Tuesday 17 April 2012

STEAMPUNK WEEK: Pax Britannia: Pax Omega - Al Ewing

Release Date: 17/04/12

SYNOPSIS:

Doc thunder – the gold-bearded, bronze-muscled Hero of New York – in his last stand against a deadly foe whose true identity will shock you to your core!

El Sombra – the masked avenger, the laughing killer they call the Saint of ghosts – in his final battle against the forces of the ultimate Reich!

The Scion of tomorrow, the steel-clad locomotive Man, in a showdown with cosmic science on the prairies of the Old West!

Jacob Steele, the time-lost gunfighter, defends the 25th Century against the massed armies of the Space Satan!

And a deadly duel of minds and might between the Red King and Red Queen in the mystery palaces of One Million AD!


REVIEW:

This one is a little strange for the Pax Britannia series as it feels more like a multiple series of short stories that interweave around one main thread. Whilst not a bad thing, I did feel that some were more afterthoughts than planned properly which when added to some characters that I wasn’t really sold upon did make it a struggle to finish in certain areas.

That said, old favourites like El Sombra alongside Doc Thunder return and give the reader the flavour of the old penny dreadfuls as they peruse the book. Which when added with solid prose and a heroic pose or two with villains of equal intelligence generates a few stories that will appeal to quite a few readers.

All in, a little disjointed but I can see what Al tried to do and applaud his effort although for me personally I think that my favourites are Jonathan Green’s Quicksilver and Al’s original El Sombra story.

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