WyrmeWeald: Returner’s Wealth by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
(Published by Doubleday, paperback £6.99, OUT NOW)
From the creative team behind the excellent Edge Chronicles and Barnaby Grimes series comes the first in a new trilogy, WyrmeWeald: Returner’s Wealth. This is fantasy but not as you know it; set on a dustbowl planet, the style is future-pulp-western, and features dragons, or wyrmes.
Returner’s Wealth follows young Micah, out to make his fortune in the wilds of the weald, beyond the reach of civilisation. He falls in with a superb array of characters, some good, some bad, all fantastically memorable (Eli Halfwinter is this year’s Obi-Wan).
Micah’s tale is a compelling read, and the fantasy-western style, whilst initially bizarre, is ultimately the defining original feature of this excellent series starter. Stewart is a skilled author and has really pushed himself beyond the comfort zone of his previous works, and Riddell, as ever, matches him with his equally evocative and detailed illustrations. It’s bloody, sexy, enthralling stuff and the only grumble is that the last page comes too quickly.
Andy Jamieson, Editor
Ps – keep a lookout for the latest issue of the Edinburgh Geekzine in your local Edinburgh bookshop, due out within the month, and dedicated to the work of Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. You’ll see this review in there, amongst other articles and features. They’ll be an announcement on the website when the issue is released.
[suffusion-the-author]
[suffusion-the-author display='description']