Tag: Action Packed

High Wire by Candice Fox

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller4 Comments

Publisher: Bantam (Trade Paperback – 24 September 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 480 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of Australia’s top authors of crime fiction finishes of 2024 with a massive bang as Candice Fox presents the powerful thriller, High Wire.

Few authors had the awesome year that Candice Fox did in 2024, as the author released three impressive crime fiction reads.  The first of these was the fast-paced crime fiction read, The Murder Inn, which Fox cowrote with the legendary James Patterson.  The sequel to their previous book, The Inn, The Murder Inn was a fantastic book that once again highlighted how well Fox and Patterson work together (see my review for their other book 2 Sisters Detective Agency).  Fox also released the intense character-driven thriller, Devil’s Kitchen, that saw two highly damaged characters attempt to uncover the secrets of a seemingly heroic group of firefighters with a true dark side to them.  Both The Murder Inn and Devil’s Kitchen were outstanding reads, and I was very happy I checked them out.  However, Fox decided to provide us with even more fun before the year was over with the standalone novel High Wire.  Taking the author back to her home country, High Wire was a compelling and deeply intense Australian thriller that takes you hostage and refuses to let go.

Out in the outback of Australia lies a notorious unmarked track known as the High Wire.  Cutting across the country from Broome to Sydney, the High Wire is a lawless road full of small towns, unregulated trails and mobile phone blackspots.  A favourite hangout of smugglers, hijackers and criminals, only the desperate, the dangerous and those looking for trouble use the High Wire.

Harvey Buck, former soldier and current recluse, knows all about the dangers of the High Wire, but desperation forces him to travel along it to reach his dying girlfriend.  Despite knowing better, he stops to pick up a hapless traveller, Clare Holland, whose car has broken down on the road.  However, Clare isn’t the person he should be worried about, as the two are soon ambushed by a masked assailants with their own sinister agenda.

Strapped into bomb vests, Harvey and Clare are forced into a twisted game by vengeful figures from Harvey’s past seeking to ruin his life and reputation.  Forced to commit a series of increasingly murderous missions across several small towns, the two prisoners try to work together to escape and stop the insanity going on around them.  Harvey and Clare’s only hope may be Senior Sergeant Edna Norris, one of the few police officers stationed on the Wire, and who soon begins to follow the trail of destruction being left in their wake.  But Edna has her own problems, especially when Clare’s husband arrives on the scene with his own dark plans.

High Wire was another awesome book from Candice Fox that provides readers will some of the best Australian thrills and action that there were likely to get in 2024.  Featuring a bold, compelling and powerful character-driven tale of revenge and escape, High Wire was an outstanding read from one of my favourite Australian authors and one that I cannot recommend enough.

Fox hits the ground running hard with High Wire’s excellent narrative, and I honestly was hooked early on thanks to the compelling and intense story.  Quickly introducing the protagonist, Harvey Buck, as well as the High Wire, the lawless road that serves as an intriguing background setting for the plot.  After a quick introduction to a secondary protagonist, the mysterious Clare Holland, the main plot of High Wire takes off as the two are ambushed by a group of armed attackers, who take them prisoner after a bloody shootout, and strap them into elaborate bomb vests.  Fox keeps the tension running high here, as it becomes clear that the kidnappers know Harvey and are seeking revenge for some past misdeed.  Around the same time, the readers are introduced to the other major point-of-view character, Senior Sergeant Edna Norris, who finds herself on the trail of Harvey, Clare and the kidnappers without knowing who is responsible and with an unlikely teenage sidekick helping and hindering her in equal measure.

The plot soon becomes even more intense on several levels, as Fox works several intriguing storylines and elements simultaneously to tell a complex and exciting narrative.  The main plot around Harvey and Clare proves to be quite intense, as the two are forced to commit a series of brutal crimes while also trying to escape or take out their captors.  Fox carefully doles out intriguing background on both Harvey and Clare to the readers, and you soon discover both have complicated pasts, as Clare is running from her suddenly murderous husband, while Harvey’s past connection to the kidnappers is revealed in a series of dark flashbacks.  These flashbacks help to paint the main storyline in some different shades of grey, as you begin to realise that Harvey isn’t the moral hero you initially believed he would be, and while the antagonists are worse, you begin to doubt that Harvey deserves to survive.

At the same time, the focus on Edna and her intriguing supporting cast goes in some interesting directions, as she follows the carnage left behind by the kidnappers and their unwilling pawns.  Not only is Edna forced to deal with her hard-headed charge Talon, but she finds herself in all manner of trouble when Clare’s husband, Gareth Holland the Northern Territory Police Commissioner, arrives on the scene looking for his wife.  Instantly suspicious of Gareth, Edna is forced off the case due to police politics but continues to try and investigate, determining that she needs to get to Clare first.  Edna’s storyline, which I personally enjoyed the most in High Wire, goes in some fantastic directions, and she soon finds herself forced to survive the murderous attentions of Gareth, while also trying to solve the clues being left behind by Harvey.  Fox does an excellent job running these somewhat separated storylines simultaneously, and they tie into each other just enough to create an amazing overarching narrative.  Fox wrapped these various storylines up in a very effective way, with a satisfying moment in the Edna storyline, while the main narrative goes out on a very dark note, which I felt was a powerful result to some of the character work that Fox had been building up.  This honestly ended up being an epic and compelling standalone thriller, and I really appreciated how Fox held back no punches to create this powerful read.

Fox did another amazing job bringing this intense and complex narrative together, and I felt that High Wire was one of her more hard-hitting and enjoyable novels.  I loved how the author imbued High Wire with a very dark edge, and between the intense action, despicable villains and deadly plot you really come away not wanting to visit central Australia.  The setting of the “High Wire”, a semi-secret road running the length of Australia proved to be an awesome background, and Fox’s strong descriptions of the red-earthed, isolated road combined with its inherent lawlessness and dangerous inhabitants, gave me some major Mad Max vibes as I was reading the book.  I felt that Fox utilised this setting perfectly throughout High Wire, and it helped to give this novel a very distinctive feel.  The author also made great use of splitting the story across several intriguing central characters.  The two main storylines, the one involving Harvey and Clare and the one following Edna and Talon, played off each other extremely well, and having Edna constantly behind the other protagonists and their captors allowed for a great chase narrative, as they tried to interpret all the events going on in front of them.  Information from Harvey and Clare also cleverly increased the tension in the other storyline, especially as you learn in advance just how deadly secondary antagonist Gareth Holland is, which allows you to fully appreciate his manipulations and darker agenda.  The balance between these two storylines was extremely effective, even with the additional flashback chapters, and this ensured that High Wire had a great pace to it that easily keeps the reader’s attention.

High Wire’s intense and compelling story was greatly enhanced by several fantastic and complex characters whose unique, and often dark narratives, provided some nuanced and complicated tales of personal growth and survival.  The main protagonist, Harvey Buck (a great uber-masculine name btw), is a former soldier who spends the book trying to survive the plans of his attackers and save as many people as possible.  While Harvey seems to be a good character, Fox makes excellent use of flashbacks to dive into his history with the antagonists, which provides some added complexity to the plot, as both sides have committed atrocities against the other.  The same can be said for secondary protagonist, Clare Holland, a seemingly helpless figure inadvertently dragged into events.  While Clare is portrayed as a victim for much of the plot, she eventually reveals an intriguing backstory to Harvey that ties into her complicated marriage, which implies she isn’t as innocent as she seems.  The character I most got drawn to was local cop, Senior Sergeant Edna Norris, who comes away as one of the few legitimately decent people in the book.  Thanks to her caring personality and clever insights, Edna is a protagonist you can get behind 100%, and even when elements of her past are brought up, it proves hard not to still see her as the best figure in the book.

Aside from these key characters, Fox features several intriguing supporting figures in High Wire, including some impressive antagonists.  The main supporting character that is featured in the book is Talon, a teenager who is taken under Edna’s wing after she arrests him.  An initially annoying and impulsive figure, Talon grows on you as the book continues, especially with his entertaining imagination and surprisingly accurate insights.  However, it is the villains of the High Wire who I think stole the show here.  The two kidnappers who take control of Harvey and Clare with bomb vests prove to be despicable, if highly damaged figures, and it was fascinating to see how much their current behaviour is due to previous rough treatment from Harvey.  Clare’s husband, Gareth Holland, proves to be an excellent secondary antagonist, especially as he has his own murderous agenda and uses his position as Northern Territory Police Commissioner to get away with his goals.  In some ways Gareth was a better villain than the kidnappers, especially as he is far more soulless figure who ends up being quite smug and controlling.  I really enjoyed the entertaining way that Fox wrapped up Gareth’s storyline in this book, and it was quite satisfying to see him get what he deserved.  These character deeply enhanced Hire Wire’s narrative, and it was awesome to see their various storylines unfold.

High Wire ended up being an incredible and thrilling piece of crime fiction from one of Australia’s best writers Candice Fox.  Dark, brutal and filled with some complex and damaged characters, High Wire quickly gets you hooked, and you are in for an outstanding time with this brilliant read.

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Quick Review – The Ascent by Adam Plantinga

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Quick Review, Thriller7 Comments

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Paperback – 12 November 2024)

Series: Kurt Argento – Book One

Length: 343 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Intriguing new author Adam Plantinga presents one of the most entertaining and exciting debuts of 2024 with the outstanding and brilliantly over-the-top thriller, The Ascent.

Plot Synopsis:

Kurt Argento, an ex-Detroit street cop who can’t let injustice go—and who has the fighting skills to back up his idealism. If he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he’s going to rescue her and cause some damage.  When he does just that in a small corrupt Missouri town, he’s brutally beaten and thrown into a maximum-security prison.

Julie Wakefield, a grad student who happens to be the governor’s daughter, is about to take a tour of the prison. But when a malfunction in the security system releases a horde of prisoners, a fierce struggle for survival ensues.  

Argento must help a small band of staff and civilians, including Julie and her two state trooper handlers, make their way from the bottom floor to the roof to safety.  All that stands in their way are six floors of the most dangerous convicts in Missouri.  

The Ascent was a particularly awesome read that I had a fantastic time reading.  The debut novel from Adam Plantinga, a police officer who has previously written some non-fiction books on the experiences of law enforcement officials, The Ascent was a bonkers, balls-to-the-wall novel loaded with fun storytelling, intense action, and all the carnage you would ever want.

As you would imagine from a book with the very cool plot synopsis above, The Ascent was a very fast-paced novel designed to grab a reader’s attention fast and keep them hooked with the appropriate offerings of violence, extreme moments and over-the-top characters.  Plantinga delivers all that in spades as he quickly introduces his main characters for the book, with a particular focus on protagonist Kurt Argento, a damaged former cop with a hero complex who has left his home city to find himself.  Encountering injustice in small town Missouri, Argento is framed by the corrupt sheriff and sent to the Whitehall Correctional Facility, a maximum-security private prison.  Serendipitously, secondary protagonist Julie Wakefield, the governor’s daughter, arrives at Whitehall with her security detail at the same time as Argento for an educational tour.  While coincidental, this proves to be a rather impactful and effective introduction to the main characters, and I honestly found myself getting really drawn into the book at this point, as you have all information you need before things go to hell.

With the prison’s systems failing and convicts being released from their cells, Argento’s aid is reluctantly accepted by a small group of police, prison guards and other staff to help take Julie from the bottom level of the prison to the roof.  Forced to fight up one level of the prison to the next, the plot gets extremely crazy, as the protagonists encounter even worse criminals on each floor of the prison, are hunted by an assassin gunning for Argento and are forced to contend with the demons of several members of the group.  Plantinga keeps the action going hard and fast through this part of the book, and you honestly can’t turn away from the intense scenes that occur as the protagonists keep moving up.  There is a certain gritty realism to the desperation of the protagonists as they try to survive, and you become even more enthralled by the narrative as they constantly battered main characters fight higher and higher up the prison facing worse odds the entire way.  There are some intense betrayals, clever twists, and some truly dark moments as the plot continues, and you will honestly find yourself hooked right up to the brutal finale, with Plantinga featuring a satisfying conclusion that hints at more adventures to come. 

I really loved how The Ascent came together, and Plantinga wrote an impactful, hard-hitting action thriller that proved very hard to put down.  Between its compelling, if exaggerated plot, gritty action and intriguing characters, there is a lot to love about The Ascent, and I honestly got really hooked on this book as it continued, getting through the last 300 pages in one enjoyable chunk of late-night reading.  The wonderfully over-the-top story moved at such a quick-fire pace, while shoving so much cool action into the reader’s face.  Plantinga clearly knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the fights in this book, and the reader is gifted to a truly awesome and outrageous amount of violence and carnage, which only gets crazier the further in you get.  Between warring gangs, brutal ambushes, desperate battles against killers, and encounters with some truly scary and unhinged beings, the protagonists go through hell, and you honestly are left waiting to see if they will survive, especially as Plantinga throws in some dark sacrifices to keep you on your toes.  These intense inclusions work extremely well with the fantastic storytelling, and I had so much fun seeing the characters race from bloody fight to bloody fight.  I will say that this is an excessive book at times, and the descriptions of brutal violence and other darker things might not be for every reader, but for those fans of bloody thrillers or brutal action films, this is the perfect book for you to check out. 

While I have tended to highlight the action a lot in this review, I must point out that Plantinga brought together a well-written tale of survival that proves to be intense, entertaining and powerful at the same time.  The plot about moving up the levels of the prison was cleverly set out, and the actions of the characters always seem quite reasonable and realistic, especially the combination of doubt and determination that resulted from the increased conflict and catastrophe.  You could honestly feel the desperation of the characters as the book continued, and while things got quite crazy the further along you got, there was always a grain of realism to the plot, especially as the protagonists struggled more and more the further along they got.  If I had one complaint about The Ascent, it’s that they never fully explained or explored the reasons behind the issues impacting the prison, which seems like a major oversight in my opinion, although I may forgive that if it becomes a plot point in later books.  I will also say that it is very clear that The Ascent is written by a police officer, although I did think that Plantinga tried to cover the profession with some nuance, which was appreciated.

A key thing about The Ascent that I need to compliment is the excellent character work.  Kurt Argento is an outstandingly damaged protagonist going through some real grief at the loss of his wife.  Plantinga does a great job setting up his current hero complex and death wish as a consequence of this loss, and you really feel his pain as he keeps trying to do the right thing, even if it kills him.  The other main protagonist, Julie, is another well-written character, as this somewhat sheltered character learns to fight back against those coming for her as she comes face to face with the dark side of humanity.  These two characters form a great duo, and I appreciated how Plantinga played them off each other, especially towards the end of the book.  The other supporting characters in The Ascent were also well-written, and Plantinga introduces an interesting array of disparate personality types that conflict against each other in compelling ways, especially when things get particularly bad.  These excellent characters helped to evolve The Ascent above a typical action thriller, and readers will find themselves quite invested in seeing how these figures will survive as a result.

Overall, The Ascent by Adam Plantinga was an epic and highly captivating debut that I had a really, really fun time with.  Plantinga presented a true action classic guaranteed to keep your attention the entire way through, and it honestly proves hard to put The Ascent down at times.  Dark, bloody and intense in all the best ways, The Ascent was one of the most memorable debuts of 2024 and I am so damn glad I decided to check it out.  I cannot wait to read more from Plantinga, and I am already very keen to grab the sequel to The Ascent, Hard Town, which is coming out in a few months’ time.

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Quick Review – The Recruiter by Gregg Podolski

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Quick Review, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (ebook – 23 July 2024)

Series: Rick Carter – Book One

Length: 327 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 pages

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I read a bunch of fun debuts in 2024, but one of my favourites was the awesome and action-packed thriller from Gregg Podolski, The Recruiter.  Following an entertaining protagonist as he faces the mistakes of his past, as well as a crew of ruthless assassins he personally recruited, this was a fantastic first novel from Podolski that I honestly had a ton of fun with.


Plot Synopsis:

When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.

He’s a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.


I really liked the central plot idea that Podolski came up with for The Recruiter, as his protagonist, rather than being an extreme action-orientated hero, is someone who took their corporate recruiter job to the next level and started working with criminals in the same capacity.  This was an interesting change of pace which I think worked well, especially when combined with a sinister conspiracy and threats close to the protagonist’s home.

Podolski starts The Recruiter off hot and fast as you are quickly introduced to the protagonist, Rick Carter, and the recruitment business he has built up.  The story takes an interesting turn when Rick is kidnapped and forced to work for a shadowy organisation that wants him to pull together a team of killers to take out several law enforcement officers across the world.  Reluctantly agreeing to work with them, Rick is soon forced to turn against his new employers when he discovers that one of their targets is connected to his own family who Rick abandoned years before.  Suddenly finding his two top recruits working against him, Rick is forced to pull together an unlikely last-minute team to accompany him back to America to save his family and work out who is trying to kill them.

The Recruiter’s resulting story is the awesome and captivating action thrill ride you would expect with that sort of set-up.  Podolski keeps things moving fast, and there is always something awesome or interesting on the page as the protagonist attempts to keep his family safe while trying to determine why they are being targeted.  There are some excellent betrayals, compelling twists and big action moments as the plot proceeds, and I had a fun time seeing the protagonist’s unique plans in action.  Podolski does a good job balancing this excitement with some moving character moments as the protagonist reunites with the wife and kids he left behind, and the resulting heartfelt sequences add a fantastic emotional edge to the entire book.  The author ends The Recruiter on an excellent note that keeps the reader strongly engaged right up to the end and finishes with some thrilling confrontations with the protagonist’s former assassins.  There is also a fun reveal that, while not entirely unexpected, was interesting, especially as it indicates Podolski has plans to continue the series in the future.

You can tell that Podolski had a great time writing this novel, and I personally loved the awesome story and exciting writing style, which made The Recruiter very easy to read and power through.  I especially enjoyed the fantastic characters, as the author introduced several compelling and memorable figures throughout the plot.  The main one naturally was protagonist and point-of-view character Rick Carter, who serves as an awesome central figure for the story.  While I do think that Podolski occasionally made Rick a little too zany, for the most part he was a great sarcastic protagonist that thriller fans will appreciate.  Thanks to his skillset as a recruiter rather than an operator, Rick stands out compared to your typical thriller protagonist, and there are some entertaining sequences where he uses his talent for networking and other corporate skills to defeat his opponents.  There is also the great emotional element to Rick’s story as he deals with his own guilt at abandoning his family, and it proved captivating to see how he reflects and moves forward through it.  Other great characters include a rookie operative recruit that Rick hires who proves to be both a real badass and a potential love interest, Rick’s former ace assassins who more than live up to their reputation, as well as a great overarching antagonist who steals the early scenes they are in and remain a threatening presence throughout the entire plot.

I had an absolute blast with The Recruiter, and it ended up being an outstanding debut from this first-time author.  An exciting and compelling character-driven read, The Recruiter was a book that was very easy to have fun with, and I am very glad I decided to check it out.  I look forward to seeing if Gregg Podolski will continue this series in the future, and I know that I will be grabbing the sequel when it comes out.

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Quick Review – Rebellion by Richard Cullen

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction8 Comments

Publisher: Boldwood Books (ebook – 26 October 2024)

Series: Chronicles of the Black Lion – Book One

Length: 290 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for an exciting and compelling historical adventure from excellent author Richard Cullen with the amazing read Rebellion.

Back in 2024 I was lucky to receive a copy of the awesome historical fiction novel Rebellion by Richard Cullen.  Cullen, who entered the historical fiction genre a couple of years ago with his Wolf of Kings series, may be better known to some readers as fantasy author Richard S. Ford, who has written several compelling series over the year, including The Age of Uprising series (check out my review for the first book in that series, Engines of Empire).  His latest release, Rebellion, is the first book in his Chronicles of the Black Lion series, that takes readers back to the early 13th century and deadly rebellions against the crown.

Plot Synopsis:

1213AD.

King Richard the Lionheart is dead, and his brother, John Lackland, sits uneasily upon the throne of England.

Across the sea, Prince Louis, heir to the powerful King Philip Augustus of France, looks to King John’s crown with a covetous eye.

But King John must be wary of rebellion, as well as invasion, for even his own barons would see their king unseated, and the French pretender put in his place.

Thrust amid this tumult is young Estienne Wace, orphan squire to Earl William Marshal – the greatest knight to ever serve the kings of England, and one of the few men who still holds faith in King John’s rule.

Raised by Marshal as his ward, Estienne must prove himself worthy of his adopted father’s name, but acceptance may be the least of his troubles. War is looming, as usurpers emerge from every quarter, determined to steal England’s crown from its most wretched king.

Rebellion was an outstanding novel that successfully wrapped around a character-driven tale of adventure and honour with a compelling historical background to form a fantastic and exciting read.  Told primarily from the perspective of Estienne Wace, new squire to legendary knight, lord, and royal regent Wiliam Marshal, you see the chaotic events that defined the last few years of King John’s reign, including the First Barons’ War, in compelling detail.  For the most part Cullen tells a classic historical coming of age/adventure tale around Estienne, as the young man first learns the ropes of being a squire, and then the reader follows him through several major battles and historical events, either as a fighting participant or a curious observer.  This allows for quite a bit of action and excitement, and the young protagonist soon learns the true horrors of war as he grows closer to the Marshal family.

This proves to be a fascinating and very intense historical narrative, and the author enthrals the reader with a great combination of fascinating historical detail, a ton of cool action, and some compelling character work as he features an intriguing mixture of new characters and many established historical figures.  I found this combination to work extremely well, and it proved interesting to follow the protagonist as he witnessed the turbulent history of the period and the dark conflicts it birthed.  The action flies thick and fast as the story continues, and I loved the awesome array of detailed sequences that emerged, including a lengthy and desperate siege.  The author also makes excellent use of some great alternate points of view as the story continues, including a jealous rival to the protagonist, and you are gifted with a compelling and highly intense look at the battles and politics unfolding.  While for the most part the main storyline around Estienne is typical historical fiction fare, Cullen throws in some interesting, if not entirely unsurprising, reveals at the end which should lead to some interesting developments in the future.  All this helped to produce a very cool story, and its one that I had a hard time putting down at times.

While I love all the above inclusions, my favourite part of Rebellion was the excellent historical details that Cullen worked his cool narrative around, especially as the author has clearly done his research on the subject.  It helped that Cullen chose to set his story around a truly fascinating period of English history that hasn’t been too over-utilised in other pieces of historical fiction.  As such, readers are gifted with deeply compelling look at the later years of King John’s reign as he lost land and refused to abide by the Magna Carter, and the resulting war that emerged as his various lords rebelled and tried to crown Prince Louise of France as King.  Cullen expertly places Estienne in the middle of many of the key events of this period, and through his eyes you get the full picture of the events that led up the war, as well as how it unfolded.  I honestly found this to be extremely fascinating, mainly because this war is often overshadowed by other events in English history, and you don’t see it utilised too often in modern fiction.  It was pretty damn interesting to see just how close England came to being ruled by a French king, and I honestly didn’t know that the French landed an army in England during this period, nor that Dover was besieged, and it was extremely cool to see it all unfold throughout the plot of Rebellion.

I personally also enjoyed how much Cullen focused on the awesome historical figure of William Marshal in this book, including examining the role that he played in stopping the war and saving England.  Marshal, a legendary knight who served several kings, is shown as an older man torn between duty and family, as he tries to save the cruel King John while his son chooses to support the rebelling barons.  I have always loved the history surrounding William Marshal and Cullen does a beautiful job bringing this aging example of knightly duty and honour to life and showcasing the complex roles he tried to balance for the sake of England.  This portrayal of Willaim Marshal, and indeed all the historical detail in the book, helps to make Rebellion a particularly captivating historical read, and I really appreciated how Cullen worked it all into the story.

Overall Rebellion was an awesome, fascinating and deeply addictive historical fiction novel that I could not get enough of.  Richard Cullen did a brilliant job of bringing this historical adventure together, and I had a wonderful time with the cool action and compelling history contained within it.  This is a very fun and exciting read that this very easy to get hooked on, and I ended up having an outstanding time with Rebellion.  Indeed, I enjoyed it so much that I have already grabbed an early copy of the sequel, Crusade, and I am hoping to read it soon.

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Quick Review – Warhammer: The Horus Heresy: Eidolon: The Auric Hammer by Marc Collins

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Quick Review, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, WarhammerLeave a comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 22 October 2024)

Series: Warhammer: The Horus Heresy

Length: 6 hours and 26 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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2024 was a great year for Warhammer fiction, especially as the Black Library released a ton of awesome books across the various sub-series and franchises, including The Horus Heresy series, which serves as a major prequel to the Warhammer 40,000 books I usually look at.  One of the last releases of the year was The Horus Heresy character novel, Eidolon: The Auric Hammer.  Written by Marc Collins, who previously impressed me with his Warhammer Crime novel, Grim Repast, Eidolon: The Auric Hammer was a fast-paced and compelling read that dove into the twisted mind of an ambitious traitor as he travels to the final battle of the great war.


Plot Synopsis:

A Horus Heresy Novel

Lord Commander Primus Eidolon has claimed many titles along the annals of his infamy. He is the Exemplar and the Risen, the Soul-Severed, and the Auric Hammer. Now, fallen far from his primarch’s grace, he carves a path to Terra, where the culmination of Horus’ grand heresy awaits.

READ IT BECAUSE

Eidolon has been a key figure of the Emperor’s Children Legion from the beginning. Now, on the eve of the Siege of Terra, he’s fallen far from grace and is facing a long overdue reckoning for his many misdeeds during the Horus Heresy. Can he come to terms with his tainted legacy?

THE STORY

Coaxed and goaded by the wiles of the warp – and an entity whose whispered truths stretch even his credulity – Eidolon finds himself stranded around the world of Tatricala, where the ghosts of his past haunt every fated step. Now he must choose which life he wants to lead… and how much of his soul he is willing to sacrifice for it.

If Eidolon cannot banish his daemons, then they will surely take him for their own.


Eidolon: The Auric Hammer was an excellent addition to the canon, and one that will really appeal to those readers who dove into the extended Horus Heresy series.  Like many of the Horus Heresy character books, The Auric Hammer focuses on one of the interesting supporting characters in the larger franchise and provides a compelling story around them, while also diving into their past.  In this case, Marc Collins tells a quick and entertaining story around Eidolon, one of the commanders of the now fallen Emperor’s Children legion, who has given in to the hedonism and worship of Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and obsession.

Collins does a great job effectively introducing the character of Eidolon and thrusting readers into his personal madness.  I must admit that I haven’t read any of the other Horus Heresy novels before, so I wasn’t especially familiar with the character of Eidolon, which did slightly reduce my appreciation for this book.  However, readers with even moderate knowledge of Warhammer 40,000 lore and the Horus Heresy can easily follow along with Collin’s quick story without too much difficulty.  Collins breaks this into a couple of fun parts, with a fight against daemons on the protagonist’s ship leading to an impromptu invasion of an isolated planet alongside “allies”.  However, nothing goes to plan as Eidolon and his comrades find themselves best by the dark plots of a daemonic entity who desires to destroy him.

This last third of the book is probably the best, as Collins envisions a series of daemonic encounters that play in the ravaged psyches of the various Emperor’s Children characters.  While I had a hard time connecting to some of the supporting cast members (Collins might have been better off with a more tightly focused narrative), it was interesting to see their various struggles, especially as it effectively showed how far their legion had fallen.  Eidolon’s personal inner struggle was the strongest part of the book, especially as Collins dove into his many issues, including his ambition, resentments and the anger he has with the various father figures in his life.  The protagonist comes out of this book stronger, and I particularly loved the reveal about who was behind everything at the end of the novel.  The confrontation that Eidolon had with this figure was extremely entertaining, and you come away appreciating just how suicidally stubborn Eidolon can be.

As is my habit with most Warhammer fiction, I chose to check out The Auric Hammer on audiobook, mainly because it was voiced by one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Toby Longworth.  A very effective narrator, Longworth perfectly captures the various elaborately dark characters featured with The Auric Hammer, and I love how he brings readers into the outrageous and grim Warhammer universe.  Longworth’s already impressive voice is enhanced in various sequences by cool sound effects that help to showcase the various daemonic creatures that the protagonist encounters.  These effects and Longworth’s fantastic voicework really make you appreciate the eldritch power and inherent evilness the various figures they represented, and I felt it did wonders on bringing me further into the narrative.  Combine that with the excellent way in which Longworth captures the intense dark emotions of Eidolon, including his frustration and disgust at his Primarch’s actions and abandonment of him, and this proves to be an outstanding and addictive audiobook.  Featuring a relatively short runtime of just under six and a half hours, The Auric Hammer is an easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I had a lot of fun knocking it off in a couple of enjoyable sessions.

Overall, Eidolon: The Auric Hammer was an awesome and exciting Warhammer audiobook from Marc Collins that is worth checking out.  Cleverly focusing on an intriguing figure in the canon while also expanding on the massive Horus Heresy series, The Auric Hammer really grabbed my attention, and I had a great time getting through it.  An excellent Warhammer book to check out, especially if you have been enjoying the other Horus Heresy books.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 39: Ice and Snow by Stan Sakai

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books4 Comments

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (Paperback – 26 November 2024)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Volume 39

Length: 160 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed comic author and artist Stan Sakai continues his iconic Usagi Yojimbo series in a big way with the exceptional 39th volume, Ice and Snow.

Fans of this blog will know that I am a massive fan of the incredible Usagi Yojimbo comic series, which I have been reading for many years and is one of my favourite comic book series.  The brainchild of Stan Sakai, who both writes and draws the comic, Usagi Yojimbo is a unique series that follows a rabbit ronin samurai as he wanders around an anthropomorphic feudal Japan, getting involved in all manner of deadly and dangerous adventures, both mundane and supernatural.  The Usagi Yojimbo comics are so much fun, and I love the compelling stories, distinctive artwork and memorable characters who are contained within its beautiful pages.  This series has been so damn awesome of late, with some amazing coloured volumes, including Bunraku and Other Stories (one of my favourite books of 2020), Homecoming (one of my favourite books of 2021), Tengu War! and Crossroads (both of which were among my favourite books of 2022) and The Green Dragon (one of my favourite books of 2023).

This latest volume, Ice and Snow, is an intriguing addition to the series as it continues to follow some of the storylines from the previous volumes while also featuring a single overarching narrative rather than several shorter stories.  Ice and Snow is also the series’ return to Dark Horse Comics, who previously published the series for 22 years (from Volume 8: Shades of Death to Volume 33: The Hidden).  This return to Dark Horse has allowed for another intriguing read that featured a major confrontation between Usagi and one of his most dangerous foes.

Miyamoto Usagi, travelling ronin and occasional Yojimbo, continues to wander the lands, seeking adventure and helping his friends where possible.  Now travelling with his cousin Yukichi, Usagi finds himself moving through the cold and snowy mountain tops of Northern Japan, having just escaped a confrontation between rival ninja clans in the pair’s last adventure.  Determined to return to warmer climates, Usagi and Yukichi once again find themselves in trouble amongst the mountain peaks.

Cold and seeking shelter, Usagi and Yukichi encounter nothing but bandits and mysterious creatures as they continue their journey.  Desperate for warmth, they decide to spend the night inside the hut of strange woman, only to find themselves trapped by the cold heart of a dangerous spirit, Yuki-Onna, the lady of the snow, who is determined to feast on them.

However, the attentions of a powerful spirt of the snow are the least of Usagi and Yukichi’s problems, as a far more terrifying monster haunts the mountains.  The demonic black spearman Jei, the Blade of the Gods, has long hunted Usagi, believing that by killing the rabbit ronin he will ascend to godhood.  Now leading a group of mountain bandits, Jei relentlessly chases after Usagi and Yukichi, determined to end their feud once and for all.  Can Usagi once again weather the dark storm that is the unstoppable Jei, or will this be the moment he finally falls to his deranged nemesis’s black blade?

Ice and Snow was another amazing volume from Sakai that provides a cool new adventure for the author’s iconic protagonist.  Featuring an excellent main storyline loaded with peril and dark confrontation, Ice and Snow had me hooked the entire way through, especially as it featured Sakai’s gorgeous artwork.

Made up of five separate issues, Ice and Snow features a powerful single storyline which plays to the author’s strengths as he places his protagonists in mortal danger against foes new and old.  The story starts immediately after the events of the previous volume, The Green Dragon, with Usagi and his current travelling companion, Yukichi, still moving through the frigid mountains of Northern Japan.  Encountering the usual array of bandits, Usagi and Yukichi are thrust into action quickly and the initial combat sets the scene nicely for the rest of the comic.  The two soon move from mortal concerns to the supernatural, as the mysterious woman that Usagi and Yukichi seek shelter with predictably turns out to be a deadly monster (Usagi really should know better by this point), determined to eat their lifeforce. 

While these initial battles between Usagi, Yukichi and their various opponents are compelling and exciting, especially the intense fight against Yuki-Onna that was so well showcased by Sakai’s artwork, the best part of the early story involves the return of deranged supernatural warrior Jei.  Travelling with his young companion, Keiko, Jei brings his trademark terror to the local bandits, taking over their gang with violence and fear.  However, when he discovers that Usagi is nearby, he leads his new forces on a lethal hunting mission.  Jei honestly steals the entire comic in these sequences, as he terrorises and murders various members of the bandit gang to make his point.  There is also a fantastic fight between Jei and Yuki-Onna, which was a fantastic battle of the monsters that really highlights Jei as a powerful supernatural threat.

The final major sequence of the comic involves Jei catching up to Usagi and engaging in a brutal fight on a frozen river.  The sheer fear that is shown by the usually implacable Usagi really highlights to the reader just how dangerous Jei is, and I love how well Sakai utilises him as a villain here.  The battle between the two was dark, personal and pushes Usagi more than his usual fights, especially as the sinister Jei just won’t stop coming for him.  Sakai makes sure to have no conclusive end to this conflict, as Usagi will continue to be hunted and haunted by Jei.  This is honestly the best end you could imagine at this point in the series, especially as it plays into the horror movie inspiration for Jei, and readers are left wanting another awesome encounter between the two. 

The final issue in Ice and Snow wraps up this mountainous arc of the series on a somewhat ironic note, as Usagi, Yukichi, and the few survivors of Jei’s bandits seek shelter in an isolated village, only to encounter more monsters in the form of cat demons.  This last battle serves as a great horror cherry at the end of an impressive supernatural Usagi Yojimbo volume, and Sakai had fun with the artwork around the monstrous opponents.  I really enjoyed the overall narrative that Sakai stuck into this volume, and frankly I had and exceptional time with the high-threat, quick paced, multi-issued narrative that took up the entire volume.

This was probably one of the stronger recent Usagi Yojimbo stories, and I loved watching the protagonists attempt to survive an onslaught of supernatural foes.  Sakai cleverly continues a multitude of long-running storylines, including the winter journey from the last couple of volumes, which sees Usagi act as a wise mentor to his younger companion, Yukichi.  However, I was extremely happy that we got to see the continued enmity between Usagi and Jei that has been such an impressive part of the series since the third volume, The Wanderer’s Road (which was first released in 1989).  Inspired by Jason from the Friday the 13th series, Jei is a brilliant villain, and Sakai has done a wonderful job to continuously make him the most intimidating figure in the entire franchise.  Jei honestly seems unstoppable at times, and I love the way he manages to destroy all his opponents except the final rabbit, Usagi.  Sakai manages to make Jei even more sinister by continuing to include Jei’s unlikely travelling companion, Keiko.  A young child who accompanies and is cared for by Jei, Keiko is a true innocent who has been adopted by the Jei as a herald.  Watching this harmless child play in the background of Jei’s various atrocities honestly makes the entire situation even more creepy, and she is such a brilliant part of the antagonist’s aesthetic, especially now that her flute which warns people of Jei’s coming (I loved Usagi’s dark comments about this at the end of issue 4).  Combine this with Usagi’s absolute dread at encountering Jei again, as well as the sheer certainty of his inevitable return, and Jei was so damn intimidating here it was just amazing.

I can’t move away from this latest Usagi Yojimbo volume without highlighting the brilliant artwork that Sakai features within his comic.  Every page of this comic is loaded with well-drawn and powerful pieces of art, which effortlessly combine with the compelling writing to tell the powerful story.  Drawn exclusively by Sakai and featuring colouring from Hi-Fi Colour Design, the art in Ice and Snow is beautiful and highly impactful, as Sakai showcases the actions of his characters and the settings they find themselves in.  While every scene is fantastic in its own way, I must highlight the multiple nature shots featured throughout Ice and Snow.  Sakai channels his love for winter throughout this volume, and you are gifted with some breathtaking drawings of the snow-covered landscape the characters are travelling through.  These landscape shots are so pretty, especially now they are in colour, and the contrast between the white of the snow and the orange sky is amazing.  This includes some wonderful full-page drawings that feature multiple characters within them and all of them look so damn cool.

In addition to the wonderful landscapes and backgrounds that each of the outdoor scenes contain, I also must highlight how well the character actions are drawn throughout Ice and Snow.  Sakai does such an effective job of drawing his characters moving around the world, and you can easily envision what movements are implied from each picture.  The artist’s drawings work really well to portray combat, as the multiple sword fights and other encounters look so cool, and you can see the moving swirl of combat around each panel.  Some of these fight scenes are really dramatic and well set out, and I loved how effectively showcases the skill of his protagonists.

I also love at how impactful some of the character drawings were in this volume, especially when it came to the monsters that Usagi encountered.  Not only do we get some cool cat demons in the last issue, but the lady of the snow, Yuki-Onna, has a great monstrous look around her that makes her seem quite intimidating.  I personally loved the cool panel where an enflamed Yuki-Onna flees from Usagi, and the screaming skull shots that resulted from it were freaky.  However, it is the drawings of Jei that really hit me the hardest in Ice and Snow.  Sakai cleverly backs up his great writing around this character by showing him at his psychotic best, with his unnatural face and expression looking so awesome.  Jei was honestly intimidating or crazy in every single panel he appeared in, and I loved how scary he comes across in colour.  I especially love how impressive the fight between Jei and Usagi looked, as the desperation of their battle and the powerful emotion on both participants faces (with Keiko playing in the background) really hammers home the hatred and fear shared between the two.  I particularly enjoyed this really cool panel where a near-defeated Jei emerges from the frozen river to strike one more time.  Not only does this look so awesome, but it is a clever homage to Jei’s Friday the 13th inspiration, with the deranged killer getting one last surprise swing in.  All these impressive drawings were so amazing to look at, and I loved how Sakai’s artistic style is as impactful and powerful as ever.

Based on my gushing review above, I guess it is obvious that I had an exceptional time with this latest Usagi Yojimbo volume, Ice and Snow, which featured a powerful story loaded with the author’s best supernatural inclusions.  Stan Sakai’s writing and drawings are still very impressive, and I love how moved I was by them in Ice and Snow, even after all these years of being an Usagi Yojimbo fan.  This was such a great comic and it gets a very easy, if inevitable, five-star rating from me.  I cannot wait to continue this series into 2025, especially as the next volume is out very soon and features another awesome sounding story. 

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The Dragon in Winter by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books3 Comments

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 20 August 2024)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book Three

Length: 20 hours and 57 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The damned rush to their final battle in the epic dark fantasy novel, The Dragon in Winter, which brings an exceptional conclusion to author Jonathan Maberry’s Kagen the Damned series.

As I mentioned in my recent review for the author’s other 2024 release, NecroTek, I am a huge fan of Jonathan Maberry, having really gotten into his elaborate and deliciously gritty thrillers and other pieces of fiction since I started this blog.  While I am most familiar with the author’s long-running Joe Ledger series, one of his more intriguing recent bodies of work has been the Kagen the Damned series.  A dark fantasy fiction series that follows a highly damaged figure who seeks bloody revenge after the dastardly Witch-king uses magic to destroy his kingdom and kill the royal children in his care, the Kagen the Damned books were an incredible pivot into the fantasy fiction genre for Maberry that I deeply enjoyed.  Both of the previous books in the series, Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022) and  Son of the Poison Rose (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023) were five-star reads, and I have so much love for this series (which also includes the novella I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights) due to its elaborate storytelling, damaged characters, and intriguing take on the fantasy genre.  Because of how impressive the first two entries in this series are, I have been eagerly awaiting the third and seemingly final book, The Dragon in Winter, for a long time, and it was one of my most anticipated books of 2024.

Nearly a year after the bloody massacre that saw the dread Witch-king of Hakkia conquer the former Silver Empire in a single night, the war to reclaim the throne is finally here.  As the Witch-king continues to plot, planning to ascend to godhood, his enemies have rallied around the unlikely figure of Captain Kagen Vale, better known as Kagen the Damned.

Once the loyal guardian of the Silver Empire’s heirs, Kagen has survived despair, damaging revelations and damnation from his gods to stand against the Witch-king and gain the bloody vengeance he so desperately needs.  Having proven his valour in combat and his ability to face off against the darkest of magic, Kagen has managed to gather a massive army of rebels, outlaws and the soldiers of various allied nations determined to stop the Witch-king for good.  But this army of flesh and blood men will not be enough to stand against the destructive power of the Witch-king alone.

As magic continues to return to the land, Kagen and his allies soon find themselves beset by the Witch-king’s sinister powers and dread allies, as vampires, demons, magic users and other fell creatures emerge, determined to keep the Witch-king on his bloody throne.  To survive, Kagen will need to find magic of his own that will allow him to withstand the Witch-king’s power.  But the more he looks, the darker secrets he unravels, and soon everything he thought he knew about the world will come tumbling down around him.  Worse, an even more dangerous threat is rising in the frozen north, as a tortured dragon calls out in despair and is answered by a being of unimaginable power.  Can Kagen stop the Witch-king before his dark plans come to pass, or will the dread flames of vengeance consume the entire world?

What an outstanding end to one of my favourite new fantasy trilogies!  The Dragon in Winter was another exceptional novel from Jonathan Maberry that serves as a fitting and powerful end to the Kagen the Damned dark fantasy series.  Loaded with insane action, brilliantly damaged characters, and some fantastic storytelling, The Dragon in Winter was an incredible book that perfectly utilises Maberry’s distinctive style.  I had an amazing time listening to this impressive book, and it gets an easy five-star rating from me, especially on audiobook.

Maberry had to achieve a lot with this third Kagen the Damned novel, as not only did readers require a satisfying end to the trilogy, but this book needed a distinctive story much like the previous entries.  I feel that Maberry achieved both these goals, as The Dragon in Winter was a compelling and dark read that provided a great mixture of adventure, war, intrigue and character growth, all while continuing and concluding the storylines from the previous books.  This third novel starts shortly after Son of the Poison Rose and sees Kagen taking on the role of general by leading a small army against the Witch-King’s forces, while the previously established story threads about the various nations building their armies to join the war come to fruition.  Maberry does a great job of resetting the scene in these early chapters, and not only do you get to see the situation from Kagen’s perspective but multiple scenes are shown from the antagonists’ side as they make their preparations to foil the protagonist and his allies.

Much of the middle of the story follows Kagen and his unlikely allies as they prepare for the inevitable final confrontation, attempting to gain additional ways to fight against the Witch-king.  While some of Kagen’s sequences aren’t entirely necessary for the full advancement of the plot (the goblin cave sequence, for example), they are all generally intense and character building, and they all tie in nicely amongst the other storylines about war preparations and the Witch-king unleashing his dark minions upon the world.  A secondary major storyline focuses on the characters of Jheklan and Faulker, Kagen’s brothers, who journey up to the frozen Winterwilds in search of the last dragon.  This storyline proves to be quite an interesting addition to the story, as while the characters are disconnected from the rest of the plot due to distance, their actions have big impacts on the overarching narrative.  This middle part of the story ends with a major confrontation between a memorable supporting character and a dark set of antagonists, which was not only very awesome but helped to set the scene for the rest of the book.

The final third of The Dragon in Winter is all action and excitement as the final battle of the war is unleashed on multiple fronts.  Maberry expertly brings all the various ongoing storylines to the boil, as the protagonists find themselves in mortal peril.  There is a little bit of everything here, including massive war sequences, smaller battles with huge sacrifice and big revelations finally coming to the surface.  The author keeps the tension extremely high during this third act, and you are constantly on the edge of your seat, especially as your favourite characters face doom and destruction at every turn.  I loved the way many of these storylines came together, and while a couple of big moments were easy to see coming (although for me that just increased the anticipation), there were also some reveals I couldn’t have predicted.  This includes the book’s massive twist that turns around much of what you thought you knew for the last two entries in the series.  I felt that this twist was very clever, especially when you consider the subtle hints leading up to it, and I appreciated how it changed the emotional impact of some previous scenes.  Everything leads up to the big final confrontation, which was as bloody and hard-hitting as you would expect.  This confrontation was chaos, carnage and catastrophe, and I felt that it was a fitting end to a dark trilogy that revelled in bloodshed.  While I do feel that the final boss takedown was a tad anticlimactic due to who got the kill, and Maberry reigned in the tragedy far more than I expected, this conclusion was extremely awesome, and I hung on every word right to the very end.  Everything was very nicely wrapped up, although there is potential for Maberry to revisit this series in the future, which could result in some more gripping adventures.

I always love the way that Maberry manages to apply his distinctive writing style to all his novels, no matter the genre, and it always works to create a powerful and exciting read, especially in The Dragon in Winter.  The large number of short chapters allows for a quick pace, and you are constantly jumping from sequence to sequence, eager to see what will happen next.  Maberry also excels at featuring a huge range of alternating perspectives as the book continues, with the point of view jumping around various interesting characters chapter to chapter.  While much of this focuses on the main protagonist, you are often following many of the fascinating and fun supporting characters as they go about their own adventures.  There are also multiple chapters shown from the perspective of the villain or his minions, and I love how the reader are constantly let into the antagonist’s plans, which helps to raise tension as you worry that they are one step ahead.  Throw in several additional perspective chapters from one-off characters, which often help to highlight some of the darker events going on in the wider setting, and this great jump in perspectives allows for a particularly complex and layered narrative that is so fun to navigate.  Of course, the real highlight of any Maberry book is the exceptional action sequences that pump some massive excitement into the plot.  Maberry is extremely talented at envisioning fight scenes of any size or shape, and I found myself constantly enthralled by the many, many battles that were contained in The Dragon in Winter.  This includes deep personal battles, running skirmishing or even a truly massive full-on war sequence with unique participants, all of which come across extremely well thanks to the author’s powerful and descriptive writing that captures every sword thrust or slice of the protagonist’s blades.

The Dragon in Winter continues to exhibit many of the dark fantasy elements that made the first two Kagen the Damned books so awesome to read.  Maberry really dove into the genre with a vengeance in this series, and I love how he pulled together a rich and powerful fantasy world loaded with both unique features and classic fantasy creatures and monsters.  Thanks to the author’s detailed writing and tendency to effectively recap key elements of the series, readers can easily absorb all the key elements of this universe, and it proves to be fascinating to take in, especially as Maberry loads it with secrets, deep history, and hints of other lands yet to be visited.  Of course, as this is Maberry, there is also a strong Lovecraftian vibe to this universe, as many of the elder gods and other associated beings have a place in this realm.  The author does a great job of exploring these classic Lovecraftian creatures throughout the course of the series, and the way they are worked into the main plot of The Dragon in Winter is extremely clever, especially if you have seen examples of them in some of Maberry’s other series.  For readers expecting a typical fantasy read, I should warn that The Dragon in Winter, like the rest of the Kagen the Damned series, gets very dark and brutal at times, and there are a lot of strong references to violence, torture, sexual assault and other troubling features that probably won’t appeal to every reader.  I feel that while Maberry occasionally goes a bit overboard with these darker inclusions, for the most part it helps to create a powerfully grim overarching tone that raises the stakes and ensure you are constantly rooting for the protagonist to succeed and bring a bit of justice to the world.  It also works very well alongside the awesome action sequences, and for those fans of some very bloody fights, including those featuring pure evil fantasy and horror creatures, you are in for an amazing time here.

While the action, setting and clever storytelling is an exceptional part of The Dragon in Winter, I also need to highlight the various impressive characters featured throughout this book.  Due to The Dragon in Winter being the last entry in this trilogy, Maberry spends much of this book finalising key character storylines, allowing for a much more personal entry in the series that will really appeal to those readers who have grow attached the protagonists in the first two books.  As such, this final Kagen the Damned novel features an array of great characters who are so well written and who often feature their own powerful and personal character arcs. 

Like with the rest of the series, much of the book’s character work is focussed on the main protagonist, Kagen Vale, who thanks to the dark deeds he has witnessed has been given the title Kagen the Damned.  A moody and deadly figure, Kagen has gone through so much despair and darkness in this series, and it has been a powerful journey following him this far.  Maberry did an outstanding job continuing Kagen’s story in The Dragon in Winter, and it was great to see how far Kagen has come, especially as he now uses his inner darkness, past trauma, and even the damnation of his gods, to fuel his desire to fight.  While he has overcome many of his past traumas, Kagen does experience new ones in The Dragon in Winter, as he finally understands the full scope of the evils unleashed upon the world, including by his own people.  This allows for some more dramatic sequences from the protagonist, and part of the emotional strength of the story is watching Kagen overcome even these revelations, especially with the help of his friends.  I have really appreciated how well Maberry has written Kagen’s pain and deeper heart throughout the series, and it was fantastic to see some of this pain finally come to an end in this final novel.

Aside from Kagen, the rest of the supporting cast proves to be quite exceptional, and there are many fascinating characters you become attached to as a result.  I personally loved seeing more of Kagen’s two friends and comrades, Tuke and Fillia, who form a hilarious put powerful trio as they fight together against the odds.  Essentially Kagen’s conscience and voice of reason, Tuke and Filia are the perfect supporting characters to the protagonist, and I love how they constantly anticipate Kagen’s behaviour and manipulate events to ensure he does what they want.  However, they also have their own compelling adventures outside of Kagen, especially when they lead the final battle, and you care nearly as much for them (if not more) than you do Kagen by the end of things.  Maberry also invests a lot of time in The Dragon in Winter to the amusing characters of Jheklan and Faulker Vale, Kagen’s brothers and mischievous adventurers.  While they have had minor appearances in the previous novels, Maberry only featured them as major, fleshed out characters in this final book, as they lead their own expedition to the frozen Winterwilds.  While they are relatively new figures, the reader quickly becomes intrigued by their storylines, especially as it is loaded with adventure and a certain comedic charm thanks to the brother’s juvenile nature.  However, while they are often unserious, when the chips are down Jheklan and Faulker get serious quick, and Maberry ensured that they encounter some real tragedy that shows the true heart of these figures.

While there are other great supporting characters I could talk about, including a vengeful widow and a scarily powerful vampire elf, I want to finish by mentioning the various villains, who are some of the best characters in The Dragon in Winter.  This includes the sinister Witch-king and his court, who are constantly plotting to destroy the world and kill Kagen.  The Witch-king is particularly malevolent in this book, and Maberry continues to build on the revelations surrounding him in this final book, providing even more fun context and twists.  I also love the continued focus on the Witch-king’s terrified advisors, Lord Nespar and Jakob Ravensmere, who find themselves way over their heads as they try to serve their lord and their own agendas.  However, the devilishly fun character known as the Prince of Games easily steals every scene he is in, and I loved his constant manipulations and chaotic nature, especially as it brings great fun to the Witch-king’s dark court.  The Prince of Games, who has some interesting links to some of Maberry’s other series, perfectly rounded out this cast of villains, and I really appreciate how much depth and complexity these antagonists, and indeed every character in the Kagen the Damned series, brought to the overall story.

As with all Maberry’s previous books, I chose to check out The Dragon in Winter on audiobook, which is the best format to enjoy the author’s captivating narratives in.  Maberry’s short chapters, elaborate world building, intense action and over-the-top characters really come to life when they are read out loud, especially when it is done by the legendary Ray Porter.  Porter has long perfected the tones to get the most out of Maberry’s writings and his infectious and compelling voice expertly captures the inherent dark nature of Maberry’s writing and helps to send the crazy scenes of carnage straight into the listener’s head.  The narrator knows exactly how to portray Maberry’s great, larger-than-life protagonists and villains, and you can easily imagine each of the figures and their actions as Porter reads them out.  I particularly enjoy how well Porter captures the various emotional states of these characters, and you always hear the despair, anger or fear of each of these figures when they speak.  This especially true for the primary protagonist, Kagen, and I always appreciate how well the narrator showcases his many dark emotions as he goes through the wringer time and time again.  Throw in some truly chilling voices for the various villains and evil monsters that the protagonists encounter, and Porter’s performance was once again exceptional, allowing for quite an awesome audiobook.  With a runtime just short of 21 hours, this is a long audiobook to check out, although you really don’t mind as it becomes hard to stop listening to The Dragon in Winter, especially during the various climatic or intense sequences.  I had such a great time listening to The Dragon in Winter, and this such an amazing format to enjoy this latest Maberry novel on.  Indeed, I loved it so much I listed it as one of my favourite audiobooks of 2024, even before I finished it, so do yourself a favour and check out this novel on audiobook right away.

Thanks to its powerful story, intense action and damaged characters, The Dragon in Winter was another incredible read from Jonathan Maberry that I could not get enough of.  One of the best books of 2024, The Dragon in Winter was an outstanding final entry in the Kagen the Damned series, and I loved every single second I spent reading it.  Highly recommended on all formats, especially those read out by Ray Porter, The Dragon in Winter is so damn good, and it will be interesting to see if Maberry decides to return to the fantasy genre again the future.  In the meantime, we’re only a few months off from Maberry’s next book, Burn to Shine, which will probably be one of the best things I read in 2025.

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Da Red Gobbo Collection by Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer5 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 16 November 2024)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 11 hours and 10 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for da revolution with this collection of brilliant Warhammer 40,000 stories from three top authors, with Da Red Gobbo Collection.

Gosh this has been a great year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and the fun is still continuing as one of the best releases of this year just dropped with Da Red Gobbo Collection, which features five brilliant stories from awesome authors Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James.  Featuring three novellas and two short stories, Da Red Gobbo Collection focuses on the always entertaining ork faction from Warhammer 40,000 fiction, whose brutal, hooligan-inspired mindset always leads to comedic and outrageous reads.

However, rather than your typical ork novel, the stories in this anthology collection are focused on the ork sub-species known as grots, who are the 40K equivalent of the goblins from the Warhammer Fantasy universe.  Small, cunning and cowardly, the grots, also known as gretchin, work as slaves, cannon fodder and scapegoats (scape-grots??) to the bigger orks, generally getting kicked around by their ork masters even if they do the right thing.  However, not all grots are content to live under ork oppression, and some even have the courage to fight back thanks to the legendary figure known as Da Red Gobbo.

Da Red Gobbo is a mysterious figure in the grot mythology, who arises whenever the orks push their smaller cousins too far.  Able to put aside the typical grot amnesty and selfishness, Da Red Gobbo is an icon for revolution and revolt against the orkish oppression.  But who is Da Red Gobbo?  Are they really a legendary figure going from ork warband to ork warband spreading the word of freedom, or can any grot put on the cape, hat and goggles and inspire his fellows?  Whatever the truth may be, Da Red Gobbo is here to bring a crumping, and nobody, be they human, Chaos worshipper or even the mightiest of orks, will underestimate the grots again.

I had a blast with Da Red Gobbo Collection, especially as I was able to enjoy all five stories on audiobook for the first time.  Brooks, Flowers and James have all produced exceptional stories focused on the hilarious figure of the Red Gobbo, and I like their intriguing alternative takes on this unlikely revolutionary and his origin.  Thanks to the inherent humour of the ork faction, this was a particularly entertaining and comedic novel, and I frankly laughed my way through the various stories, especially as the three excellent authors created some particularly inventive reads.

The first story in Da Red Gobbo Collection was Da Gobbo’s Revenge by Mike Brooks, which was one of the longer novellas in the collection.  Brooks is an outstanding author, and I have read quite a few of his Warhammer 40,000 books recently, including The Lion: Son the Forest and Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives.  Da Gobbo’s Revenge was a particularly entertaining read, which is set parallel to Brook’s previous ork-focused novels, such as Warboss, Brutal Kunnin and Da Big Dakka, which have also featured fun narratives of grot revolution and rebellion.

Da Gobbo’s Revenge is a more compact narrative that follows the unlikely hero, Fingwit.  The leader of small band of grots that follow a crazed ork mek, Fingwit and his comrades find themselves in deep trouble when their boss forces them to participate in a deadly boarding action aboard an Imperial war vessel.  When the mek dies in front of them, Fingwit attempts to lead his fellow grots to complete their boss’s final mission, only to encounter human soldiers, running firefights, and dissent from amongst his fellow grots.  However, it’s the actions of an ork taskmaster that finally drives Fingwit over the edge, and he decides that the only way to survive is to become something legendary.

Da Gobbo’s Revenge is a very entertaining and fast-paced novella that provides an interesting initial look into the grot mindset while throwing them into a frenetic adventure.  Brooks hits this story with the clever and comedic style he has utilised for his other ork-focused books, and you can really appreciate his clear love for this faction, as well as his attention to detail around them.  The only story in this book told exclusively through the eyes of a grot, Da Gobbo’s Revenge fully showcases their sneakiness, their shrewd cunning, and their desire to outdo each other, and the result is hilarious, especially as they manage to outsmart various bigger opponents who completely underestimate them.  This over-the-top adventure, while very fun, takes on a more thoughtful manner towards the end once Fingwit decides to take on the mantle of the Red Gobbo to save his friends.  Seeing the previously self-obsessed Fingwit become more concerned with the fate of his fellow grots helps to hammer home the significance of the Red Gobbo to these lowly creatures, especially as he inspires them to do something truly special and unselfish.  This ending is surprisingly powerful and poignant, especially for an ork/grot focussed Warhammer 40,000 story, and Da Gobbo’s Revenge was a very strong story that serves as the perfect introduction to Da Red Gobbo Collection.

Following hot on the heels of this first excellent entry is the brilliant novella, Da Gobbo’s Demise by Denny Flowers.  Da Gobbo’s Demise was another awesome read that I was particularly keen to check out, mainly because I am a massive fan of Flowers at the moment.  One of the best rising stars of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Flowers has deeply impressed me with his books Fire Made Flesh, Outgunned, and the outstanding 2024 release Above and Beyond.  Da Gobbo’s Demise was the first of Flowers’s novellas I have had the pleasure of reading, and I was very excited to check out his take on a non-human character, the result of which was extremely entertaining and fantastically fun.

Da Gobbo’s Demise follows a small herd of grots who find themselves alone and in trouble when their taskmaster, Runtherd Killaskun, is suddenly killed, and they are left without any ork supervision.  This proves particularly problematic for Killaskun’s right-hand grot, Redsnot, as he knows that his fellow grots will be looking to even the score against him for enforcing Killaskun’s orders.  However, the grots soon find themselves in deeper trouble when they are surrounded by a horde of Chaos cultists determined to kill them and take the church they are hiding in.  Determined to survive, Redsnot seeks to take advantage of the situation and be the leader the grots need.  However, his genius plan is ruined by the surprise appearance of Da Red Gobbo, hero of all grot-kind.  But Redsnot isn’t going to be upstaged by anyone, even if the Red Gobbo trying to save his life.  But luckily even legends are susceptible to a knife in the back.

This was another particularly fun and awesome novella that really showcase Flowers’ ability to write a clever, funny and very cynical story that I could not get enough off.  I honestly really enjoyed where Flowers took the story, especially as it ended up being a Home Alone-inspired siege, where the hilariously cruel grots hold off a bunch of incompetent cultists by any means necessary.  The constant bickering and dissent on both sides of the conflict was just great, and there are some very amusing moments as the grots use their natural cunning to outsmart their opponent.  The entire story moves quickly, and I found myself constantly laughing due to the outrageous antics of everyone involved.

Flowers makes Da Gobbo’s Demise’s story even more entertaining and funny through amazing use of multiple character perspectives, as in addition to showing events through Redsnot’s eyes, the author also features the viewpoint of the Chaos cultists besieging them, including a traitor commissar hoping for glory under his new gods.  There are some brilliant contrasts between the bickering grots and the disorganised cultists, especially when it comes to their different leaders.  While the chaos cultists are controlled by fear, and their leader becomes more and more demented the more failure he encounters, the usually contentious grots become surprisingly well organised thanks to the appearance of Da Red Gobbo, who resolves most of their petty arguments and turns them into an effective team.  I especially enjoyed the way in which Da Red Gobbo manages to effectively undermine and outsmart Redsnot at every turn, especially as it leads to yet another compelling bit of character growth for the main protagonist as he learns to fight for something bigger than himself.  The resulting story turns into a wonderfully bloody mess of over-the-top characters and outrageous antics, and I laughed my way through it.  Another outstanding outing from Flowers that perfectly expanded on the opening momentum of Da Gobbo’s Revenge and ensured that readers are firmly enthralled by Da Red Gobbo Collection as this point in the book.

The next entry in Da Red Gobbo Collection is the short story Da Wrong Type of Green, also by Denny Flowers.  A quick and exciting read, Da Wrong Type of Green is a direct prequel to Da Gobbo’s Demise that, shows the events immediately leading up to the novella’s opening scene.  Featuring the exact same style and most of the same characters, Da Wrong Type of Green gives some fun additional context to Da Gobbo’s Demise that I rather enjoyed seeing, especially as I had such a brilliant time with Flower’s longer novella.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the protagonist’s relationship with their former ork leader, Runtherd Killaskun, which really enhanced some of the themes of freedom and revolution that Flowers featured in novella.  While the inclusion of this story does feel a tad unnecessary, especially as you don’t really need to read it to appreciate Da Gobbo’s Demise, it was an interesting story, and one that you can get through very quickly.

Following these two stories by Flowers, readers are then led to the book’s third novella, the amusing and outrageous entry, Da Gobbo Rides Again, by Rhuairidh James.  James, who has previously written several interesting Warhammer 40,000 short stories, honestly produces one of the best entries in Da Red Gobbo Collection, and I was really blown away by his intriguing and original take on the focal character, especially as he examines the revolution and the relationship between orks and grots in a very different manner.

Da Gobbo Rides Again follows the ork painboy Stimma, who arrives back to camp only to discover something strange happening to his warband’s grots.  Rather than being their usual sneaky selves, the grots have all become exceedingly compliant and helpful, completely throwing off the usual anarchic rhythms of the ork encampment.  Ordered by his warboss to fix the problem, Stimma and his grot assistant, Goggulz, try to shake the grots out of their malaise and back to their previous sly and murderous mentality.  They soon determine that the only way to inspire the grots is to give them a Red Gobbo to stir them up.  However, with no Red Gobbo to hand, Stimma decides to create one, but first he needs to understand what the Red Gobbo is and how he comes into being.  But the further he dives into the mysteries of the Red Gobbo, the closer he comes to the truth, and not even an ork as ruthless as Stimma is prepared for what he finds.

This was such a brilliant entry from James, and I loved the elaborate and very memorable story he comes up with.  I love how he decided to tell the story through the eyes of an ork master, rather than another grot, which allows for a unique new perspective in the tale of Da Red Gobbo.  The central story focusing on the dispirited grots was very clever, and James’s concept of compliant grots being more dangerous to the orks than rebellious ones was a fun take.  The resulting story of Stimma’s attempt to create his own Red Gobbo is both hilarious and philosophical in nature, and you must love the ork mentality when it comes to grots and their so-called heroes.  This attempt at science also leads the protagonist to various ork experts, and while this is mostly a novella about grots, the fun and in-depth dive into the oddboyz, those orks with special skills such as meks and weirdboyz, proves to be really amusing and detailed.  I especially loved Jame’s take on the painboyz, the orks’ highly experimental medics, especially as it results in some hilarious discussions about ‘medicine’.

However, the thing that I loved most about Da Gobbo Rides Again is the main twist of the story.  Thanks in part to having read the other novellas first, you can easily see where Stimma’s plan is going to go, even if the orks cannot due to their blind spot when it comes to their smaller cousins.  As such, you get to watch in joy as James openly works to bring this twist to fruition bit by bit, and it is very satisfying when it all comes together.  This fantastic buildup works extremely well amongst the general chaos of the ork camp, while the fun relationship that builds between Stimma and Goggulz makes it even more delicious.  Throw in some very interesting sequences that explore the unusual past of the orks and their relationship to grot-kind, as well as a great scene that brings together Da Gobbo Rides Again with the other novellas in this collection, and this was an impressive entry that I could not get enough of.  I honestly cannot emphasise enough just how amazing Da Gobbo Rides Again was, and I hope we get a full-length novel from James at some point in the future as I know I will deeply enjoy it.

The final entry within Da Red Gobbo Collection is The Instigator.  Also written by James, The Instigator is a prequel to Da Gobbo Rides Again which was originally released in the White Dwarf magazine.  This story tells of the first time a young Stimma encountered a Red Gobbo, when he accompanies an ork raiding party when it attempts to board a spaceship.  However, nothing goes to plan, especially when the orks find an unexpected enemy hidden within the ship, led by an unlikely commander.  This story does a great job of showcasing events that were hinted at within Da Gobbo Rides Again and presenting them in a very different way than Stimma remembers them, especially as events were a little more desperate than he cares to admit.  James amps up the tension in this short but sweet story, which shows just how scary grots can be for orks, while also providing a fantastic opponent for the plot.  The Instigator proves to be a great follow-up for Da Gobbo Rides Again, and I really enjoyed seeing the seeds for Stimma’s later idea around Da Red Gobbo be planted.

This ended up being a very awesome overall collection of Warhammer 40,000 stories, and I love the impressive and relentlessly comedic tales that these excellent authors came up with.  I loved how the three main novellas perfectly complemented each other, building on the work of the preceding stories, while also standing on their own feet.  Brooks, Flowers and James really had fun when it came to these stories, and I love how you get some unique takes on the orks and the grots, although the general ork humour does carry through very well for all of them.  I also deeply enjoyed how each author showcased a different aspect of the Red Gobbo character, and the three separate incarnations of the Red Gobbo you witness paints a fascinating picture of this unique being in the Warhammer canon.  All three authors really outdid themselves in how they brought this figure to life, and their amazing stories were a true joy to read.

Unsurprisingly, I chose to listen to Da Red Gobbo Collection on audiobook, a format which always deeply enhances Warhammer fiction, especially as the crazy characters, unlikely scenarios and dark settings really pop when read out loud.  Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks that feature the orks are always particularly awesome, as the outrageous aliens are so damn entertaining especially when you get a great narrator voicing them.  As such, I was very keen to listen to Da Red Gobbo Collection, especially as it provided the first audiobook adaptations of several existing short stories and novellas, which ensured a whole new way to appreciate these clever tales.  I was also excited because British actor Harry Myers was attached to narrate Da Red Gobbo Collection.  A very talented narrator who has brought some of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 books to life, including The Wraithbone Phoenix and Day of Ascension, Myers has a fantastically entertaining voice that really fits some of the outrageous figures in this universe.  Myers particularly excels at voice ork characters (he previously narrated Warboss and Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks), and his voice perfectly fits the rough and crude orks in so many entertaining ways.  He also does a great job of capturing the smaller and cowardly grots, and you really get a great sense of their scared, weaselly and backstabbing ways through his narration.  I also loved how each character comes out in this audiobook, and I was very impressed that Myers featured variety with his voice work, providing the various grots different voices, even when he moved on to a new story.  This was such an epic listen, and I really cannot recommend Da Red Gobbo Collection on audiobook enough.  Coming in with a runtime of just over 11 hours, this is a slightly long but very easy audiobook to power through, and there is honestly no better way to enjoy Da Red Gobbo Collection than by listening to it in this format.

Da Red Gobbo Collection was an exceptional Warhammer 40,000 book that I had so much damn fun getting through.  Thanks to the outstanding team of Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James, you are gifted with some very impressive stories that prove to be exceedingly addictive.  Insanely addictive and extremely hilarious, Da Red Gobbo Collection will bring a smile to any Warhammer fan, and even new readers will be able to have an amazing time with it.  As such, I must give this collection a full five-star rating, as each author delivered something very special that came together perfectly.

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Darkside by Michael Mammay

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 24 September 2024)

Series: Planetside – Book Four

Length: eight hours and six minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my favourite science fiction authors returns with another fantastic and compelling military thriller in space, the highly addictive Darkside by Michael Mammay.

Back in 2018 I had the very great pleasure of reading the debut novel of new author Michael Mammay, Planetside.  An intriguing science fiction thriller that sent a retiring military officer to an alien planet to find a missing soldier, Planetside turned into quite the clever and exciting read, and I really got attached to its complex narrative and maverick protagonist.  Ending on a massive and well-written twist, Planetside was an exceptional read and was one of my favourite books of 2018.  The series continued strong from that point on as Mammary released more cool additions to the Planetside series, each of which pit the protagonist against human corruption and corporate greed in the depths of space with Spaceside (one of my favourite books of 2019) and Colonyside (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021).  I have been curious to see if Mammay was planning to continue this series going forward, and I was nicely surprised earlier this year to find out that there was a fourth book coming out with Darkside.  One of my most anticipated books of 2024, Darkside was an intriguing entry to the series that once again forced the author’s protagonist to deal with old corporate threats on a distinctive new environment.

Colonel Carl Butler, former military officer turned genocidal fall-guy, has had an interesting life since his retirement from the military.  Thanks to the machinations of both the government and powerful corporation, Butler has found himself drawn into multiple conspiracies, and his direct way of dealing with the resulting controversy has made him infamous throughout the galaxy, as well as making him some very dangerous enemies.

Attempting to live out a quiet life on a remote planet, Butler finds his retirement once again disturbed when a young girl tracks him down, requesting his help in finding her missing father.  Finding it hard to say no to the desperate girl, especially when it becomes clear that something truly sinister has befallen her father, Butler reluctantly agrees to help, not realising the trouble he is about to find himself in again.

The missing father, Jorge Ramiro, had been working as the assistant for a famous archaeologist on the isolated moon of Taug.  With no electronic trace of Jorge remaining on the planet, Butler and his team chart a ship to the mining operations of Taug to find him.  However, Butler soon finds his investigation complicated by the fact that he has history with the two consortiums who control mining on Taug, Caliber and Omicron, as both have tried to kill him in the past.  Determined to find the truth no matter what, Butler relentless follows the dwindling trail of clues before him, even when that leads to the dangerous dark side of Taug where secrets lie hidden, and the two corporations are free to act without repercussion.

Michael Mammay presents another outstanding and impressive science fiction thriller that drags the reader in with its elaborate tale of intrigue, secrets, and one determined man seeking to fight the system.  Featuring a great combination of elements and a fantastically fun protagonist, Darkside was a brilliant addition to the Planetside series, and I had such an amazing time with it that it gets a full five-star rating from me.

I felt that Mammay produced another exciting and captivating narrative for his fourth Planetside book that ties in nicely to the rest of the series while providing readers with an excellent and entertaining ride capable of standing on its own feet.  Once again bringing in series protagonist Carl Butler to investigate a mysterious case on a new planet, Darkside features a fantastic tale of mystery, corporate antics and deeper intrigue.  The author does a great job of quickly setting the scene at the start of Darkside before dropping the protagonist right into the action as they attempt to find the missing father on Taug.  Seeking information from both corporations on the moon, Butler initially starts a methodical and low-key investigation.  However, things get tricky when Butler and his team discover evidence of a major coverup, and the protagonist is forced to pit the corporations against each other in his attempts to find the missing person.  This complex first half proves to be an excellent start to the novel, and Mammay ensures that the tension, stakes and mystery rise at an effectively rate, keeping the reader’s attention the entire way through.

Things take a very exciting turn around halfway through Darkside, as Butler’s investigation provoke action from his opponents that results in some extremely dramatic and intense moments.  While I had been enjoying the investigation and intrigue of the first half of the book, it was fun to dive into something much more action packed for the second half, and I really enjoyed the exciting direction that Mammay took the story.  There are some great reveals here, and I love how complicated the various corporate lies and agendas became at times.  Everything leads up to a very intense final set of sequences, as Butler finds his back against the wall and is forced to decide which devil to have in his corner.  There are some great twists here, as well as a cool chapter told from the perspective of one of the series’ major supporting characters, and it leads up to a particularly intense and moving conclusion that perfectly fit the overarching anti-corporate message of the entire series.

Darkside has an excellent and addictive style to it that really draws the reader in.  Told from the perspective of the cynical, but realistic, Colonel Butler, readers are presented an outstanding thriller novel expertly set in a futuristic setting.  Starting off with a mystery of a missing person, the story evolves into a more elaborate game of intrigue as the protagonist attempts to outsmart two rival companies.  Mammay hits the right blend of manipulation, investigation and action throughout Darkside, and readers are presented with a great story that thrills the reader while dragging them further in with the curious mystery.  This story is well set by the moon of Taug, which proves to be an outstanding setting for this intense novel.  Not only does Mammay provide some striking descriptions of this desolate moon, but the isolated nature of it, as well as more scientific elements like gravity and composition, are well utilised in the plot, creating problems and opportunities for the protagonists.  Whilst Darkside is part of a larger series, for the most part it is a standalone novel that new readers can easily dive into, especially as there is an effective summary at the front to fill in some major details about the protagonist and his previous outings.  I think I had a bit more fun having read the previous books first, especially as you appreciate how Butler’s relationship with some of the supporting characters has grown, as well as having a better understanding the protagonist’s adversarial relationship with the corporations on the moon.  Darkside was such a great addition to this series, and I had an exceptional time powering through this novel in record time.

Another major element of Darkside, and indeed the entire Planetside series, that I come to really enjoy, was the outstanding characters who sat at the heart of the story and who add some real emotional depth to the book.  This primarily refers to the protagonist and point-of-view character, Colonel Carl Butler, who is very fun to follow.  A former career soldier trying to enjoy retirement, Butler has been hit by controversy, betrayal and the downside of duty, which has made him infamous and forced him to live on a remote planet.  Despite this, he is still a cheerful figure whose desire to do good forces him into another adventure.  Witty and honourable, Butler has a very eccentric personality that results in most of Darkside’s humour, and you have to laugh at some of his clever thoughts and responses to the dark events around him.  Despite having a seemingly carefree, easy-going attitude, Butler is a canny operator at this point in the series, and it was great to see how he has finally learnt from his previous experiences of dealing with corrupt corporations.  I also really enjoy how Mammay portrays Butler’s thought process in this novel, as you get to see him weighing the options and impacts of his various potential actions, and seeing the steps Butler takes to make his decisions makes him a little more human and relatable to the reader.  As such, you really get caught up in Butler’s latest crusade, and it proves hard not to root for him the entire way, even despite his dark history.

In addition to Butler, Mammay also features a great supporting cast of characters in Darkside, most of whom play off Butler extremely well.  This includes the returning characters of Mac and Ganos, Butler’s bodyguard and computer expert respectively, who once again saddle up to help.  Mammay works these two characters back into the plot quickly and effectively, and it was great to see this team in action again.  Mac and Ganos serve as an entertaining support to Butler, especially as by this point, they have learned to anticipate their boss’s likely course of action.  I really enjoyed seeing the close camaraderie and support these three had together, and it there were some excellent and moving moments as a result.  The rest of the case also worked well around these central characters, with several new members of Butler’s team providing some intriguing plot options.  Throw in the usual collection of local soldiers who work with Butler, and a group of manipulative corporate officers who serve as the antagonists, and the cast of Darkside proves to be a fantastic part of the book, and I loved seeing them all in action.

I ended up enjoying Darkside on audiobook, which has been my preferred way of enjoying the Planetside books, primarily because of the inclusion of R. C. Bray as the narrator.  Bray, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, did another exceptional job voicing the characters in Darkside, and I love how well his gruff and rich voice fits Colonel Butler.  Bray’s voice work perfectly captures Butler’s sarcastic, pragmatic and rebellious streak, and you really get caught up in this excellent narrator’s central performance.  In addition to his excellent portrayal of Butler, Bray also brings all the supporting cast to life in fun and effective manner, with each character given their own distinctive voice or accent.  I particularly enjoyed the fun voice he gave to Butler’s right-hand man, Mac, which was handy considering Mac got a lengthy chapter from his perspective that really popped in Bray’s voice.  I honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed Darkside quite as much without having Bray read it out to me, and I have so much love for the paring between Bray and Mammay’s great writing.  Coming in with a runtime of just over eight hours, most people will be able to power through Darkside very quickly, and I honestly found it very hard to stop listening to this audiobook, which comes very highly recommended.

Michael Mammay continues to impress with Darkside, a brilliant addition to his fantastic Planetside series that proves hard to turn away from.  Clever, exciting, and featuring a well-written and intense story, Darkside is one of Mammay’s best Planetside novels yet, and I cannot wait to see how he continues the story in the future, especially as the rascally protagonists keeps making more and more enemies.

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NecroTek by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller15 Comments

Publisher: Blackstone Audio (Audiobook – 28 May 2024)

Series: NecroTek – Book One

Length: 15 hours and 24 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading authors of action-packed fiction, Jonathan Maberry, dives headfirst into the science fiction genre with the unique read NecroTek, a remarkable Lovecraftian adventure in space that takes readers to some very dark places.

Readers of this blog will know that I have long been a fan of compelling author Jonathan Maberry, who has been impressing me with his elaborate, grim and varied book for years.  A long-time writer of horror-filled fiction across the genres, Maberry has multiple books and series under his belt, and I have had the great pleasure of reading a large portion of his existing works.  His main body of fiction is his Joe Ledger thriller series, which follows a tortured protagonist as he attempts to stop an array of dark technological threats assailing the modern world.  This series, which includes great books like Patient Zero, Assassin’s Code, Predator One and Dogs of War, as well as the Rogue Team International sequel series (Rage, Relentless and Cave 13), proved to be a great introduction to the author for me, and my appreciation for him grew after reading his Kagen the Damned dark fantasy series.  Made up of Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Son of the Poison Rose (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), and The Dragon in Winter (which I am currently reading now), the Kagen the Damned books saw the author bring his distinctive style to the world of dark fantasy in a big way, and I loved the end result.

Due to how much I love Maberry’s captivating and enthralling novels, I always instantly grab anything new the author writes, and this includes his first release of 2024, NectroTek.  While his Joe Ledger books often feature strong science fiction elements in their thriller narratives, NecroTek was the first pure science fiction novel from the author, and I felt that he did an outstanding job applying his style and love for old-school horror into this new genre.  Released under the banner of the iconic Weird Tales horror magazine, NecroTek was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, and it did not disappoint.

Plot Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, NecroTek is a gripping sci-fi thriller full of ghosts, gods, and a battle for the soul of humanity.

Neither cosmic philosopher Lars Soren, hotshot pilot Bianca Petrescu, nor the high priestess Jessica McHugh–Lady Death herself–can say quite where in the galaxy they are. But after an experiment gone horribly wrong, one thing is clear: Asphodel Station isn’t in orbit around Jupiter any longer. Worse, the monsters that live out here–ancient eldritch beings thought only to exist in stories and nightmares–have now been alerted to Earth’s existence.

Their army of Shoggoths is coming for us next.

Humanity’s only hope for survival lies on the surface of the alien world of Shadderal, where a ghost named Lost, the last of an ancient race, still haunts the vast plains of the Field of Dead Birds. But hope has a cost. Lost tells Soren about ancient derelict spacecraft awaiting on Shadderal, shapeshifting machines that blend ultra-advanced technology with the dark powers of necromancy. These ships might just be nimble enough to defend mankind against the coming invasion.

But there’s a catch: they can only be piloted by the dead.

As human starfighters fall in battle, their spirits can be called back from death to pilot these ghost ships of a fallen race. But will this new necromantic technology–NecroTek–allow humanity to stand against the vast armies of the Shoggoths? And even if it can, is the war to save the human race worth the cost of its pilots’ immortal souls?

What another brilliant read from Jonathan Maberry!  NecroTek was an outstanding and captivating novel that I unsurprisingly loved thanks to its elaborate and ambitious narrative, loaded with horror, carnage and a distinctive tale of survival against the odds.  Moving, powerful and highly emotional, NecroTek was such an epic and captivating novel, and I must give it a full five-star rating as a result.

Maberry produces another complex, detailed and powerfully dark narrative for NecroTek that is part science fiction, part horror, and all excitement.  Starting off just in advance of the events that will set the story in motion, Maberry does a great job of opening the book up and quickly setting the scene for the reader.  The start of a new series unconnected from his previous works (for now), this is one of the easier Maberry novels to break into, and you are soon invested in the tale of scientific exploration.  However, things change quickly once the teleportation experiment fails, and as this is Maberry, when things go wrong, they go wrong in a big and gruesome way.  The author really leans into his love of horror during these opening moments, and there are some shocking depictions of the side effects of the jump through space, as well as the terrifying things waiting for the survivors on the other side.  Maberry revels in featuring powerful depictions of terror and craziness here and it makes for a brilliant and often disturbing first part of the book.

After this horrifying start to the novel, NecroTek becomes more of a science fiction tale, although Maberry quickly infects it with his beloved Lovecraftian elements, as the protagonists soon discover that they have been discovered by Shoggoths above a mysterious planet.  This allows for some fantastic moments, as the humans attempt to defeat this new alien foe with their existing ships, while continuing to dive into the complex science and philosophy surrounding their circumstances.  This middle section of the book moves at a swift pace, and the readers are treated to some excellent battle sequences in space, as well as the character’s continued uncertainty as they try to understand the outrageous situation they have found themselves in.  Maberry does a great job setting down the required Lovecraftian lore and bringing key parts of the plot to light during this part of the book, and readers easily become absorbed in his compelling ideas, especially when they are coated in a combination of adventure, horror and intriguing characters.

Everything leads up perfectly to the final third of NecroTek, which sees the protagonists desperate to defend both the station, and the important planet they hover above.  Faced with attacks on multiple fronts and so many tragedies, the protagonists are forced to rely on a new ally and the titular NecroTek to face off against the Shoggoth fleet.  Maberry keeps the tension riding high for this final part of the book, and you are constantly on the edge of your seat as several simultaneous battles rage around the reader, often fought in some extremely epic ways.  There is some captivating tragedy, deeply moving moments of sacrifice, and elaborate dives into the human psyche as everything comes together, and you will be left dazed and moved by everything that unfolds.  An overall exceptional and unique story, NecroTek was so much fun, and I liked the potential for story continuation that exists at the end of the novel.

Maberry has a very distinctive writing style that he utilises in all his novels, no matter the genre, and which always results in an awesome and complex read.  Featuring a huge number of short and sharp perspective chapters that constantly jump between the key characters, as well as a few shots of the antagonists and other mysterious creatures, you get a layered story that shows so many complex actions at the same time.  This style works extremely well in this science fiction adventure, and I loved the elaborate ways he showcased the dark events occurring around the station, whether you get the experiences of the recurring characters, or one-off chapters that shows what happened to specific characters before they die.  These chapters deeply enhance the horror vibes in the book, which keep you on your toes and provides an overarching sense of threat and danger that really makes you concerned for the protagonists.  This cool horror vibe blends well with the extremely detailed science fiction setting and storyline, to create a particularly striking read that really stuck with me, especially as the author also dives into Lovecraftian elements which work nicely into Maberry’s distinctive tone.  As with most of Maberry’s work, NecroTek does get incredibly dark and disturbing at times, which may not appeal to every reader, especially when it comes to some of the more distressing occurrences.  However, Maberry channels this darkness extremely well into the plot and the various action sequences of the book, producing a rafter of ultra-exciting scenes that really stick in the mind.  I personally felt his various space-combat sequences were extremely good, and I loved how effectively he showcased the intricate nature of the battles, even when things get extreme with the inclusion of ghost-powered battle mechs. 

As with all Jonathan Maberry novels, the true power and heart of NecroTek lies in its many impressive and complex characters, who the author utilises to tell a particularly powerful and layered story.  Maberry has a real gift for producing compelling, damaged, and often highly over-the top characters for his various series, and NecroTek is no different as he introduces a range of figures whose unique perspectives shape and power the story.  While NecroTek lacks the full-on antagonist’s perspective that usually make his novels so effective (due to the enemies being unknowable aliens), you get a great spread of alternating perspectives and thoughts throughout NecroTek, as well as the powerful emotions behind them.  These emotions are greatly enhanced by the fact that all the human characters within NecroTek are disorientated or damaged by the earlier events of the plot, and watching them overcome their rage, fear or despair, really amps up the feeling of the unknown and the complex emotions that swirl around the plot.

While there are many characters featured within NecroTek, Maberry does focus the plot on a few key protagonists whose stories get a bit more attention.  This includes cosmic philosopher Lars Soren, who serves as one of the main explorers of the new world and the voice of calm reason amongst the protagonists.  I liked how effectively Maberry utilised a scholar protagonist for much of this novel, and it allowed for a much more thoughtful narrative at times.  Of course, as this is Maberry, there needs to be a militant main protagonist as well, and that role was filled ably by military pilot Bianca Petrescu.  A confident and skilled pilot, Bianca worked as a great partner to Soren throughout much of the adventure, and I liked the contrast in their styles and actions.  Bianca also works well as part of the fighter group, known as the Lost Souls, who work to defend the station from the Shoggoth fleet.  Acting like an extended family, the Lost Souls are a vital part of the book’s plot, especially as their eventual, many-layered sacrifice, results in some of the most emotionally charged scenes in the book, which is further enhanced by how much you have come to care for the whole group.  Throw in an actual necromancer and an ancient alien whose guilt-ridden ghost provides aid to the protagonists whilst also damning them, and the cast of NecroTek was extremely strong.  I really enjoyed the elaborate narrative threads that emerged around these figures, and it led to a very powerful and intense read.

As with most of the Jonathan Maberry novels, I chose to enjoy NecroTek on audiobook, which is easily the best way to enjoy one of the author’s elaborate and powerful novels.  Maberry’s distinctive writing style of constantly shifting characters, loaded action, and horrifying elements really comes across when read out and I honestly believe that this is the best way to enjoy one of author’s books.  A lot of this is due to the continued use of long-term Maberry collaborator Ray Porter, who has lent his voice to most of Maberry’s compelling audiobooks.  One of my favourite audiobook narrators, Ray Porter has an outstanding voice that expertly moves Maberry’s complex and addictive narrative around at a fast and effective pace.  Porter’s ability to instil emotion, intensity and often scary tones into his narration is extremely epic, and he can ensure that readers are always on the edge of their seats as they wait for more action or horror to emerge.  Porter also has a great range of different awesome voices that seem to always perfectly fit the character they are assigned to, and I love the fun and entertaining tones that convey so much of fear, feelings and deeper emotional state.  Coming in with an overall run time of 15 hours and 24 minutes, this is a long audiobook, although it proves easy to power through it quickly, especially in the action-heavy second half.  As such, the NecroTek audiobook version comes highly recommended, and you will not be disappointed when you listen to it.

Jonathan Maberry once again deeply impresses me with his elaborate and addictively dark science fiction read, NecroTek.  A very distinctive Maberry creation, NecroTek features a brilliant story that brings together cool new science fiction elements with the author’s love for all thing Lovecraftian into a brutal and captivating read.  Fast paced and loaded with complex characters, fantastic action, and some truly epic sequences, NecroTek was such a great read from Maberry and comes highly recommended.  I look forward to seeing how Maberry continues the series in the future, especially as a sequel, Cold War, is apparently set for release in 2025.

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