![]() ![]() Materials for this review were provided by Titan Books.WHAT do you get when you take a teen gang, let them pedal smut in the school ground, throw in a supernatural bounty hunter called Ronin, some errant sprites, a mob of spider-controlled zombies, Molotov cocktails, a murder of Giant Crows, a “township tick” that secures illegal electricity for the cost of a sacrificial goat, a powerful, ancient mixed bloodline, a part boy-part springbok creature, ancient Mantis gods and tentacles from the deep? You get South African writer Charlie Human’s debut novel, Apocalypse Now Now. Ultimately, if you’ve ever thought that it would be amazing to be a young shaman, and that you wanted to have supernatural adventures, but felt that Hogwarts just didn’t have enough porn, underground bondage clubs, shady government facilities, or the occasional need to threaten people with shotguns… well, Charlie Human’s work may be in order.Īpocalypse Now Now, written by Charlie Human, is published by Titan Books. For a freshman effort, this is very readable, and engaging. ![]() The prose is easy to cut into, and the characters are memorable (Ronin for the win). But at other times it’s able to just carry you along effortlessly, as the book has placed you in a lazy river full of blood and god juice (don’t make me get more specific). All of them butt heads, form alliances and make the story as weird as it can be – and that’s before figuring in the giant manits and octopus gods (only one of which in context is in actual mythology – launch on a voyage of discovery!), and the murderous Crows.Īt times, the weirdness can push in a little too hard to make a lot of sense – mostly on account of the culture being unfamiliar for me as an American (which is my fault – not the author’s). You’ll find others too – imports from other cultures such as dwarves, zombies and the Anasazi. Tokoloshe, Sieners, and Obambe are all a part of the culture of the Hidden Ones that lay beneath the surface of modern life. the book is rooted in myths that may confound those in the Western Hemisphere. Unless you’re from South Africa, be prepared to reach for Wikipedia every so often. It’s a strange blend of Afrikaner mythology, Warren Ellis, and Neil Gaiman, with liberal helpings of sleaze.Īpocalypse Now Now is a good, fast paced adventure incorporating a lot of fantastical elements that those of us in America aren’t going to be familiar with. ![]() What happens next is a fast-paced blitz through South Africa’s supernatural underworld, as Baxter learns more about the world around him, his family history, and his own identity. That is until someone kidnaps Esmé, leaving behind some rather odd clues that not only link him to the disappearance, but to a string of killings by the notorious Mountain Killer. He’s making plenty of money, he feels in control, and he’s figuring out that his girlfriend Esmé might be the girl he’s meant to be with. He heads up a clique in his school known as The Spider, and they serve two purposes – to keep a balance of power between the school gangs and to peddle smut to his peers. Or at least it is if you’re attending school with Baxter Zevcenko.īaxter is your average teenage sociopath. There are academic expectations, new and awkward social interactions, bullies, cliques, gangs, great unknowns, and porn. School is a difficult time in any youngsters life. ![]()
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