Varcade, the character in the middle front of the cover, is exactly a clueless anime protagonist brought to life, and I love him. There is a character named Vashi that shows up, and he is hysterical and yet totally played straight. The ham-fisted prose manages to mix in a self-aware tone without breaking the world’s stakes or immersion. Drop all that in a world that’s like a Middle-Eastern steampunk western with demons from another dimension living among humans, and you’ll have the foundation for The Crew.Įach page drops delightfully insane events, carried by a crew of characters that mix off-the-wall and serious intrigue perfectly. These abilities vary in every manner possible, bringing all the gall of 90s shonen anime to the table. The Crew is a big mercenary job set in a world where mortals eat or snort the dust of elder gods to gain special abilities. I cannot overstate how much stupid fun this book is, but I’m going to try. I am giving it four stars anyway, and I considered giving it five. By the numbers, I shouldn’t have even finished this book. The main characters are mostly following the same trends and tropes I’ve seen a hundred times. The prose is ham-fisted and graceless from the first line, that is, when it isn’t committing errors that should have been edited out. I’ll be frank, The Crew is not a literary masterpiece. Every sentence thereafter pulled me further in. The first sentence of The Crew made me groan.
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