Grandville HC (Dark Horse – Talbot)
Two hundred years ago, Britain lost the Napoleonic War and fell under the thumb of French domination. Gaining independence after decades of civil disobedience and anarchist bombings, the Socialist Republic of Britain is now a small, unimportant backwater connected by a railway bridge, steam-powered dirigible, and mutual suspicion to France. When a British diplomat’s murder is made to look like suicide, ferocious Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard stalks a ruthless murder squad through the heart of a Belle Epoque Paris, the center of the greatest empire in a world of steam-driven hansom cabs, automatons, and flying machines. LeBrock’s relentless quest can lead only to death, truth . . . or war.
Click below for Eric’s trip to Grandville.
Honestly, I had no idea what this was about when I picked it up. Except, it had a bad-ass looking badger in the cover with two handguns, which is enough for me to at least start reading.
Bryan Talbot’s story-telling was enough to keep me turning pages until the end. I read the book in one sitting (108 pages and a middle of the road$17.95 for a hard cover). This well-executed story is a combination sci-fi / alternate history / steam punk detective story orbiting around a political conspiracy… or yea, and all of the characters are highly-evolved animals. If it seems a bit much – and it might be, but Talbot’s noir-ish narrative is able to ground the reader in such a way that even the most conventional reader won’t mind the completely out-of-the box setting. Once I was a few pages in, I didn’t doubt his setting for a frame. His art, which is both objective and beautiful, does nothing but enable the reader to accept the premise of plot.
Bottom Line: Dive right into Talbot’s tale of assassinations, death squads, government cover-ups and animal show-girls.
Grade: A
Pullbox Warning: due to graphic violence and a sex scene, this is a 16+ book
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