No Man's World The Ironclad Prophecy review

I hadn’t read the first book in this series, Black Hand Gang. But after just a few pages of this one, I was beginning to regret that fact.

This was not, as you might be assuming, because I had no clue what was happening here, but actually because this was such a brilliant premise that I immediately wanted to know more about it.

Briefly, this is about a group of British soldiers who have been transported from their ‘home’ on the Somme to an alien world.

Yes, you did read that right.

And yes, you’re correct. This should not work, as it is a concept so high that it is in danger of running out of air. Nevertheless, work it does.

The book begins with the sizeable cast picking up the pieces of what I assume are the events of the first book. Author Pat Kelleher mentions past events throughout this volume, but in such a clever way that they don’t feel forced and, more importantly, don’t make the reader feel that they have been told so much that they don’t need to read the previous volume.

The book is split into two distinct plot strands, as we follow the Zulu-like battles around the British trenches as they fight a horde of aliens while dealing with other, perhaps more sinister, events.

The second tale is of the crew of the Ivanhoe – a tank that also made the journey. This is for me the more entertaining of the two strands. Kelleher has assembled a great cast of characters, with Atkins, the down to Earth corporal charged with bringing the tank crew back and Mathers, the Lieutenant in charge of the tank being particularly interesting, although Kelleher manages to give pretty much everyone enough to do at some point during the book.

There is action aplenty here, with some very well described fight scenes, although I did not feel any urgency over the soldiers running out of ammo, even though this is something that is mentioned regularly.

If you have a peek at the cover, there is a scene depicted there that is one of the highlights of the novel. To tell you why would be cruel as it would ruin it totally, but you can just trust me on this one…

As this is the second book in a series, you should not expect everything to be sewn up nicely at the end. It is true the plot arcs for this book are brought together and resolved well, but as you would expect, there are cliff-hangers and unanswered questions aplenty there too.

I’m already looking forward to the third book in the series, but in the meantime I can comfort myself with the knowledge that I have the first one to tide myself over until Abaddon release it..

The Afterblight Chronicles: America review

You may already be aware of the Afterblight series from Abaddon books. If you haven’t (or indeed, if you have), the series is set in the aftermath of a worldwide plague that has wiped out the majority of the planet’s population.
This volume collects three of the early novels in the series. The first two books in the run: The Culled by Simon Spurrier and Kill or Cure by Rebecca Levene are here alongside Death Got No Mercy by fan favourite Al Ewing.

The Culled serves brilliantly as an introduction to the world, and the unnamed main character is an excellent vehicle – his job in the previous world allowed him access to information on the plague that he kindly shares with the reader.
The story itself is a pretty good one too. The central mystery of the book- the Quest our hero is on- is well handled. Spurrier drip-feeds information throughout the book on this while at the same time engaging in some major world building- he has the job of setting things up for every book that will follow after all!
The author also seems to delight in putting his lead character through some of the most horrendous tortures (something he shares with Al Ewing in his contribution), dropping him into some severe situations- all of which makes for an exciting book.
Think James Bond meets Mad Max and you’re part-way there!

Levene’s Kill or Cure is a clever almost sort of follow-up to Spurrier’s novel. The books cross paths on a couple of occasions, but it would be a shame to tell you exactly how, as it would spoil it somewhat.
Levene takes what Spurrier has laid out in his book and builds on it admirably, expanding on things he has hinted on and adding more clever ones of her own.
Her lead character is altogether more sympathetic than Spurrier’s, and the reader really feels for her as things go pear shaped. It is not without moments that give the reader pause. The lead is very resourceful. She is able to fire a gun for example, with considerable skill. This is explained somewhat, but still sticks out a bit- as does the ease with which she kills. I would have thought that a doctor, for that is what she is, would have at least had slight pause before killing. Then again, I have never been in a post-apocalypse situation, so really can’t say how anyone should or would act!

And then we come to Ewing’s Death Got no Mercy. If you are in any way familiar with Al’s oeuvre, then you’ll know roughly what to expect here. I’ve went on record as saying that Ewing is going to be the major talent in comics- certainly in British comics, and probably on the world stage too- in the next few years. But let’s not forget that he’s a hell of a prose writer too.
This book is... mental. As series editor Jon Oliver says in his intro to this collection, Al described it as ‘A man goes to San Francisco and kills everyone’. And Ewing is as good as his word.
Cade, the lead character, is quite a creation. He is a genuine force of nature- a character propelled onwards by a single purpose. Along the way towards this purpose he does a lot of very violent things. Brutally violent things is short and punchy (haha!) chapters. But they are also very funny things. The violence is so massively over the top that the reader can do nothing but be swept along by the wave of brutality. He has a fist fight with a grizzly bear.
There are a couple of hiccups there though. There is a meta-fictional passage in there that is clever and well written, and I can understand why it is there, but is only succeeded in pulling me out of the book for a few pages. And Cade, the lead character, meets a group of folks along the way that for me were a too easy joke to make (they were still funny though!).
But having said that, this book is great. Cade is a wonderfully brutal character, and I for one wouldn’t mind seeing more of him.

And that brings me to my only real problem with the three books here. This does not apply as much to Ewing’s book as to the other two, although he is guilty of it to an extent.
Each book, while being a self contained tale it its own right, ends with the lead character heading off on either another quest or on the next stage of the one they were on, and to the best of my knowledge, none of the creators has returned to their stories to tell the next chapter.

On balance though, this is a very good value collection, and if you haven’t yet visited the world of the Afterblight, I suggest you give it a try.

Viking Dead review

Zombies, eh?

I don’t know about you, but I am of the opinion that they have been, of late, somewhat over exposed. So it takes something special to make me sit up and take notice.

Thankfully, Abaddon have been managing to do this, with books like Way of the Barefoot Zombie and I, Zombie both taking the genre in original and interesting directions.

And you’d have to be dead inside not to think the prospect of Viking zombies was very cool indeed.

So… does this book live up to the hopes I had for it..?

Things start off well. I love having my expectations subverted, and this book does that very early on, as the reader thinks it is going to be about one thing and it quickly becomes apparent it is not.

Now, I’m not an expert in Vikings and their lore and lifestyle, but I get the impression that author Toby Venables is. Or if not an expert, it feels like he has done his research and he doesn’t allow the research to swamp the story.

And the story is, I’m happy to report, a good one. I have to say, that while he has assembled a great cast of characters, the story is not, for the most part, particularly original, with nods to things like The Magnificent Seven and a few other classics in there. This is not to say that it is not well told, however.

Venables tells the tale in short chapters that make this an easy read and has the reader hanging on for just one-more-chapter…

I mentioned characters- and yes, they are well realised, but I had a minor problem with the names. They are, I’m sure, authentic Viking monikers, but the trouble is I have no idea how to pronounce them, so was recognising characters by a collection of letters on a page rather then a name.

The other good things: the pacing is great and the plentiful action scenes are well written. And there are the zombies. We don’t see many of them for the first part of the book. Their presence is hinted at and they are genuinely spooky when we do encounter them.

And then there is the ending…

I had an inkling about what was going on earlier in the book, and was kind of correct when we got to the final chapters. Now, initially, I did not think the ending was going to work But by the gods it does.

I mean literally right up until the final paragraph I thought Venables had dropped the ball on the final stretch, but as he reveals his true intentions in the closing words, I could not help punching the air in glee.

Obviously I will not spoiler anything here… but if you think that Zombie Vikings are cool, well…

Coming Soon: Viking Dead

TOMES OF THE DEAD:

The Viking Dead

They come to raid, pillage ... and devour!

They were feared throughout Europe as an unstoppable, bloodthirsty and merciless pestilence. But now the Vikings may have met their match – their own undead!

In the latest stand-alone tale from the acclaimed Tomes of the Dead series, it's Vikings versus zombies as Bjólf and his crew encounter terrifying draugr – undead berserkers who feed on the flesh of their kin. Bjólf has no choice but to overcome his own fear, fight his way through forests infested with axe-wielding zombies – and more terrible things – and reach a dark castle where he hopes to find the secret behind this accursed plague.

A blisteringly thrilling debut from the winner of the 2001 Keats-Shelley Memorial Prize, Venables has crafted a heart-stopping tale full of unexpected twists, brutal Dark Age violence, and chilling zombie action!

“Toby Venables wields his pen all sword-like and delivers quirky flashes of fearless text.”

– BBC.co.uk

Toby Venables is a writer and lecturer in Cambridge, England. He developed a liking for horror early, watching old Universal movies when his parents thought he was asleep. He has written for various media and in 2001 won the Keats-Shelley Memorial Prize (and spent the proceeds on a Fender Telecaster). He now lives in a secure location with his wife, where he is preparing for the coming zombie apocalypse. The Viking Dead is his debut novel.

14 April 2011 • £7.99 (UK)

ISBN 978-1-907519-68-0

12 April 2011 • $9.99/$12.99 (US & CAN)

ISBN 978-1-907519-69-7

Also Available as an eBook

Gods of Manhattan review

Al Ewing…

His mind doesn’t work like your or mine. The man seems to be a never-ending mine of ideas. If you read his comic work- Zombo for example- there are enough ideas there that he uses as throwaway gags for another writer to make a career of. It’s damn annoying. So it wasn’t a surprise when he wrote his first novel for Abaddon, El Sombra, and even less of a surprise to discover it was brilliant.

And so he returns with a sequel to El Sombra in the form of Gods of Manhattan.

I think, given that this is a sequel, I'm safe in revealing that the titular insane Mexican ‘hero’ escapes at the end of El Sombra, and we last see him heading North, on his way to Nazi Germany…

Well, so far, he’s gotten as far as New York. And this being the steampunk world of Pax Britannia, it’s not quite the New York that you or I know.

For a start, in this New York, you’ve got your real life superheroes. And boy, does Ewing have some fun with them.

Not only is Ewing a good writer, but his obvious love for the superhero genre comes across loud and clear. But not just a love… he understands them- how and why they work – in a way that most writers, even some actually writing for the Big Two, do not. And it’s this understanding that adds another level of, for want of a better word, realism to the narrative.

While we can recognise elements of existing heroes in Ewing’s characters- there are parts of Superman, Reed Richards, Batman, Spider-man, Black Panther, The Beast and so on- they are all so well drawn that these elements don’t swamp the originality of the characters. Indeed, the heroes here go to places that the ones in the comics would not dream of… at least not outside our darkest fantasies…

Chief amongst the superheroes in this New York is Doc Thunder. And what a creation he is. I can’t talk about him, or indeed the plot, without giving too much away, but he is a genuinely interesting character in a why that the aforementioned Reed Richards can only dream about.

And El Sombra himself is as lunatic and hilarious and out and out fun as you remember him from the first book. It feels like Ewing has a blast writing him, and if I had a complaint it would be that this book is really about Doc Thunder, and El Sombra isn’t in it enough for my liking.

But that is a trifling complaint- there is more than enough going on here to keep any reader amused and on the edge of their seat.

The plot is intricate and clever, action scenes are exciting and dialogue is great, and he even managed to include one of my favourite lines from one of my favourite films. 

And when you think about it, if the only thing I’m complaining about was that there wasn’t enough of one particular character in it, then the book must be doing something right, yeah?