King
Space Void – Anthony Trevino
Gargantuan,
Semi-Robotic, Planet-Eating Monster, you say? I'm in!
All
right, King Space Void owes a teeny, tiny little nod to Jack Kirby
and Galacticus but let's be honest here, everyone who is being
creative at this moment in time owes a debt to Marvel somewhere.
So,
King Space Void is the tale of Dane Shipps, a worker in the guts of
the eponymous, planet-devouring god. He's a regular schmo, but
slightly dissatisfied, think Winston Smith at the start of 1984. He
meets Scarlett, who is a sort of commando from one of the planets
about to be devoured. She, using Danes naivety, convinces him to step
outside his routine. Together they journey through the titan's
innards in an attempt to stop the monster once and for all.
Anthony's
novella has a smattering of the Orwellian about it. The great
clanking machine which one cannot possibly hope to destroy and the
small rebel band trying to take it out. But, it also reminded me of
the Odyssey as well (just like Karl's Towers but in a different way).
The episodic nature as Dane travels from organ to organ, each organ
being a new setting of weird, is good and fun and keeps the story
from becoming stale and it is this quality which reminded me of
Odysseus's journey.
Some
of these island stop off's didn't work for me, although they are
varied I would have preferred them be directly linked and
representing each biological system, and then the descriptions and
inhabitants reflecting that. And sometimes the pacing can get
confusing especially during the action sequences. But these are
little quibbles and in future projects I'm sure Anthony can refine
this.
At
first glance, this novella can appear a little nihilistic – there's
a giant, robotic, planet-devouring monster on a search for the end of
the universe and we're the ones running it! But look a little closer
and there is hope in here. Perhaps hope in just the moment of
existence before you are obliterated, or perhaps hope in a wider
sense, the reader will have to decide.
Do,
I recommend King Space Void? Yes. If you like the idea of Orwellian
1984, mixed with some Homeric Odyssey, through the filter of Marvel's
Galacticus, then you're completely bat-sh*t crazy, but you've also
found the book for you! So, take a journey on King Space Void, it's
well worth the read.
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