Tree Rats! Or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse

Given to us by the author over the summer.

Title: Tree Rats! Or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse
Date: 2015
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: E.J. BarnesCover: E.J. Barnes

Not a comic. This is a zine-format chapbook containing a single prose short story.

The story is a dark comedy and family drama, beginning with a scene that will be familiar to many: Family members trying to persuade and elderly relative to move into an assisted living facility. In this case, the narrator's uncle has gotten himself into the habit of shooting at squirrels with his b.b. gun out his bathroom window while dealing with his digestive issues.

When the narrator calls on an old friend to drive him from the East Coast to the Midwest to help with the resulting family drama, things quickly escalate into an over-the-top mess involving sex toys, a standard-shift truck, fireworks, stochastic music, an ill-tempered Italian greyhound, and militarized cops.

This had a lot of fun geeky elements, enough realistic details of how some family members can grow old ungracefully to give it an emotional punch, and plenty of laughs as it hits one bizarre plot twist after another.

Rating: 8.5/10

A Prelude To Penemue

From the random unread comics stack. I got this from the author at Arisia 2009 in Cambridge MA.

Title: A Prelude To Penemue
Date: 2008
Publisher: Apex Publications
Writer: Sara M. Harvey
Cover: Melissa Gay

Not a comic. This is a chapbook containing a short story by Sara M. Harvey meant to act as a prequel and companion piece to her novel The Convent of the Pure.

The setting mixes some mythological high fantasy (nephilim and demons) with sword-and-sorcery spellcasting and some steampunk elements.

The opening, plunging right into the action, finds aristocratic nephilim Lady Hester Sloane in the middle of a battle between nephilim and demonic forces. True to her duty to defend the humans in her charge, and seeking to protect her human husband and their child, Hester rushes into battle alongside the warrior nephilim.

When things turn tragic, Hester must take a hard look paths that lie ahead and make a fateful decision.

This story packs a bunch of great characters and some impressive worldbuilding into a thin chapbook, along with some really great fantasy battle scenes. The action is nonstop in the first half, while the character development takes center stage toward the end.

This felt more like traditional fantasy than the novel it is linked to. Convent of the Pure has more of a steampunk gothic horror vibe. Still, this is a solid introduction to a fantasy world that has some familiar elements, but plenty of surprises and memorable characters.

Rating: 8.5/10