Silent Devils (2nd Series)

    (Silent Devil, 2004)
™ and © Silent Devil

Beranek’s story is one almost as old as literature: a growing evil lays waste to an ancient land. The neighboring land is a peace–loving nation in denial that refuses to aid against, or acknowledge, the threat. And a lone, wandering warrior is the key to this evil’s defeat.

Sigh.

Beranek’s literary sins are almost as old as literature, too. Never mind that there is little that fans haven’t seen directly, or indirectly referenced, in Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or countless other epics. In fact, his biggest sin here is trying to make this into an epic at all, falling into the same trap as countless numbers of his small press brethren before him: he tries to create a universe first and characters second, yielding a crowded story with flat characters that tries to ramrod a large backstory down readers’ throats.

The only things more aggravating than flat characters are predictable flat characters. To wit: just take a wild guess as to what happens to the minion who dares question his evil Master’s will? Maybe he’s sternly admonished. Yeah, that’s it. Sheesh. Throw in all the other clichés, uninspiring dialogue, and a few gratuitous severed limbs here and there, and you’ve got, well, a derivative and contrived mess.

Burke’s art is far from breathtaking, but it least it makes this book less tortuous to read. It’s better than thumbscrews, but at more than 100 pages, not by much. Shelling out nine bucks for this is like paying someone to rake their nails across a chalkboard.

— Jim Johnson
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