[Book Club] Status Deadzone - A review

[Pierric]

The book starts with a fast pace short story (A World above). No room here for psychology or character development, it is violent and action packed, telling in details - and for most of the story - the ferocious fight between an Escher gang and spyrers. I think it was estimated as a fitting novel to introduce readers to the book since it is quick to read and quite classical in dealing with what everybody would expect, including newbies, from a Necromunda book : gangers fighting on walkways and gantries in some underhive environment. The gunfight description length didn't appeal to me that much, and I found the final part a bit too much of a cliffhanger, but it was without knowing that a further novel in the book will let me know more about it...
(Final appreciation : 65%)


We are introduced in the next novel (The Day of Thirst) to some kind of chaos cult called the Blood Coven, and its unpaid due by a Goliath gang. It is a crude story written in a direct style, with a lovecraftesque touch, which will please gothic or horror style stories readers. I was a bit surprised but enjoyed it. Grim and dark.
(Final appreciation : 80%)


The third story (Bad Spirits) tackles another dimension of the Nec universe : the Frontier style story, mixed with some kind of mystery and crime fiction. Here we find some angry Ratskins, some Van Saar looking for valuable items and an unexpected third party. It is more balanced between action and psychologial aspects than the two first strories. Enjoyable story.
(Final appreciation : 80%)


With Badland Skelter's Downhive Monster Show, the fourth story about a scavvy circus and a not so impressed Cawdor audience, the reader is offered less action, more character development and more humour. It will please those expecting some everydaylife in the Underhive bits. A good read
(Final appreciation : 85%)


The fifth story was the weakest of the book as far as I'm concerned. Mark of a warrior is about some Goliath wannabe ganger following an initiation ritual. There is no gunfighting and it is just basic fluff exploitation, with the author probably finding Milliasaurs in the Bestiary section and deciding to write something quick about it. The good thing is that it is short.
(Final appreciation : 40%)


The next story is called The Demon Bottle, and the reader is not suprised given this title to find some badskin character (well, a halfbreed one) in it. The still likeable chap is having some issues with a Guilder, greedy and not to be trusted of course. The story was nice but suffered a weak ending in my opinion, like the author was just wondering how to close it, or just grew tired with it.
(Final appreciation : 70%)


The seventh story (Rites of passage) is a very good one, with appreciated character development about Orlock juves, and shows the reader once more the storytelling potential of the Spyrer Hunter figure in an hunderive setting. Well written and a great ending.
(Final appreciation : 88%)


Sisters would have been a nice element of this compilation, introducing a wandering zombie between two Escher sisters in a quest/revenge style telling, without some unexpected and puzzling event around the end. But why the hell did she do that ? I'm still baffled by this twist in the plot up to this instant, and I'm afraid it's just a cheap trick by the author to get some surprise element.
(Final appreciation : 50%)


After The Lake (to be discussed apart), the reader is offered through Rats in the Wall the conclusion of the opening story featuring Knife Edge Liz, an Escher ganger. She managed to move up the Spyre, giving the reader more diversity in this collection and opportunities to get new insights about this environment which is not precisely defined in the official fluff. This second part is a great addition to the first and make a coherent unit, and an overall interesting read.
(Final appreciation : 80%)


The final story of Status Deadzone collection is also the longest one and the more complex. Descent starts at the very foundations of the Hive, in a Sump submarine, and have the reader journeys from the Spyre to the Badzones, through a Scavvie stronghold assaulted by Redemptionists, and features various characters, as Vex the Pastor, a repented from his ex-redemptionist past, and Kayne, a spyrer Hunter, in search of himself and of a kind of redemption from his recent past. This story exploits various sides of the Necromunda fluff with talent and offers the more mature cast of characters of the collection. Well written, well balanced and with an enjoyable touch of classic sci-fi in it.
(Final appreciation : 90%)

My overall appreciation is that Status Deadzone is a great set of Necromunda stories, and a good read with various authors and various aspects of the fluff being tackled in it. If you don't intend to buy more than 2 or 3 books about this universe, and like the classical Necromunda with Outlanders characters, this could be one of them.

 

[Stoof]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought "but... why?" at the end of Sisters. It put an unneccessary taint on a pretty good little story.

 

[Pierric]

I still don't understand the purpose of it. It doesn't make much sense from the character point of view (but childish rage), and from a storytelling point of view it's a clear violation of an unwritten rule about not having the reader distrust your main character. By doing so, you're at risk of loosing him, and that's exactly what happened with me. Having some roman noir aspect and some character with dark sides is a good thing, but making unreliable bastards of them is another thing.