The Man who Never was

For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 5 of 5 stars Caiphas Cain, Commissar and hero of the Imperium, is basically the 40k version of Tanya Degurechaff from The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult . if you haven't read that book yet, why haven't you? Go and read that right now. A simple descriptor of that story is a middle-aged man reincarnated as a young girl, becomes a conscripted child soldier in an alternate history pre-WWI era Imperial Prussia, with mages acting like aerial weapons. Where she uses her knowledge of real-world military history, as well as her considerable intellect, to commit war crimes which technically are compliant to the Geneva convention. Intrigued? Go read it. Caiphas Cain is much like Tanya, in the sense that, the last thing he wants to do, is to be in the frontlines fighting a war. Or facing down heretics, Xenos or chaos. Unfortunately for him, he happened to be form in the world of 40k, where according to ...

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga My rating: 3 of 5 stars News outlets keep telling us how, despite the great leaps made by science and technology, despite globalization and relative global peace, in our current world, wealth disparity is at its worst. Where, on one end we see billionaires (and unreported oil trillionaires) whose total assets exceed the GDP of small and some medium sized nations. Ones who can afford to purchase ludicrously exorbitant eccentricities, have entire private nation states under their command, can control the economies of the world and remake it according to their (often naive) whims. And when the end of civilization becomes apparent, the only ones will be fully stocked and furnished bunkers and lifeboats, all ready to create a new dystopian post-apocalyptic new world order. Think 2012, but with less CGI and a lot more suffering. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who work 3 or more jobs, jumping through hoop...

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade : A; "By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes." Warning; Gratuitous content, graphic violence, nudity Diana, living in Man’s world as the ambassador of Themyscira, as well as a vital member of the Justice league is feeling the Blues. Perhaps due to being away from her home, mother and sisters for long, or perhaps because of the spectral present of the Erinyes, the three sisters of vengeance. The reason for their presence becomes apparent, when, one night, a young woman named Danielle Wellys, comes to Diana’s doorstep, and invokes the ancient Greek ritual of Hiketeia. She submits herself, her life and entire being to Diana; in exchange, she begs for protection and sanctuary. Being the kind & honorable Amazon that she is, Diana accepts, without asking the girl’s circumstances, taking her under the Amazon’s protection. Little did s...

Iron Squad #1: Red Commando 1/2 by Jean-Luc Sala My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: B; Command & Conquer, mecha edition Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge that the period of the World wars is one of the darkest parts of human history. One which causes death, destruction & suffering on a continental scale. One which put into the collective consciousness, horrors pertaining to humanity, depths to which we never thought men could stoop to. Suffering and testament to human will, in Ethnic genocide & concentration camp (Something which is still being carried out by the ahem, ‘world’s next superpower’). It’s something which has shaped Geopolitical events for almost 80 years since. Not something to be made light of. Having said that, fictional stories where the Axis win the war, and establish a new world order, are a dime a dozen. It might be because, like me, there is a dedicated niche following of readers who guzzle it all up, li...

Iron Squad Vol. 2: Pacific Invasion by Jean-Luc Sala My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade : C; War of the World; 日本 edition The second volume of Jean-Luc Sala's Iron Squad, leaves much to be desired. This volume which focuses on the fictional invasion of the US by a 'mecha'nized Imperial Japan, sees a ragtag group of recruits, who highjack a command mecha of the Japanese to try and mount an almost suicidal mission to help the Allies. For one, the artwork of the story, which was the highlight of Volume 1, appear to be significantly watered down, and lacks the depth, richness & intensity as the original. There are a few panels which show promise, and I do appreciate the visuals of the Mechanized walkers treading the beaches in a mechapunk remake of the Invasion of Normandy. But it does fall short. Second, the characters, which do appear as interesting in the onset, don't really do anything to me, even as they ar...

Age of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare by Ricardo Delgado My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade : A for effort; Once upon a time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth... This ain't your parent's land before time! Ricardo Delgado brings back that sense of wonder & excitement everyone of us had, when we were children, playing with our dinosaur figurines. He manages to tickle that nostalgia bone, and makes you remember the time, when we were genuinely excited for the next Jurassic Park movie, instead of the swivel that we got recently. And, to a limited extent, he is able to make us empathize with the characters of this story. Given that, a. said characters are dinosaurs, and b. there is no dialogue in the story, that is an admirable feat. Other than this whole thing being a silent affair, one of the first aspects which caught my eye, is how immersive the world of the Dinosaurs was. With lush forests, gargantuan flora, a virgin earth untouche...

Batman: R.I.P. by Grant Morrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars Preceded by: Batman- The Black Glove Succeeded by: Final Crisis Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A; I’m the Gorram Batman (of Zur-en-aarh) Grant Morrison clearly subscribes to the Alan Moore school of storytelling. Which is psychedelics, dreams, bizarre mindscapes, non-linear storytelling, and a pinch of WTF did I just read. Following the events of Batman: The Black Glove, the torment in which he had to endure some serious psychological trauma (which seeing as this is Batman, is just another Tuesday for him), plus some hypnotic manipulation from Dr. Hurt, leader of the Black Glove, causes Batman’s psyche to become shattered after hearing the trigger phrase ‘Zur-en-arrh’. This causes him to fall back to an emergency psyche which he had created just for the eventuality of someone messing with his mind. Because, why wouldn’t he, this is the goddamn Batman, the guy who prepares for every possibilit...

A True Story by Lucian of Samosata My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade C+; Tales as tall of a titan, they be It is said that 'A true story' by Lucian of Samosata, is, arguably, the first science fiction story ever written. Arguably because, as is mentioned in the footnotes, several works which Lucian references in his story, are lost, either to the sands of time or the fires of Alexandria. Second, even though it is lauded as an ancient science fiction story, it is more of a satirical fantastical narrative. The closest it comes to sci-fi, is when the crew of Lucian's ship, ride some gnarly currents and end up reaching the kingdoms of the moon. And this being, way, way, before Gravity was a known thing, of course the space surrounding the moon is made of air, and has Greeks in it forming a kingdom. And of course they're at war with the neighboring Sun Kingdom, which as far as the people of that time were concerned, was com...