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[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: graphic violence, gun violence, blood, gore, murder, death, kidnapping, drug use / addiction, cannibalism, swearing
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Any Minor World is a fantastic clash of crime noir and superhero fiction that well and truly pulls you in for the ride.
A freelance personal investigator, Roy Mackey gets hired to find a lost manuscript. It’s a job that suspiciously pays too much and where all the details don’t add up. Roy follows the breadcrumbs to Lucy Langenkamp, the young author of a discontinued comic book series – The Midnight Jury – that has links to the mysterious manuscript but which she is clueless about. After saving her from being kidnapped and all but putting a bigger target on his back with the sketchy client who initially hired him, Roy soon finds that he may have more pressing concerns when characters from the actual Midnight Jury comic book start showing up trying to get their hands on Lucy too.
If I was to choose one word to describe this book it would be cinematic. From the first chapter the snappy pacing flows so well, you’re immersed right into the world and the characters fly off the page. Honestly Shaefer’s characterisation is phenomenal, each and every one of the characters fells well fleshed out and you get a real sense of their personalities within a few pages.
There is fair bit of violence in this one but the action is SO GOOD and alongside all the suspense there is this adventurous undertone that makes the book such a page turner.
The story has a very DC Comics feel to it, the setting was giving me flashes of Gotham for sure and I also found my mind drawing parallels to Watchmen and The Sandman too. Though I have to say that as a whole it leans much more towards gritty urban fantasy than science fiction for me and this is probably because when it comes to the more speculative elements there is a lot more magic/black magic involved than science.
As someone who loves it when SFF in paired with mystery/crime I still had such a fun time with it though.
Whilst the direction of the plot is unique there are some very cliché, classic comic book-esque moments along the way too. By the end the events that take place over this one book are concluded really nicely however, there are also some loose threads left early on which hint at a series continuation and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for that in the future!
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: graphic violence, gun violence, blood, gore, murder, death, kidnapping, drug use / addiction, cannibalism, swearing
--
Any Minor World is a fantastic clash of crime noir and superhero fiction that well and truly pulls you in for the ride.
A freelance personal investigator, Roy Mackey gets hired to find a lost manuscript. It’s a job that suspiciously pays too much and where all the details don’t add up. Roy follows the breadcrumbs to Lucy Langenkamp, the young author of a discontinued comic book series – The Midnight Jury – that has links to the mysterious manuscript but which she is clueless about. After saving her from being kidnapped and all but putting a bigger target on his back with the sketchy client who initially hired him, Roy soon finds that he may have more pressing concerns when characters from the actual Midnight Jury comic book start showing up trying to get their hands on Lucy too.
If I was to choose one word to describe this book it would be cinematic. From the first chapter the snappy pacing flows so well, you’re immersed right into the world and the characters fly off the page. Honestly Shaefer’s characterisation is phenomenal, each and every one of the characters fells well fleshed out and you get a real sense of their personalities within a few pages.
There is fair bit of violence in this one but the action is SO GOOD and alongside all the suspense there is this adventurous undertone that makes the book such a page turner.
The story has a very DC Comics feel to it, the setting was giving me flashes of Gotham for sure and I also found my mind drawing parallels to Watchmen and The Sandman too. Though I have to say that as a whole it leans much more towards gritty urban fantasy than science fiction for me and this is probably because when it comes to the more speculative elements there is a lot more magic/black magic involved than science.
As someone who loves it when SFF in paired with mystery/crime I still had such a fun time with it though.
Whilst the direction of the plot is unique there are some very cliché, classic comic book-esque moments along the way too. By the end the events that take place over this one book are concluded really nicely however, there are also some loose threads left early on which hint at a series continuation and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for that in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder