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Kult: Advance TPB Review

 

KultJeremy Barlow’s Kult is a nightmarish urban fantasy that reminded me more of Clive Barker than anything else. The story follows Tomas Zenk as he enters the world underneath our own, where angels and demons struggle endlessly. Ignoring the fact that Tomas Zenk is just too perfect a name for a gritty urban fantasy, there are some cool things going on in this story.

While the reader never has enough information to understand everything that is happening, there is a real sense that much more is happening behind the scenes. There are several factions working against each other to change everything. I don’t want to make that any less vague, because of the spoilers. All of which will be in the next paragraph, light though they may be.

SPOILERS BELOW

The fantasy aspects are primarily concerned with the original city running under and connecting all of the other cities in the world. This city was ruled by the Demiurge, who set up a great machine to hide the reality from the humans. Then, he left and the city has been rudderless for a while. The story deals with some of the consequences of this vacancy.

End Spoilers

Now, this isn’t the fairest point to make, but the book felt very exposition heavy. I realize that there is a lot of crazy stuff to explain in this book, but this felt excessive. I noticed the omniscient text boxes, expository ally, soapboxing villain, and rambling, explain-y, crazy guy. The other issue I had was that our Mr. Zenk never seemed to be an independent agent. He was always buffeted by the plot and didn’t really direct it.

Ultimately, while I enjoyed this book, it was a bit uneven. If you are looking for some super dark urban fantasy, this might be worth a look.

Three nightmarish Clive Barker references out of five.

 

Ben Rhodes, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor

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Favorite Book:  Cryptonomicon Favorite MovieYoung Frankenstein Favorite Absolutely Everything:  Monty Python

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