Salvation

This book was a complete shock to the system. I`ve read dozens of BL books in the past, usually ramming them into my eyes on the subway as a deliriously brutal enhancement to the journey across London. There`s not usually much to think about, and there`s always lots of blood to enjoy. That`s the whole point, right? This book, however, this book is actually ... a NOVEL! I had to check the cover a few times to make sure that it was really a BL book. The character development is awesome, the writing is fantastic, and the story works on so many levels that I have been thinking about it for weeks after finishing it. All of this without skimping on the blood, and there are even a bunch of laughs thrown in for good measure. If this is the wave of the future for BL fiction, bring it on! If you haven`t read it, you should ... but you shouldn`t expect it to be like the rest of the BL catalogue.

What is really exciting about this book is the way that Goto makes the lead character into a real person. So many Black Library books just call their characters heroic and leave it at that. We are supposed to imagine giant, storming Space Marines etc. Here, Zefer has REAL character. He's like dozens of people you might meet in the supermarket. What makes the book then, is the way that a normal guy has to struggle through the incredible, bizarre, hilarious, and dangerous world of Necromunda. If you want mindless violence, this is not the Necromunda title for you. But if you want some characters and an intelligent story, you couldn't do better.

This book is a real treat. It is intelligent and tense, twisted and violent, cunning and tragic. It reminds me of Kafka, only in space, with a bit of Logan's Run thrown in! The writing is gripping and the story extremely well paced. The story takes the main characters all the way through the world of Necromunda, exploring all its different parts and showing just how bizarre the hive city really is. If the rest of the Necromunda titles are going to be this good, I can't wait for them to appear. Fantastic -- check it out!