly rest in the soil where they were buried. Many of these tropes remain part of vampire lore today, although I don't think the vampires that the I Smell Sheep flock read about are exactly the same.

I will say that the one thing I really liked about this story was that the vampires are monsters that have to be defeated by man. Yes, the vampire has powers beyond our comprehension and can even hypnotize humans into doing his bidding, but the vampire can only think about himself and his own goals.We humans are not only able to work together and work for a good greater than ourselves, but we are capable of working together to accomplish those goals. It is only through the combined efforts and unique skills of the members of Professor Van Helsing's team that they're able to track down and not only defeat Dracula, but raze his lair as well. Vampires may think they are better than us and hold us in contempt, but they are little more than animals that only deserve to be hunted down to extinction.

If you're curious about the origins of vampire fiction Dracula is the book to go to, and if you want to write your own vampire novel it can definitely give you some ideas. You definitely shouldn't be rooting for the vampires, though, you should be rooting for the kickass vampire hunters like Professor Abraham Van Helsing or Texan Quincey Morris. If nothing else, this book reminds us that through hard work and cooperation we humans can band together and defeat the monsters.

- Kalpar

Legacy of Wolves, by Marsheila Rockwell

Overall I actually liked this book and I'm going to do the best I can to explain that, but first I want to talk a little bit about Dungeons & Dragons, and more specifically the Eberron setting. As pretty much all of my readers know, Dungeons & Dragons is the tabletop RPG beloved by nerds for generations. Originally created by Gary Gygax in 1974 the franchise went through a number of different companies and a couple of rule changes until getting picked up by Wizards of the Coast, who created the 3.0 and 3.5 editions. Currently D&D is in its fourth edition, however due to fan backlash Wizards is looking towards creating a fifth edition and what will happen after that remains to be seen.

However, the D&D rulebooks don't provide much by the way of setting. Sure there are pantheons of deities and the planes of existence, but much of the world creation is left up to each game's Dungeon Master. Eberron was created by Keith Baker and was the winning entry in a 2002 survey by Wizards for a different setting for D&D stories. I actually never learned that much about Eberron because none of my friends were ever particularly interested and Eberron is...well, it's different. As in, we have magic lightning-powered trains and halflings riding on dinosaurs different. So I was initially a little worried about reading this book because I knew next to nothing about the setting and was afraid I would quickly get lost and confused in the universe. And despite some initial disorientation, Rockwell's writing managed to get me comfortable with the universe very quickly.

Rockwell's writing does an excellent job in explaining at least some aspects of the Eberron setting. In a universe as rich and complex as Eberron one book simply would not be enough to cover everything. However, I now have a better understanding of the powerful merchant houses whose influence and finances rival medium-sized nations, as well as the religious tension between followers of the Silver Flame and followers of the Sovereign Host. Thanks to her I came away from Legacy of Wolves with a much better understanding of the Eberron universe and an interest in learning more about it, whether through stories by other writers or through playing the Eberron setting.

I was extremely thankful for the plot of Legacy of Wolves which did not follow a standard fantasy plot which I have become particularly tired of reading recently. (I.e. the heroes go on a quest to defeat some sort of evil. Original when Tolkien did it, kind of boring seventy years later.) Legacy of Wolves follows the investigations of Irulan Silverclaw, paladin Andri Aeyliros, dwarven inquisitive Greddark d'Kundark, and to a lesser extent the bard Zoden ir'Marktaros, into a series of grisly murders in the city of Aruldusk which are being blamed on the local shifter population. Shifters, descendants of lycanthrope and human parents, have never had an easy existence around Aruldusk, a city ruled by the church of the Silver Flame which has a long-standing vendetta against lycanthropes. Although many now know shifters are not evil like their lycanthrope kin, old prejudices remain and many shifters were killed in the church's Purge.

Irulan, both a shifter and a follower of the Silver Flame, goes to the church's headquarters to beg an audience when her brother is imprisoned as a suspect in one of the murders. The Keeper of the Flame, the leader of the Silver Flame, is worried by Irulan's tale and sends paladin Andri Aeyliros with her to investigate the murders and prevent a repeat of the Purge. Meanwhile Zoden ir'Marktaros begs his cousin the queen for aid when his twin brother, Zodal, is murdered right in front of him. Zoden suspects that there is more to this chain of murders and that they had meant to kill him rather than Zodal. Although his cousin cannot officially provide support, she hires the dwarf inquisitive Greddar d'Kundark to investigate the murders and help keep Zoden alive.

The only issue I had with the actual murder-mystery plot is that we get two or three leads on the murders in Aruldusk which turn out to be red herrings. Seriously I got to about the three-fourths mark in the book and I still had no idea who the actual killer could be so I was getting a little frustrated. In mysteries I like to at least have an inkling before the big reveal. That complaint aside, I ended up really liking the story and the incredibly deep world in which it was set.

Story and setting aside I had a little trouble with the characters. Most of the main characters were either orphans or estranged from their parents which is so over-used with Dungeons & Dragons character that it's practically a cliche at this point. Did it make sense within the context of the plot? Yes, but I was internally kind of going, "Oh, come on, more orphans?" (That's more the complaint of a bitter DM who's seen too many bad character backstories, though.) The other issue I had with the characters was the romance between Irulan and Andri, and not because the romance existed at all! I know I give Katie a hard time but I'm not opposed to seeing characters enter and pursue relationships. It just felt rushed, in my opinion, because they had known each other for about a month in the book and it felt like an unrealistic time frame for that sort of relationship to develop.

All my little itty-bitty issues aside, I actually really liked this book. For fans of D&D and the Eberron setting, or people who are curious about Eberron in general this is a really good book to pick up. And if you're interested in reading a mystery in a fantasy setting Legacy of Wolves is a great example. I definitely recommend all my readers go check it out.

B.A.

Captain America: Hail Hydra!

About a month ago I was browsing my local comic book store looking for any interesting trade paperbacks. Fortunately for me I found one that look quite interesting titled Captain America: Hail Hydra!, which follows Captain America's seventy-year struggle with Hydra and his attempts to foil their Infinitas Agenda. Although the story contained less zombies than I was initially lead to believe (and no time travel for that matter) I was highly satisfied with this story and even learned a little about Captain America's history along the way.

To provide a brief overview of the plot, during the dark days of World War II Captain America and his sidekick Bucky break into a German research facility run by the Thule Society and headed by the sinister Dr. Geist. Cap and Bucky quickly discover that the Thule Society is simply one of countless fronts for Hydra and their Infinitas Agenda, Hydra's attempt to not only achieve immortality but gain total control over life and death. Cap thought he had defeated Hydra in World War II but when the Avengers revive him from the Arctic ice he discovers that Geist, Hydra, and his Resurrection Corps managed to escape the fall of Nazi Germany. With the Avengers and other new allies, Cap manages to defeat Hydra time and time again but somehow the bad guys always seem to be one step ahead. Will Cap be able to stop Hydra once and for all?

The one thing that I really liked about this story was its sense of depth. The Captain America: Hail Hydra! trade paperback collects five issues of the same story arc, all of which were made by different artists. Sergio Cariello, Tom Scioli, Phil Winslade, Kyle Hotz, and Graham Nolan all brought their artistic talents to this story and gave each issue within the trade a unique look and feel while keeping it part of an overarching story. (Also, special mention goes to Tom Scioli, I feel like he really captured the 1960's feel in the issue he illustrated.) In addition the comics really help convey a sense of time to Cap's ongoing struggle with Hydra. We see Cap fight Hydra in the closing days of World War II, only to discover them stronger than ever in the 1960's when the Avengers rescue him from the ice. Even when Steve Rogers's disagreements with the American Government force him to abandon his previous mantle and become simply, "The Captain", Dr. Geist and Hydra remain one of his chief concerns. Cap's war with Hydra continues into the modern day after the Marvel Civil War. Steve Rogers may have passed his shield onto James Barnes, but as commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. he isn't finished trying to foil Hydra's plans. Included in Cap's own story arc are glimpses of Hydra's efforts on the quest to immortality. Hydra's history spans from ancient Mesopotamia and the days of Gilgamesh to the dark torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition. Although it's a little unbelievable for an evil organization to be thousands of years old, we're dealing with a story that includes literal gods, mutants, and zombies so I shouldn't be surprised at all.

I will admit that I'm still very, very new to being a Captain America fan so I wasn't exactly familiar with some of the more specific aspects of Cap's history, for example when Steve Rogers had his disagreement with the U.S. government and became just The Captain. However each issue provided interesting glimpses into Cap's publication history and gave me a better understanding of the character's development over the years.

Overall I would recommend this book for Captain America fans. Characters like Iron Man, Nick Furey, and Thor are prominent guest-stars, but they're really not the focus of the story. I felt like this really was a story about Steve Rogers and his quest to defeat Hydra more than anything else. But for any fan of Captain America this is a great look at Cap's history and an excellent story with plenty of zombie-smashing action. Definitely a must-read for Captain America fans of all ages. (Well, above fourteen at least. There's some pretty serious stuff in there.)

- Kalpar

Kalpar Lectures: Da Orks

Today I'm going to continue with the Kalpar Lectures series, which so far has been me explaining Warhammer 40,000 stuff to those who are unfamiliar with the franchise. And honestly, I've been in the mood to talk about the Orks. I don't know why, and since the orks never really go for much logic themselves it seems a perfect time.

To start, I'll talk a little about how the Orks play on the tabletop. I will admit that I have never personally fought Orks on the field or know anyone who fields the so a lot of what I'm going on is what other people have written on the internet and what information I can surmise from their stat blocks. Now, apparently like the Space Marines there are a lot of options available to the Ork player, however Orks have the advantage of being much cheaper in terms of points than Space Marines. (Don't expect to shell out less money, though. This is Warhammer 40k after all.) Thus in a 1,500 point army you can field significantly more Orks and overwhelm your enemy with sheer weight of numbers. However, while Marines can do pretty much anything at least competently if not extremely well, Orks gravitate towards close combat. Orks are extremely tough and have a decent Weapon Skill which makes them well-suited to close combat, while having a fairly low Ballistic Skill. A common tactic is called the "Green Tide" in which a large number of Orks are sent towards the enemy battle line and engage them in brutal hand-to-hand fighting. The greatest appeal of the Orks, though, is their fluff material and status as the comedic relief race of Warhammer 40k.

When talking about Orks, it's important to mention their biology. Simply put, Orks are a splice of fungal and animal DNA by an ancient race of aliens to fight the Necrons. (The Necrons are a race of zombie robots who want to wipe out all life in the galaxy to appease their dark gods. More on them later.) As a result, Orks have very few organs to damage, the remaining organs are extremely hardy and they're green. Seriously, the reason Orks are green in 40k is because they're a type of fungus. Like most fungi, Orks reproduce by spreading spores constantly and they emit a large number of spores when they die. This means that in terms of population Orks outnumber humans by a significant margin, and any planet unlucky enough to be invaded by the greenskins will probably never really be free of them. What is even weirder about the Orks is that the mysterious precursors have hard-wired certain Orks to turn into Mekboyz and Painboyz, which practice engineering and medicine respectively. Well....what passes for engineering and medicine in Ork circles anyway.

An important thing to keep in mind about Orks is that their very race runs on a weird kind of psychology. Basically anything the Orks believe to be true....becomes true. Warbosses and Nobz, the leaders of Ork society, grow bigger and stronger because Orks that are in charge are supposed to be the biggest and 'ardest boyz around. Because Orkz never stop growing during their lifetime it's not unusual for an Ork Warboss to be nine or twelve feet tall. In fact Warboss Ghazghkull, one of the more notorious Ork Warbosses, apparently clocks in at over eighteen feet tall, all of it well-honed killing muscle.

The Ork gestalt psychology gets even weirder when you start looking at their technology. For example Orks believe that "red wunz go faster", and oddly enough vehicles with red paint do move faster. Most of Ork technology is scrap metal and whatever parts they can find, welded or bolted together in some semblance of the desired product, that somehow works. Many an Imperial enginseer has looked at a captured Ork vehicle, only to conclude that the ramshackle monstrosity shouldn't even be able to move, much less fight under combat conditions. Taken to its logical conclusion, as my friends like to joke, if you give an Ork a stick and tell him it's a gun, somehow the stick will shoot bullets.

The Ork mentality is very simple and straightforward: the Orks love having fun. The best way to have fun? Fight. I guess the point I'm trying to convey is that Orks love to fight all the time. If there isn't someone else to fight, the Orks will fight amongst themselves for any reason imaginable, including if they're just bored. Did I mention they love to fight? As far as the Orks see it, at the end of the day if they won, they won, if they died, then they died fighting and it doesn't count, and if they had to run away, well they can come back for another go. It may seem an odd mentality, but in the rather dark world of 40k it's downright optimistic.

Broadly speaking the Orks are divided into six major clans, each which have their own unique characteristics and wears a specific color. The clans are as follows:

• Bad Moons: Wearing yellow, the Bad Moons are the wealthiest of the clans because their teeth grow most quickly. (Oh yeah, Orks use teeth as currency.) As a result the Bad Moons have the flashiest equipment and love the big shootas.
• Blood Axes: The only clan without a distinct color, the Blood Axes have the longest history of fighting the Imperium of Man. As a result they've begun to pick up tactics like camouflage and battle plans. As a result a large number of Warbosses come from the Blood Axes.
• Deathskulls: Wearing blue because it's a lucky color, the Deathskulls specialize in looting equipment from the battlefield, sometimes even while the battle is still raging. As a result they have a large number of converted enemy tanks in their arsenal.
• Evil Sunz: Orks who love speed, it's common to see an entire Evil Sunz army charging along on cobbled-together motorcycles and wartrukks. Because they love to go fast, and as you know, red ones go faster, the Evil Sunz often wear red themselves.
• Goffs: The toughest of the Ork clans, the Goffs love getting into the thick of close combat. The Goffs wear black they consider other colors to be "un-Orky".
• Snakebites: The Snakebites are staunch traditionalists and generally look down on using new-fangled technology. While other Ork clans might use armor and vehicles, the Snakebites use war paint and ride into battle on giant boars. Although less common in the more-developed Ork hordes, Snakebites are still a dangerous force.

Usually the various clans fight amongst themselves, but on occasion a cunning Warboss can unite the various clans into a mighty WAAGH!, a mighty invasion of Orks which is best described as one part mass migration, one part holy war, and one part pub crawl. Any planet that finds themselves in the path of an oncoming WAAGH! is in serious trouble.

At the end of the day, the Orks are a brutal race that love to fight and get into trouble. However they're also downright silly, with technology as likely to harm them or break down as it is to actually harm their enemies. As dangerous and intimidating as the Orks are, I still find them kind of funny and their philosophy rather logical. In the Grim Darkness of the 41st millennium where there is only war, perhaps the Orks are the ones that have it all figured out. If you're going to die horribly on a battlefield, you might as well enjoy it, right? The Orks certainly seem to enjoy it, and they're definitely not going away anytime soon.

- Kalpar

Sudden Death Overtime, by Steve Vernon

Well unfortunately this is going to be a shorter review because Sudden Death Overtime is a novella rather than a full-length book so there's just not as much material to review. Sudden Death Overtime is an e-book by Steve Vernon which I initially picked up because Vernon said it was the story of an aging Canadian hockey team who takes on a gang of vampires. I figured, "Why not? I don't hate the Cincinnati Cyclones and I like people fighting vampires. Certainly could be interesting." And it is...interesting. Just not quite in the way I expected.

Sudden Death Overtime, at least as I found it, is more a book about getting old and accepting death rather than being about fighting vampires. Much of the story's focus was on the characters like Fergus, Leo, and Sprague and their thoughts about leaving the world behind. Which comes to the one problem I have with the story, the vampires seem to lack motivation. They come to a remote Canadian town and start picking off people, specifically old people, but we never find out why. I'd say maybe it's a metaphor for death but I got the distinct impression the vampires were very real in this book. If anyone else reads this story let me know what you think.

If you've got an hour to spare and are interested in seeing some old geezers fight some vampires, Sudden Death Overtime is definitely worth a look. Be warned though that there's plenty of graphic imagery so this book isn't for the easily offended.

-Kalpar.

Rust: Visitor in the Field, by Royden Lepp

All right, so to end this week of Archaia graphic novels I'm going to talk about the first volume of the Rust series by Royden Lepp, Visitor in the Field. Let me begin by saying that I absolutely loved this book and look forward to the next book in this series to come out in September of 2012.

Rust is a dieselpunk story and I want to talk a little bit about dieselpunk before I go on with the review. Some of my reviewers might be familiar with steampunk which is a genre of science fiction usually set in the late 19th century and makes extensive use of steam-based technology. Thematically speaking steampunk tends to be optimistic and includes the belief that technology will make tomorrow better than today. Dieselpunk is a little different in that it is typically in the early 20th century, specifically between the World Wars, and electricity and internal combustion engines have supplanted the steam engine as the main sources of power. Thematically dieselpunk is more an homage to the pulp adventure novels of the 30's and 40's with hard-boiled detectives, intrepid reporters and hotshot fighter pilots among other characters. Overall dieselpunk tends to be darker and grittier than steampunk thematically, but that's not always the case anymore. Today dieselpunk and steampunk stories range from highly idealistic to highly cynical and the only real way to tell between the two is their technologies. The Rust series is definitely dieselpunk with plentiful electric and petroleum-based technology.

The book opens on a battlefield which reminds me largely of World War I with gas masks and Brodie helmets, but we quickly realize that this world is not like our own when robot soldiers, giant mechanical walkers, and jetpack troopers are deployed in an increasingly deadly battlefield. We then jump forty-eight years to the "present" and meet Roman Taylor, struggling to keep his family farm running as he writes a letter to his father. Roman recently met a boy with a jetpack known only as Jet Jones who was being pursued by a leftover mech from the war. Roman and Jet manage to beat the robot and Jet has been helping the Taylor family on the farm since. There is definitely more to Jet than meets the eye because he can use his jetpack with ease but is far too young to have fought in the war, and more importantly why was that walker chasing him in the first place? Lepp leaves some tantalizing hints to Jet's true identity while layering on additional levels of mystery to his story.

I do have two complaints about Visitor in the Field and in the sense of fairness I should definitely talk about it. The first issue I had was that all of the pictures in this comic were a sepia tone brown. I understand the thematic reasons Lepp probably went with this color, imitating the colors of old photographs we have from the 30's and 40's and to his credit I can at least tell objects apart. I just like more color in my comics and that's a personal preference. The other issue I have is that I'm not quite sure when the war that forms the world's backstory ended. It's implied that the war is over, but since Roman's father is missing I wonder if the war's still going on and Roman's father is fighting on the front lines. I was wondering if the 48 years caption was a mistake but Mr. Aicot, a grandfather, served in the war as a young man so I assume it has been 48 years. I guess the only conclusion is that the war lasted around forty or more years but I feel like the devastation would have been far more widespread than it appears in the book. Sure, characters like Ava and Oswald are physically disabled and that could be a side effect of the war, but they're children who were nowhere near a battlefront so I'm left confused. I hope Lepp clarifies more in his next book, but we'll just have to see.

Timeline issues aside, I really liked Visitor in the Field. The technology is familiar and yet the same time alien. The world has an overall feel of run down and exhausted from a devastating war and I can feel the struggle of the Taylor family to just get by. We are given enough information about Jet to make his story intriguing but not boring. I'm curious to see where this story goes and maybe finding out about the world beyond the Taylor farm. I definitely recommend all my readers go and check Lepp's Rust series out and I will be looking forward to Secrets of the Cell in September.

-Kalpar

Inanna's Tears, from Archaia Comics

I have mixed feelings about this comic. Let me preface this review by saying that Inanna's Tears isn't bad, but I feel like I sort of missed whatever point Vollmar and MPMann were trying to make with this comic. I know that there was a larger overall theme to this comic because the introduction and afterword both said as much, but I am still left befuddled.

Overall I would say this comic has a mythical atmosphere. It is set in the ancient Sumer civilization of the Fertile Crescent and while the authors mentioned they did some historical research, historical accuracy was not their intended goal. And honestly I can't get too mad about lack of historical accuracy seeing as we have a hazy idea at best about what Sumerian civilization was like. The simplistic artwork actually strengthened the mythic connection in my mind and reminded me of cave paintings and early art so I would call the art style a strength rather than a weakness of this comic.

Now, since I've chosen to look at Inanna's Tears as a myth rather than historical fact, that leaves the important question what is this myth trying to say? When you get down to it all myths have an idea couched within the story. Early creation myths were mankind's attempt to understand how humanity came to exist and why we exist, while myths about George Washington's honesty and humility tried to spread a set of moral ideals to American youth. The only message I seem to get from Inanna's Tears is that any decision you take is meaningless and it left a sour taste in my mouth. To really expand on this I guess I need to spoil the plot so you've been warned.

WARNING! BELOW BE SPOILERS THE KALPAR HAS DEEMED NECESSARY FOR HIS REVIEW! WE TOLD YOU SO!

All right, so the plot of Inanna's Tears centers around the city of Birith, the holy city of the goddess Inanna, ruled over by the priesthood and lead by the high priest, or En, who also serves as Inanna's consort. While the temple of Inanna is the absolute authority within Birith, much of the power outside the city walls is in the hands of the Lugals. The Lugals, lead by a man named Belipotash, were a tribe of mountain people who once invaded Birith. In exchange for sparing the city, the Lugals were granted land allotments outside Birith and have gained considerable economic power but lack the political power and prestige of Birith's priesthood. However it appears that Belipotash may soon get the opportunity he needs.

The En of Birith, Ardru, has grown extremely old and is approaching the end of his life. Birith would normally be in a great deal of turmoil over the death of the En and the appointment of a successor, but the turmoil is increased further when Entika, a temple daughter and a woman, is appointed by Ardru to the traditionally male role of En. Aside from gender prejudice, Entika must face the problem that the old ways of doing things in Birith aren't working anymore. Fields which once provided bountiful harvests year after year have, through sustained agriculture, become leeched of all nutrients and little more than sandboxes. The city of Birith has become more and more dependent upon both trade for their survival and the records kept on clay tablets. Meanwhile an increasing number of people agree to work in the Lugal's fields as common laborers in exchange for enough food to sustain themselves. Clearly the old ways of doing things are no longer working and Entika as En is looking for alternative means to keep her city alive.

There's a subplot which I mention mainly because A. David Lewis, the man who wrote the introduction, makes a pretty big deal about it. Basically Anarin, the man in charge of the scribes who keep the records for Birith and a close friend of Entika, has been developing an alphabet so he can write down the daily prayers to Inanna. Obviously it's an important innovation and it could have long-lasting effects on Birith's society. Entika, more out of surprise than anything else, accidentally drops the clay tablet with the written prayers and shatters it. Entika interprets this as a sign of Inanna's displeasure and forbids Anarin from rewriting the prayers. Ultimately I was left with a far different impression than Mr. Lewis as to the importance of this subplot. Mr. Lewis came up with this grand thesis stating that Inanna is anti-writing and favors an oral tradition selectively revealed rather than the more egalitarian print. While I respect Mr. Lewis's opinion...I really do not see it anywhere within the story. Really what I see this event doing is pushing Entika to the position that the people of Birith must hold onto the ancient traditions and keep their faith in Inanna who will see them through these times of trouble.

The Lugals on the other hand are proponents of change, even if that change is simply placing Belipotash and his cadre in charge of Birith rather than the En and her advisers. Through a series of well-coordinated riots the Lugals manage to sow discontent and take control of Birith, imprisoning Entika and the guildmasters and effectively cutting off the head of Birith's government. Belipotash is also apparently in favor of Anarin's writing system and asks Anarin to write down a story, except...we never are told Belipotash's story or see the effects of it being written down so it's kind of a plot that gets abandoned halfway through. Belipotash seeks to cement his rule in Birith by introducing the Lugal fire god, Geru, as a consort to Inanna and thus symbolically unite the two factions through faith. Entika initially agrees to cooperate and even represent Inanna in a symbolic ritual where she and Belipotash as Geru will consecrate the temple in sexual union. Halfway through the ceremony Entika changes her mind, driving Belipotash into a rage in which he kills Entika and orders the death of all the guildmasters and leaders of Birith. And you know, it would be really interesting to see what happens as a result of Belipotash's actions except...everyone dies.

Yeah, I'm not kidding. A giant flood comes along, wipes out Birith and kills everyone.

Honestly the only message I can conclude from that ending is all of life is meaningless and it doesn't really matter what we do because we're all going to die anyway. *Shrug*

Overall I get the impression there were three or four directions that Vollmar and Mann wanted to go with this story, and just halfway through they were forced to abandon most of them. Especially with a kill-them-all and wipe out all traces ending I feel like the creators were dissatisfied with how it turned out and just wanted to see an end to the project more than anything. Of course it's very likely I am far off the mark in saying that but it's my overall impression. Especially when I consider the relative brevity of this work, five chapters of twenty-six pages each, I think Inanna's Tears would have benefited from sticking to one theme for their story rather than incorporating several disparate elements.

A final important note, this book is rated mature because of nudity, and I know that can be offensive to some people. I didn't find this nudity particularly sexual, more a side effect of these people live somewhere hot so they don't wear much clothing to compensate. I didn't find it offensive, and I'm even the anti-smut guy, but people should be aware that it's in there in small doses.

Overall I was just kind of confused and a little disappointed with how Innana's Tears ended and I think this comic would have benefited from more story development. What ended up in the book was good, but I felt like there were a lot of ideas the creators had that had to be abandoned to meet space requirements. I would definitely suggest checking it out for yourself but maybe waiting on buying it.

- Kalpar

Awakening, from Archaia Comics

As this stupendous week of Kalpar reviews continues we take a look at Awakening from Archaia Comics. Awakening is a zombie story written by Nick Tapalansky with art by Alex Eckan-Lawn and edited by Thomas Mauer, although there is more to this comic than just zombies. The comic is set in the city of Park Falls, a normally quiet community and typical slice of Americana. However, the town has recently been beset by a string of gruesome murders and disappearances which ends up being a harbinger of far worse things.

Private detective Derrick Peters, formerly of the Park Falls police force, is investigating the disappearance of a local man. The man's car was found outside of town but no trace of the missing man leaves both Derrick and the police baffled. As the investigation continues Derrick is visited by Cynthia Ford who claims that the cause of the disappearances and murders is zombies. But since Cynthia has in the past claimed that the mayor of Park Falls sells children to cannibals up north her claims are met with considerable skepticism. But lacking any other leads Derrick decides to investigate Cynthia's claims and finds that even a blind pig occasionally finds an acorn. Soon the citizens of Park Falls discover zombies are a very real concern, especially after Dr. Daniel Howe is sent to Park Falls by the Department of Defense. Soon Dr. Howe and Derrick are racing to find answers before the outbreak consumes the world.

Overall I was actually disappointed with this comic and I have to regretfully suggest to my readers to just pass this one by. Fortunately it is not because the story of this comic is lacking at all, there is plenty going on to this comic besides just zombies. We get to see the development and motivation of characters, we see their histories which gives them a lot of depth. We also get to see how people cope with a world that is gradually overrun with zombies and how they cope on a psychological level. Overall I felt that the story was well-done and while it has a major downer ending I wasn't left dissatisfied. However a comic cannot stand on the merits of its story alone and good art is essential for a good comic.

I've scanned a couple of pages from Awakening to help illustrate my specific problems with the overall comic. And I'm willing to accept that this might just be my opinion on the matter because art is after all subjective. If you see these pictures and like the art then feel free to check out Awakening.

The first thing I noticed is the tendency for a lot of pages to be dominated by one background color, most of them some sort of shade of brown or blue-grey but some with a sort of pea soup green. I mention this because it's not just the backgrounds that are dominated by these colors, but often the people and objects in the foreground as well. Here's an example:

I picked some pages with as little dialog as possible to help focus on the art. In the above example Cynthia has just told Derrick that the murders are caused by zombies and he tells her to get out. As you may notice the page is dominated by brown and, this is just my opinion, but it looks like it's been stained with tea or coffee. In addition the skin of the characters on this page are the same color as the background. It's not so much of a problem in this instance because of the heavy lines which separate the characters from the background and the color of their clothing, but I just found it unappealing on a visual level. Unfortunately the color is a consistent problem, as illustrated in my next example.

In this page we see Derrick get attacked by and fight off a zombie, however this page is dominated by the blue-grey I was talking about earlier. Now I understand doing the zombie the same color as the background because it's sneaking up on Derrick but why is Derrick the same color as the background? It again forces us to rely on heavy lines to distinguish the characters from the background and makes everything look the same. Another point I would like to make is that the art gets very very fuzzy in this comic, almost as if I have cataracts. Again this is just me, but I prefer the comics I read to have clear, crisp lines and at least some variation of color rather than the heavy lines, dominant color single color and fuzzy edges. I did feel that the art gradually got better towards the end so I included another example.

Again, more of Derrick fighting zombies. In this case there is a little more variation in terms of color and we don't need thick lines to distinguish the characters from the background. The lines are tighter and the action is more visible. However, it still has the problem of being dominated by a single color with little variation, and it's fuzzy in some places. Overall I felt like the artwork could have been done much, much better.

Now, if you will permit me I will include an example from one of my favorite webcomics, The Zombie Hunters by Jenny Romanchuk. Again I have picked an image with minimal dialog to help focus on the art.

In this page we have the character Katie McWilliams inspecting an alley when a zombie suddenly jumps behind her for a surprise attack. As you'll notice both Katie, the zombie and the background all have clear, crisp lines which provide a great level of detail. Furthermore we can clearly tell both the zombie and Katie from the background through the use of both color and lines. Although Katie and the zombie are both wearing mostly drab colors, the colors are distinct from the green of the fence on one side and the tan of the wall on the other. This helps us separate Katie and the zombie from the background and prevents the page from being dominated by one color. I don't think I can stress the use of color enough in my review here. In The Zombie Hunters most of the backgrounds have brown, grey or other drab colors and provides an overall mood that this is a dying world overrun with zombies. However the characters have little splashes of color which first provides little hints of personality and second helps distinguish them from the background: Katie's red coat, Jenny's orange bear hat, Samantha's blue hair. They help show that these characters are little scraps of life left in a mostly-dead world. Maybe an opinion, but I feel like it's important.

I feel like color could have been used to greater extent in Awakening because we get to see the world slowly be overtaken by the undead menace. In the beginning of the comic there could have been a variety of colors to help imply the vitality of the world before the fall. But as the zombie menace grows they could have incorporated more and more drab colors like brown and grey to help imply that the life is slowly being leached out of the world. It would have been a far more powerful use of color than just brown and grey throughout the whole comic.

Ultimately the story was good and raised some interesting points, but the story alone was not enough for this comic. I found the art to be visually unappealing and detracted from my reading experience. Really I can only suggest picking this book up if you liked the examples of the art that I included in this review. If this is your cup of tea then go for it, otherwise I would just say avoid Awakening.

- Kalpar

Oh, all images are copyright of their respective owners and used under fair use.

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen

"But Kalpar!" my two readers are exclaiming at this moment, "Today is Tuesday and you update on Thursdays. What sorcery is this?" Fear not, gentle reader, for this review is simply a harbinger of a Kalpar-filled week for everyone. The lovely people over at Archaia Comics sent me four shiny comics to read and write reviews about. Now normally my review schedule is one per week, but I'd hate to stretch these reviews out over a month, especially with my ever-growing to be read pile. So I've decided that for this week I shall bring my readers four nice and shiny new reviews Tuesday through Thursday this week. Without further ado let's get to Mouse Guard: Fall 1152.

Mouse Guard as a series is an on-going bimonthly comic book written and drawn by David Petersen. Mouse Guard originated as an idea Petersen had, "Mice have a culture all their own; too small to integrate with other animals." Petersen continued to expand and elaborate on this idea until 2005 when he began producing Mouse Guard. Today Mouse Guard is a highly-praised comic book which continues to detail Petersen's imaginative world and has won an Eisner Award. (Basically an Oscar for comics.) The book that I am reviewing today is Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, a collection of the first six comics of Mouse Guard and resolves the first story arc.

I must admit, I initially had significant hesitations about reading Mouse Guard. I read the Redwall series a long time ago as a kid and ended up having two specific issues with the series which has made me hesitant to read other stories of anthropomorphic animals. The first problem is the fact that Redwall Abbey and the mountain fortress of Salamandastron seem to be the only settlements of any note on the entire continent. As a result Brian Jacques's world feels underdeveloped and lacking serious depth. (It also raises the question, where are all these huge armies of vermin coming from?) The other main issue I had with the Redwall series was the undercurrents of racism, specifically the assumption that all rats, stoats and other "vermin" are inherently evil. The most blatant example is in Outcast of Redwall where Veil the ferret, who was raised by the "good guys" at Redwall ends up evil anyway. You can argue it was because he was poorly treated by the residents of Redwall and pushed him towards evil, but the book explicitly states that he is inherently evil. I know that in many fantasy novels this casual racism is an unfortunate side effect, but to be frank it still bothers me. Fortunately Petersen manages to avoid both of these specific issues in his story.

First, Petersen appears to have created an incredibly detailed world and the map shows somewhere between twenty and thirty mouse settlements. I liked the level of depth and detail to his world and found myself believing that it could actually be real. I also feel that Petersen manages to avoid the issue of racism in this book by having the conflict be an internal mouse vs. mouse affair rather than mice vs. vermin. Petersen's ability as a storyteller and a world-builder are highly apparent and I actually look forward to exploring more of the Mouse Guard series.

This specific book introduces us to Petersen's world of a secret mouse civilization. In constant fear of predators the mice have built their cities in isolated and hard-to-reach places such as beneath trees and rock outcroppings. As a result most of these settlements are self-governing but are in contact with and trade with the other mouse settlements across their territories. However travel between settlements is very dangerous and travelers depend upon the brave members of the Mouse Guard as guides and protectors.

We are introduced to Lieam (green cloak), Kenzie (blue cloak), and Saxon (red cloak) who are investigating the disappearance of a grain merchant who was travelling alone. The guards discover that the grain merchant was tragically eaten by a snake but far more concerning is he possessed a detailed map of Lockhaven, the fortress of the Mouse Guard. Clearly someone has betrayed the Mouse Guard and the race is on to warn the officers of the Guard at Lockhaven before the traitors can act.

Overall I actually enjoyed this book. The world was well-fleshed out and I was left wanting to learn more about this Petersen's world. However if you're a parent looking for something your kids might enjoy I would definitely suggest looking through it first. There is some violence and while it isn't particularly graphic some people might find it unnerving. It's definitely interesting enough for both adults and kids to enjoy and I recommend you check it out.

-Kalpar